Angry John

These grips are great for yakers as stated previously. The only time i use them is when trebble fishing as i dont own a net. I fish a jig or single hook far more often and it keeps the amount of gear storage down. I lived on the east cost for a while and i used them mostly for pickeral and pike. They are a great tool and worth the price IMO.

For the most consistent action the hollow body frog has been the best to me. I love the spro popping frogs the best. I have a r2s spitting wa but have almost no time on the water with it to give it a rating. Frogs are so versatile and changing the color can change what your trying to mimic. White black and brown will cover most situations but once you start it will be hard to stop. I do not fish these in the winter and i have put them away for the season, but they will produce some of the most heart thumping strikes in all of fishing as the bass or pike explode out of the water on the take. Sammy's are cool but i like the DUO pencil the best of the rover type baits. Walkers like the r2s bubble walker are great. I dont use poppers but a lot of people love them.

Connecticut is great water and i have fished almost half the state on the east side. The rivers are good for SMB and LMB and the lakes were decent. I was reborn a fisherman i this state so i may be a little jaded. I now live in washington state next to the puget sound and its very rough. This is the hardest place to figure them out and i have never found a pattern here yet. NY was much easier for me!

http://www.lowpriceguns.com/product.php_284496 This is the model of 45-70 that i am used to and can speak to. The longer barrel is sweet and it will not have rust issues. I prefer stainless guns as most of the areas i live in have high humidity and or are on the coast. There are a lot of loads that work well in this gun and the recoil is not as bad with the very nice pad on the back. Note: the lever revolution round put out by hornady are brutal and i like hand loads most for this gun. Marlin 1895 XLR Lever Action Rifle - 45-70 Government - 24" Barrel - Stainless Finish - Black / Grey Laminate Stock - 7.5 lbs - 4+1 Round - 1895XLR

I would like to have my first custom rod built. I see a lot of good builders out there, and i need to bite the bullet and have one done!

I like 832 after it has broken in, but not my favorite. Performance braid is good stuff and i have a bunch of it. I have this thing about liking sonic braid. I found a bunch of it very cheap on the auction site and it works well for me. 65lb on my frog rod and it is going strong for 3 seasons. I tried 20lb PPSS8 and i had fraying issues with it. It was very limp and handled amazing but would come appart. I have never liked the regular PP due to all the noise in the guides. There are a lot of good products out there and you will have to try a few out to see what suites you best.

Good buy, they normally run 99.99. I ran that 7'3" as a frog rod for a while, works great.

No reason to let people get you down. Hell of a nice fish 3" longer than my PB great job!!!

The bullet shape along with the weight will change bullet travel a lot. For very short ranges using a flat tip bullet would work great and the loss in speed would not be a factor. Have you considered a 45/70? The drop is fast on the heavy bullets and you would not have to hunt down an animal if you got even a decent hit. http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/ballistics/2014-Standard-Ballistics.pdf

Speed is so variable. If your working a floater to slow might be bad because it is not in the strike zone long enough. Sinking crankbaits are the same. I have some suspenders that i use a stop and start retrieve. It works best for me in the cold the same time of year as jerkbaits. So yes!

I dont know how much your into using leaders but you may consider using a sort length of heavy fluorocarbon. The guys that fish a lot of pike and musky use 100-150 for this very reason. Pickerel are not that big so you may look at using 40 or 50. When i was in ct i was using 80 for pike and they still got me some times. A lot of guys use wire or titanium wire but that kills the stealth approach. A short section 8 inches or so is all that you would need, and might give you a lot better piece of mind. If you crank with 12-15 lb YHB you will do fine most of the time but still loose a few. Its the nature of having toothy critters. The harder the line the better bite protection you will get and the worse the handling will be. Berkley big game is another great option cheap and very strong, but the handling for me was not worth it.

I did not catch anything yesterday but last week i got five bass 3 on a small watermelon tube dropshot with 14" dropper. I got another two on the larger rc stx jerkbait in pro blue. I am directly west of you in silverdale.

I have never fished one but the devils horse is supposed to be great. I used to throw a jitterbug a few seasons ago in CT. The WA fish dont bat an eye at a topwater until very late in the season. Any of the prop baits should be money right at spawn or after. It takes forever for the water to warm here due to the cold winds off the coast, puget sound is cold all year round.

Look for a hump or a road bed. Look also for some type of other structure like the end of points and steep walls. Steep drops is a good place for fish to elevator up and down to look for food during the winter.

4" watermelon cane stick worm and duo 62 crankbait

I have one its the mlxf. I posted my review at TW. Not hard to find as its the only one!

I keep one in my bag for emergent repairs and a backup when my three year old looses my needle nose pliers over the side.

I like to find deals on the best stuff i can find. I own 2 steez reels right now and a few quality sticks. My favorite is my st croix legend, but i also have some dobyns dx rods. I would say i fit best in the second group, but finding my steez flexlight for half price got me really excited. I love high end gear but i have yet to go all out with megabass or evergreen. I would love an orange monoblock !!!!

I would look at a rod 7ish feet in a fast for the frog and buzz bait. This will depend on cover if the cover is heavy then you may need a heavy rod. Poppers vary with size but most of the time i am throwing them on a medium. The frog takes a lot of power to drive in the hooks if your using a hollow body like a spro or snag proof. Most poppers are trebble baits and i use a slower taper rods on those hooks. On the positive side you could also fish small swim baits and jigs on the MHF rod and a second moderate taper would be best for the poppers and crankbaits. JMO

I use a 2000 size daiwa on a fenwick 6'10" mlxf bass rod right now. I had a 702 lamiglas excel that was good as well. I am very curious about the new avid-x as i love the regular avids so I might try one of those next. I like 2000 sized reels even though most bass guys use the 2500 series. I have found that you can get great deals on the smaller reels. I picked up a certate 2000 for 225 shipped of the auction site.

Another thing that may work for you is getting a single piece motorcycle rain suite. Mine was just a shell that i could dress for warmth underneath. http://www.cyclegear.com/BILT-Tornado-Waterproof-Motorcycle-Suit

Dobyns seems to use a different scale and go up to 8 power. I consider them one less than the same power of everyone else. I use a lot of st croix which everyone goes the other way with. Dobyns 4 power is a medium in my eyes.

No that is not what you want to do. It was as a light solvent to displace water in airplane components. You can get some desiccant and put it in one of the slots. Put your boxes in a closet inside the house to prevent condensation from very cold weather. http://www.amazon.com/Silica-Gel-Desiccants-Packets-Dry-Packs/dp/B004FC53YC/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1417407920&sr=1-4&keywords=dessicant+packets

Now is the time of year to move on a rod as there are tons of sales. If you spend over 50 tackle warehouse ships for free and has 20% off right now. If you said how much you had to spend and a little about what you prefer in a rod we could point you in the right direction.

Boca is just one of the brands out there and lots of people like different brands. I like the ZPI sic bearings and others like the hedgehog. Stock bearings on high end reels are good. Swaps on shimano cores or daiwa steez reels is just not worth it. Good cleaning and lube of stock bearings will improve casting a lot. If your reel is several seasons old and have not been maintained then they might be a good upgrade to restore casting.