timsford

I love both rod series, but I haven't tried the newest aetos since they redesigned them. I have several of the smallmouth rods. I have a 6'3" med ex. fast spinning rod I use for smaller jerkbaits, topwaters, and for skipping docks with weightless plastics. A mh casting rod in the same length I use for bigger jerkbaits and topwaters, a 6'9" ml spinning rod I use for an all around finesse rod, but it usually has a shaky head or light Texas rig tied on. A 6'9" mh fast casting rod I use for roll casting and Target casting single hook reaction baits. And a 6'10" mh mf I use for shallow and mid cranks and lipless cranks. I love the feel and action of the smallmouth series. The powers are a touch lighter than some rods rated the same, but overall they are some of my favorites. It's a shame they discontinued them and I'm always on the lookout for any in decent shape. I also own several of the aetos rods. A 6'6" ml cranking rod perfect for light cranks. A 6'4" med casting rod I use for jerkbaits and topwaters and when I need to be super accurate casting under overhangs or docks. And a 7'2" mh that I use for Texas rigs and jigs. I'd recommend any of the fenwicks I've tried, and think they compare favorably with many rods that are more expensive. I'd definitely recommend either series.

I've fished Tims Ford for about 25 years. I've always concentrated on largemouth, smallmouth, stripers, and hybrids. I had never caught a walleye until a few years ago. It's suprising I never caught one while fishing for these other species, but not even a runt until I started targeting them specifically. I had a friend show me some tricks for catching walleye. First off, we do much better at night. Second is that the only consistent spots I've found are those with constant current inflow like places where springs or feeder creeks enter the lake, or on the main river that flows into the lake or below the tailrace on the river. My favorite spot is a place on the river where a feeder creeks enters and currents swirl. It has a gravel bottom and there are always baitfish present. If I don't see bait, I don't bother fishing because I've only had luck around schools of baitfish. Lure selection is pretty simple. My most productive baits have been floating jerkbaits. In shallow water or around high pressure areas, I do best on a silent bait like a rapala f11 original floater in silver/black. If it's a little deeper and the fish seem more active, I use either a smithwick shallow rogue or bomber long a. I normally like black with silver or gold belly's on the rogue, and burple or bone on the long a. I like the burple on dark nights and the bone on moonlit nights. I experiment with retrieves and sometimes catch them with jerks and pauses Ike I normally use for Bass, but day in and day out the most productive retrieve for me has been a slow steady one. Other baits I've used with success are small 3-4" swimbaits and super flukes rigged on weighted screwlock hooks or jigheads that maintain bottom contact but are still light enough to bounce downstream in the current. The amount of weight I use depends on depth and current. I've also caught some in deeper holes with shad raps and lipless cranks. I've found out that most of the places I catch walleye also are good spots for hybrids and stripers, especially if there are shad present. Most nights I end up with a mixed bag with the occasional largemouth or smallmouth thrown in. It's tons of fun fighting the stripers and hybrids in current, and although the walleye aren't nearly as good a fight, they make up for it at the dinner table. If you want to catch walleye do some scouting during the daylight and look for places with current and bait and then try them at night with the lures I mentioned. Also most of the places I do best at are shallow and quiet and if you make noise getting to the water or rigging, it seems to make the fish stop feeding or leave for a while. Be as quiet as possible. Another pointer is to invest in a quality headlamp so you can have your hands free and to find one with a red secondary bulb. The red attracts way less bugs. Also I've seen schools of fish bolt when a regular white light hits the water but I can shine red directly at them with no seeming effect. Try some of these tips and let us know how you do. If anyone needs any specific pointers for Tims ford, woods reservoir, or Normandy lake, or the elk or duck rivers, please shoot me a pm and I'll be glad to help all I can

I'm 99% sure it isn't made by Daiwa. A lot of Cabela's products are either Daiwa or okuma rebranded items like the arachnid reels. I'm not sure who makes the rod but I've owned a lot of Daiwa stuff and I've never seen a Daiwa rod advertising a toray blank or a resin like the supr resin mentioned in the rods description. If I had to venture a guess I'd say it's made in one of the factories where okuma or *** rods are manufactured, but it's definitely not Daiwa. It does look like a great deal on a rod for 100 bucks. I wish I had a Cabela's close by so I could feel it in hand but sometimes you just have to order one and cross your fingers. At least I have to anyways, that darn monkey is always riding piggyback when I see a good deal. That's why I still have max 3d, elite tech small mouth, and tatula rods with tags. The deals were so good(all under 100 each), I had to buy extras in case I broke one

