timsford

IF I was going to buy a nasci reel, it would be the 2500, since it weighs an ounce and a half less according to tackle warehouse. If the thickest diameter line you will be using is 8lb, then the 2500 holds 140 yards, which is plenty of line for any bass you hook, even on a long cast. If you do decide to get the 3000 size, then yes it is a higher gear. That's why there is an hg in the model number. And judging by the jump up in weight from the 2500, it likely has a larger body. And if you don't like the t knob, you should be able to just swap the knob out for the knob style on the 2500, or any other knob that fits shimano. It looks like a good reel, but I just don't understand how it's very close to the same weight as aluminum reels in its class but it has a plastic frame(nasci 2500 weighs 8.8oz and daiwa makes the exceler, bg, and procyon with aluminum frames at 9.2oz) Unless you are a die hard shimano fan, I'd look at a couple of competitors reels and compare and get my hands on them before buying if possible. I was looking for a spinning reel in the 100 dollar range for my aetos(6'3" med) and after many hours of research to narrow it down and then feeling my final choices in hand, I ended up with the daiwa procyon 2500. It has an aluminium frame that should be more durable, more bearings, and has the same line capacity as the 3000 size shimanos, but weighs over an ounce left even with the metal frame. I love mine and would definitely recommend it. It also has magseal, which is a new magnetic oil designed by daiwa to waterproof the gears, even in salt. And it has a waterproof drag as well.

The differences in the new mojo, avid, and avid x according to st croix are the color of the blank, guides, handle style, place of manufacture, and warranty. The mojo has kigan master hand 3d guides with aluminum oxide rings. It doesn't specify the frame material but I assume it's stainless steel. It has a split cork handle with no foregrip. The mojo is made in mexico and has a 5 year warranty. The scIII blank is painted purple on the mojo. The avid x is painted a grey color and uses kigan z micro guides with aluminum oxide ring and gunsmoke rods. The micro guides usually make the rod feel lighter towards the tip and also helps longer rods to not feel so tip heavy. If you plan on using braid and a leader, micro guides can be a pain depending on the line and knot used, so be aware of that if you haven't used a micro guide rod. It has a split cork handle with a small foregrip. The avid x is made in the us and has a 15 year warranty. The avid uses Fuji guides with alconite rings, which are harder on the scale than aluminum oxide. Since it's harder, it will be more resistant to getting nicks or grooves in the ring from braid. It has a full cork handle and a foregrip. It's made in the us and has a lifetime warranty. With these three it basically depends on whether it's worth it to pay 70-80 bucks more to get a rod manufactured in America with a much longer warranty.

http://diyflyfishing.com/great-smoky-mountains-national-park/#10/35.6216/-83.4741 I'd start here and do some googling to get more info on the streams mentioned. It's actually the great smoky mountains in east Tennessee which are part of the Appalachian mountains

Wow thanks catt! I've been looking for a replacement for my favorite bait, the yum 3" wooly hawgtail in black blue for a couple years now. The baby hoodaddy looks like a really close alternative. I don't know what it is about the ribs but I've caught TONS of fish in the 3" when they wouldn't bite anything else and the 4.5" for a kicker fish bait catches some real hogs. And they seem to hold it a lot longer because of the ribs.

Smithwick rogue floaters come in a regular and shallow version. The shallow version has a max depth of 2 ft. You can also heat the bill with a lighter on lots of baits and bend it down a little to make it run shallow. We do it in my neck of the woods with red fins and big long a jerkbaits to turn them into super shallow runners to wake on top for stripers and big bass

For an inexpensive rod, it's hard to beat the heavy power Berkeley lightning rod shock IMO. It can definitely handle the plopper and its under 60 bucks retail. It has a softer tip designed for braid that works well with treble and moving baits with mono. They are often on sale at the Walmart stores close to me so definitely check there to get a feel for it and also look because they are often on sale. It's a little tip heavy but if you use it for big cranks, top waters, swimbaits, and light a-rigs then it's not as big a deal since they are tip down techniques anyway

