smalljaw67

I don't see nothing wrong with them for the price point but the fast action rods in the series have less backbone than other fast action rods of the same power. I know I'm sounding like a broken record but if there is a technique that you use that a 6'9" or 6'10" would work the Fenwick Elite Techs are on amazon in the 75-80 dollar range and they are head and shoulders above the Skeet Reese rods in terms of quality and performance but they lack a 7' model in a heavy power which is a big deal breaker for a lot of anglers.

Yep, that 6'6" MH-F is a great "all purpose" set up, I use a 6'6" MH-F for pitching jigs, a lot use a longer rod but I've used that length so long that I can make really accurate pitches with it and do it with distance also. But for your second, I'm in total agreement with Roadwarrior, your first setup will cover every single hook lure very well, so now you need setup with a rod that is medium power, moderate or moderate fast action, and a reel with a gear ratio of 5.5:1 up to maybe 6.2:1 but no faster. This setup will let you fish a wide variety of cranks, topwaters and other lures sporting treble hooks. You have recieved great advise so far from all the members.

Roadwarrior, a snap set is basically dropping or lowering the rod tip and creating slack in the line and then swinging up to set the hook really hard. A friend of mine was really bad, anytime he would fish worms or jigs and he would get a bite he would reel down and then insted of just swinging up to set the hook while the line is tight, he would drop the rod and then swing and it resulted in a lot of break offs. MLB hitters evelop a similar problem, they call it a "hitch" in their swing. Anyway, I see a lot of anglers that do the same thing, it isn't as bad anymore since braid has come on to the scene buteven with braid while you probably won't break your line you may lose a fish or two.

Someone actually weighed both and found that the Veritas was a hair lighter, just to put it in perspective, it prbably couldn't be detected by hand. I don't think they were being marketed as being lighter than any specific rod but instead they were supposed to really work well with the MGX. I think that as with the Vendetta rod, this Villian is made to go with a specific reel and that is the MGX.

I've heard nothing but good things about the reel seat for anglers that already own the Villian, the only thing that is disappointing about it is they are slightly heavier than the Veritas models. As for the Cabelas now offereing, it is the Platinum ZX, it uses the 3M resin and it uses the Fuji K-series guides with SiC inserts, these are expensive guides, they are not micros.

The fact that you already caught fish on jigs is a big help since you know what a bite feels like. And to me it sounds as you're looking for different ways to fish them and I can help a little bit. Try stroking a jig, it is usually done with a jig no less than 1/2oz and while there are propably a few different ways to do I know only my way and it works so if it isn't broke don't fix it. To stroke a jig you make a long cast, presumably to open water with some type of fish holding tructure or cover on the bottom. Once the jig hits bottom rip the jig off the bottom, I like to move my rod from the 8 o'clock position to the 11o'clock position, and then follow it back down letting the jig fall on a slack line. You will get a variety of different types of hits using this method, sometimes the line will jump, other times it moves off to one side rather quickly, these bites typically happen as the jig falls but when the fish are active you'll feel a solid thump but on the way down watch your line. I don't know how deep your fishing but I found this works best in 25' of water up to 15', I won't stroke a jig any shallower than that. I used to use a hula grub as a trailer as you want a trailer that has action but ever since the Rage craw was introduced it goes on the back of all my jigs used for stroking. For the football heads I just drag the jig slowly on the bottom, a few feet and stop then a few feet and stop, nothing special but the mop jig is different even if it has a football head. The mop jig is designed to create a larger profile but the big skirt can attract fish as well as just making the jig look big, and to get the most from it I fish it using short hops. When the mop jig hits bottom I let it sit motionless for about 5 to 10 seconds or so and then I hop it, lot lift and drop but hop it by moving my rod from 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock pretty quickly and then let it sit for a few seconds and repeat, what you are doing is making the skirt move even when the jig stops because the skirt will become tight together on the inital hop but it only goes up a little bit but when the jig falls it stops dead and the skirt will then begin to fall and indivdual strands start to dance as they make their way to a stable position. It is pretty neat when you hop that jig like that and about 3 seconds after it hits you get that thump, it really is a fun way to fish a jig. As for you losing fish, it happens but a lot of it has to do with how the lure is fished and how the fish takes it. What you need to do is worry about the hookset the most, I suspect that may be what you problem is as I had the same sort of thing happen to me a long time ago. When you get a bite on a jig, you must reel up the slack before setting the hook, if you don't most of that swing is for nothing as all you're doing is picking up line and only a small part of the swing is actually driving the hook into the jaw of the fish. Sometimes it is reaction, it was for me, you see the line move and/or feel the thump or tap and you swing and next thing you know you're fighting the fish and as quick as he was hooked is as quickly he is gone. Make sure your line is tight and try to avoid snap sets as you can break your line as well as just losing fish. A snap set is almost the same except right before you swing you drop your rod tip down and then "snap" the rod up into the hookset. It is harder to do because that instant you get the strike you want to pull that rod back but you need to remember to reel up the slack and then smoothly as possible begin your hook set and try to avoid lowering the tip and snap setting as your hook up to landing percentage won't increase that way either, good luck.

