michang5

I'm also totally missing out on this mythical Fall Bite, too. I've been skunked 7 of my last 10 times bank fishing two BOW. It happens to coincide with my decision to try jigs, too. Hmm...

I use a trailer hook with my Cavitron. I've only been fishing for a few months, and the Cavitron is the ONLY lure I haven't lost and had to replace. Paint's all chipped, but it still catches fish -- under the right conditions. Last time fishing it: early morning, very cloudy so it was even darker than usual, cold front had rolled in and temps were cool for central Texas. There was even a fog on the small pond I fish. I had a spinnerbait tied on, but decided the conditions were too perfect not to switch. Caught a 2.5 pounder on third cast. One of the few times I think I've made the right call/adjustment based on the conditions.

I made it out to the bank twice the last two days and got some practice in. I'm starting to adjust for the differences: (1) left vs. right retrieve, (2) casting process and angle, (3) worrying about backlashes. Aside from the inherent differences, I'm loving the Tatula reel and *** rod. It's extremely smooth both to cast and retrieve. The T-wing system seems to make a ton of sense. The only criticism I would have is that the reel seems a bit large for my smaller hands. Please take my review with a large grain of salt though. This is my first BC setup. I'll refer to a quote I use when I eat Thai food: "I don't really know good Thai food from bad Thai food, but I like it." One of the major "a-ha" moments I had yesterday was casting with two hands. When I started with one, the trajectory of the lure had no lift. You could draw a straight line from my rod tip to the splash. No amount of adjustment seemed to help get the lure up until I started holding/guiding the rod butt with my left hand. I'm sure it was just one adjustment among a bunch of others, but it worked. My casts have more distance with less splash.

It has to be tied to a line on a rod/reel. Cast it out like a lure and reel it back in. I did a lot of research on them, and the repeated criticism is that the batteries don't last a long time. And when they die you have to buy a whole new yellow beacon thingy for $20. There is a YouTube vid where a guy dissects one and installs a new batteries, but it requires cutting and gluing the unit.

I use 20# PowerPro Super 8 Slick (yellow) on my Shimano Sedona 2500 spinning reel. I back it with some cheap mono I just had sitting around the house. Only reason I did this was so I could stretch one box of PP to last multiple spoolings. I use the 20# so I could match it with a 12# Invizx fluoro leader. It's a tiny bit better match in line diameter. Definitely use a quality swivel for flukes and inline spinners. I use Spro brand in a medium size (80# I think). I used a tiny, low quality one awhile back and it didn't really do anything to miminize twist. This setup has served me very well. Good luck!

A ton of good info, ClackerBuzz. Thank you! I ended up getting the baitcasting rig yesterday (a Daiwa Tatula reel on an *** 7'1" MHF rod). Haven't been able to do anything with yet due to work, Halloween prep and lack of BC knowledge. I'm reading and watching what I can. Look forward to trying it out — and failing for quite awhile. Ultimately, I'm looking to have a similar setup to many others here. The baitcaster for reaction lures and/or jigs and/or Carolina rig. And the spinning setup for soft plastics. Finally, I can offer a bit of info on the Hawkeye F33P fish finder. While it advertises itself as a portable unit with a castable beacon, the cable that attaches to the beacon is THICK and HEAVY. And in order for it to read a good distance away from the bank, you have to attach 3-5 additional floaters to the cable or else it sinks pulling the beacon down. There's no way you can cast all that foam, cable and beacon. It would be much better suited to dragging from a kayak or boat. Needless to say, I returned the Hawkeye.

I know you're not asking me, but I just picked up a new Diawa Tatula 6.3:1 reel and a new *** *** 7'1" MHF road. Can't wait to set it up and try my first BC cast! Stupid work always getting in the way...

I had a tiny scuff on my spinning spool. I grabbed my wife's emery board (the soft foam kind) and gave it a quick buff. Back in business. Repeat: Not a metal nail file! Something like this: http://www.nailfileprinting.co.uk/communities/7/004/008/287/507/images/4537552201.jpg Doesn't have to be pink, of course.

I just sold an old headphone amp for $150. Hope to sell another piece of audio equipment for $100 soon. I see a Tatula or BB-1 on a *** MH rod in my future.

Thanks for the reports. I've been day dreaming about my first baitcasting setup. And I've sorta narrowed it down to a Lews BB-1, but the recent forum reviews on the Tatula are very enticing.

I heard this on a Bass Edge podcast. Sums it up for me. "[Fishing is] a giant unsolvable puzzle that nobody can ever master… And that's what keeps us all going and doing this." - Mark Zona I keep trying to solve that problem. Sometimes I can make 1 + 1 equal 2, but tomorrow it might equal 43.

