Ozark_Basser

Then it should be just the opposite. Cranks should be given sloppy paint jobs while soft plastics should be more detailed if the fish get a better look at it.

Marketing.

Anything but a soft bottom.

Chatterbaits, square bills, and jigs tight to cover would be my plan.

What rippin-lips said is very true. I have a 7'MH that took more than 2 ounces on the butt to achieve balance. This is the case with most factory built rods. If you really want a balanced setup, you should build your own. Use the lightest, smallest, and fewest guides possible with short wraps and one coat of epoxy. Move your reel seat up just a bit, and, depending on your blank choice, you will have a nicely balanced AND lightweight setup without adding extra weight.

To acheive balance? Adding weight to the butt would require less weight overall to balance out the setup, so it would be better to add weight there.

Join the club. I'm in the same boat as you. Apparently this is extremely common with this reel. Mine has done it since I bought it, but it goes away for a while then comes back.

Bass will also spawn in very shallow water right next to the bank if they have to. The clearer the water, the farther out and deeper they will spawn.

Very possible. I've caught an 8, two 7's, and a few 5's and 6's out of a pond that was probably almost an acre. This was over the course of a few years so some of them could have been the same fish. I did keep the first few (I was pretty young) that were all in the 5-6 lb range, so not all of them were the same fish. Our state record was recently broken (but he was denied it because he didn't have a fishing license) in a lake like you are talking about, maybe a smidge bigger. The fish weighed over 16 lbs.

When I first started fishing bigger baits like jigs, swimbaits, and bigger crankbaits, etc., I did catch more adult bass and large adult bass, but bigger baits are not always the answer. You need to learn how to target larger bass according to the conditions. Sometimes bigger baits do more harm then good.

Excellent lol.

Hank Parker once caught a 10 lber..... while releasing a 10 lber. Hank Parker doesn't need a Boga Grip....his skin is impervious to hooks....and he already knows the weight of the bass....before it strikes his bait.

Hank Parker once caught four fish at once....on a jig. Hank Parker doesn't need a braking system on his baitcaster. He uses telekinesis....his power comes from his mustache. Hank Parker doesn't fish tournaments....tournaments fish against Hank Parker.

Phenix x series are composite. What you and fisherrw suggested are the same rod.

Thats no good. Those hooks aren't so great. I've had them bend out on two pounders.

Very cool. I have the same hand wrapper as you also.

Start out with a swim jig with a simple chuck and wind retrieve. Note how and where you catch fish with the swim jig and adjust your bait to either a chatterbait or spinnerbait according to conditions. I have found it's a little easier to gain confidence in a swim jig. This is how I choose Muddy/highly stained water: I'll start with a chatterbait due to its strong vibration. Make sure you come in contact with the cover you are fishing. I'll throw a spinnerbait or a swim jig if I'm not getting bit. Clear water: swim jig. If the wind picks up I'll throw a spinnerbait. Again, I make sure you come into contact with some type of cover. If no cover is available, I'll give either one an erratic retrieve I.e. pumping a swim jig or giving the line slack so the spinnerbait drops straight down, or burning either one with short pauses. These are just starting points, doing just the opposite could and probably will work on any given day, but that's how I start out if I'm throwing "single hook moving baits".

Even if it is fairly deep fish kills are more likely to happen in water with a very thick sheet of ice. Thick ice causes less light penetration which is used in photosynthesis for algae and phytoplankton which produce oxygen. Respiration from fish can outweigh photosynthesis using up all the oxygen. This is how fish kills occur for you guys up north a lot of times over winter. I'd take a stroll around the pond to see if I could spot any bass though.

Lots of big gals in NW Arkansas well. No need for a fancy Lowrance with Structure Scan. Just go to your local Walmart.

Very nice. The older zillion is my favorite reel of all time.

Wind will oxygenate the water as well. Since you live in Canada, i would worry about the entire pond freezing over in winter. How deep is it?

Slack line sensitivity is very important for bottom contact baits. Yes, braid is a lot more sensitive, but that's only on a tight line. I've been experimenting with this a whole lot lately, and I urge you to do the same. When fishing bottom contact baits, semi slack line is very important. It allows the fish to take the bait without feeling you, and they just seem to bite it better on a semi slack line. I guarantee that a nice fish comes up, eats your bait, and spits it out more than you realize. This is where fluoro has the advantage over braid. Due to its density, it transmits those bites much better on a semi slack line. In shallow water, on a short to average length cast, this doesn't play as big of a role because you can watch the line jump when using braid. Also you have a lot less slack line in the water when fishing shallow water, so the braid doesn't have as much of a bow in it so it's still pretty sensitive. But on a long cast and especially in deep water, braid will bow and slack line sensitivity is definitely an advantage. Larger fish with larger mouths can suck in a bait without it feeling like much at all on your end.

They make guides that are more tangle resistant, but your line still gets tangled sometimes. One option is to not use braid. Another option is interline technology. I don't know much about it, or why it hasn't caught on in the bass fishing world, but it's interesting. I'm sure there are better write ups out there somewhere, but here's a good explanation of what it is. http://www.allfishingbuy.com/Interline-Rods.htm

For the most part, yes. He is right. Especially for cheaper rods. If your price range is say sub 200 or maybe 150, then you are probably going to be better off buying mass produced rods. There probably is still some instances where you could save some money on cheaper mass produced rods by building something similar or exactly them same yourself though. Take any top dollar rod by Megabass as an example. You could get a K2 blank and get your components from Matagi and build a rod that looks exactly the same and probably performs just as well while saving hundreds of dollars, and you get to customize it the way you want. Even if you hired a custom rod builder to do it for you, you'd save a lot of money. Start up costs aren't even that bad if you just get the bare essentials such as epoxy, thread, a cardboard box, a thread bobbin, some razor blades, tape, and brushes. I personally didn't do that, but I'm sure there are people out there that build very nice rods this way.