I use a 6'3" length in a m or mh fast for poppers, walking baits, and jerkbaits and a 6'10" mh fast for spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. The shorter rod allows me to work the baits with more action without hurting the ground, water, or boat and the longer rod gives more leverage for hooksets with heavier single hooks but is still short enough to let me make accurate roll casts under branches and to cover

I just hope some of the high rollers actually drive the cars once in a while. I remember several years ago seeing a Plymouth superbird with 2 (!) Original miles on the odemeter. It had been garaged with the window sticker on since they bought it. It ended up going for well over a million. They got a nice return on the investment all those years ago, but there's no way I could own a car like that and not drive it. That to me is like buying an expensive reel for the shelf. I have nothing against guys that do it, but i just have to fish them. That's why I try to buy used reels with a mark or two so I don't feel so bad when I scratch it

I just caught the part where you asked the question about fast action and mono being ok. For years I used only one combo, a daiwa tournament ss1300 spinning reel and a 6'6" med power fast action rod with mono. It definitely wasn't ideal but I caught fish and threw every bait Imaginable and did ok actually. I still use a fast action rod and mono sometimes with square bills and shallow cranks under 8-10ft or so if I'm pond fishing and traveling light. I might lose a few fish, but I do with the mod/fast action I normally use with cranks as well. And I use extra fast actions and mono with hard jerkbaits because I feel like I have more control over the bait and I can make it more erratic than with softer rods. I don't lose many fish on jerkbaits with the ex fast action either. But I use mono line for a little give and I set my drag right. Honestly maybe I'm weird, but I don't really even like a true moderate action like most cranking sticks unless I'm fishing big deep cranks. I'm always grinding the crank into wood or rocks though or ripping grass and I just don't like a soft rod for that. Also when talking rods a lot of it depends on what brand and also series of rod you are looking at. There are no standards and some mediums feel like other medium lights and some feel like medium heavy and some actually feel like a medium power. One manufacturer's mod fast may be another's fast. The best thing to do is go to a store and put your hands on one before buying to see how it feels. Also it seems like you are looking at a rod in the 80 dollar range or so. I'd definitely grab one of the Fenwick aetos medium power rods off ffotackle.com before they are gone. You won't find a rod anywhere close to that nicely built or sensitive with great guides and a lifetime warranty for around 80. If you can't swing the extra 9 bucks or so the tatula xt on fleabay is pretty nice, but nowhere near as nice as the Fenwick imho

Falcon makes a spinning cranking rod in the bucoo series that's great for small balsa baits and finesse cranks. I found one at my local Walmart for 56 bucks, so check yours just in case. There aren't a lot of spinning crank rods out there. Other options would be a fiberglass rod like an ugly stick, or a rod like the lightning rod shock designed for braid that has a softer tip that works well for cranks.

If you want the best baitcasting skipping reels, I'd definitely be looking at any of the daiwa sv reels, or t3 1016, mx, or sv reels. The sv spools make skipping a breeze, and it's even better with the magforce 3d braking on the t3 reels. The ultimate for me would have to be a t3 with an sv spool installed, but the alphas sv, sv103, and t3 1016 in that order aren't far behind. I like shimanos too, but the daiwa braking systems combined with sv or 1016 spools are the only reels I can skip with other than a spinning reel

Weightless t rigged in the deepest holes and fished super slow. I usually use these most in winter

I haven't owned that rod but Shimano does make drop shot casting rods with a very limber tip that personally I wouldn't want to use for anything but drop shot, wacky rigs, or other exposed hook baits. I'd try to check and see if it is the drop shot model before buying. Personally i prefer a stiffer rod for most of the techniques you mentioned but it may fit your style fine as everyone is a little different.

