fishnkamp

Gorgeous fish~ I like the fact that when I fish them the weight cant leave the hook and get stuck in rocks or wood. We have fished them in grass, rock, wood almost any cover. You are right the Keitechs are very similar. I have fished both and really like the Skinny Dippers best. On Lake Champlain those Picasso heads should be deadly. Dale Hollow is gin clear and the big smallies spend most of their time swimming around under big shad schools. We have fond them out in 100 foot of water, the shag were down 15 feet below the surface and the bss were down another 15 feet below them. They were not relating to any structure, just out on these big flats. We caught them using the Skinny Dippers and Big Dippers on those jigheads. 80% of the time if I am fishing one of these baits it is on a Gamakatsu belly weighted swimbait hook. The last bait combo I forgot to mention, is a Dirty Jigs swimjig with a Kalin 5 inch Lunker grub as the trailer. I land a lot of fish on those swim jigs. I am sure other swimjigs are just as good. I just like the Dirty Jigs ones.

There are some baits we catch fish on everywhere we fish. My home waters is the tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. So rivers like the Susquehanna River, the Susqy flats, the Potomac River and places like Middle River (that is where Aaron Martens won his elite series event a few years back). These are off color tidal waters. We travel to places like Dale Hollow in Kentucky and other Tennessee lakes, lake Gaston in North Carolina, Lake Raystown and even up on Lake Erie. These are gin clear water compared to the tidal water we fish. We also fish some clear lakes here at home as well. The list of baits that work everywhere I go are not that long. The first bait on that list is a 5 inch Kalin Grub, in one of several colors. my favorites would be bluegill, then watermelon with red flake and then smoke with salt and pepper flakes. My wife's favorite is a discontinued color- smoke salt&pepper with red flake. We own about the last 350 in the country! Seriously!! There is only one way I rig it. Look at Bass Pro Shops Perfect Finesse Worm jigheads. Take a grub body and match it up with the correct hook size. They come in several hook sizes and with different weights attached. I like 1/8 and 1/4. Using these you should be able to fish for river smallies without snagging to badly since they are like a one piece texas rig. The larger Perfect worm jigheads are great for fishing finesse worms or plastic creature baits. Here is a picture of what I am talking about. These are great for fishing small worms and creature baits as well. The next bait that is a must for us is the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers. Check out the white trash, Houdini, Sungil and the shad colors like pearl blue shad, money shot green or sexy shad. I rig these three ways. Unweighted using a swimbait hook, belly weighted, and for your baitcaster I use a 3/8 or 1/ ounce swimbait jighead. the first can fish fine on your medium spinning rod. I like the Skinny Dippers and the Little Dippers. They are deadly just cast them out, let them sink and slowly swim them back with the occasional stoop, kill them they have a deadly wavy sink to them. I twitch them and then begin swimming them again. Be prepared to get bit. Lastly Sencos are deadly fish many ways.

If you go to the Berkley fishing website, you will find the specs for the Berkley lightning Shock rod says" SH 661M 6'6" rod power: medium rod action: moderate fast line rating 4-12 lure rating 1/8 to 3/8. The regular lightning rod's specs says LR661MS 6'6' rod power: medium rod action: fast line rating 8 -14 lure rating 1/4 to 5/8 So clearly the Shock rod is a softer action rod than the standard Lightning rod. Linda fishes baits all the way to 3/4 ounce traps on that Shock rod. So do not worry about what it can do. I know the specs are a little off. It fishes the same as my Lightning Rod Shock baitcasting rods. They spec for 1/4 to 3/4. I have thrown 1 ounce Redeye shads on them with no trouble.

