BigSkyBasser

I honestly just started fishing with jigs this year on a regular basis. I used my Revo s on a 7' Lightning Rod. The only reason most fisherman out here flip jigs is to target the larger smallies when we find schools. I haven't really invested good money in a nicer baitcast rod yet but have my eye on a couple Fenwick and Dobyns that I might cash in on.

Two on top and two on bottom. Ive had large northerns pull my rod out of my hand holding it any other way.

I had to ween my gf off of live bait unless we're trout fishing. However now she'll only throw Texas rigged plastics and drop shot. Cannot show her any other techniques.

Ive been looking at Pfluegers BC reels for a while. Either the patriarch or supreme. Im assuming you like yours of you had it paired on a Croix?

I second the drooling. Walleye is the best freshwater fish you will ever eat.

I've also heard it depends on the reel. I've thrown braid on my Revo s and my Curado and could rarely do anything other than backlash the crap out of the spools. Have not had the issue since switching to flouro and mono. I'll have to try again eventually though as I need to be a versatile fisherman to make it anywhere in the tournament fields.

If you switch to braid you will backlash a lot. I have had the hardest time of all throwing anything on braid with casters. Granted I'm new to baitcasters but my experiences so far have been consistent with what I've heard about it. I'm sticking to mono right now for top water rigs.

I can relate to this, as my girlfriend always wants me to be close by, but also blames me for the bite being slow, or pitching on top of her fish. So I can never win.

I use an Okuma Reflexion 6'6" MH I traded out of a pawn shop brand new and it has some great back bone and action for top water fishing. Sits nicely below the $100 range for a decent rod as well.

My experiences with co-polymer have been inconsistent. I have tried and tested both Gamma and P-Line brand copolymer and Gamma impressed me more but I really didn't like either that much. Personally I prefer to just invest in flouro on both casters and spinning outfits. Or braid and mono depending on the outfit.

Today marks a great moment in history! I finally convinced my girlfriend of two years and avid angler to let me teach her on casting reels. The very first thing she did his hold the rod out in front of her and click the bail.....without her thumb on the spool. She also picked out her very first backlash. Overall was a fun day before work and the gratification I felt from getting through her head the joys and benefits of having versatile equipment was great. Anyone else had to battle with their significant other over learning casting equipment? The picture below is less related and just a picture of her with a nice rainbow.

Yeah I've seen them do this before, not sure if it's them identifying the bait as a threat or what. Seem it a lot right before they reject your bait. Sounds like a gorgeous day though!

Palomar has always been one I can tie. The clinch is one I feel shakey with on heavier lines. Also still working on the uni.

This fishing season has been the highlight of my use with baitcasting reels so far and has consequently introduced me to much heavier lines. The pros of this are obvious, less common drawbacks and struggles are what I'm trying to smooth out with some important tournaments coming up soon. The biggest issue right now is with tying sturdy knots on heavy flouro and mono (upwards of 12 lbs.) Braid doesn't seem to have these same issues. Wondering if you folks use different knots to accommodate different line sizes and types?

I do like the XPS and SK as well. They seem to be more durable than a lot of other SB cranks I've thrown. I love the performance of live target hard baits, but they break easier than anything I've ever seen.

Squarebills are designed to deflect off of cover. Spend a day fishing between a Storm Arashi and a rapala shallow runner. Youll notice the difference. And you'll also catch a couple fish

Side arms will come. I actually learned them first. The overhand cast is by far the hardest. Really trying to whip it out there at first is usually an automatic backlash, and a good 10+ minutes picking it out Haha. Ive noticed that I can actually pitch and flip more accurately on a bait caster and seem to also get better hook sets when fishing Texas rigs and frogs.

That's what I was hoping being that I have several lightning rods and they've out preformed other much more expensive equipment. Sorry for the repost through, was just too excited when I discovered this. Will most likely be getting the spinning rod first. I like the way they've started splitting the cork grip, does so much to the sensitivity.

16 years ago when I was introduced to baitcasters, no one had ever explained the difference to me and I saw now clear advantages. Once I really started researching bass fishing heavily it became apparent that different techniques are often aided by accommodating gear. Finally nutted up and bought my first, a Shimano Curado.First mistake was having it spooled with braid, which iI've repetitively heard is the hardest line to cast with at first. Then made the switch to mono. Finally got the hang of pitching a heavy jig into a bucket in the backyard. Third mistake was not buying my girlfriend one because she did not make the conversion with me, so now when we're fishing and I'm backlashing the crap out of my Revo s. She is laughing her butt off and flipping her pflueger president I bought her for her birthday. Still working on it.

Berkeley has been advertising pretty heavily lately, and there latest marketing push (if you had not already seen) was for the new E-Motion rod series. These things honestly look like something I would buy. Currently they're only available on Berkley's website but are sure to hit Cabelas, BPS, Gander Mountain, etc. At any time. Had anyone had a chance to demo or fish one yet?

Depends on the time of year. Pre Spawn is usually a universal favorite for smallie fisherman. Water temps are fluctuating and most of the larger fish if found shallower will be aggressively feeding and can be caught on most presentations. We live and die with a drop shot rod in the hand. However the just last week caught all of our nicer fish on wacky rigged stick baits and swimbaits.