The bg has good features and an aluminum frame. Personally I'd either get an exceler which retails in the same range but goes for around 60 on flea bay, or my first choice would be to save 8 more bucks and get a daiwa procyon off fleabay. It's a 150 dollar retail level reel, with magseal tando protect the gears, waterproof drag, and daiwa newest technologies, all in an aluminum frame that should hold up much better than most of the reels around that price that have graphite (plastic) frames. Also to each his own I guess but I use mono, fluoro, and braid at different times and a 2500 will manage line LOTS better than a 1000. Also no matter what line you are using a bigger spool will cast farther because there is less friction when the line comes off the spool

What kind of budget are you wanting to spend on the baitcast combo? Knowing that will help a lot with recommending a good one for your price range

It depends on what you want to use the reel for and also what rid you plan on putting it on. The regular aldebaran is an excellent all around reel that can handle a wide range of lure weights. The bfs is for lightweight finesse lures with an appropriate rod rated down to at least 1/16 or so. If you want an all around combo, get the regular aldebaran and mount it on a medium or medium hea y rod and you will have a combo that can handle lots of lures. If you want something to throw small finesse baits for bass, panfish, and trout, get the bfs

I this quite a bit at night for bass, walleye, hybrids, and stripers. I have several spots on the lake I like, but my favorite is the tail water right below the dam. The river opens up directly below the spillway and is basically a large 2 or 3 acre pond with slight current(unless the dam is generating) and river flows out of on the end opposite the spillway. There is a point that comes out where the actual river starts from the pond and the point is split in two by the river and by a spring fed Creek that flows out of the mountain up the road. There are always LOTS of big shad schools and all the fish congregate in those channels along the point. I've fished there for years and tried every lure you could think of, but all I've had any success with is hard and soft jerkbaits, and pulse r swimbaits in the larger size. I mainly only use 2 colors, unless it's a bait that doesn't come in white or black. Then I either buy shad colors or buy what's on sale and rattle can it white or black. The fish seem to like white on moonlit nights more and black more the darker the night is. I mostly use floating jerkbaits because most of the water is 2 to 4 ft deep with a rocky bottom that captures a lot of my lures. As I said it's a multi species hole and some nights any fish will bite a bomber b14a(the small size with 2 trebles), sometimes they hit the b15a, or even ripplin red fin better. On super clear nights when the dam hasnt ran in a while and the water is shallow I do best on a rapala f11 in silver. I might catch a walleye, largemouth, small mouth, hybrid, striper, or big brown trout all from the same hole on just a few casts. My most productive baits are bomber b15a, b16a, and the new long cast minnow in albino when the moon is out or purple(black back, purple belly) when it's cloudy or not much moonlight. I also do well with a white ice super fIuke rigged on a keel weighted swimbaits hook, or even a small jighead if there isn't much wood or weeds retrieve them much different than in the day. I seem to get more and bigger bites at night by slow rolling steady or by only pausing if I hit bottom with the hard jerkbaits, and by fishing the soft ones on bottom and letting them flow with the current. For the most part it definitely pays to experiment though so you may do better with a different retrieve on your homewater. I always use baits with rattles on dark nights as well to help the fish find them. My favorite baits are bomber long a's, Smithwick rogues(I use the floating shallow version), rapala f11 in silver,ripplin red fin, lucky craft flash minnow, storm thunderstick, and if it's really difficult to get bites or I'm mainly fishing for trout or walleye for table fare, I always seem to do better with a smaller jerkbaits like a rapala f9 or the largest size of the yo Zuri pins minnow. I try the shad colors if they don't have white or black from the factory, and if they don't produce well, spraying them white or black usually makes a big difference. I've heard of guys catching them on white spinnerbaits and I have has a really good night on a white spinnerbaits net dock and pier lights, but for the most part I use the jerkbaits because there's no telling what will bite next. Also I've night fished for about 20 years and black baits have always been my bread and butter. I use to get in the boat and only carry black buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swimbaits, jigs, worms, and creatures. Then a buddy turned me on to the jerkbaits and now that's where I like to go 90% of the time. I've tried all these baits and lots of others at this spot but the jerkbaits are all they seem to want. Plus It's just so much fun catching a 19"brown, 4 lb small mouth, and 15 lb striper on the same lure casting at the same spot. I know a couple guys that use black or white crankbaits at night also. Matter of fact the last night club tournament I fished was won by a guy fishing a black dd22 and white Norman nxs crank. Definitely try it out fish eat regardless of if it's dark and between the silhouette, vibration, and or rattles or scent, they can probably have no trouble finding a clear hardbait at night. Good luck and let us know how u do

If you are fishing grass, I definitely wouldn't get a moderate action for those baits. I personally wouldn't use moderate for anything but trebles in open water. I'd get a mh or heavy mod fast or fast with a good backbone depending on the line you use and also the maker of the rod. What rods are you consideringand what is your budget? What kind of line do you use? These things will give everyone more info and make it a lot easier to help

I've caught bass pitching mats floating out in the middle of the lake. Stick with it and you will figure them out.

