fishking247

find tackle that works and buy in bulk. in the long run it saves you time and money.

i don't recommend the pfluger president. the reel feels cheap and the reel had the worst line lay i have ever seen (line gathering towards bottom of the spool). maybe i got a defective one but from now i am only fishing shimano. i highly recommend shimano. i have been using them since i first started bass fishing and have had no problem at all. what is your budget? the sedona, sahara, and symetre (my favorite low end shimano) are all good reels. If i were you i would recommend a stradic if you can afford it. you won't regret it.

a slow tapered rod is what makes a goood crank bait rod. throwing cranks on a extra fast action rod will cause you to pull more hooks out of the bass' mouth

I use all spinning rods. never liked the feel of a baitcaster. i have rods from 5' ultralites for trout upto to 10' surf rods for striped bass. casting a light 1/16 or 1/8oz jig is definitely a lot easier to do on a light 6'6"-7' spinning rod with 6-8lb test then it is on a baitcaster. even when i frog fish i use a 7'2" heavy spinning rod with 30lb braid and catch just as many if not more fish then my friend does with his fancy technique specific baitcast rod designed for frog fishing with 65lb braid.

I do close the bail with my hand. never close it by reeling. all that will do is give you more problems. i have no problem on the smaller sahara only the 3000 gives me the line roller issue darrenm, the reason i like larger reels then a 1000 is a larger spool which helps a lot with braid. when i first started freshwater fishing i did everything with a 1000 size reel with a 6' light action rod with 6-8lb test. people get too concerned nowadays if their tackle is good enough and make things way too complicated. i've always said buy something that you can afford and make you happy. what works for others may not work for you.

anything you would use during the day. popper spinnerbait plastics etc.

it's very hard to just catch "big fish" just fish where you normally fish and fish it hard. you will get some quality fish in the mix. there are always going to be more small fish then big fish. big fish get big for a reason...they are smart

What type of fishing do you want to do? if you want a good overall state north carolina is boss. coastal stripers, drum, offshore fishing (shark, tuna, etc) then you have some big largemouth, smallmouth and up in the mountains you have great trout fishing. don't overlook northern fishing for largemouth. i live in southeastern new york (long island) and while we don't get consistent 10-12's if you put your time in you can get quite a few 4-6's. anything above 7 is considered a "trophy" i have heard of a handful of 9's and even a few 10's by me. i have great largemouth fishing here, perch, some walleye and smallies and a few OK trout streams. then you have the atlantic ocean, long island sound, and various bays, harbors and rivers for striped bass, bluefish, porgies, blackfish, sea bass, cod. you also have the sportfishing capital of the world also known as montauk point. More people saltwater fish around here but there is a pretty good freshwater crowd as well.the problem with Long Island, well actually everywhere is more people and more people wishing which means more fishing pressure and the "bucket brigade" keeping every fish from 3"-10lbs i am in my early 20's as well and while i do love it here, the cost of living is plain ridiculous i can't see myself being here when i am 30

i don't recommend the sahara fd. i regret buying my 3000. the line never grabs onto the line rolle. it always gets stuck on the bail. someone i know contacted shimano about this issue and they admitted it was a design flaw. wait another month or two for the new sahara to come out. right now you can find a symetre fj on sale on tackle warehouse for $84. the symetre is right up there with the stradic. If i were you i'd buy a symetre if on a budget. if you can afford a stradic go for it. you won't regret it. this is what seems to always happen to me

A leader is just another something that can go wrong. for topwater tie straight to braid. the only time i think a leader makes a difference is fishing slow moving baits like texas rigged plastics, grubs, and dropshots and even then i think it is just a confidence thing for me. i know someone who uses 30lb braid for everything even in clear water where you can see 10-20' down and he catches his share of fish. I personally only use a leader when fishing plastics. most of the time when fishing plastics i prefer mono but with the weeds i run 15-30lb braid with a 8-15lb leader. if i were you i would ditch the braid while dropshotting and use 6-8lb mono or flouro if you like it (i personally have never used flouro as a main line just for leaders. good luck!

probably the most important piece of advice...DO NOT SET THE HOOK UNTIL YOU FEEL THE WEIGHT OF THE FISH! and if a fish hits and you don't get him cast to the same spot again most of the time they will hit again.

I do get frustrated at times especially after multiple outings with minimal to no fish caught. most of the lakes i fish are heavily pressured. there are some brutes in them but you must put in lots of time and effor on the water. what is very frustrating to me is when you think you have a pattern going and you return the next day with perfect conditions and don't get one bite!

yum dingers are a good alternative. in my opinion no other stick bait will outfish a gary yamamoto.

6-8lb trilene XL

a lot of the lakes i fish become heavily weeded up in the summer. I am forced to use braid due to its ability to slice through weeds and other vegetations. mot of the time with topwater and frogs i never use a leader. when i throw my light texas rigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, senkos etc i use a leader. i think it is a confidence thing. before seriously starting to bass fish i was heavy into saltwater fishing, particulary surf fishing for striped bass. it is unheard of in saltwater to tie directly to braid, and when you do you use a leader it is generally heavier then the braid. (20lb braid to a 30-60lb flouro or mono leader depending on structure). I think it all just comes down to confidence. i know someone who uses straight 30lb spiderwire for EVERYTHING and he has no problem catching fish. i generally run 15-20lb power pro with a 6-12lb mono leader. or straight 8lb mono. i use 30lb for frog fishing and i use NO leader. plus do you really think a fish cares about line when they can see hooks, swivels, snaps etc on the end of your line and lures? hope this helps

Hi guys, been hanging around here for a few weeks reading the forums and finally pulled the trigger and signed up. i am from long island. -justin