I have to agree with you, I think I might like the Pres XT better if I was chasing a 30 series reel. Linda ( my wife) and I only use a 30 series reel on our medium lite rods. On all of our other rods we like a 35. All of our Pfluegers are regular Presidents except for this 1 Supreme. It is interesting if you are looking at a 30 series, the President XT is lighter and has 1 more bearing. If you are looking at a 35 series then the upreme is lighter. I do believe the President XT offers a great value. Yes we own rods from lots of manufacturers. If you look in my rod box, there are 15 of my rods and 7 of hers inside. We both own rods from Irod, Powell, G Loomis, Falcon, Dobyns, Abu and more. I fish a Dobyns Champion XP DC705C. I was looking for the best 7 foot frog rod I could find. We have owned 11 boats over 40 years. About 7 years ago we downsized from a big 20 foot fiberglass bass boat and the 1 thing I regret is not being able to fit rods over 7 foot in a rod box! Oh well. The 705C works extremely nice as does our two Sierra rods. Linda uses a Dobyns Sierra SA 705SF as her frog rod also. It is hard to find a great frog rod let alone a spinning version. Our other Dobyns rod is a SA 693SF. If you were looking for the casting rod what would you be looking to do with it and what would your budget be? That is a great reel. What ratio is it?

Too much of a fast action for treble baits. If you asked me for a worm or bottom bouncing rod than that is a better rod for that application. I have to mention my wife and I have been fishing since the 80's, we have bought and sold a lot of gear over the years. I truly believe we own the best arsenal we have ever owned. Most of our rods run $150 to $350 and reels run from $60 to $275. The only rods we fish with that cost less than $100 are our 3 Lightning Shock rods and a pair of ultralight 5 1/2 foot Cherrywood crappie/ bluegill combos. So that should tell you how much I like the way those rods fish.

Dobyns are a bit softer than other manufacturers ratings. They are about 1/2 step lighter. Go by the lure rating and you will be fine. With Dobyns rods any rod model will act very similar to the same rod in another series, except for the characteristics of the blank used. So let me explain, the SA 702SF will handle the exact same lures and will fish the same as a Fury FR 702SF, or an Champion XP DC 702SF. The Fury rods are built on a high quality, but less expensive blank and less expensive components. They are excellent rods and worth more than an entry level price. The blank used on a Sierra is a much more expensive blank. The rod is assembled using much better components. Of course the two Champion series are the top of the line with the most expensive components and best blanks. The difference between a Fury and a Sierra rod is a big jump. The Sierras are lighter, more sensitive, use more cork and have better components. That is not so true when comparing the Sierras and the Champions. The Champions in general are a little nicer and a bit more sensitive. The Champion graphite blanks are a bit quicker but not enough to matter. Your SA 702SF is going to fish ned rigs, drop shotting, light weight tubes and grubs and many other lighter baits very well. Depending on your budget, and on your desire to build a rod arsenal, the next addition could be a SA 693SF or even a SA 703SF Either would be great for fishing heavier baits like Sencos, shakey heads, texas rigged plastics(like 3/8 to 5/8 ) and smaller crankbaits like Rapala floating minnow baits. I use a rod like this for fishing 3/8 finesse baits like Bitsy Bug jigs, big 5 inch Kalin Grubs on a slider heads, and even baits like the smaller Keitech or Reaction Innovation paddletail swimbaits rigged weightless. These two rods really compliment each other and together can allow you to fish most of the popular finesse baits today. If you only intend to fish one spinning rod, then I would have gone with the 703 as it is the most versatile. I prefer to own and fish both for several reasons. They both handle their part of the finesse baits spectrum best. Also when I am fishing I usually like to switch it up my baits. Maybe I am fishing around docks, I may dropshot all around the outside of the pilings and out on the front and along the sides. Then I then will attack underneath using my 5 inch Kalin grub and slider head. Let us know how you like the rod once you can use it. By the way my wife and I both own Sierras and Champion XPs. Gary makes a great rod.

You know my personal opinion, Daiwa will get the nod. Besides that fact, the highest ratio they seem to offer is 7.2-1. For my flipping and pitching setup, I prefer an 8-1 reel so that I can retrieve my line and make my next cast. That means my choice would be a Daiwa Tatula CT 8.1-1 if you want a right handed reel. I prefer a left handed reel for this purpose, so I would purchase a Tatula CT Type R 8.1-1. My own rig has a Daiwa Tatula 100 ( original size) Type R 8.1-1. and it works great.