A few members on tackle tour said that the BFS rods fish heavier than rated and that the ml fishes more like a medium. I don't have first hand experience though, so hopefully someone that has fished the rods can chime in

I'd keep an eye out and see what I could get. I've seen basically new t3 MX reels and t3 1016's sell for 140, and I've seen a few tdz's and of zillions go for the same price. If I was gonna get a Lew's reel then the tournament MB has the dual braking and an aluminum frame for 108 and you would still have enough for line with a 130 dollar budget

Are you fishing lakes, rivers, or ponds? If its a lake this time of year it's all about the, creek arms. At least any I've ever fished anyway. Depending on the water temps and how cool the air is getting, they will be farther towards the back of the arm where the Creek runs in

It all depends on what brand you are choosing. Not all rods that are mh have the same power, and one manufacturers fast or extra fast may not flex the same as anothers. I don't fish in a northern lake ( I live in Tennessee), but the lake I fish most is a Highland reservoir with a lot of bluff walls, rocky points, and some wood cover along the shoreline. There's not any weeds to speak of. Another lake I fish quite a bit is a shallower flatland type reservoir with a max depth under 25ft. It has a lot more shoreline wood, and also emergent grass along much if the bank. I like a mh/xf rod on the highland lake because I don't really have to horse fish from grass, and also because it is clearer so I'm usually using smaller baits. As an added bonus there are a lot of other single hook baits that work well for this application. On the lake with more cover and murkier water, I prefer a heavy action. I usually pitch instead of flip, so I use a little shorter rod than most flipping rods. I use my tatula 7'4" frog rod. It is also a good rod for big jigs, swimbaits, big spoons, spinnerbaits, large buzzbaits, chatterbaits and Carolina rigs. I've also used it to sling big lip less cranks and an 8xd, but it was a little to fast for me.

I use mine for jerkbaits, too water walkers and poppers, and anytime I want an accurate cast with any reaction bait. It's the perfect length for roll casts and sidearm casts under trees and docks. Also works well for skipping too if you can do it with a baitcaster. If not get a daiwa sv spooled reel and you will be in business. It would also work for wacky rigged plastics and swim baits with trebles or jigheads. About the only thing I wouldn't use mine for is Texas rigged baits or jigs, but you could probably use it for that with lighter wire hooks and/or braid. I assume you are looking at the Fenwick ets rod on ffotackle. This rod and the 6'10" mh-mf are probably the two most versatile rods I own. The 6'9" mh-fast is a great rod for spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, chatterbaits, swimjigs, and is also plenty sensitive for bottom contact, especially at the price they have them for. Ffo has some really good deals right now. Someone could have a set of great rods to cover about any technique for not a lot of money.

Has anyone seen or used these rods? They look great for the price. 36 ton blanks, titanium guides with zirconium inserts, and full cork handles. That's right, full cork on an abu rod. The series is mostly spinning rods, but there is a 7'6" med casting that might make a good finesse football and tube jig rod for deeper small is that would fit well into my lineup and also a 6'3" ml spinning rod that I'd use for an all around light tackle rod while wading creeks and rivers for trout, walleye, and smallmouth, and for fishing overgrown ponds. The rods are labeled as walleye rods with a very light, responsive tip and fast or extra fast actions. I'm wondering how true these rods are to ratings and if they actually have a soft tip. Most abu rods I have fished are at least a power heavier than rated. I need the ml to fish like a ml and actually load and cast the baits it's rated for (down to 1/16oz), or at least cast 1/8 total weight well since I have an ultralight for really small stuff. If anyone has used, or even just felt these rods in the store, any opinions would definitely be appreciated. I have Fenwick aetos 6'3" med and my spinning rods and an elite tech smallmouth 6'3" med already. I am trying to find a rod that will throw the same weights as the smallmouth rod, which fishes more like a ml. It doesn't load well with 1/16, but can sling 1/8 oz total. I don't like using it in streams and ponds though because I'm scared of breaking it and getting it muddy. If anyone has used these and could compare that would be even better

In clear water I'd use a more natural pattern. There's some colors really close to the natural thing made in red eye shads, rat l traps, and xcalibur's(getting hard to find but I still have some), and lots of companies bluegill pattern is close enough. I only use firetiger in muddy water

The tatula is the best deal of the bunch. It can be found for 110 on eBay

Cotton Cordell super spot or suspending super spot are the best I've tried. The super spot is a good bait for yo yoing off the bottom shallow as well