OmegaDPW

Those little guys are aggressive fish, aren't they? I got a Redear a couple of months ago on a garlic scented finesse worm Texas Rigged with a 1/0 hook. Not sure how I even set the hook on that little mouth but it somehow stuck 'em.

I was a police officer for over 20 years. Usually working the town and part of the county by myself most nights. Shot at twice over the years on traffic stops and both times the bullets missed me. Dealt with little thug gangs and the drug runners taking back roads and staying off the interstate. Things have sure changed in law enforcement today. I don't believe I could do it now, without getting arrested. 😉

I probably panfish more than anything. One rod is strictly for crappie (larger jighead/larger soft plastic) and one for bluegill (1/80 jighead with a #12 hook and a 1/2 inch curly tail grub). Both are fished under a weighted bobber. In reality, I could just fish the bluegill set up because everything winds up biting it. But, even with the tiny jighead and hook, I still lose fish- you'll know who the small ones are because the tail of the grub will eventually be bitten off. Usually those quick tugs where the bobber moves rapidly and then stops, the tiny fish have just grabbed the bait's tail. I don't have much luck setting the hook with those. Upsize the bait just a touch if you're getting the quick bites on the bobber. You'll target a few more bigger bluegills and some of the nibblers won't attempt to bite it. My favorite lures for crappie and larger bluegill are the black bodied Beetle Spin grub without the tails. Fish just the grub body and not the spinner. It sounds counter-productive but my fish will rarely touch anything with the spinner right now. My ponds are normally shallow, so I start off about 1.5 feet under the bobber and just do a straight retrieve. You wouldn't think that the plain grub body would have much movement, but it actually does with a side to side wiggle. The crappie are killing it right now down here. With the bigger fish, you'll know when they commit. The bobber usually goes under and off to the side. Set the hook normally. Like @Hoosierman said above, sometimes with crappie, the bobber will just tip over and the fish has picked up the bait and continued up in the water column. Other times you may be reeling in slowly and the bobber isn't moving. Set the hook during those times too. Like everyone says, "hooksets are free" so you may as well try. Good luck! I had all of my bobber set-ups on 10lb braid until recently. Just swapped back to 4lb mono. My biggest problem with the braid was the weighted bobber eventually getting all tangled up in the braid on the cast. Has this happened to you? It probably happened at least twice a session and took forever to untangle the braid. I finally gave up on it with the panfish rigs.

Again, thanks for all the replies. I have had some success with landing fish on this rod. It will never become a favorite, though. Right now, I'm using it as a panfish/crappie rod because of the length and have 4lb mono paired with a float and a 1/2 inch curly tail grub on the tiniest jigheads I own. I actually caught a redear, crappie and a 2.5lb bass this morning with a slow straight retrieve about 1.5 feet under the float. I don't think I've ever caught a bass under a bobber before, so that was kind of cool.

That's interesting. I've actually seen it done with a smaller octopus style hook (also on social media) so that the hook point is more in the middle and not the end. That one wasn't exactly TX rigged, though. Basically just hiding the hook point in the plastic. This way actually looks better. I didn't try the first way and probably won't ever try this way. Wacky rigs have produced well in my ponds but it's just not a way I like to fish often. A weightless TX rigged stickbait became my favorite way to fish for bass and I seldom stray from that anymore.

Don't forget a couple different sizes of Beetle Spins. That always keeps the action going when the bass bite slows down, especially in the beginner stages. You'll still be learning how to feel a bite, feel what weeds and stumps are underwater and practice setting the hook. That, and in my unpressured ponds, I've caught some good sized bass on them.

An all time low today... went fishing twice at my favorite pond. Morning and evening. Skunkarooni both times. Never even got a bluegill to nibble. That almost never happens at this pond. Something was definitely off. Will try it again Monday if not sooner. Might be a glutton for punishment but it beats sitting inside all day, right? 😉

Me too. I fish a poor man's C rig...split shot up the line. Less I have to replace when I get it snagged.

Interesting question. I've only lost one "fish" that has tormented my dreams for a long time. It wasn't a bass for sure. I had gotten permission to fish a co-worker's pond that was stocked with bluegill and catfish. The pond was no more than a puddle, but I caught a few bluegills and then had "the bite". I felt the bite, felt the fish sink down into the mud, and then nothing. I couldn't reel in. I assumed I was snagged and asked her if there was anything at the bottom of the pond like limbs or even a discarded bicycle. She said nope and just laughed. After 10 minutes of struggling, I just had to bust the line. If it was her famous catfish, it would have been a personal best by many many pounds. Could have been a huge turtle? No idea. Not knowing what it was irks me big time. I've never been able to go back to that puddle and fish again, either.

Thanks again everyone. So, what's the actual purpose of rods like these? Were they made to target specific fish like trout? Was fiberglass the best material around at the time? Is the "whipiness" supposed to help with casting? Basically, what's the history of a noodle rod?

Those are freaking cool. Never saw them before. Thanks for sharing.

Beetle Spin. It's what I fish 90% of the time anyways. It just catches fish of all kinds.

