Preytorien

I like casting the Iovino Splash It popper. We fish them in medium sized streams for smallmouth. The water's very clear and shallow, so getting a good long cast is essential in being successful that day. I would immediately switch out the hooks though, I've broken a couple in my couple years of using them.

Yea wind in an inflatable is a tough time (to put it lightly). I had a Sea Eagle SE8 and if the forecast called for anything above about 12-15mph I didn't bother. It just drafted so shallow the water didn't provide enough resistance to keep it from tracking off. Even with a 10lb anchor it moved pretty bad.

This year has been, so far, unlike any other. I haven't hardly fished yet this year. *Gasp* Yea, the weather's been sketchy around here lately, our last two weeks have been comparative to a monsoon, which means the fishing (even if I could get out) wouldn't be great. But also, I started a new job. It's intensive. Good money, benefits, etc, and really good hours. But it's taking me a while to get on my feet, so my fishing schedule has been wonky for a bit. I've been getting my fishing "fix" on here and I'll admit I'm living my fishing outings vicariously through other folks' reports. But I do hope to be back out there soon, hooking a few, and losing a few. I miss it.....

I use the Loctite Gel. Then when the plastic's too torn up to continue using I burn it and the glue off with a lighter.

I have some, but I've not had the chance yet to give them a good shake. I don't know how all that will work. In general when I use a hook like that I'm using a straight shank, threaded into the soft plastic at an angle so it will have a better path out of the bait on hookset, but since these are going to have the hook point parallel to the bait, I get a bit nervous about it. I do know that until I've fleshed it out a bit more I won't be using these in critical scenarios.

Sour Brite Gummy Worms - rigged wacky or pegged with a 3oz tungsten weight for punching

Up here in Noblesville we have about the same conditions.... That's when I break out the Black/Blue Chatterbait. Sometimes I have great fishing that way. The fish can't see me on the bank so I don't spook them as easily, so my success usually goes up. Use something with the heaviest thump you can - you want it to feel like you're holding on to a Sikorsky

A-Rig - never have done too well with that thing, requires my heaviest rod to throw, and seems to attract every piece of grass in the lake

I had a Sea Eagle SE8 and in the time I owned it mistakenly punctured it 2 times, which believe me was pretty hard to do. To patch it I used 2 different methods. The first is that I had a patch kit from Intex that I used. About $10 from Meijer. It had patch material and adhesive. I roughed up the area around the hole with sandpaper, put the adhesive around it, waited a few seconds for it to get tacky, then placed the patch on the hole. Since the hull was deflated, I put a large landscaping brick on top of it, let it sit overnight, then sealed around the patch with gorilla glue the next morning. I never worried about it again, and that thing never leaked again. The second one was a quick patch, and not nearly as strong looking, I wasn't as confident in it. I found the leak after stowing the boat in my trunk, the C-connectors on my MinnKota just punched a tiny hole in it. I didn't have much in the way of a patch kit, just the kind you'd use to get back to your car. I roughed it with my knife, put down some super glue, and stuck a piece of vinyl on it. After it dried a few seconds I inflated the boat and surprisingly it held very well. That said, I would've rather used the true patch kit. I felt better about it, and it looked a heckuva lot better. But neither patch ever failed. I'm not sure how FlexSeal would work. You have to plug the hole somehow, so I'm not sure if FS would actually plug it -vs- just create a seal. Plus it might look kind of wonky since it's a spray. I loved that boat though, it was super fun to use, I just wanted to do some kayak tournaments around me that don't allow motors, and since my SE8 basically required rowing, it was next to impossible in the wind, so I had to use something more paddle friendly. Good luck!

I think some of the information is situational too though. I fish a couple of ponds by my house very heavily and both produce large and small fish. Sometimes the fight is violent, other times it's quite subdued. I can honestly say that widely varying factors are present - water temps, depths, fight duration, hook penetration location, bait type, etc and I have never seen a single dead fish in any of my ponds from either me, or the many other anglers I see fishing along the shorelines. Maybe it's just these ponds or something, but I've never seen this mortality that these articles present as almost unstoppably inevitable. Any reason why I never see it? Certainly I would've at some point run across a dead bass or two in the 5+ years I've fished these ponds, and I'm talking probably 40+ fishing trips at these ponds each year.

The majority of the bites came about 10-15 offshore, and the water was about 3-4ft deep

I didn't have much time to fish today. I had some plans tonight that limited how long I could be out. I decided to maximize my time, forego the kayak, and do some bank walking at a favorite large-ish pond near my house. Typically the suggestions I read in BassMaster seem to never work for me. It's a national publication but the majority of their target audience enjoys earlier springs than we do here in Indiana, thus a good portion of their content is directed that way. But today I actually had a day that followed their suggestions to a tee, and get this....it worked! It was sunny most of the day. A slight wind from the south/southwest put a ripple on the water. Runoff stained the water and made visibility about two feet. Based on what I had read time and time again is that dirty water warms faster, north shores see more sunlight and warm faster, so use something that will appeal to a warmed up bass looking for a quick meal in the warm shallow shorelines. I tied on a couple different lures, some soft plastics and an eighth ounce jig, neither enticed anything to take a swipe. Then I pulled out a Duo Realis 48SR in a bluegill pattern, a common forage in this pond. Whammo, the first cast saw the first fish and the rest of the day blew my mind. I walked the long north shore and caught one after another, at one point landing three fish in three casts, something almost unheard of for me this time of year. In all, in the hour and a half I was given, I landed 19 nice sized bass, and the time was even less given the fast that I didn't try the shallow crank until about thirty minutes into fishing, so 19 in approximately 60-70 minutes. Unreal. The most amazing thing wasn't the number I caught, that was a blast of course, it was that I brought out a tried and true technique anglers all over the country can attest to, and it simply clicked today. It felt like a well oiled machine. To quote Col. Smith: "I love it when a plan comes together!" Never again will I underestimate the suggestions given by those who have fished much more than me, and who possess such a wealth of knowledge found here on BR. Tight Lines and Bent Rods!