The basic actions of a rod are fast, extra fast, moderate or medium, moderate fast of medium fast, and slow. I also include ultra light in that aspect and using the right rod for the lure and presentation is based more on how you fish rather than science. For example a medium heavy , fast action rod in a length of 6'6" to 7' is like an all around rod, it will fish everything in its weight range pretty good, the only thing is I wouldn't use it for crankbaits but that doesn't mean you can't, it is just that there are better options. Most of the single hook lures used for fishing bass are going to fished with a medium, medium heavy, or heavy fast action rod but this is for casting rods, for spinning it would probably include medium light fast action as well. Crankbaits and most lures that use a treble hook are going to be fished with the same medium, medium heavy, and heavy powered rods as the single hook lures but the action is going to be either a moderate or moderate fast as a rod with those typs of actions will flex deeper and further down the rod as compared to a fast action rod which only the top 1/3 of the rod bends. The reason for this is the rod is easier to bend so it isn't as fast to snap back to straight as the fast action rod. The deeper bend along with the rod getting back to stright mean it is less likely the fish will ever be able to put slack in the line and that meas there will always be pressure on the fish so it is less likely to throw the hook. The rod being more flexable and easier to bend also allows the fish to get more of the crankbait into its mouth resulting in better hooking of the fish but it also hels that there is less backbone in the rod so it makes it harder to rip the smaller treble hooks free from the fish compared to the fast action rod which has a lot more backbone than a moderate action rod. Where the lines get blured is lures that have treble hooks but require rod movement in order for them to work well such as walking and poping style topwaters and jerkbaits. There are some like myself who like using a medium powered rod with a fast action, this allows us to work the bait very easily and along with the medium powered rod it has some forgiveness to fight the fish without overpowering it but you still probably lose more fish than you would with a softer action rod. The other side like using the same moderate to moderate fast rods to fish these baits and while they have the better ability to fight and land fish, they lose a little in terms of contol over the bait and how it moves as the water resistance on the lure will make the rod flex more than the fast action rod and therefore the user must move the rod a little further to get the lure to move the same distance. The most important factor is you, there are no rules set in stone that you need a certain kind of rod for one type of lure or presentation versus another rod for something different. Enthusiist have rods for certain lures so imagine having a rod for indivdual lures, you would need a warehouse to store all the rods...lol. Use the rod that makes fishing the lure or technique that you're using more enoyable and productive for you and don't worry about it, as I said, there isn't any rules, only some guide lines to help you choose. Some rod manufacturers have even gone to labeling the rods as for there inteded use, I for one am not crazy about it but for someone getting started it can give them an idea of the type of rod that a lot of people use to fish a certain kind of bait but in the end it is up to you.

I use the same epoxy that I use as a top coat. I simply mix a small batch of Devcon 2 ton 30 minute epoxy and glue my weedguards in with that. If I don't want to epoxy the entire jig then I use the loctite super glue gel, be careful not to use plain super glue as it will wick up the fibers on you.

It depends on the bait. I make a few different finesse jigs, most of them I use an FG-12 fiber weedguard which has a base diameter of 5/64" and I buy those. If the finesse jig is going to be used on gravel or rock exclusivley then I will make a single wire weedguard using braided leader wire. I have also made my own fiber guards using heavy flourocarbon line but the normal fiberguards aren't expensive and the time it takes to make weedguard bundle myself isn't worth it and for what I pay for a spool of heavey flouro and how many weedguards I get out of it, it just makes sense to buy them.

I like both of them and I use both, I let the fish tell me which to use. If I'm throing blades and I get followers or if the fish are hitting the blades I will throw the chatterbait, it has flash but less of and it is a more compact bait and a lot of times the fish will hit that hard when they are just swiping at the spinnerbait. I like throwing the chatterbait around grass and work it similar to a lipless crankbait, I'll burn it through the grass and when that grass finaaly grabs hold of the bait I give it a quick "pop" and it is off running again but usually a second after I pop it free it gets crushed. I love my spinnerbaits but the chatterbait has earned its place in my tackle bag and during the late spring or summer the days are rare that I won't have one tied on.