Thanks all for the replies. No trout within 4 hours of driving for me, so if I want to use it I'll definitely take all the advice given above. Thanks for the reminder. Before I put it up, it seemed like this was the key to get any hooksets. In fact, I think all I did was give it a short swipe away from the retrieve for my most successful sets.

Quite a few years ago, I wound up in the BP Clearance section and got a 7'6 UL Bass Pro Fiberglass rod for like $8. Fished it occasionally and had a terrible time trying to set the hook on anything- even with an exposed hook jig for crappie and bluegill. I hate having stuff lying around so am trying to put it into the rotation. I just remember how frustrated I got the last few times fishing with it. FWIW, I usually use M or MH rods although I have a nice small UL rod that has way more backbone than the noodle rod. I usually stick with soft plastics but am thinking that the noodle rod may be better with small hard baits. Maybe it'll be easier to set the hook? Gimme some advice, friends...

I got into them for a few years in the 80's. I still have all of them in the sleeves, etc. At that time, there was some sort of price guide (like Beckett's was for baseball cards). Your best bet now is to look them up on Ebay and see what they're listed for (and sold for). Also, look for comic book stores in your town- I live out in the sticks and there's at least two of them within 25 minutes of driving, so some folks are still buying them along with D&D things, Pokemon and whatever else is the new game. My college kid is kind of a dork and likes all that stuff so I've picked up pieces of information along the way. 😊

Thanks all. I went out this morning with the "new" setup. The marabou jig didn't get a bite, so I switched to a Beetle Spin with the tiniest jighead and curly tail grub that I could find. Casting the jig was no problem with the weighted bobber and I wound up with 6 bluegill and 1 crappie with a semi-brisk retrieve. Nobody seemed to care that the line was 10lb mono. 😉 It actually worked well enough that I may leave it on there a bit.

Had an old Bass Pro fiberglass rod for years without a reel. Finally decided to buy a cheap reel to stick on it and see how it would work. The reel came loaded with 10lb mono. I really don't want to swap it out to something lighter (at least yet) but was curious if anyone ever noticed bluegill or crappie being line shy? FWIW, I'm planning on throwing a weighted bobber with a marabou jig under it. The weighted bobber should give enough casting distance until I break down and swap out the line. Thanks!

As a bank fisherman, these are my top three: 1. Fire ants/mosquitos/gnats (so all insects). They're basically year round here in S GA. 2. Snakes 3. Not really being able to retrieve a stuck lure unless luck is heavily involved.

Are you fishing clear water? In my local places, the water is always muddy without much visibility at all. I just run straight braid and have no problem catching them. I also prefer weightless, but a #4 splitshot directly above the hook eye works just as well as a special wacky jighead in my book for a lot less money.

If you have a few minutes to kill one day, you'd enjoy it. The whole process kind of amazed me. It's long and tedious and then they sell their fully handmade product for 0.89 each. That's almost crazy in my book.

Had a pretty great day today. A few months ago, I was in Perry, GA and stopped in a fishing store there. I picked up some Marabou Jigs made by Jiffy Jigs and noticed they were made in Vidalia, GA. I emailed the company and told them I enjoyed their product and that my in-laws lived in Vidalia. They promptly responded and said they'd be glad for me to visit the shop and show me how they make their jigs. Today, I was over in Vidalia and stopped in their little store. The owners (Mom, Pop and Son) were in there and I told them about sending the email, etc. They were awesome. They knew my in-laws and invited my family into the back to show us how all the jigs were handmade. They went through the whole process- showing us the hooks, molds, pouring the jig heads, how they paint them, making the silicone body, the bags of marabou and turkey feathers, the final products, etc. We talked best colors for certain waters, local fishing, how many places they sell to and just about everything else fishing related. This little shop in the middle of nowhere GA supplies their jigs from Florida up to NY (for ice fishing up there). It seemed like they were thrilled to show off their product and I was thrilled to see how everything was made. I don't think I've ever met such nice and knowledgeable fishing people. Of course, I had to buy some stuff and came out with a few cards of different colors and a few little silicone crickets attached to a Beetle Spin type spinner. Can't wait to give these a shot this weekend. Just wanted to share how I spent a most enjoyable morning with some fantastic people.

Yep. I'm a bank fisherman and usually bring two poles. One rigged with a worm and another with the Spin. I'm usually set for whatever is in that pond.

Gotta love the Beetle Spin. My favorite lure to catch just about any species. Good job!

I think the same. This small pond is attached to a fairly large creek. It flows through this pond into another pond and then enters a creek again down the line. Where the water flows into this pond is inaccessible from the bank. Same where the water flows into the other pond. The other pond is on someone else's land and I don't have permission to go there. So yeah, all those 10lb bass are probably chilling in these locations that I can't get to. 😃

Like many of us in the South, we had more rain last month than normal. A lot more. Yesterday, we had severe thunderstorms and my favorite pond was much higher than average and the already chocolate milk colored water was even worse- no visibility to the bottom even an inch from the bank. I stayed about an hour and a half after church and never got a bite. Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever caught a fish here after any noticeable rain. What's it like for you all?