fishballer06

803 - Senko's 853 - lighter jigs/plastics 854 - heavier jigs/plastics Step up to an 89 if you prefer a 7'5" rod for any of these presentations.

The same things that happen to every other buzz/spinner-bait style lure. Wires bend out (or break), blades break, etc. I will say this. I fish buzzbaits on braid and I have never bent out a hook on a Cavitron.

This link should help. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=shoal+bass

Gene Larew Tattle Tale (6 & 8" versions) Grande Bass Airtail Wiggler (6.5") GYCB Senko 5" Berkley Shakey Snake

I've had Cavitron's last me 30+ fish, and I've had some last me 3 fish before. The pike and bowfin can destroy a buzzbait in no time. The same can be said about boat flipping 4+ pound bass with them. For the most part though, my Cavitron's usually last me quite a few fish.

I thought it was common practice to just use the boater's plastics and tell him you'll pay him back next time?

Staples in my arsenal: Lures: Rapala DT Lucky Craft Flat Deep DR Lucky Craft RTO 1.5 Mann's Baby 1- Lucky Craft Pointer 78 and 100 Plastics: Keitech SIF - Keel weighted, underspin, or VMC Boxer jighead Mann's Jelly Worm Netbait Paca Slim and Baby Craw Netbait C Mac

This was last year on one of the creeks we fish in New York.

Usually a Nurti-grain bar or granola bar in the morning. And then I bring Swedish Fish or those Trolli multicolored crawler worms to snack on throughout the day, because, you know, I'm still a kid at heart...

Glad I'm not the only one who gets this joke

The Pointer 78 is my go to jerkbait. I'm not sure what's going on that you're missing so many bites because I have very little issues.

If you like a bulkier rubber knob, check out the knobs on the new Curado K. They're much beefier than any previous rubber knob from Shimano.

The Lowrance Hook models are great units for the money. Buy the biggest screen you can afford.

Custom made and hand tied - Go with Seibert jigs. I really like their finesse and sniper jigs. Manufactured - Dirty Jigs is my favorite brand. The Scott Canterbury flipping, swim jig, and the Luke Claussen finesse are my favorites from them.

It catches smallmouth around here bigger than the text you used to ask this question!

832 and TCB are my favorites for spinning gear.

Quantum doesn't get much love in recent years like they did in the 80's and 90's, and I think it's because their quality went downhill for a little while. However, I have held and fished a few of Quantum's more recent reels, like the Smoke (original model, not the S3 that you mentioned) and the Tour MG (their flagship reel). While both reels were smooth during the reel, they both had their odd quirks and features that left me scratching my head some, and they certainly didn't feel nearly as refined as the similar offerings from Shimano and Daiwa in the same price range. The braking system on my Tour MG was a nightmare to access and I could never get it fully dialed in like I wanted. If you're a Lew's guy and you want to try something different, but that's familiar to you, I'd recommend going with an Abu Garcia Revo model. Lew's and Abu are both made in the same factory oversea's and are nearly identical in form factor and some of their parts are even interchangeable (from my understanding). I've fished the MGX, STX, and Rocket models from Abu and I found them a little nicer than the two Quantum reels I mentioned above. If it were me in your shoe's and my wife was buying me a reel (in the $150-200 range since you're mentioning the Smoke S3), I would likely go with the Shimano Curado K. My second choice would be the Daiwa Tatula SV. These two reels are highly regarded as the best reels out there in your price range.

This is very important. Some of the pressured ponds I fish require me to stand 15-20 yards from the waters edge. 9 times out of 10, if you can see the fish, they can see you.

It doesn't take much bend at all to fix an out of tune bait at all. More often than not you can't even tell that you bent it at all.

In the sub $80 category, you're probably not going to see much difference in terms of quality. So I would buy whatever length/power/action suits your needs and enjoy owning your new rod.

That's an easy one to remove. You're lucky! I always carry side cutters on me in case of the emergency that they're needed. I've never buried one past the barb on myself, but I did have to cut a frog out of my buddies scalp earlier this summer. We were both glad I had those cutters when it happened.

Sounds like you need to pick up some flowers and chocolate...

I've never understood why guys say they don't fight either. They might not make runs and jump out of the water like a bass, but the one's we catch of significant size (20"+) love to stay down and give a really good head thrash. Such a fun fish to catch.

Change location. Move to the wind blown shore or point. If no luck there, move to the next drop off from where you were fishing.

Something impossible to backlash? Any Shimano DC controlled reel.