I'd get a daiwa exceler off eBay for a little over 60, or h20 mettle from academy on sale for a reel, or look for a used bps pro qualifier or shimano citica d. Then I'd get either the Fenwick hmx 6'6" mh or 7ft mh or the Abu Garcia vendetta 7'mh from ffo tackle for about 45. Any of those reels has a better braking system and I'm not for sure on the mettle but the other 3 I mentioned have an aluminum frame that should be more durable than the graphite(plastic) pro max, and the rods are a definite step up from the rods that come with the combos

I actually stumbled across my now favorite length for jerkbait, topwater, and skipping rods by breaking 3 inches off the tip of a 6'6" medium power fast action. It was kind of soft for a medium and after I broke it and retiped it I tried it out and it had the perfect power and action for the baits I like to throw. Now I own several rods that length because I really liked it. I wouldn't recommend breaking one on purpose, but if you can get a really good deal, it's worth a shot imo. Just be aware that St Croix rods fish a little heavier than most manufacturers and with 3 inches broke off, it's definitely going to be a power heavier than rated and get into the backbone a lot quicker. Just think of a medium power fast as a medium heavy extra fast and you should be able to get the action and power you are looking for

How far do you guys think kvd can sling a crank bait with a 10ft rod? I've actually considered buying a surf rod to sling swimbaits and other baits way out there. I like fishing swimbait and big lip less cranks for whatever bites below the dams at tims ford, nickajack, and Chickamauga lakes. If you saw how wide the river is and how small a percentage of the water you could cover from shore, you might consider it too. There's lots of guys that use them for catfish on the Tennessee river. I may buy a 2 piece mojo surf rod so I can try the long rods out and get a Daiwa ss tournament 1600 or 2600 spinning reel. I know it can handle anything I hook in freshwater and I'll have a combo I can use on the beach if we go on vacation.

The klx or helium 3 would both be great choices but they are a little over 200. Personally I'd get the 13 *** black on sale for 220 at tackle warehouse, but if you are wanting an American made rod, either of the kistlers would be great choices. I'd also look around and see what I could find used. I've seen good condition loomis glx bcr flipping rods go for around the same price, and if you are open to buying used, you can get some great deals.

Any of those 3 would be a great rod. I'd choose the helium 3 personally because of the nfc blank. It just has that it factor for me. The avid or avid X are very nice rods as well though, and no slouch when it comes to sensitivity, and I've heard lots of people that really like the e6x so I'd say you can't go wrong with any of the ones you mentioned What is your budget on the new rod? Casting or spinning? What techniques are you needing to get a rod to cover, or do you want an all around type rod. What species do you fish for? Where do you live and what type of water do you fish? I know that seems like a lot of questions, but it's hard to recommend anything without knowing a little more

Topwater walkers and poppers, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, crankbaits, lipless cranks, flukes, swimbaits, and stickworms get the majority of my casts in the fall. As it gets colder I use more jerkbaits, blade baits, spoons, tailspinners, and a-rigs

I basically have 2. Green pumpkin and black and blue. I can add a little orange to green pumpkin to imitate craw colors in my area or add orange and blue to match bluegill on a swimjig. I use black and blue in muddy water or at night

Jerkbaits are my favorite bait to throw, and there are no set in stone rules as to what will work at any given time. There are some general guidelines I use when selecting one though. First is time of year and water temperature. In cold water I use suspending jerkbaits 99% of the time. Most of the time i want it to suspend neutrally, but sometimes I upsize hooks and/or split ringsto make them sink slowly or downsize to make them slow float. In warmer weather, I use mostly floating jerkbaits as they seem to trigger more bites. Weather and water temperature also plays a part in how I retrieve the bait. In the winter if it's cold or cloudy I usually get more bites moving it slow with longer pauses. If a warm front comes through I retrieve it much more fast and erratic. It pays to experiment though. Sometimes they want it dead sticked on top, sometimes a slow steady retrieve is best. Sometimes they want long pauses and small twitches and sometimes they want it ripped and twitched as fast as you can reel. Color selection and bait size i choose is based on the size and type of forage and also the target species and water clarity. I like to match the hatch with bait size and color to the time of year and main forage species. If the bait fish are small I use smaller baits.

