fishballer06

I have Suffix 832 (40 and 50 pound) on almost all of my baitcasting reels. I keep a spool of 10 lb. InvisX and 15 lb. AbrasX in my bag for a leader whenever needed. That is for all of my reaction baits, which is what I mostly fish (cranks, jerks, topwater, spinner/chatter baits). I use Sniper FC for all my plastics (12 to 17 pound).

Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps Rapala Husky Jerks and DT's

How has no one mentioned a Rapala DT yet?!

Smackdown or 832 for me.

Another sturdy reel that I haven't seen mentioned is the Abu Ambassadeur

In the past few years, it was a frog colored Skitter Pop. This season, my top producing topwater was easily a 1/4oz. black Cavitron.

Shimano's are always a rock solid performer. But as mentioned above, my Zillion feels like it could be run over by a truck and still keep ticking.

Chub

Update: Bought 5 of them. Had a $10 coupon. Got free shipping. Total price for 5 LC cranks shipped: $26.

Looks like I'm spending more money today...

I buy actual waders. You can get them at any sporting goods store for $50 or so.

I see that all the time on the Fenwicks at my local shop.

I saw that deal in a mail flyer I got. Great price on am already good rod for the money. There certainly isn't another rod out there that even compares for $59.

So next season I'm looking to fish a local tournament series as a rider. The series I'm looking into pairs you with a boater, but you're competing against each other. So my question with this is what is the standard protocol on this? Like for example "boater has a nice fish on, and needs help landing it". Do I help him? Or do I leave him on his own because he is competition? Or say the boater is killing it on a particular lure/color and it's something I don't have, but the other guy has 4 of them sitting in his box. Can I ask him if I can borrow one? I'm just curious as to how this style of competition plays out. I'm sure most of you on here have fished these style events before and can lend some insight. Thanks.

My Dad and I both caught our own personal bests on the same day (Mother's Day 2013). My Dad's was 17" and mine was 16". Even though my Dad's was only 1 inch longer, the body was so much bigger than mine. See the picture of them side by side. I don't think we weighed them individually, but combined they weighed 3.5 pounds.

I noticed my one HMG had a damaged guide (last one before the tip) on it over the weekend whenever I was looking over all my gear. I might consider getting one of these rods to replace it.

All braids that I throw are some shade of a darker green (mostly Suffix 832). I have tried the camo colored stuff and it sticks out like a sore thumb in clearer water. If you're going to use reaction type baits in clearer water with camo braid, I'd highly recommend a FC leader.

I normally put just enough mono on the spool so that the metal of the spool isn't exposed. That will prevent slipping and it saves on some braid.

I've always believed in the willow blades were for running shallower, and colorado were for running deeper. This being attributed to the shapes (a willow will naturally cut through the water better because it's so slender). As for water color/clarity, that is where the blade color is more important. Silver=sunny is the moto I was always taught. And then gold for muddier water.

That's not the lure, that's the Dobyns difference

DD22 might work in that deeper water.

I haven't been on the water in a month. Let me see if I can remember what all I have on what right now. Dobyns Champion 765CB w/ Diawa Zillion 4.9:1 (large, deep cranking) SC Avid X 7' MH-M w/ Shimano Chronarch 201e 5:1 (medium-large cranks) Shimano Crucial 7' M-M w/ Shimano Chronarch ci4 6:1 (small-medium cranks and squarebills) GLoomis TWR 6'5 MH-F w/ Shimano Chronarch ci4 7:1 (jerkbaits and topwater) Shimano Crucial 6'10" MH-F w/ Shimano Chronarch ci4 6:1 (all around rod) BPS Extreme 6'10" MH-XF w/ Shimano Curado I 6:1 (plastics) Dobyns Savy 6'9" ML-F w/ Diawa Ballistic 2000 (crappie and walleye jigging, finesse bass) Fenwick HMG 7' MH-F w/ Shimano Saros 3000 (salmon fishing, and larger bass presentations) BPS Extreme 6'6" M-F w/ Shimano Symetre 2500 (bass fishing lures that are too light for baitcasting) Bullpen at home: SC Musky Mojo 7'6" H-F w/ Abu Garcia 6601 c4 (musky setup obviously) Fenwick HMG 7'2" M-MF w/ Shimano Curado B (I like this for small jerkbaits and lipless cranks) BPS Extreme 6'6" MH-F casting (all around rod) BPS Extreme 7' H-F casting (mainly used for trolling for walleye, also a good Frog rod) SC Premier Crankbait 7' M-M casting (small/light crankbaits) Shimano Sahara 2000 (backup, was my first higher end spinning reel 15 years ago)

I've heard great things about it, but I have no experience with it.

My Father and Grandfather would kill me if I ever used the words "string" and "pole" both in the same sentence. Your setups seem fine. Keep some FC with you in case you need a leader and you're good.

Their website basically explains all of this. Read this link. http://www.bassmaster.com/join-bass-federation-nation-club