My Walmart had tons of Gammy, Owner, and KVD hooks for .75 a pack. I loaded up on Owner TwistLocks, Gammy and KVD finesse wide gaps, straight shanks, and wide gap worm hooks. They also had PP Slick 8 for $3 a spool, I bought 3, I have a couple buddies that I know could use some. The guy working here told me they're stocking up on some newer products and moving old stuff out so keep an eye on your WalMart, might be clearancing out soon

I fish some of my "light" bass rigs for panfish all the time. I think it would work very well for you. To give you an idea, I use a 1000 size spinning reel with either 10lb braid or 4lb flouro, and a medium rod, 6'6" and I use it for ultra finesse bassing as well as when I'm crappie fishing. Something also those lines might do great for you but keep in mind the majority of bass fishing might call for something a tad beefier. You might find yourself wanting a second rig sooner than you expect.

Its EXTREMEMLY likely I misinterpreted his article. Ha! However just speaking from the experience I've been seeing I actually see fewer wind knots than I did as it came stock from Shimano. I didn't really get them too often prior, the "further casting distance" bit caught my eye more. But in the end I'm happy with the move, I get insane distances, which some is due in part to the Gliss, I'm a big fan, but the spool loading did help.

Firstly welcome to the forums. It would be difficult to give a definitive answer to your specific needs, especially since they appear to be pretty broad in bait, lure, species, and technique factors. Each of those techniques, fish, and even lures has a rod that will enable it to be used better than others. Please don't view this as a put off, but take the time to read some of the pinned threads in the Rods, Reels, and Line forum about Rod Selection, that's the first place I would start. Additionally on the main site there's plenty of articles that address rod details that might narrow it down some for you. This site is a treasure of knowledge, the answer is bound to be found. Sometimes with such broad inquiries you might get 40 replies with 40 different suggestions, it can get overwhelming in a hurry. We tend to concentrate on largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, but some concepts carry over from species to species. Let us know what you decide on!

I know after I read that article I set my Sustain to load a bit more to the rear and I got both significantly better casting distance as well as far fewer wind knots with the very light line I use (Gliss 24lb)

I got the same info when I bought my latest reel, a Sustain. I took a look around the internet and found a great article that goes more into detail than I would've ever imagined. I know the title says wind knots, but it goes into depth about line lay and winding shapes. Check it out https://www.henry-gilbey.com/blog/is-the-wrong-winding-shape-one-of-the-causes-of-wind-knots

I have one of the new spinning models paired with my Sustain as my finesse rig / river-wading-smallmouth rig. I love the rod. It's sensitive, built well, and looks good

I've used the Stradic FJ and the Sustain FG, and I liked the FG just a tad more. But not for anything more than smoothness. Yea it's got a big handle, which felt funny at first but I grew to like it. Just feels solid and big enough that my dainty fingers won't slip off if they're sweaty or wet. That said, I only bought it because I found a place in Australia selling the Sustains on clearance for US$175 and I bought one. I really like it. I probably would've stuck with my FJ if not. I liked the solid-ness of that one. I've never used an FK or Stradic Ci4+ so I can't say I have any observations on that.

So here's what I'd say mine is.... I hate jigs. I really have given them a good shake. I probably have 10-15 great Siebert jigs that just hang on a peghook on my bait board. I don't use, and won't use Flouro anymore other than the occasional leader. Which I'm quickly eliminating leaders from any of my fishing...which segways into... I use braid for EVERYthing. It's strong, casts well, has almost no memory. I used to use mono, and for a brief time flouro, but I lost some GREAT fish that wouldn't have been lost if I used braid. So I made the switch and the confidence is reassuring. I'm right handed - exclusively use left hand reels, I guess a carryover from my left hand spinning reels I love spybaits, and I love the quality of Duo Realis spybaits, but I realistically almost never catch anything with them Out of ALLLLLL the lures in my arsenal and tackle bags, I really only do consistently well with about 7 of them. I've considered just getting a small tackle bag and just only carrying the ones I know I'll catch with, but I haven't yet brought myself to that level of I-don't-need-ism.

This is easily the best thread I've ever seen on this site

I loved Smackdown on my smallmouth spinning reel but then I found Gliss. I may go back on my casting rigs but for now I'm using 832

Definitely a Ned Rig

I have the 71XHG and I typically use 2 on - 2 off with the "dial" set about 2-2.5 and I cast quite a ways with it having no backlash