My wife's crankbait rod IS the Berkley Lightning Rod Shock 6'6" medium mod fast. It is exactly what you are looking for. It is very moderate and we throw all of her small to mid sized crankbaits, rattle traps, and even spinnerbaits. It would work for jerkbaits as well. It is one of your best options in your price range. I own two of the same rods( 6'6" med mod) in baitcasters as well. I own two much more expensive rods that I usually use for crankbaits, but when I am striper fishing I need 4 different lip less cranks ( traps) on deck at all times. All four rods work just as well while doing this. Every rod manufacturers have their own idea what a rod action is. One brand's "moderate" is another brands "mod fast"

I love my Dobyns Champion but my second choice would be the Irod Genesis II Fred's Magic Stick. Finnz922 gave you a very good suggestion. After years of fishing with many brands I have really come to like the Dobyns Irods and Powell rods best.

My wife and I fish with a bunch of Pflueger spinning reels. Her favorite is a Supreme 35. It is on her Dobyns Sierra 705SF, which is a 7 foot heavy power rod she uses for fishing frogs. This is our 3rd Dobyns rod and we love them. In total, we fish with around 20 rods and the Dobyns are some of the nicest. For your use, I would consider the Pflueger Supreme 30 or 35 ( I prefer the 35 for line capacity and better balance with the rod). For a rod I would go with a Dobyns Sierra SA 703SF. That combo would cost $100 for the reel and $169.99. We have used Pflueger Presidents, this Supreme, a Shimano Symetre and several others, but the Presidents and the Supreme have been the most reliable.

I am going to suggest a rod that is my most versatile rod in my 12 baitcaster inventory. It is a Powell Max 683CEF. That is a 6'8 Casting Extra fast. I use it for a ton of stuff. Now I have a dedicated rod for frogs cranks, topwater and jerkbaits but take a minute and read the review of it that Tackletour did on it. They tested it using baits it should have done well with (1/4 to 3/4) but found it handled everything up to a 2 ounce swimbait! http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpowell683cxfast.html They now make that rod in the Inferno and Max3D and I would probably go with the Max 3D 683CEF. I can easily fish chatterbaits, buzzbaits,spinnerbaits, frogs and walking baits on mine. If you are interested in another option then look at a Dobyns 734C. It could be a Fury, Sierra, or a Champion Xp depending on your budget.

First you purchased a great combo! That is one of Gary's most versatile rods. I fish 12 baitcasters. One of my baitcaster is a Daiwa Exceler, 4 are original Daiwa Tatula Type Rs and 2 are Tatula CTs. Several years ago a friend let me cast his Exceler and I have been replacing my reels with Daiwas ever since. The Tatulas are great reels, but hey are a bit different animal and I love fishing with them The Daiwa Tatula has the MagForce Z brake system on it. This is totally different system than any other brand of reel out there. It must be adjusted differently. One of it's components is the magnetic brakes, these are adjusted with the external dial. The other system is really an automatic centrifugal braking system. This is made up of a moving rotor, a spring, and weights or pawls, that move the rotor in and out of the magnetic field. It is sorta like a governor on an engine. Watch this video it explains better than I will. Remember the video guy will explain 3 of Daiwas systems, but yours is the 3rd one he covers, Magforce Z. Now how to make it work. Go ahead and run your braid out through the guides. To begin learning always start by practice casting with a lure that weighs somewhere near the middle of the rod's rating. The Fury 734C rates for 1/4 to 1 ounce lures. So go to the tackle store like Dicks , or Bass Pro and purchase a 1/2 ounce "CHEAP house brand" jig and a pack of worms or grubs. Dicks is great, they have their Jawbone brand jigs for $2.99 and a pack of Zoom fat Albert soft bait grubs, again these are $2.99 for a pack of 10. Use 1 grub as a trailer. Now this gives you an compact bait that will weight just over 1/2 an ounce and will allow the rod to work properly. By the way I would buy more than 1 of those jigs, I regularly fish that exact jig/grub combos in 3/8 and 1/2. I want you to learn using the heavier bait for now. Step 1 after tieing on the bait is to turn the brake dial to zero. Next adjust the drag a bit. Make sure you tighten the star drag, just a bit so you can not rip line off by hand but it comes off smoothly with some pressure. Next we will set the spool tension. Loosen the small knob till the spool is loose inside the reel, it will move side to side within the housing, we call it side play. Now tighten it up till the side play is gone, back it off till we have just a bit of side play, but not a lot. I like about 1/32 or a 1/16 of an inch. That is set correctly. Now turn the magnetic brake dial to say 10 and practice casting. As you get better the mag brakes can be lowered. You will still want to teach your thumb to feather the spool and stop it at the end of the cast but this is easy to learn. I fish with my reel pretty loose and very good distance. A note, I only really need to adjust the brake dial when I change to a much heavier or much lighter bait. My spool tension never seems to need adjustment, which is totally different than any other reel I have owned.

