Angry John

I like to start the day fishing topwater near cover. Even if i dont catch them i find it easier to pattern the fish and tell their mood. If they hammer the topwater there in an aggressive mood and i am bound to have a fun day. If that does not work then i shift to a moving bait to cover water. I like a swim jig but a smaller swim bait with or without an underspin can get threw most cover and still be fished fast. Once the sun is up then work off the patterns that you have found.

It depends on the target species. My so is now 8 and I have been threw a lot of gear. Had I had to do it all over again I would have him a cheap rod made. The ultra light rods suck because they have no power. Mhx has a bunch of shorter blanks made for pistol grip handles. It may cost you some more money but to give them quality to begin with will rdeuce you fustration and his. Have a 5'6" ml or medium made with a decent spinning reel in the 1500 or 2000 size. This reel can follow him to another rod so don't cheap out. All of the push buttons are junk and I tried a lot. http://www.mudhole.com/custom-rod-building-blanks/mhx-rod-building-blanks/MHX-Freshwater-Rod-Blanks/MHX-Shooter-Series-Rod-Blanks

I am going to go out on a limb here and say an ugly stick lite is what i would get on the cheap to do what you want. The one issue i have with them is that they have nothing other than moderate. Small cranks and traps is that rods bread and butter. We will now return to my regular programming where i recommend rods three times people budget.

Two other good options out there, the 68 and the new shad. I like the shad a lot and getting them right now seems to be quite the struggle.

THE avid is a great rod and the one i own the most of. If its not for jig fishing then the avid will be in my hand. Some people say they can feel a huge difference between the avid ltb and legend. I can feel a little diffrence and i will pay for that when needed but not every rod needs to have that. Guess i left my ego way back in my 30's.

I love the dobyns cranking rods and i have the rm 764. For one ounce and larger the rm 805 might be a better choice like the DD22 or the x8 or x10. The other rod i would give serious consideration to is the x series from Phoenix. TT did a review on the x-10 and it was considered to be very refined. Again for the larger baits i would be using a heavier version like Phenix Composite Crankbait Cast Rod 7'6" Med Hvy I dont use glass and if you like the feel of a glass rod then someone else might be more help. thttp://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dobyns_Champion_XP_Crankbait_Casting_Rods/descpage-XCC.htmlhe http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Phenix_X-Series_Composite_Crankbait_Casting_Rods/descpage-PCBC.html

I have fished quite a few rods and I have found a company that I like. That company just so happens to be st Croix. I own dobyns, daiwa steez, fenwick and a few others. They are a high quality rod that has yet to ever let me down and there made in America which is important to me. Will I buy other rods yes, and do I still fish other rods yes. Some rods/blanks are special. My daiwa flexlite is one of those rods and every time I pick it up I know why I paid big bucks for it. I don't take it out often because it is a niche rod that serves a special purpose. I am in my first year of tourney fishing and I don't take it along ever. Some rods just have it.... but most dont

Even at a 1/4 I can cast a lure a long way on my 66mf st Croix. There are four factors that contribute to this and you can control or change them all. The rod your using does it load correctly for the weight? Does your reel support casting down to this weight. I use alphas for this lighter work. There are many capable to include most of the SV reels. The line, small dia line like braid helps a lot, and finally lure weight. If the smaller poppers are what you like you can change any one of these things to help or just shift to a spinning rod. the DUO poppers are 1/3 oz a little more, which is noticeable that low, and as said the popmax is 1/2 which you can cast no matter what. The bulbble walker is more of a spook bait as it sits on top of the water. I love it but I would not classify it as a popper. R2S does make a good popper which TT gave great reviews, I have no particular love for it but some do. On a side note you can tweak them a little and add 2x hooks and stronger rings to up the weight a little. I switch my popper hooks out with owner st-41's and my hook up ratio is out of the park.

Watch the video's on tactical bassen. The most current video's are less than a week old and should give you some good ideas on what to try!

My steez came with the blue oil but I don't use it. I use the lightning lube from boca.

I use and love the owner welded snap. The #2 or middle size is the most useful for bass fishing. If you plan on running a 10XD or any of the magnum plugs then the largest size would be best. I run the #2 on plugs up to a Norman deep little n. I don't run the Norman DD22 but you could use the largest or middle size. I find they are easy to open and close and I have never lost a bait due to the snap. They are not cheap for what they are but the best I have found as I don't need pliers to open and close them like the speed clips.

