fishballer06

Trust me, the 684CB is much too soft for jerkbaits. I bought one for jerkbaits, it's now a small squarebill/shad rap rod. I use two rods for my jerkbait needs. GLoomis TWR773 - 6'5" MH fast action St. Croix Avid AV70MF - 7'0" M fast action

Lucky Craft 78's

We're all friends here. You should share with us where you got such a deal... PM me if you prefer.

I would ballpark 5.5 to 7 pounds.

I'm a huge fan of the DT lineup and they're my favorite line of crankbaits. I'm a big cranking guy, so I think this says something for them. I probably own every color in every size and multiples of many of the producing colors, along with a bunch that I've had custom painted. I have never had one just "fall apart" on me like many people claim. I had one split in half whenever I first started using them because I was slapping the water to clear weeds, which is a no-no with balsa baits. And then I had another one that I snapped the bill off the body whenever I casted and hit a concrete bridge piling. So again, my fault totally. Overall, I highly recommend picking some up. Everybody has their own personal preference for baits, but the DT series is one of those baits that is definitely well respected. You can't go wrong for a $6 bait, whenever some crankbaits are getting up in the $10-15 range.

Keitech Swing Fat SK Rage Swimmer Jackall Rhthym Wave Doyle's Custom Zipper

Braid is braid. It's never going to have the stealthy-ness that fluoro has. If you need braid, use braid. If you need invisibility, use fluoro.

Most of the above guys have stated some useful information. Additional factors to consider in the summer time can be dissolved oxygen, water temperature, and shade.

My go to crappie setup. 1/8oz jig and a fathead minnow. My go to deep walleye setup. 1/4oz jig and a leech.

I don't have a preference. Both work great and are easy to operate.

Next comes the chatterbait... The bait monkey welcomes us all with open arms.

I prefer a fast action, myself. I understand his philosophy, but generally whenever I am fishing a swim jig, I'm in/around aquatic vegetation, so I need a fast action rod to rip the jig through the hangups. If in the event my line goes slack, I'm probably thinking its a bite or I'm on a piece or grass, so I will rip the rod (set the hook) in that scenario. If you've fished a swim jig enough, you know how to detect a bite.

The Quantum Tour MG is 5.3 oz., Revo MGX is 5.4 oz, Shimano Stile 5.2 oz. There are lots of reels these days in the sub 6oz. category.

Aldebaran Stile Curado/Chronarch 50 or the new 70 i series Brenious Tour MG Pixy

We have many of the same baitfish here in PA as well, Francho. We only have a few lakes that have shad in them (2 that I have personally fished). Lots of the shad will die with the ice, sometimes they even get frozen in the ice. In the spring whenever the ice starts melting, the eagles, hawks, and other predators can often be seen out of the ice scooping up all of the dead shad. Here's an interesting report on Lake Wilhelm and how the gizzard shad have taken over that lake. I've heard that the PAFBC has been electroshocking the lake and harvesting the shad in order to get the numbers down. Wilhelm can be a tough lake to fish, but there are big bass in it. Our club tournament on it in 2015 had a 26 pound, six fish limit for first place. This year, another club I'm in it took 19 pounds on a four fish limit to win. https://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/reports/2011bio/2x05_03wilhelm.htm

The white spinnerbait. Ahh... If I had a dollar for every bass in the world that has fallen victim to a white spinnerbait...

Are you sure they are shad, and not some other type of baitfish? Shad aren't too common in the northern states because cold water kills them. Regardless of what they are, it could be possible. But fish are just like people. They get hungry, they eat. Then they get full and they get lazy. Eventually, they get hungry again and have to eat. And just like how you keep food in your kitchen, the bass will keep their food sources close by too.

Throwing oil on the bearings might not do much. Chances are there is grease packed into the bearings, causing this issue. Hence why they need flushed, sonic cleaned, lubed, and reassembled.

I wouldn't base my opinion over which brand is better after only owning one reel from each company. Especially if you aren't overly experienced or familiar with how casting reels work. I have a Chronarch e5 and it probably casts further than any of my other reels in the small/mid size category (large swimbait reels are a different story). Having a reel properly cleaned/lubed, proper braking, line, lure weight, and rod type would all greatly effect your casting distance. You mentioned shopping at Gander Mtn. I know that Shimano is notorious for packing their reels full of grease from the factory. I've seen it from the cheap Caenan, all the way up to the high end Metanium/Aldebaran line. They do this so the reels can sit on the shelves for years, and then be taken out and used upon being sold. I know last summer I found a DSG selling a Curado 201G on clearance for $50. I bought it, took it home and opened it up, and the grease inside was caked everywhere and was all dried/gummed up. I'm guessing this reel had sat on the shelf around 6-8 years (I peeled off 5 different clearance stickers from the box). I cleaned and re-lubed the whole thing and it was slinging lures like a champ. If you feel like your Chronarch is a dud, I, along with many other members on here, will assure you it is not a dud. I highly suggest sending it in to Mike at DVT for a good clean/lube if you are not familiar with how to do this. I've sent him numerous reels over the past few years and he does an excellent job for only around $20 per reel.

I can't foresee them dumping the Cabelas name and stores completely. The name is too well known and valuable (hence why they wanted to buy them out, I'm sure). It will be interesting to see what they do with their in house brands, Redheads/Herters.

Who would oppose $5.5 billion??? This has been in the talks for over a year now. I'll be curious to see how this turns out in the long run. Both places are already very overpriced compared to most online tackle places, however the Cabelas clothing has always been decent quality and fairly priced. Regardless of pricing, the stores are always fun to visit. It would be a shame if they close some of the Cabelas stores and all those people lose their jobs.

I would be willing to bet that St. Croix keeps track of the serial numbers on the "broken" rods that they sell for this, and doesn't allow people to take this loophole to get themselves a shiny new rod... But I could be wrong.

Google search your town/city and bass club. I'm sure you have some small local clubs in your area. See if you can join even though you're under 18. You could probably join as a co-angler.

Braid has come a long way in the past 15 years. I've got quite a few that all work great for me. 832, TCB 8, FX2.

I've been trying to think when and where a 9-10 foot rod would be practical. I can imagine for pitching and flipping it would be nice. You could basically just drop a bait in there. It might also be nice around docks because you could quickly pull the fish away from the dock. Other than that, it would be beneficial for throwing some of those huge swimbaits that are on the market and that are coming in over the 5-6oz. mark. Similar to what the musky guys use. One point I brought up to my buddy whenever we saw this last night was "What boat out there will hold a 10 foot rod"? I'd imagine these long sticks will be left on the decks all day. Another concern to thing about is can you imagine trying to boat flip a fish with a rod that long. You'll be on the front deck and flipping the fish onto the back deck.