smalljaw67

The Speed spool is a better reel, when it comes to casting reels, anything at the 100 dollar price point will be head and shoulders above an 80 dollar reel. If you had a MH $350 Loomis and whipped a sidearm cast into another rod you would either break it or damage it significantly, even though it is a Berkley lightning rod it is still graphite, not a fiberglass rod which would take more abuse. That said, return the reel and the rod and you should have $120 or so which can get you a decent rod, you just need to look at what you are going to use more as you aren't going to do well trying to run crankbaits with a MH-F rod nor are you going to fish texas rigged worms with a fiberglass granking stick or a moderation action graphite stick.

The 4" fluke I use a 3/0 "j" style worm hook which is what all worm hooks used to be until the EWG style came along. The regular worm hook in a 3/0 rigged texas style with no weight is a good way to fish them with plenty of hook. When slug-o baits came out in the '80s I was using the 4.5" and the fist time out I was getting bit left and right but I would only hook 1 out of 5 because I thought a 2/0 hook was bit enough, so I switched to the 3/0 and I was still getting bit like crazy but thise time I was catching everything that hit it and you'll do well too with the fluke once you go with a 3/0 or 4/0. I use the 4/0 and occasionally the 5/0 in the 5.25" super fluke so go a little bigger on the hook and you'll be killing them in no time!!

I have a stash of them myself and I also have nice collection of the Manipulator worms. The Augertails I have in 1 color, motoroil and while I haven't used them on a dropshot I have caught a lot of fish on it with a shaky head. The only reason I wouldn't use it on a drop shot is it doesn't float so that big tail wouldn't have too much action but not having tried I couldn't say for sure but on a shaky head all but a few fish came when I picked it up and let it fall, not many just using the shaking method so the tail action is what makes this worm attract fish but if you try it let us know if you have success.

Welcome!!! I'm in PA also, the east central area.

Don't go by that specific lure deal on those rods, they are all s-glass rods with identical actions with the only difference being the length and power so if you want to throw 1/2oz lipless cranks then go with the MH square bill rod that is rated 1/4-3/4, this will handle just about any type of crank except the really deep diving models like the DT 16 or anything deeper or heavier. The only word of caution is that if you never used a glass cranking rod before, you need to fish with it before passing judgement as these are heavier than graphite rods but a good margin and they have a dead feel to them but they can't be beat for fighting a fish hooked on trebles.

You're looking at it backwards, start with the intended purpose and then go from there. For example, if you want an all purpose rod then I would look at a 7' MH fast action rod with a reel that has the 6.4:1 gear ratio, if you intend to use frogs or cranks then you would look at something different and you can't just limit yourself with 2 options.

River Rock Baits, I'm sold on that company's offerings!! It is all high quality plastic and the stuff just works and while they make a lot of different baits they're known for the high quility hand dipped tubes they make and with all the tubes I tried over 30 years of bass fishing I can honestly say without a doubt that they are the best tubes I ever used. BTW I have zero affiliation with them, I'm just a very satisfied customer.

Just as the others said, it is more of a location thing but based on the location I will use different jigs. I never use flipping jigs for smallies but I have caught them on flipping jig but football heads are used more often just because it works in rocks and that is where you normally find smallies, in the riocks.

If you are looking at silicone strands and it may be a pattern you want to do regularly then go to LPO and look at the "real baitfish" line of skirt tabs, they have a crappie pattern on there and when you put it on a swimjig or spinnerbait it looks good. I can no longer post pics here and it won't let me use photobucket anymore or I'd show you.

Really nice work on those baits, and as someone said, go to an ace hardware store, most of the ace stores carry it. I love Devcon epoxy for jigs had spinnerbaits, it is thick and sets up to really thick pretty fast so you don't need a drying wheel and it self levels so never any brush marks and it is clears than any other epoxy I ever used.

Jig!!!! When I'm catching a lot of 1.5lb to 2lb fish I'll often start fishing a jig on isolated cover near the areas I was catching the smaller fish, normally what happens is the numbers go way down but the average size jumps up significantly!!

I liked McCoy mean green but I never used in small diameters or on spinning gear, I will tell you this, the very best line I used on a spinning rod in 8# was Silver Thread AN40, it is as abrasion resistant as flourocarbon and has a lot less memory, in fact I don't ever recall using a line that had less memory other than braid. The only way to know about the line you're looking at is to try it but if money is an issue to the point that you can't afford to be wrong then go for the Silver Thread AN40, that line you'll love, it has be great for years and seems to just get better.

*** doesn't yet have a cranking rod in the *** or the *** line so that will eliminate those for now. Megabass XX has a glass model and while I haven't tried it I would say $275 for a glass rod no matter what brand is over priced but they do have other models that will work for cranking. I would seriously look at the Loomis CBR series of rods, and since you want to throw spinnerbaits as well then I would opt for the G.Loomis CBR845C or the CBR903C. Both of these rod will be great for both spinnerbaits and medium diving cranks and you could even go with something like a DT 14 with eith rod. The 845 is shorter with more power while the 903 will give you a little less power but it makes up for it in leverage, as I said, either or will work and they fit your budget.

Take a look at the naked bait skirt expander, this is a quality tool for you to use and as for bulk skirt material it depends on what you are looking for but if it is basic silicone I'd go to fishingskirts.com, Janns netcraft is a good place but the selection is limited and the shipping is higher.