I have fished in my yak for the last 7 years and the rod that I use the most in a 7' mhf st Croix. I have different ones from avid to legend elite but this rod seems to work well for me. I don't fish a frog on it though. I use a lamiglass 735 for that and punching in the yak. I prefer a more powerful rod and it is so true about loosing power while fishing in a yak. As soon as you set the hook your moving in the direction of the fish as the yak provides almost no resistance due to its design to move easily threw the water to reduce fatigue. One rod that may interest you is the megabass perfect pitch. It would fill the frog, jig and swimbait section of your fishing quite well. It would be classified as a heavy but is not a broom stick. You may also want to consider the dobyns champion 734 or 735. I love frog fishing and I don't know how much time you have dedicated to frogging so the rods main purpose I may have missed. One thing that drives me crazy is the one size fits all idea of handle length. The more powerful the rod the longer I want the handle. I have no issue fishing jerkbaits and topwater with a 10" handle standing in my yak, try that while frog fishing and I end up with a sore wrist and some bruises in my side. Rod handle lengths change to me like the length of a golf club, one size does not fit all and I am working on trying to figure out a formula for the correct length based on height and application.

Sorry to hear that you trashed it. Step one is turning it around. I fish more that i should and have only had one reel i had to replace the braid in two years. I look for a little fray and then turn it around. I use the entire spool with braid though and depending on what i am doing i cut off a foot or so on retie.

I would check out two baits. I would first check out the keitech swing impact in 4" they have a lot of colors but I would pick a natural color like ayu and then one bright one. Then the shad impact in 3 and 4" maybe in two colors as well. Six bags of plastic and two or three sizes of lead heads will cover all the depths and give you some size choices depending on the size of bait your looking to replicate. I have always done very well with these but they are very soft. If its your first time doing it, I would consider it the best idea. Later when you figure out what works then try some other brands that are similar.

I would get another one at 58 dollars but the one I had had the reel seat come loose and I had to re-epoxy the handle back on. It was not that big of deal as I had the epoxy on hand for rod building but this is the only rod I have ever had to do this on. I paid 150 dollars for mine when they first came out, so that's what it made me upset. The rod has good action and works well for dropshot and small weightless plastics. I have a great time using a lite wire 2/0 hook and a 4" green pumpkin lizard in the spring.

For live bait for gills i am guilty of getting a lot of them for my kids on hot dog. Seems very low class and i will never let the guys here know i did it but i always have them around the house and they worked. If you want to use plastics the squirt tubes that are trout and crappie size have got me a bunch of fish with the kids and wet flies work well to. These are the best i have found. P.s. The big nerd at the fly fishing section will talk your ear off about what is currently working so i grab a few and roll out and have a blast.

I use 20 but dont feel the need for any line conditioner. Its not like XL but the best handling line i have found that still is rough and tough.

Three most popular non braid lines are 1.big game 2.cxx 3.YHB. I dont think you can go wrong with any of these. I use the last option but if you spend any time on other boards looking at this question these three come up and are recommended all the time. No reason to battle out which one may be best just pick one and go for it. Heck you could afford to try all three because they are all cheap. I would never use flouro for swimbaits in my area but there are waters that it may help with bites. If you later decide to go with a lot of baits with jig hooks then braid might be the best answer for you. In that case you need every bit of power to the hook point you can get.

I have three reels I bought from them and I have even called in an order that I wanted to add some stuff to an ebay order because they are a full service shop. I have never had any issues with their products, shipping or any interaction. Three is not a lot but enough interactions to recommend them.

The going theory is that the red/black boxes is a one time purchase. I have two one for jigs and one for terminal tackle i have had for 3 years. My only complaint is an oring is coming out of one of them. Value is in the eye of the beholder but for the right reason i think they are worth it. In the case of the deep diving plugs i use the plano hydro flow boxes. I switch baits a lot until i figure it out and they dry well in the hydro flow and i have not had any rust issues since i started using them...

Post front fishing sucks and i find it the most difficult. Going shallow on rising water makes a lot of sense but then the other factor is the front. With the blue skies i would think they would be very tight to cover. I might have thrown a swim jig also to cover a little more water or tried a frog in the shade or shadows if there was any.

I never got any house brand stuff but i have a popper that is bps brand i got out of a bargin bin and it does wonders for me. Its the only bps hard bait i own and the rest of there store brand hard baits are a pass.

Wish hhc still had completed kits. Would love to go all orange on the sv103

I dont eat fish but know a bunch of country boys around me that will eat anything. Have yet to have to use this method but will feel little or nothing as i know it went to feed a family that could use all the help they can get!!!

My 20 inch fish was 5lbs even, and my six i never measured length just weight. My best guess would be 5.5-6.5 but thats all a guess.