Preytorien

I agree with the above comments. The XG will be a great fast reel for quick line pickup, an advantage for soft plastics, but will be too fast for moving baits. From time to time I'll tie on a spinnerbait on an XG, (mine's 8.2:1) and I have to really watch my handle rotation, it'll pull it too fast and won't stay down in the water column. I think the HG will be a "best of both worlds" for you

A couple things that would've saved me a lot of headache in the beginning and would've made my transition to fishing a lot smoother.... As mentioned before, and still I hear it a lot, is how "in X lake or river you can't catch em' unless you're using live bait" - yea, tell me that as I'm pulling out a 4lb smallie on a Iovino popper or Rooster Tail spinner I would've had far less trouble if I used better line when I was younger. Back then admittedly it was about cost since I was at the very bottom rung of affordability, but now I realize so much of my success is due to the tiny little string that attaches the fish to me Some of the "worst" days for fishing are actually the best Spend some time fishing in ways you never did before. I tried wading a small river near me a couple years ago for the first time - now it's my favorite way to fish Can't buy/pull/afford a bass boat? Enable yourself to still get on the water with a kayak Lastly, make it fun. Do what makes you happy as a fisherman. If that means tournaments, go for it. If that means being a guide, be great at it. Do what makes you feel good on the drive back home. Just have a good time.

After a couple of weeks using this, I've come to the conclusion that this reel quite literally helps me catch more fish. I know, that sounds like a dream line from a marketer, and I almost wince saying it, but I have actually seen MORE fish caught with it. It all comes down to the BFS spool and how long it allows me to cast lightweight lures. Here in Indiana, this time of year, I'm pretty much only throwing finesse lures in the smaller bodies of water I find. I like to find and fish out of the way places, backwoods, and undisturbed ponds to see what size of fish are in there. Therein lies my need for finesse. I use a lot of Ned Rigs, Senkos, and weightless Flukes. The Curado 71 allows me to cast those babies a WHOLE lot further than I could prior. I can get my lure to areas that previously I couldn't access due to inaccessible banks or whatever. Once I was able to get my lures in there, I realized there were fish in there, and some good size ones. Additionally, it allows me to cast far enough that my physical presence doesn't spook the fish and I'm able to hook up on some fish I would've scared had I been much closer. Undisturbed pond fish are overly spooked and nothing's more frustrating than spooking a shoreline fish that would've been potentially catchable if you could've casted a bit further away down the bank. I rarely can say with confidence that one thing or another definitively puts more fish on my line. It's usually objective. But this BFS thing is the real deal for my fishing techniques and practices.

Nope I have a Vibe Skipjack 90. I did a lot of research on them before I bought theirs. It seems like a pretty good outfit, a smaller operation but a great reputation online and like I mentioned they sell excellent kayaks at a considerably lower cost than their comparable competitors. My next move will be to their Sea Ghost 130 - it gets rave reviews from the users on their Facebook owners group that have one. I know i'm overly impressed with mine so far. But heck, that ATAK looks good too, I just would rather pay $900, especially when I see SO much positive feedback from the folks who have the Sea Ghost

Also check out a Vibe Sea Ghost 130 - tons of features at a reasonable price

Why stop at 10ft?

I don't think I could fit a one-piece 10ft rod in my little trusty Chevy Tracker - 7'6" is pushing it!

I've had a few scenarios where ordering from Australia is a pretty good buy. Since we have that trade agreement with some of the pacific countries the shipping isn't too bad. I got a NIB Shimano Sustain from Melbourne, AUS for about $175 plus $15 shipping and it was here in 6 days.

I like Gliss but I want to try YGK when I get some extra cash.

I understand the points being made, and my question isn't necessarily IF I can post a video in a forum and the subsequent want of a "Video Forum." I've seen others post videos, and they're really good. My only question is, will using the ever common "If you like this video, click Subscribe" phrase get me booted and videos removed? It seems like that's obvious self promotion, but almost every video ends in that manner saying something about subscription. Do I just have to make videos that don't ask folks to continue watching my content?

I know there's a lot of guys on here that are getting into making their own videos, YouTube, Instagram, or Periscope content. I know I am looking into it. The rules state you can't do a round of self-promotion since the General Forum would literally be flooded. Would it be possible to make a forum that guys can just link their videos? I know I would like to see some content from some of the guys, but unless they state they have a channel, and the channel name, I wouldn't know where to go to find our members' videos. Any possibility of that?

