smalljaw67

No problem, and if I run into any from my suppliers I'll give you a shout and let you know but I'm afraid it will only be the mag willow style.

The rod you got will work great for shaky heads and drop shots, it will also for for tubes and small jigs but you need to understand it is a ML but since you already plan to go with 6# line you already know that. So use whatever you normally would use with 6# line and you will be fine but shaky heads and drop shots will be fantastic on that rod. Warning, after using it you will want another, I was going to get just the spinning rod and after I used it for a bit I wanted to try a casting rod and now I'm on my 3rd, so be careful, you may like them as much as I do.

Now you understand why I tell those who say you can buy them that it just isn't so, what you see turn up at Janns netcraft from time to time is old stock from outdoor innovations. And when Terminator was owned by them they only had the oklahoma or turtle back blade, they didn't use the beveled willow leaf blade you see on them now. I know the company that manufacturers the blades and I contacted them and I was told that those blades are patent protected which is why you don't see other places copy those blades and Terminator or Rapala continues to pay a nice sum of money every 10 years to keep them exclusive to Terminator and that tells me they get quite a few request from us do-it-yourself tackle makers to purchase their blades. The only reason I contacted them for you twas to show some people that they are not on the open market and while the mag willo is a good substitute for the oklahoma blade there isn't any for the beveled willow. I also tried to get the Nichols shattered glass blades and they too are exclusive.

There are no "rubber baits", they are soft plastic and depending on your location in the country, smallmouths in June could be just getting on or off of beds or could already be finished the spawn and have gone on to post spawn. But no matter I think you best all around bait would be the tube, it is a smallie killer.

You use it the same way as any other hook, now the straight shank flipping hooks are a different animal, for those I like to use ones that have a keeper on the shank. The only other thing is the hook eye, some flipping hooks have a larger gap were the eye meets the shank and make sure you set the hook a tad bit harder, while most hooks are really sharp, the stouter ones use thicker wire so naturally they need a little more pressure to fully penetrate, other than that no worries.

Braid will give any rod sensitivity, the problem maybe how you fished the rig, if you were using light weight or no weight it is possible the bait was offering enough resistance to detect the bottom.

It isn't a bad reel, If you could have found a Team Diawa Advatage that would have been a deal. The Aggrest originally came out and was selling for $179,99, the problem is most manufacturers had better reels at that price range, but for the price you paid it is a good deal.

I use a 6.3:1 for all my shallow cranking, Square bills, floating style jerkbaits, topwater. I use that gear ratio for my mid depths also so out of the reels on the list I would say the Winch is what you want for the shallow stuff.

Nothing wrong with that set up, I do a lot of pitching and I'm more accurate and catch more fish using my 6'6" MH-F than I do with the 7' rod just because I'm so use to fishing that length rod. As for the line I'm really old school and I prefer 14# to 17# copoly when pitching jigs to moderate cover and I only use braid for really heavy cover or thick grass.

If the Winch and CC are the reels you've chosen to be on your cranking rods you could use any of them for deep cranks but I think both are a little slow for shallow cranks but that is just me. A good all around gear ratio for cranks in general is a 5.3:1 or 5.4:1, some prefer slower still for deep cranks but todays reels are that smooth that the added torque you get from a 6.3:1 to a 5.1:1 isn't too noticable to the average angler but guys that fish deep cranks a lot will find a big difference especially when they have the speed of their baits exactly dialed in to the reels they use. I prefer to use a reel in the 6.3:1 range for all my cranks except the DT 14 and DT 16, for those it is 5.4:1 and it works fine, I don't struggle so whatever you choose should work fine.

The 7'4" is what Fenwick call the great lakes rod, it is intended for deep water presentations and if you are fishing a lot of cover you may need something you can get a little more accuracy with. For what you want to do with it is pretty much the same as I do with my rod and I have the 6'9" M-XF, it is great working with small baits but has a ton of backbone and if you're fishing cover that is what you want, the ML may not have the backbone you want but for a ML rod it is pretty stout. I use mine for shaky heads, small soft jerkbaits like River Rock Baits 4" Jointed jerkbait or the Super Fluke Jr., the extra fast action makes working those baits a snap, all it takes is a slight twitch of the rod to make the baits dart and dive. In the early spring I use it for #5 shad raps, they are the only cranks I throw with a spinning rod but it throws them so well you think it was meant for it. The 7'4" is a lot of rod so it may be too much and you would have to check the ML out to decide if it is too light but for me the medium is awesome, super light weight and great action and the versatility to fish finesse jigs in cover or shaky heads in deep water, it does it all.

Has anyone looked at these? I saw them at another site and the RGD suspending crankbait looks like it would be an awesome little square bill and even if it doesn't suspend perfect it would add another elelment to fishing square bills. Anyway aside from that I really liked the jerkbaits and the topwater series, the finishes are really good but what got me was the price....I so want to get a few but I have seen Matzuo lures that looked good and turned out to be an inferior lure. If anyone has used these it would be greatly appreciated if you could share some info. If you haven't seen them yet I suggest you take a look, I just can't believe the price.

My spinnerbait set up is a medium heavy, fast action rod and with 12# or 14# copoly I have no trouble ripping spinnerbaits through grass. I target cast to cover using a spinnerbait and if I was going to use braid I would have to use a crankbait rod.