I just ordered eletric orange, green pumpkin, and coffee today, 100 of each and this is the 3rd order that I placed since it came out. You should see my brush jigs when I wire tie two full tabs of bio-silk green pumpkin with a half tab of ripple or krinkle cut green pumkin silicone, that jig consistantly gets bit by bigger fish than any other jig I've made and I thing the material is a big part of its success. Good luck!!

Welcome aboard!!! I'm from Minersville,PA about 30 minutes north of Reading and I hate blue marsh lake even though I do fish there a good bit.

If you tell me Gammys and Owners punch a hole and Trokars tear a hole then I'm going to tell you that you bought knock off hooks because every hook with a cutting point will open a hole if you get the hook in the soft part of the mouth. I used Mustad spinnerbait hooks because the Gamakatsu and Owners did exactly that, and that is tear a hole and so based on that I won't use the Trokar spinnerbait hooks and it is also a reason I don't use cutting point hooks, regardless of brand on shaky heads or and finesse plastics or jigs, only on heavy jigs or thick plastics. Mustad and VMC and the new Eagle Claw hooks are what you want as they have needle points designed to penetrate, not cut, VMC calls theirs, "cone cut" , Mustad is the "Ultra point" and the new Eagle Claw is the "Needle point" , any hook described like that is what you want to use for finesse tactics as a cutting point is overkill on fine wire hooks.

Weight and sink rate are the most important reasons while taste is probably the last reason. I believe bass hold on longer to baits with salt than they do without but in addition the salt you see on the outside has to do with keeping the bait from sticking while also providing a taste for the fish to hold on longer. There are advatages when used in small baits, in the cold water when you need a small profile bait yet have to get down around 10' or deeper, a floating bait isn't going to get it done unless you have a 3/16oz weight or larger but the small salt worm with a 1/16oz weight make it possible to fish a small profile bait with only a small external weight keeping the profile small. These are all tools, sinking, salt filled worms are still around for a reason, they catch fish.

Take a look at the Diawa Procyon line up, I don't know about the casting rods but I got a 7' ML spinning rod off of my sister-in-law for Christmas and I was going to send it back and put it toward another rod but I decided to try it and I'm glad I did. It isn't super light but far from heavy and the rod is surprisingly sensitive, plus it has a 5 year warrany for a rod that retails at $69.99 you can't beat it.

I fish all of my jigs without a rattle but the jigs I make for a friend all have rattles and we fish side by side and over the years I found that at times a rattle helps but rarely does it hurt. I think if you have confidence with the rattle then by all means use them, but if you just want to know what conditions, well I'd say anytime you have dirty water or low visiblity, but try both a let the fish tell which one they prefer.

As eyedabassman has said," You can't fish a swim jig wrong", I prefer to keep it high in the water column and I will at times just kill it and then other times I'll slow roll it and occasionally tick the bottom going just fast enough so my trailer has a little action. If I'm targeting a specific piece of cover I'll often use a rage craw and if I can't get a reaction bite swimming it past the cover I'll often go back and bottom hop it right where I think the fish should be and I do that with a rage craw as it has great action but it still has the craw profile for bottom hopping or crawling.

At 9.99 I wasn't buying but at 6.99 I have a bunch! I saw all the stories of the points folding over and trth be told, I have had the same thing happen on a regular basis to Gamakatsu and Owner hooks since they came to market and so far having used them for 2 seasons I haven't had the problem like others have, I had 1 hook point fold over after I set on a tree limb last fall, that is it. I also like the Owner 5304 deep throat jig hook but it seems there are a ton of reports on that model breaking but for me, I have had no problem and yes, the Trokar hooks are about as sharp as you can get, these are what I use for really thick and hard plastics like toads and beaver style creature baits, much better hook up ratio.

I love my Elite Tech Smallmouth spinning and casting rods, and the HMX was very nice for the price but 2 weeks ago I got to use my friends new HMX. The one he got was like $80 on sale, it was a 7' medium light fast action and I have to admit, it felt great in hand and it surprisingly wasn't tip heavy, very well balanced for a sub $100 rod. If I was in the market for a rod like that and not knowing what the price was, I'd have no trouble paying $100 for that rod, Fenwick has really done a nice job with these rods, nothing fancy, just solid builds with great performance.

I get the bio-silk skirt tabs and I really really llike the material. This is living rubber without the hassel, it is silicone but it looks, feels, and acts like living rubber. The big difference between the bio-silk and regular silicone in the water is the seperation, on a jig with silicone skirting the jig hits the bottom and then a second later the silicone strands will seperate and slowly fall. The bio-silk will seperate as soon as the jig hits bottom and will sort of hang in the water, longer than the regular silicone does. I am a big fan of silicone so I use it on all my jigs and spinnerbaits but now I add a tab of bio-silk to my skirts and it really gives it a little more action, I prefer the electric colors, white, green pumpkin, orange and coffee.

I'm going to help you out here, I'm a PA resident and when I was just getting into bass fishing 30 years ago I read the magazines and watched everything on T.V. and I thought I was doing something wrong or the tactics just didn't apply to the fish in my waters. Well the truth is you really have to adapt techniques to where you use them as the forage base is different. Milfoil to me means lipless crankbaits, also going away from the bank until you get to the weed edge, that edge is a great place for a medium diving crank and a square bill can be killer when fished over top of a weed bed just as a hollow body swimbait fished over weeds. You have confidence in fishing soft plastics and that is good but expanding your bait choices could make the difference between a good day and a great day, especially if you fish tournaments at all. The only thing you lack is confidence, and a good day on cranks or swimbaits or jigs will change your mind but you have to be willing to use them enough to get bit and that is the hard part.