gulfcaptain

I don't have any "glass" rods, have a few composites and graphite cranking rods. As far as feeling, I crank on braid with leaders so it still transmits the feel. The reason most fish glass is the slower softer action and give in the rod. And welcome to the forums.

I believe it was the BFL All American if I recall. And shows that even if you have all the top dollar rod and reels on the deck of a boat, if someone using less expensive equipment and knows what he's doing will still get the job done. But I doubt he was using sub par fishing line since that's the most important connection between the fish and you.

An umbrella rig is? A. A conopy that attaches to the boat. B. A harness system of 3-5 wires to attach swimbait/lures to form a school of baitfish. C.Used to slow the boat down while drifting. D. A wagon with an umbrella holder used to shade yourself bank fishing.

I have one of the first ones. It's light, fish more scattered cover(sparse reeds and brush) with jigs opposed to heavy grass with the Quantum Tour "Hackney" rod. Tried it in the grass, just prefer the moderate action if I'm out punching and can't give them much room to run.

Yeah, that's my best so far. Not too shabby for a LA/OC public park fish.....lol And the way it happened fit the OP's question perfectly. Only had a swimbait with me because I had one rush in and follow a Mini BVD the day before and turned away last minute when it got close to the bank.

You picked a tough time with the weather the way it's been. You can try a local 1/2 day ocean trip and rent tackle, but not sure what's going on if much. Freshwater, you can go to Santa Ana River Lakes (it's a pay to fish lake) and see if they have rental equipment there. Good thing there is you won't need a fishing license and well the trout may be biting with the cooler weather.

Been there done that. Last summer (2014) on the 4th of July, no clouds, bright skies, no bites. Chatting with another angler and spotted a big fish just off the bank. I threw a 8" Line Thru floating swimbait past her, watched her swim up behind it, paused it and she sat underneath it. Gave it a quick pull and moved it about 3 feet, she quickly followed. Paused it again and she inhaled the bait....Next words had some explict language and the fact I hooked her.

Might look at iROD's Genesis II Series "Bubs Punch Rod". 7'11", has a moderate action which I like on mine since it's close combat fishing and the rods action helps cushion the lunges from a fish at close quarters and helps keep them pinned. If I ever break my current flipping rod, I' m going to go custom with this blank if I can get it since it's hard to find a 7'11" moderate flipping rod and I like a shorter handled butt section then most make.

I fish more the 1 knocker Rat-L-Traps and also the Rapala Clackin Raps more then any other lipless baits. The Super Spots are close to the Rat-L-Trap but have a different sound in the bb's then the original Rat-L-Traps do so although they are close, they aren't quite the same. Livingston has some, but haven't seen any huge difference in the production over the others. Have no experience with the Red Eye Shad as I haven't fished them so can't give you an opinion on them.

Look into Academy's H20 Ethos. They have a 7' composite cranking rod. Runs about $60. Easily comparable to higher $100 rods.

If you order from Siebert, get the skirts wired otherwise the rubber bands want to slip off. Found out the hard way and ended up tying up all mine with braid to keep them in place.

If you're fishing shallow, opt for something like the SK Shallow 1.5 or a Manns Baby 1-Minus. The shallow 1.5 will get down no more then 2ft, and the 1-Minus will stay in the top foot of water. I wouldn't get hung up on weights of baits, but look at max depth and size and match that to what you're looking to fish.

I've used the Jewel Hole Punch Skirt a little last year. It was okay, I liked the rubber/silicone hub. But most of my punch skirts are attached to the tungsten weight. I use Pepper Punch Skirted Tungsten weights and ordered a bunch of skirted punch weights from Siebert's last summer. I did start to put a small piece of mini airline tubing for fish tanks between the hook and the tungsten weight to protect the knot. Works pretty well.

I fish Power Pro, 832, currently using P-Lines TCB-8 to see how it handles. As for fading, the more you fish the more the line will fade. 832 seems to fade the quickest from my observations. As for fraying, how old is your braid? Is it a few seasons old or brand new. I flip mine every couple years. Then respool. Of course this is subject to what condition the lines in. If it's frayed really bad I'll just respool since there isn't a need to flip and have crap line at the end of a long cast.

I fish both, micros are great, but if you get a lot of "junk" it will clog the guides and become a pain. So open water, reeds, light grass I'll fish the micros, but if it's really nasty, lots of say cottonwood blossoms or something similar that's mixed into the grass or it just has a lot of junk mixed in(scum and whatnot) I'll fish the standard guides although the rods I use have smaller guides almost like macro, they are just a bit larger then the minima guides. This helps keep the guides clear of debris. If you do find one with minima guides you kinda have a best of both as they are small, but not so small they get clogged up. Hope this helps

Won't we all.....if they win, you and Glenn will be saying...."what happened" and "told you so". If they loose, well I'll be grateful in your defeat and ask that you go ahead and route for NE with me....lol

Well that's um lets say confusing. It's listed under class as a floater, but in the title says slow sink in the title....WHAT?????? I'm confused now, does it float or sink? Does luckycraft know if it floats or sinks? I have one I bought as well and if it sinks well it's not what I wanted either. I don't need a slow sinking floating topwater.

