FishTank

It has gotten better but at a few of the lakes I fish, it was not uncommon years ago to catch a bass with a mouthful of Senkos. I would always see guys throwing used soft plastic in water and the bass would just swallow them. I'm not sure if it was killing them but it was definitely not helping their overall health. Its for this reason and I can't say for sure which lakes in Japan do this but all soft plastic is banned on them, with exception of lures made from natural sources, like pork.

I thought about the other Kistler but I picked up a trout rod last month and that kind of fills that hole for me. The 4lb Sniper should be good line. I have been using 5lb. I am surprised at how well it holds up and how tough it is. I have a few recommendations for baits to get you started. If you can find these, they have been money for me. The one in the pic above is a Bassday Mononofu in Tennessee Shad. The hooks are pretty good on these but I would buy extra. You will bend some hooks out. Next, the Megabass Great Hunting 50 and 70 Flatside, and the Great Hunting Humpback 51S. Also, the Megabass Baby Pop X, Daiwa Silver Creek Minnow, and the Duo Spearhead Ryuki. For jigs... the OSP Tugger and Keitech Spin Jig. For Soft plastic.... dealers choice. I haven't really found anything they won't eat when they want something small. For Crankbaits.... Megabass BFS Griffon, Evergreen Piccolo (might be too heavy for the Kistler), and the Shimano Tiny Macbeth. On a side note, I have the 895C. It's a beast. It actually may have more power than I need. I have brought back pieces of lips when fishing jigs in shallow water. I just picked up the 894C. I am going to see if this better suits my fishing.

I hope you like it. It took me a few outings to get use to the Aldebaren but once I got it dialed in, it has been great. I caught this guy the last time I used it. The same bait is still on there.

Check the pinion support bearing. It's generally not the gear set.

I have the 7'4'' MH Power Glass Cranker and it has been fantastic. The build quality is excellent. It loads and casts well. No real complaints. I am not sure as to what other rod to compare it to. It's just a good all around rod that gets the job done.

A bit of a closer look. I am not sure how to feel about this one yet. I will need to hold one. Looks cool though. It doesn't appear to be your typical St. Croix rod.

I have some the dye markers I use for that. It will last longer on somethings than others but I do have red and orange. The bait in the picture is original chatter bait from when they first came out. It was a unicorn back then and I've had it forever. If you look at the red hook it has, you can tell I have only caught a few fish on it.

Sort of like this one? 😉

I was in need of a few standard 3700 boxes and was ready to buy more Plano Edge boxes but the last time I bought them, I payed around $20 or less. I was surprised to see them at $30 each when I went to Cabalas. I looked on Amazon to see if they would price match them and I stumbled upon the knock offs from KastKing for $27 for two . So I bought a couple. Here are my initial thoughts. First off, I do like the Edge boxes I have but I sometimes struggle to close them. The KastKing version has solved this issue with a different latch. The downside, the overall construction of these are cheaper. The plastic feels less durable and they are a fuzz smaller but everything else isn't so bad. For the money, its a pretty good alternative. I will need to use them and beat them up this year to see how they really compare.

I ran into a deal in my travels this weekend where I found a few GLX's that were buy one get one free. I thought hard about it and passed. I did go over them with a fine tooth comb and there were some things about this generation I just didn't like or felt off to me, at least compared to the older versions and these things are minor. First off was the grip on the spinning rods. I like the reel seat on the NRX+ and the full cork on the GLX just felt like I had less contact with the blank (just a personal preference). Next was the butt section. It feels off to me. I just can't explain it until someone loads up the rod. Finally, the trigger on the grips feels almost curved too far. Oddly, I don't get that feeling with the IMX-Pro Crankbait rods I have. I believe it is the same.

I have a couple of jigs and the bladed jigs in this color. They all catch fish well for me but are really great, for whatever reason, around wood and stumps. My favorite colors in this realm from Sieberts are Amber Craw, Hot Sauce, and Red Hot.

Well I gave up thinking about it and ordered one from JLS. I picked an NRX+ 892S for a really good price and needed to figure out the reel. I wasn't expecting to pick up a new rod but couldn't pass it up. I thought about the Exist but I couldn't see paying $240 more for it. I also almost picked up the 902S but the tip was really soft. I can't imagine what the 901s is like. Now I need to decide what to put on 894C I grabbed as part of this deal as well.