I make my own shaky heads with a screw lock, and the baits I use on it are a Basstrix Loca Motion worm, Roboworm straight tail, both in 6" styles. If the bite is tough I downsize to 4.5" to 5" worms, my favorite of the smaller worms is the Trigger X Spade Tail worm,and the 5" Berkley Powerbait shaky worm, thses 2 seem to work better than others when the bite is really tough. a big part of fishing shaky heads is dead sticking, once the biat hits bottom I'll move it just to make sure I'm not in any limbs or other junk and once I establish that I let it sit for a 10 count to start off. After I get to 10 I'll use just the tip of my rod and shake but the line is almost completely slack doing this, I want the worm to shake and vibrate but not move very far. I'll shake for a few seconds and let it sit for 5 or 7 more seconds and then I'll reel in the slack and lift the bait and then drop it and repeat the previous couple of steps. This is a slow methodical way to fish, and I also try to use as light of a weight as possible. I'll use a 1/16oz head with a 3/0 hook for the 4.5" worms fishing them no deeper than 10' to 12', and deeper and I'm using a 1/8oz head and that works until I'm in the 20' zone, from there it is either a 3/16oz or 1/4oz head depending on the worm being used.

Where in PA are you at? I do a lot of fishing on the Susquehanna river and every once in awile the Juniate river, the smallies there are really tough and they are fun to catch.

Good luck to you but be careful, this is a very addicting hooby. What will happen is you will end up liking the ability ot put your own skirts on and make your own patterns then you'll end up getting unpainted heads and doing the paint yourself. Once that happens you are pretty much hooked and soon you'll have molds and melting pots and you will have little time for socializing as you will be too busy pouring and painting. Again, good luck and may all your jigs come out nice and catch lots of fish!

I have to admit, the new Diesel rods from Powell look amazing for the price but knowing not 100% of product is going to be perfect, who is going to take a chance on one with zero warranty? I would worry about it too much, because there is always going to be that rod that the blank gets nicked a little bit when being packed or shipped and then someone happens to get that rod and the first week it breaks on a hookset, you are out plain and simple. Even 60 or 90 days would give you a little more confidence but zero warranty is too hard to explain. So, is it just me or does anyone else think it is crazy not to offer even minimum coverage just because the rod is only 70 dollars?

I was interest as you and Charlie Moore were standing in a smaller boat and it looked super stable. I fish a shallow rocky river and the only way to fish it is by jet boat, you can use a prop when the water is high if you are very careful but in the summer when the water gets low a jet boat can't get to a lot of water so float fishing in canoes or jon boats is ususally the easiest and safeist way to go. I was looking into River Hawks because they are stable like that and I have heard of Gheenoe before, a friend uses one when he is visiting his daughter in Florida. Thanks for the info, too bad they don't sell them here in PA.

I almost forgot, the Loca Motion worm isn't very effective in dirty water, in fact my shaky head fishing suffers in dirty water but when I did use the shaky head in dirty water the roboworm was much better and I believe the whole appeal with the loca motion worms is the way light reflects off of them or through them, because when the visibility was less than 2' I didn't catch any fish but we did manage several keepers with the roboworm.

I too have both and the plastic used in the loca motion works is different, it has some real good light reflecting qualitys and has been my number one shaky head bait! I use the 6" model in watermelon/black barrs, and for the longest time I was using the roboworm as I felt it was the best straight tail worm until I found the loca motion worms which was by total accident. I was getting some Stanley Sidewinders that were on sale at TW and saw the Basstrix Loca Motion worms and thought they looked good so I got a pack to try. On every trip that me and my friend have used the shaky heads we would switch on and off with the worms, I would use the basstrix and he would use the roboworm and vice-versa. To make a long story short the Loca Motion worms have out fished the roboworm by 2 to 1 and that is a conservative estimate. I loved my Roboworms and always have some but since I tried the Basstrix Loca Motin worm the roboworms haven't been used very much.

Pretty cool, BTW, is that a River Hawk you're fishing out of?

I feel like the same way, my spinning reels are loaded with 8# line, once I hit 10# it is casting gears all the way. I can and do use a few casting outfits for finesse presentations but they are 1/4oz , no lighter, once I hit 3/16oz the spinning reel gets involved and not because I can't use it with that size lure, it is because I feel the spinning rod and reel are better suited and I feel more comfortable and confident in my presentation of small offerings with a spiining outfit rather than the casting gear. Plus my lightest casting rod is a medium power but it is rated higher in line and lure weight and is more stout than my medium spinning rod. When I began using casting reels there was no way you could throw light baits with it, the reels today you can but I still like spinning for those finesse applications and it works so if it isn't broke don't fix it.

If the infor under you avatar is correct and you fish the PA waters, I can help you as I love throwing jerkbaits and have a few colors that work well. Gouldsboro is a place along the susquehanna were you run into largemouths but the forage is pretty much the same as what is in the river. The first color you should be painting is a gold, chartreuse, or yellow with a red head, that would end up being a clown color or pattern, it works everywhere and when smallies are present it is the first color to try. Another color is simple but is very effective, look to see if you can find a rogue in a color called silver shiner, the name is misleading because the bait isn't silver, it is a white bottom with grey sides and a black back. This color works primarily for largemouth but will also take smallies, it is the best color to get a mixed bag.