Try it in the sink, if it sinks there, call TW and they will either exchange it for another or do whatever they need to do to make it right.

I do not look down on anyone. Please don't think that is the point of that statement. If you feel that way, you're way off. I am more apt to teach someone. And yes it is something that is developed over time. I simply trust myself more then the brakes on my reel. My conventional saltwater reels have no brakes, so it was an easy transition to turn them off. It's a great feature to have on a reel, but when commenting on the limits of what a reel will do, the limits are within the person holding the reel. Not the reel itself. That was the point being made. There wasn't any "looking down my nose" at anyone on here. But if you're complaining because the reels brakng fuctions are hendering the distance one would like to get out of their reel, then to get more distance learn to cast with less braking or no brakes and the tenson knob adjusted. And I don't look down at my buddy either, I only made that comment because he's asked to try one of my rods and he asked me to set up one of his reels to get the distance out of it. Unfortuately the distance he wanted was not going to happen with the brakes set the way he fishes. So he just accepted it as it was too free for him to contol and the distance he wanted he wasn't going to achieve until he got better at fishing less brakes. But again there wasn't any looking down on anyone nor do I think Raul was either. Just a statement.

Carolina has gotten it's 14-0 record because they play team ball. Everyone can hate on them, they like it. It fuels their passion to shut down the people who think they aren't all that. This year there are few teams with winning records. It's sad, what maybe a half dozen teams that are consistant. Denver loss to Okland....loosing record but still lost. NE lost to Philly, loosing record but still lost. Cincinnati loss to Houston....lossing record but still lost. Arizona loss to Saint Louis....loosing record but still lost. Bottom line, any team can beat any team on any given Sunday depending on how bad the teams beat up, or how bad they play. Going off "they played most teams with loosing records" doesn't matter. The Panthers are still the ONLY 14-0 team. Glenn it's gonna be hard to swallow when those Panthers end up in the NFC Championship game and more then likely in the Superbowl. I stated it before a month or so ago, to get to the show teams are going to have to go through Carolina and New England. I don't see your beloved Seahawks this year making it through those "over-rated" Panthers. Sorry, just not going to happen.

I agree with Raul. Other then my swimbait set ups, there isn't a reel in my arsenal that has a limit of 3/8oz on a bait. I throw 1/4 and lighter baits just fine. It's just all in the thumb with zero brakes and a slight tension knob adjustment.....no backlash. Now hand this to my buddy, I'm gonna need some new braid or line after he backlashes.

I'd have to disagree with you on this one. I have 3 of their rods, the components are nice, the rods have great feel, and are balanced and nicely wrapped. I have had Vendetta rods that were more when I bought them that cost more...the Veritas wouldn't even stack up against the original H20 Ethos rods. Don't knock the quality of their lines unless you have picked one up and fished with it. Bluebasser86 will agree with my statements about these rods. To the op, if you are nervous and you like the feel of the rod you're looking at Academy, then get it. You can't argue with the warranty of bring it in no questions asked. As I stated, I have 3 of the Ethos rods and still fish them. For a $60 rod, they would easily compete with rods in the $100 price point and the ones you're looking at are a upgraded model. I would expect they will suprise you and do what you're looking for. The IM-8 rods I have are sensitive, and $120 custom, there's something that doesn't add up or he's trying to start a business and doing it at his cost. Find out the blank as some have suggested as well as components. If he can't do that walk away.

Rod wise, I would look at something between 7'3" and 7'6" if you're wanting to do both. I have two 7'11"'s and there is no way I would frog fish with them....too much rod to hold all day and try and walk a frog. My dedicated frog rod is a 7'3"H Falcon (fast action). It has enought tip to cast and work the frog, but enough power to pull big fish out of cover and ski them in. Reel wise, find something YOU like. I would look into IPT and find something around 29-34 IPT which will vary in gear ratio depending on the size of the spool. I have an 8.1 reel that has the same IPT as anothers 7:3.1. I would suggest finding something weighing under 7.5oz if you can. Most companies MH's will work (I have a 7'3" and a 7'6" in a different company that we can't mention) fine for what you're looking for. Just find a rod that you can comfortably fish say a 3/4oz flipping weight on that has a nice feel, isn't too stiff and feel you could walk a frog with. But as for myself, I wouldn't use a 7'11" unless you're wanting to get a dedicated flipping rod.

You can have what you want as long as you're willing to pay for it. Just all add ons. Just ask the salesperson and he/she will be happy to include whatever bells and whistles you want on the backend of the deal.

They can be working man's boats now.....lol I'm sure they are going cheap when they are in that condition.