Do you want a spincast reel, spinning reel or baitcasting reel? You can wait until the 4th of July sale at BPS and get a Pro Qualifier casting reel for less than 100 dollars and that way you can get a better rod like something from the Abu Garcia V series or the Fenwick Elite Tech smallmouths but I think if you rake your time you can do better than the Sellus rod, I don't like the 24 ton graphite, for 50 bucks you can do better.

The Smoke is by far the best casting reel Quantum has ever made in my opinion. I was so imressed with the 100 that I got a 150 and I'm glad I did. I have the 7.3:1 in the 150 size and it is so easy to fish a buzzbait or burn a spinnerbait without really working to do so and it is just plain solid.

I will disagree with a little bit of it but it was informative. I fish a shallow rocky river but it is pretty big, it is the Susquehanna river and using brided line in that river made me miserable. The biggest problem is fraying, there is so many rocks and boulders in the area I fish that it is like reeling line through a river of razor blades. Flouro works but I can stand it on spinning reels but Trilene XT surprisingly holds up rather well. I will admit, sensitivity with braid is off the chart as it will make cheap rods feel like a good rod but I do well without it, perhaps if I was making a living out of fishing by guiding or if I was fishing big money tournaments then it is a different story but for now my braid is confined to being used for frog fishing in slop and flipping super heavy cover.

NOCS by solar bat are pretty good but I am really liking my Eye Surrender sunglasses, polarized with TR-90 frames and $15 dollar lifetime replacement. I got sick when my Maui Jim glasses fell to the bottom of a lake and I said that was the last time I would buy sunglasses over a hundred dollars. I didn't think I was going to find nything good but I must admit, the optical quality along with the fit and finish of the Eye Surrender is great, I doubt you can find a better pair under 100 bucks.

I can make them for you but it depends on what you want and what brand and size hook. If I have the mold I'm betting I have the hook so let me know and I'll tell you if I can make them.

It isn't the size but exactly what ClackerBuzz said, you were doing something right but the fish just didn't commit all the way, either a color change or a size change would have helped, even a size change up instead of down sometimes works. I have had fish do the same thing to a 1/4oz spinnerbait and I would go with a 1/2oz and they would go from hitting the blades and slapping at it to actually eating it so don't beafriad to go up in size,

A shimano Citica, Quantum Kinetic or Accurist, Lews Speed Spool, those are the lowest price reels I would use and I've fished with all of them and own a Kinetic and I can tell you that those are going to be good to learn with and will last. You are in luck with the rods, ever since Abu Garcia came out with the Vendetta other companies have really upped the quality on the value rod market to the point were the same rods made now would have been much more money just a few years back. In fact, look at a Vendetta or Veritas for a bit more but if the reel is pushing your budget then go with the Abu Garcia Vengence, I believe that is one of the best rods you'll find for $50.

It is possible to powder paint jigs with the weedguard cast into the head and all you really need is the heat resistant tube that are sold at most supply shops. The tube are made just for this purpose and what you do is slip the tube over the weedguard and heat the jig and then paint, you don't have to worry about paint on the weedguard as the weedguard isn't metal so it doesn't heat up enough to allow the paint to stick to it. When you cure the paint you have to put the tube on the weedguard and bake the jigs but you do so at a lower temp for a longer period of time, normally you would bake the jig at 350 degrees for 20 minutes but with the weedguard in them you need to bake it at 270 degrees for 40 minutes. You also need to remember that not all of the weedguards are going to come out perfect, you will have some flair and maybe a few strands wil curl but that is something you will have to work around unless you can pull the weedguards out. The other thing you can do is find what type of jigs you want to make and get a custom jig maker to pour you unpainted heads without weedguards, it may be a little more money but it will save you time and effort plus it will eliminate the need of having to buy the heat resistant tubes which evens out the extra cost of having the jigs made for you.

It isn't the bait, it is your reel. Buzzbaits don't just come to the top by reeling them, you have to start reeling as soon as it hits the water and then maintain a speed that keeps it up on top. What it sounds like to me is that you make the cast and then begin your retrieve with the bait under the surface and you are expecting the blades to bring it to the top and you are wondering why. If that is the case it would explain a lot and the simple fix is to reel faster with the rod tip high and once you get it on the surface all you need to do is reel fast enough to keep it on top.

Very true!!! The other thing we all need to remember is where you purchased the line, I will never buy line from Wally world or any other dept store as a lot of these places do "buy outs" of warehouses and you never know how long the line has been sitting and under what conditions. I believe that is why you see 2 or 3 different anglers using the same line all have different experiences. I know a lot keep saying Sun Line well I hate the stuff, I tried the Super Natural and I could not get a knot tied that didn't slip, I used a Palomar, improved clinch, trilene, and the best of the bunch was the san diego jam but you had to leave a few inches of tag end because even that knot was slipping so I avoid Sun Line. As far as Braid goes it was power pro until I tried Tuf Line on a recommendation and it seems to be exactly like power pro so that is what I use now.

Basically it is just short jerks on slack line, the hard part is getting into a rythem in that you take up just enough line with the reel as you are making the movement. If you were to spend a couple of hours with it on the water you would get it down but check out a video or 2, it will give you an idea of what to do then go out and try it.

I like Trilene XT, it is a little stiff compared to the XL but a little KVD line conditioner makes it handle great and it is super tough.