fishwizzard

For the longest time I had a post-it on my monitor with “It’s not a good deal if you don’t need it in the first place” written on it. It helped a little.

They get bit like crazy but they are heartrendingly fragile. I use the 3" Easy Shiners as a DS plastic and I think they hold up a lot better then the 3" Swing Impacts.

You people with your unnaturally clean workstations really unnerve me.

It doesn’t get mentioned a lot, but the iRod “Magic Stick” is an incredible frog/GP heavy rod. It’s on the Mod side of Fast and Has a really well-balanced power/taper.

I have a Avid 6’2” M/XF that is a jerkin’ machine and it has a very short handle. Otherwise look for an old Loomis 6’ Classic Bass rod.

I have a pair of old CR723c rods (an IMX and GLX) and a CR721c IMX. I really like super short rods for kayak fishing and some of the wading that I do. I have the slightly longer CR782c GLX that I use for Senkos/Fat Impacts and other semi-finesse presentations. They are all great rods and while I have a pile of longer rods, I still love my shorties.

It’s to give you a way to compare different rod and reel combos at home. The closer the balance point is to the center of the reel seat, the more the rod tends to “float” when I am palming the reel with the rod tip aimed up. I find that reel/reelseat ergonomics is more important to me then balance or overall combo weight, but when bank fishing I am holding a single combo for 4-7 hours, so every bit of added comfort helps.

It really depends on the presentation your fishing. If I’m fishing a jig/t-rig where it’s sitting on the bottom with a semi slack line, so combo balance become more desirable as I’m standing there trying to hold the rod fairly motionless an upward angle.

I have one of these bags as well and love it, I use it as my “house to car” bag and would agree on both the well build and well designed points. I also have some Cabelas’ sun gear that I really like, a hooded sun shirt and a few of their buffs.

I only started weighting lure when I bought a 3 power loomis rated 1/4-3/4 and wondered why a 1/2oz jig was overloading it so much. I do agree that people in bass fishing tend to pigeonhole spinning rods as only a finesse thing. One of my favorite presentations is throwing a trickworm into a pad field and slowly dragging it back to me. I am on a quest to find the perfect rod for this, something with a light enough tip to let me accurately cast and pitch the worm but with enough backbone to drag them out of the pads. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m starting to feel like a spinning rod might be the answer. I found some casting rods that fit the bill, but the issue is trying to find a real that will work with such a light lure while letting me use heavy enough line to get them out of the cover.

Have you thrown your 1/4oz on a scale to see what it weighs? I use Siebert Shot Callers and with a Rage Menace they are about 1/2oz and with a 3.8 Rage Swimmer they are closer to 3/4oz. I throw them on a “light” MH casting rod and they pitch very very well.

Hah, man I read “cichlid” as “cicada” and got really alarmed when I read your last sentence.

I have a Alud 50 on a Avid 6’2” M/FX. I use it for mostly tip-down stuff so I’ve never really noticed how it balances, but it’s extremely light combo and very comfortable to palm for long periods of jerking/walking/popping.

I mostly use the Shellcrackers as jig trailers, I think I literally have a life time supply.

I use a little pair of pliers to do it, if the hook eye is too thick it takes a bit of force to get it to pop.

Hello my over-loaded vehicle brother. My friends make fun of how much stuff I keep jammed in my car, until they need to borrow something that is.

I did the same thing last year with SK Shellcrackers. Looks like they didn’t discontinue them and now I have like 30 packs of them kicking around my house.

Get an aftermarket rack installed on my car so that I can leave my yak on top all spring/summer/fall. Get up earlier and stay out later. Fear of rush hour traffic keeps me from a lot of my best spots. Spend less time fishing the presentations I want to fish and more time trying to change it up and actually catch fish.

Right now have a non-MGL Aldebaran 50 loaded with 12lb YZH, which is as thick as most 14-15lb fluoros. On a 6’6” rod I have plenty of line for a 1/4oz swimjig w/ 3.8” FI trailer. At the end of a long cast I am down to maybe 1/3 or 1/4 spool capacity.

I have dried 30lb J-Braid on a few different reels and always took it off in short order. I was having the same problem the OP was having, the braid would dig into it's self super easily and my lures would go flying. I had one PopMax come off twice in a single day, was able to save it both times but snagging it with a plopper. I moved the line over to a heavier spinning combo and really like it for that application, it casts wonderfully and leader knots seem to hold very well in it.

17' Outback. I keep an insane about of stuff in my car, to the point where it's more or less a two-seater. I have a big old Cabala's tackle back in the back with some assorted TT in the small pocket and the main pocket full of 4-8 plano 3600 boxes at any given time. Next to it is a open top trunk organizer with all my first-aid/comfort items, a bunch of towels in various states of filth, a few assorted buffs/hats, also assorted filth, my raincoats, a pair of spare tennis shoes, and my water shoes. In between these two things I keep my rods, one folded beach towel under them and one on top. Then, I keep one of the rear seats folded down. On top of it is a thick entrance mat I keep wet/muddy/sandy shoes/clothing on for the drive home. In the rear seat footwells I keep a duffel bag with my waders/boots and on the other side a small cooler. In the summer the cooler is full of water bottles and in the winter it's water and a insulated vest and a softshell jacket. The non-folded rear seat is left empty to hold groceries/my work bag(s). Oh, I also have some basic tools, a machete, jumpers, and an old e-tool in the sparewheel well. I have it all very organized but it is a constant struggle. My work schedule is very erratic as is my sleep schedule so I like to be able to roll out of bed and hit the road without having to think about packing.

Hah, the pic makes it longer. It’s only maybe 1/2-3/4” longer then a lot of my 7’-7’3” rods but the solid cork really makes it stand out.

Jerkbaits. Or at least fishing jerkbaits slowly. It's dull and half the time I get a hit it's a pickerel who steals my lure/bites me/bleeds on me. I have like six LC Pointers left in my box and I am going to lose them all throwing them for creek smallies.

Found a deal on an gen1 XX EMTF that was too good to pass up. People raved about the rod and now I see what all the fuss was about. I got it for spinner/chatterbaits but it's very much up to being a bottom contact rod. The reel is a Ringa SSS with some mods that I picked up a few years ago, I love the reel and have been looking for a rod for it to live on.

That was a great write up. I fished a lot of the same places as Fried Lemons and had no where near the same results fishing mostly conventional tackle.