Here is what I have been using since I got bit by the BFS bug..... Megabass P5 Criffhanger - soft plastic (stiffer tip than I would like but fun to fish) Megabass P5 Siglett - soft plastic, hair jigs, light trout baits and some topwater Megabass Kasumi Six Eleven - crank baits (great all around rod) Dobyns Sierra Ultra Finesse 700C - also great rod (soft but fast tip with a moderate middle, I have caught more fish on this rod than anything else) Kislter Hunt 6'8'' 3X - my favorite so far (loads and casts everything well, can be used with one hand and is more of a true BFS rod, in my opinion, than any of the other rods I have). I would also lump the G. Loomis NRX+ 802C JWR in there but it is more finesse than BFS. I use this for small jigs and 1/16oz shaker heads with a 6in Roboworm. For a 1/16oz bait the Hunt BFS has been great and would be my over all choice. With any of these rods (except the 802C NRX+), I would recommend you buy a good net. You won't be boat flipping a fish or pulling them up on a bank with any of them on a regular basis.

Have you pulled the trigger on this yet? Thinking of trying one. I am also looking at the Shimano Exsence.

I ordered it off of Amazon. I had a gift card from work and it was around $30 instead of $60 - $80. Basically I payed $5 out of pocket for it. It's an amazingly well made bait.

Fishing is very humbling to say the least. I can recall qualifying for a bigger tournament. We were allowed to practice two days before, same day as the sign up. I caught a bunch of keepers in practice. For 5 fish, I would have been around 18-20lbs. I left that day feeling pretty confident. Two days later, I fished the same spots I was catching them during practice and nothing. I got totally skunked but 10+ teams had 5 fish. It's crazy how it works out that way.

Loon, Bone, and Monkey Butt. I killed it on these when they came out but I think the bass on my lakes have figured them out. I didn't catch but a few fish on them last year.

So for future reference, don't let the Monkey show up at your house on Valentines Day. I did get to cross a few things off my list though. I've been wanting to see if the BR Head is good or just hype and the red head 110 is to replace one I lost a long time ago. This color should be killer. This one as well. It has that morning dawn coloration. It flashes yellow at the top. The picture doesn't do it justice.

I fish braid to leader and that particular braid is really smooth and thin but the big thing for me was the 2000 sized reel, which is what a Shimano C2500S is (2000 reel with a 2500 spool). I have longer rods and like the light tip stiff middle the 821S has. The length, in this case, didn't really make any difference to me when it came to distance. Casting accuracy was the only factor to me and the shorter length in the 821S helps. As far as a longer alternative, the NRX+ 901S will cast a mile but is more for hair jigs. I looked at Megabass Landsat and reached out to the guys at the Hook Up Tackle. They basically talked me out of it for Neds. You might give them a call or email them. They are pretty straight forward about stuff.

The usual suspects... 5in and 6in Senko Berkley Power Worm Z Man Giant TRD and Zinker Zoom Ol Monster Strike King Anaconda Each year I try a new color Senko. This year it's Green Gizard.

I have been happy with my Lowrance HDS Live 7 but I wish I would have bought the 9in after seeing it on someone else's kayak. The bigger screen makes a difference.

I got one last year as well when I bought a Tatula 300. Nice shirt and you can't beat the price. I think it took about 6 weeks to get but worth the wait.

I have the NRX+ 821S and have no issues with casting a long way but I was kind of "not feeling" this rod when I got it. In order to see what would work best, I tried a couple of different reels with it, a previous generation 3000 Vanquish, an older Stradic 2500, a buddy's 2500S Stella, a 2500 Daiwa Emeraldas Air and finally the new Vanquish C2500S. The new Vanquish was the ticket. It was then I realized, for whatever reason, that this rod needs a smaller, lighter reel to load correctly. I now love this rod. It will cast a light weight Ned into oblivion with just flick but I also attribute this to the high specific gravity braided line I have on there, YGK OHDRAGON.

Great. I can hear her now. " What are going to do? Use me as bait?" Yes and it wouldn't be the first time. 😁