The model a and wiggle wart are my favorites, I haven't done a whole lot with the big o, but to be fair I haven't tried it a lot so I'm going to have to try it again. The balsa baits work fine for me in rocks, as long as I'm bumping and stopping the bait into them on the retrieve. I have had them break by hitting stuff on the cast, but I've only broke one or two I can remember on the retrieve and then I was digging it in the bottom really hard and also there's no telling how many fish I had caught on those baits before, or how many times I had fished them before. Sometimes the balsa baits like bagleys are the only way to trigger the fish

Me too, along with the war eagle and booyah night baits. I like black, black/red, and black/blue. These 1 dollar baits do work well when the bigger ones won't sometimes though

Hunting? All you have to do is go on flea bay and type tatula in the search bar. Or go to Sportsmans outfitters.com and do the same thing.

Black Friday, the day after thanksgiving

You can use any lure with spinning tackle, provided you have a reel with gearing that is powerful and durable enough to retrieve high resistance baits like big cranks and spinner baits and the strain of horsing fish from heavy cover with braid using frogs and punching. And provided you can find a rod suitable for those techniques or afford to have a custom built on a casting blank. Other than that I guess you could use one for anything but a baitcaster is going to have a lot more power with any resistance bait and it's a lot easier to find a casting rod in long lengths that are best for many techniques, moderate or moderate fast crankbait actions, and heavier powers

I use the small 1/4 oz and even 3/16 oz baits like the booyah pond magic or war eagle finesse spinnerbait when I want to use a more finesse approach and can't get bites on the big one, or when fishing a tournament to finish out a limit quick. The cheaper Walmart ones I mainly only use the black single Colorado at night in shallow water. I have a milk run of shallow flats and cover that usually hold fish at night. I can retrieve the 1/4 oz size a lot slower than the heavier sizes. I still slow roll it on bottom and kill it very so often to make sure I'm near bottom. I also use small spinner baits with double willows to finesse smallmouth, and double colorado, or Colorado/Indiana combinations. I usually add weight to the bait with a rubber core sinker pinched on the hook and add a quality trailer hook. Then I can burn them on top for smallmouth or slow roll them deep in cover for finicky bass. I basically modify them into a hidden weight spinnerbait. I know I can buy them like that, but I can carry less baits and just carry a few rubber core sinkers and trailer hooks and have a small light bait to fish shallow and then I can use the same bait to burn on top without rolling or slow roll deep. I'm all about bigger baits, but sometimes the fish want a smaller profile and a lot of times a reaction bait like a spinnerbait or crank bait is the only way to get them to bite. Try it sometime when the bite is tough and it may just save your day like it has for me many times

I've used the black single Colorado ones at night too. They are a great slightly smaller alternative to the ones I normally use and get bites some of the bigger ones wont. I do a couple of mods on mine. I use a black zip tie on the skirt so the band won't break and sharpen the hook a little with a file. Also it's not really a mod but at night I prefer rattles on my spinner baits and a trailer with a little bulk to help the fish find the bait. I always use a beaver or small paddle tail with a glass rattle or two inserted in it for a trailer.

The handle from the spirex will fit other shimanos. There are threads on a couple of walleye boards on guys swapping the handles out on a Sedona with the spirex handle. I don't know for sure what all reels it will fit though. Daiwa has the emeraldas reel with double handles and it interchanges into several reels also. Might be cheaper to buy one of these two handles instead of the hedgehog parts if you can find a shimano or daiwa you like that can fit them

Daiwa tatula 7'6" heavy flipping rod for 110 on Sportsmans outfitters site gets my vote

I'd get a medium heavy fast or extra fast rod around 7ft for Texas rigs and jigs and get a faster reel for it and the compre rod. Then get a cranking rod around 7ft and put the low gear reel on your first rod listed onto it instead. Then you have your heavy rod, a medium heavy rod for single hooks, a crank bait and treble hook rod, a spinning combo for finesse stuff, and then you still have two medium power rods to use for whatever holes need filled. Personally I'd use the stiffer of the two for light bottom contact and the other for top water and smaller spinnerbaits and reaction baits

That's a sweet deal on a great rod! I love the 6'3" medium and use it for skipping, jerkbaits, and accurate caats with finesse stuff to targets