Most of the time I'm fishing in my kayak I'm purposely trying to get places other boats can't go - including a kayak with fins underneath it. I would hit the bottom pretty often with one. Besides, I don't fish anywhere big enough to need a propulsion system. If I were on bigger waters I could see the benefit though.

Yes, the moderate tip will be heavier than a standard moderate, and almost feel like a fast. I think for senkos it would be great. I use it as a general purpose rod

I have a 6'10" medium and I can tell you it's not much of a moderate tip. It's heavier than that. That said, I'm not sure it'd be a good punching rod as it's heavy but not quite heavy as I personally like for working through very thick cover. As for the 7'2" heavy, since they run a bit heavier than rated my guess would be that it would be more than adequate enough for punching. If you're anything like me this will quickly be your favorite rod

Yea there's basically no water movement so the static water may be what is causing it. I hope we're not having a fish kill, there's some good fishing in these ponds and it seems to have a good balance in its population. I can't imagine it's getting cold enough to kill them off, our water temps haven't even yet dropped below 70F yet.

A couple places I fish have undergone some odd looking issues happening. I've noticed them getting quite a bit more scummy as the days wear on and lately I see large "patches" of scum rising up from the bottom. In just a week's time, the ponds have gone from a few patches of scum, to be almost completely covered. I can't imagine the ponds are turning over already as we are still frequently hitting 80's and some 90's temperature days, with night's going only into the high 60's, if that, plus the water is very clear. Either way I've noticed the fishing getting VERY bad in ponds this is occurring in. You can't hardly buy a bite anymore, not to mention the scum starts to limit your lure selection. Anyone familiar with this scenario - and any tips on how to get a bite when this happens?

Wow it sounds pretty involved. I think I'll do some more research before I make the leap. Thanks Jig-Man

I'm interested in doing a bit of soft plastics recycling in my own garage. I use about 80% soft plastics throughout the year, so as you can imagine, I tear quite a few senkos, creature baits, and flukes along the way. I'd like to look into getting a mold and being able to melt down torn baits to make new ones. What all is needed? I know I would need a mold, but I'm not really sure where to go from there. Any direction would be great. Thanks guys

So far I'm blown away by this reel. I had to take some time to dial in the brakes, but man when I did, I'm able to bomb even weightless soft plastics.

Go to your Profile Click the See My Activity button in the top right-hand-ish corner On the page number bar, click the furthest right-hand double arrows to go to the first posts on the list

Just for the fun of it, I took some time and looked back at some of the very first posts I ever made on BR. I know many have been on here longer than me, but it's fun to see all that's transpired in the past few years. So do yourself a favor, go back and look at some of your Baby Bass Resource posts and see what kinds of things you were talking about, what questions you were asking, and what techniques and tips you've learned along the way. If you're like me, you're amazed at just how much you've learned. The folks here on BR are knowledgeable, quick to assist, and have a great sense of humor all across the country. We're lucky to have a place like this, moderated by some top-shelf fishermen themselves that have a passion for helping others. I've made some nice friends along the way, and I can truly say I catch more fish because of BR. It's worth a look....

River2Sea has a dragonfly lure that's essentially a dragonfly body on a jitterbug type platform. I have one, but it's a tough lure to fish very effectively since it has the tendency to flip over on it's back - but hey it looks really cool!

I haven't ever had good luck with acetone. Melted some of the plastic on my reel, specifically the component that holds what brakes. Had to order new parts from the manufacturer. When I need something more than Simple Green I use either Mineral Spirits, lighter fluid, or even gasoline.

I've been using Havoc purple ribbon tail worms with a 1/4 bullet weight and doing well so far. I pitch them to shallow cover, laydowns mostly, that seems to be where mine are at

I'm a kayak guy here too and all the above are great advice to anyone getting into kayaking. My only addition would somewhat go against other conventions. I fish mostly small ponds and streams, often areas where I have to carry my kayak quite a ways to get there. For that reason, I chose a 9-10ft kayak because they were so much lighter and easy to maneuver in a small pond with tight spots. By time you add seats, rod holders, all your gear, PFD, etc. you have enough to carry, I didn't want to lug around a 100+lb kayak or have to worry about also having a cart to bring around for it all. After all, I bought it to get back to those out-of-the-way places no one can get a bass boat to. Not a problem for everyone, but I knew I would want something light. I use a Vibe Skipjack 90. Their bigger one is the Sea Ghost and gets a lot of great reviews, and the customer service is outstanding.