Master Bait'r

Man I went back... Didn't find anything for my friend but I did score the last lefty speed spool @ $67. Oh noes! The gear monkey hath struck!!

This. Also never EVER point your rod tip at the fish. If you do, it's as good as gone. Keep the weight loaded in the rod blank and it will never get off.

Well imo sipping beers while you're out fishing on the boat are always nice, but pounding 40s while driving a car is not cool with me. At all. Also I think I'd probably "accidentally" bump the guy over the edge after he threw a 40 in the lake. What a dirtbag. 100% inexcusable. Blatant lazy or ignorant littering makes me erupt like the Mt. St. Helens of contempt.

I'll take it if you don't want it!

Well given that your big/loud/fast/splashy baits didn't draw so much as a bump, I'd try something quieter, slower and sexier. Think finesse. I'm thinking Slug-go SS. The way they sashay back and forth with that whiptail really draws out the wallflower fish for me. They just have so much action for how slow they actually move they really present like crazy in a small space.

I couldn't believe the blowout they had on the Lew's baitcasting reels. It took everything I had to walk away... And a friend in Michigan just called me to go back for him today to get something his was out of stock for. OH NO! I could be in TROUBLE!

Get in the front of the boat. I have a buddy who is similar, and I find that if I get in the front and cast into the area we're moving into you can get a quick presentation in each spot as you approach it, then retrieve quickly and cast again into the next proper aspect. He can also use the boat's motion to the crank's advantage from the back as well so it would work better from both actions' perspective (or he can see how much that speed sucks in the back, either way problem mostly solved). Worth a shot. Not too many guys want to give up the helm but I'd try. Speed dating is tough but you can still land a nice honey that way.

In this case? Prevents chafing.

Man, that is a sneak attack right there haha talk about thinking outside the box!

No problems here. Just be mindful of where your tip is in relation to where you'd like to initiate a hookset. If you reel and tip up high to your shoulder you will be less apt to have proper action and good follow through line tension than if your hands are low and tip is towards the bait, but it can happen if you aren't mindful for sure.

BAM. Just picked up a 7'2" MHXF Crucial for $89. Get out there and start price checking!

Yeah mine was for frogs and jigs so it was a thought, but man... 7'11" is just too much. The only flippin' I do is on the BBQ

Much like any other tool it's only worth it when you need it. If you were throwing it on a crank or plastic day no wonder it didn't "win". I say keep a few just in case.

Bettencourts are pretty cool handmade wooden swimmers and Nate will make it however you ask him to... You probably already know that but just in case . Sort of expensive but not really when you look at some of the JDM swimbaits out there. That dying bluegill they make is so cool.

I keep a Plano box filled with all my go-to baits for easy access and keep my back ups in bags.

These are great! Just reel it as slowly as you can and let it kind of bump/move along the bottom. Let's the guys without swimbaits rods use the swimbait approach very nicely. I like them in gentle rivers too. Smallmouth grass killer for sure and the current really makes them come alive when you work against it right. Great in-between bait. With they were half price but I could say that for anything really.

BTW there was one left- 7'11" MHXF pitching rod. In West Springfield MA. No mention of the sale anywhere but they rang up sale'd alright!

Yeah I am really stoked. Just got out and gave it a whirl and she is a great rod for sure. Very fast and light!

Just scored a 7'2" MHXF casting Crucial for $89. Cheers to you, OP!!

I always felt the Supreme XT was such a fantastic value. Sure it lacks the flair of the patriarch, but it has all the "big deal" goodies and a low enough price point (as well as a faster retrieve too) to be way more reel than anything else at that money IMO. Smooth as warm butter, silent and never had a mechanical issue. Two thumbs WAY up.

Hookset! Weirdness? Fish off. What's that on my line? Oh. It's my rod tip. Nice.

Just buy a net. No need to dive in dude haha

Thanks again for hooking me up with that rod, it really is a joy to fish in every way! That 51E + Abec7's is absolutely perfect for it too. Spooled it with 10lb SX1 and it's just smiles for miles. So light. So smooth and quiet. So powerful. Gah, I should just call it quits for the day and go fishing now. Work is stupid.

No idea how much this buffet bully weighed but I'm naming him Girth Brooks. You can't tell but I totally matched my toenails to the combo this time too

He situates himself on the most prominent feature and looks out upon the rest of his kingdom like the magnificent dominant beastface that he is.