I'm really debating whether I should get a baitcasting setup to go with my spinning gear. I only fish from the bank. I've been throwing 20lb. Power Pro braid with and without 12lb. fluoro leader. My best fish has been 3lbs. I mostly catch 1-2 pounders using a variety of rigs and lures -- Senkos, 1/4oz. weighted Carolina rigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, soft jerkbaits, and frogs. I recently started fishing 1/4-3/8oz. arky and swim jigs. I doubt I will ever throw crankbaits because I loathe treble-hook lures. From the posts around BR, a baitcasting setup will give me more retrieve power, ability to use heavier weights, and better pitching accuracy. Depending on whom you read, I might also get more casting distance. Breaking it down: - I don't current fish heavy cover as there isn't a lot of heavy cover in the ponds I fish. So I'm not trying to horse 10 pounders out of dense grass. - other than chatterbaits and the 3/8 jigs, I don't currently think my rod is overloaded. Maybe getting a BC will allow me to upsize my C-rigs to 1/2 and 1 oz weights. Or pitch heavier t-rigs to what little heavy cover there is. - I could always use more accuracy, but I suspect I can get more accurate with my spinning gear if I just practice more. - and more distance would be great, and maybe that comes with heavier lures that a BC would allow. There have been a few times when I wish I could get another few yards. Are y'all hitting the banks with multiple rods in hand? Are you using them each time you're out? And the million-dollar question: Are you catching more fish than you did when you only had one rod? Thanks for your thoughts.

I've been fishing small ponds and a quarry lake since July and I estimate that 70% of the fish I've caught have been in relation to some sort of visible cover or structure: the drop-off of the quarry lake next to a wall of cattails or tall grasses shallow areas submerged grass (for frogs) 15% have been just chucking the lure out into open water and "hey, I caught one" and 15% have been from dragging a Carolina rig and finding a grass bed underwater I'd like to be able to find and catch more relating to underwater structure. Probably the Hummingbird portable fish finder is going to be the best way to accomplish that. But I also want to buy a baitcasting setup... Need more funds!

Before I got a pack of o-rings, I wacky rigged with my daughter's clear hair ties from CVS. I made three loops on a large diameter straw that I got from a smoothie joint (also can get them at Asian bubble tea places) and threaded it on. Worked very well. Only weird thing was that the salt in the senko would liquefy the hair tie after about 24 hours.

Granted I've only started throwing spinnerbaits at the beginning of October, but I've not had my Palomar knot slide down the R-bend at all. Same with buzzbaits, which I first tried back in July. I've thrown four different spinnerbaits from two different companies. All are open R designs. Is your Palomar tight enough?

I'm loving life if I can get more than 1 an hour from the bank. I've been skunked my last 4 trips. Granted three were only 45-60 minutes quick stops, but I spent 4 hours out on Saturday morning with only one bite.

I've fished the Zoom Fluke and Swimmin' Fluke (the medium size ones) with a 1/8oz weighted 3/0 spring-lock hook. Haven't caught anything with that setup yet; I don't think the white flukes appeal to what I'm fishing. But I also don't throw it a lot. I have had good success with the KVD Caffeine Shad, which doesn't have a paddle tail. I use a 5/0 hook (same weight and spring lock).

Thanks for the review! I've been window shopping for my first baitcasting setup and have narrowed it down to a BB-1 matched with an *** MH. Following this thread with great interest...

I went to Dick's on Friday and picked up the following for my Siebert arky jigs, swimjigs, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits: - Rage craws in watermelon red - Rage baby craws in green pumpkin - Zoom chunks in green pumpkin - Yamamoto double tail hula grubs in chartreuse - more Gamakatsu 1/0 trailer hooks Realized biting 1/2" off the full size craw makes it the same length as baby craw, but with bigger claws. I got the Zoom chunks on a whim because they were significantly cheaper than Rage chunks. Not sure what they offer over the Rage I bought. The claws seem quite large given its profile. I couldn't find any of the recommended single tails grubs. I found the Yama hula grubs, which looked like standard DT grubs, but with tentacles at top. I wanted the chartreuse color and figured I could trim the tentacles off. While I got skunked yesterday, the pairings seemed to look good. I've written Michael Siebert for trailer and color suggestions for his fantastic looking bloody shad swimjig. And I think I need to find some brown/PBJ for my PBJ arky. I hope this all works because it ain't cheap!

Are you using the entire baby brush hog? Or did you cut/bite off a bit?

I've landed one fish with a watermelon baby brush hog on a white/chartreuse chatterbait. Dunno if it was dumb luck though.

I've only been using a trailer hook, and the fish I've caught have been hooked on it. I might switch to a twin tail grub today and see what happens. Not sure if I can/should have both trailers.

I received my box from Siebert today! 2 compact spinnerbaits, two chatterbaits, 3 swim jigs, 3 arky jigs. They look fantastic! If it wasn't for a sick daughter this week, I'd be on the bank right now.

My local Walmart carries War Eagle spinnerbaits. Before I bought one last week, I had heard good things about them. The chartreuse/white one I got has held up very well and brought in fish.

I'm in the same place as the OP. So many choices and not sure what to get. It's all a bit overwhelming. Finally decided to jump in with both feet and just get something to start with. I ordered three arky jigs, three swim jigs, and three chatterbaits from Siebert Oudoors. All 1/4oz, expecting the trailer to add to the weight. Variety of colors, based on suggestions and research. Spent just under $50, expecting to spend a bit more on trailers. Already thinking I should have ordered some brush jigs -- seem to be lots of people's favorites. But gotta start somewhere. And after seeing that my jigs shipped 4 days after ordering, I can always get more fairly quickly!