I call blue marsh the "dead sea", a good day there for me at least is 4 or 5 fish, most of the time it is between 1 and 3 but all the bass I've caught there have been keeper size which is 15". There is a few problems with the lake that was told to my by a fish commision biologist. The first problem is the lack of vegetation , there aren't many places to hide for forage fiah and they spend time just roaming open water, another problem is there is only a small population of bass for the size of the lake, and there is little competition for food so the fish become less opprotunistic and feed based of time rather than opprotunity. A problem with the population not getting too big is the lack of vegetation but also the fact it is a flood control lake, a lot of times the water levels are low when bass begin to spawn and in the midst of the spawn the lake is brought up to full pool and a majority of the eggs laid end up in water too deep to get the sun and warmth need to hatch. The same flood control issue is also the reason there is no vegetation in the lake, if there was grass and weeds present the fishing there would change but that isn't going to happen so I only fish it once in a while, usually when my friend want to run the gas down in the boat. I was getting ready to fish the tuesday night tourneys they have during the summer so before I was going to fish I went just to hang around and watch the weigh in and that is all I needed to see to say forget it, 2 fish just a hair over 6 lbs won and that was between 2 guys, there was 22 or 23 boats and only 5 of them weighed fish in and a lot of these guys are good sticks, so when you see guys that do well in BFLs and ABA tourneys zero out at blue marsh, well you know it isn't too good. As it was mentioned, the biggest part is trying to locate fish, they are spread out and very rarely can you catch more than 1 fish out of a spot.

That is precisely why I like that Manns Waker as I can keep the rod pointed at the bait and it still makes a wake at high speed. I agree with the fact you don't have to burn them and I normally don't in most places I fish but there are 2 bodies of water were the wake bait really produces but only when you burn the bait and I believe it is due to the water being gin clear, you can see the bottom in 14'. A friend of mine discovered the burning techique with a square bill, the front hook got tangled on a cast and he was trying to get it back to the boat fast and ended up catching a fish. I tied on the wake bait, made a few cast and didn't think it was going to work but I made one last cast and began reeling super fast and wham, 4lb smallie, the next 3 cast produced fish.

I may be able to help here. I don't know what kind of line you are using but I believe I can set you pretty good with usin mono so that will save some money for you. I'm going to sound like a broken record to some but I never experienced the kind of quality in a value rod before like I have with the new Fenwick Elite Tech smallmouth rods. The 6'9" medium power, extra fast action will work fantastic for shakey heads and drop shots especially with mono, you match the rod to the technique and the line. It is the reason you see some manufacturers make a shaky head rod with a moderate or moderate fast action and others have a fast or extra fast, it has to do with line. If you use braid or flouro a moderate action in the rod is good to have since the line doesn't have any stretch, and with no stretch you don't need much force to set the hook so the moderate action rod has more flex that compensates for zero stretch. The extra fast action is good with mono, you set the hook and the line stretches but the rod has extra backbone to provide more pressure to compensate for the added line stretch. Amazon has the 6'9" M-XF smallmouth rod for 80 dollars, I've been able to feel bites in 26' of water using 8# mono and I caught those fish that bit, you could also go with the 6'9" medium light, fast action which would also be a good choice, but I feel the medium is more versatile as it can handle a wider range of weights but either would work well for what you want to do. I apologize if it seems like I'm pimping these rods as I'm not affiliated with them at all, it is just I'm really happy with the performance of mine and I'm an angler that has been using equipment that costs much more than these rods so I've been exposed to some good product and these rods are good product for sure.

I have a Smoke 150 but I have it in a 7.3:1 gear ratio so I'm not cranking with it, instead I'm burning spinnerbaits or fishing jigs and worms. The 150 has an audible click spool tension knob as well as a micro click drag adjustment, it is extremely smooth and of course it is light. This is a level of refinement I never experienced in a Quantum reel before, now don't get me wrong, I have a few Quantum reels and I like them, good work horse reels that perform well and are pretty durable but the Smoke 150 feels and fishes like a lot more expensive reel. If you are thinking of grabbing one in a a slower gear ratio then go ahead, there is no worry with it, you'll get a very light solid reel that is performs really well at casting and gives you a super smooth retrieve. This was a good buy for me in terms of performance, head and shoulders above every other reel they made.

JDM stuff is nice, and if you enjoy it by all means get it but for me it is too much bling. A good domestic rod that has the same level of refinement for half the cost is Zombie, check them out. The Z is too heavy, they are built like a tank but it feels like using a saltwater surf reel, most of my combos weight less that the Z does by itself and at close to 7 bills they can keep it.