My frog combo works very well and it is made up of a left handed Daiwa Tatula Type R 8-1 reel. I also own several right handed Type Rs and Tatula CTs as well. I own a total of 7 Daiwa Tatulas. Any of the Tatula series reels are really nice including the new Tatula SV TWS which is the newest version. My rod is a Dobyns Champion series rod. It is a 7 foot model DC 705C. This is a great rod, but their best rod for frogging, and lots more, is the DC735C. The 735 is not just 3 inches longer, but has a bit different taper. I knew this, but can not fit it in my rod locker.

Check this out It is on the website as a current sale, must be an old picture. They want $6995 http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1997-nitro-800lxs-102538012 The next two boats are at a dealer in Morganton NC and they are they are priced at $6995 http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1998-stratos-283-103021954/ http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1998-nitro-700lx-103008202

It makes you really wonder about people sometimes.

You will need to contact Lews for the parts most likely.

That is going to be a nice rig. It is tough to find just the right deal. Congratulations.

Lets talk a little first. You mentioned trolling. Tellme alittle about the body of water. Are we talking a free flowing river, a tailrace below a dam with really fast moving water, or a large deep clear lake? How deep are the fish, and what are you using for rigs? Are we talking pulling hard minnow baits, or the typical live bait spinner rig with an inline weight and two hooks for a crawler? If we know how you are fishing we can give you a better suggestion. Also what is your budget for a new rod/reel combo?

I fish 1 Abu Garcia Ike Delay series jerkbait rod. It acts exactly the way Ike says it will in his videos. Unlike many of the members here I believe, the Mojos are overrated as are many of the St Croix rods are . Over the winter I sold off several St Croix's. I prefer Dobyns, Powells and Irods and of course I really like the feel and the way my Ike rod fishes. For a jig rod I really like my Powell Max 683CEF.. That is one versatile stick.

Lets start with some simple things. Do you have a Dicks Sporting Goods nearby. Go look at a kit like this one https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/lelands-lures-crappie-magnet-kit-15lllubstfllndscrlur/15lllubstfllndscrlur?&color= It is a complete small tube kit complete withjig heads. You can add several of the small round red and white bobbers. I like to use the longer ones like you showed but is tougher to cast. Stick with the small round ones, about the size of a golf ball or a tad smaller. Now add some hooks about the same size as the jigheads and pick up a pack of split shot and a pack of swivels. Do not try to complicate this it is easy basics. I recommend the small zebco 33 or an ugly stick combo similar. BY the way the jar of tiny white worms is called Berkley Gulp "waxies" available fro m lots of places like Cabelas, and Bass Pro. These are imitation wax worms( tiny maggots sorta) another great panfish bait. The Angleworm is sorta like an imitation garden sized worm. All of thee baits work and are not that expensive, Take a look at this video.

I am right handed. I reel with my left on spinning reels. I use a mix of right and left handed baitcasters. If I am fishing a bait that I just cast, reel, and cast again( like a spinnerbait, crankbait etc), then I like a right handed reel. If I am fishing a bait that I use the rod to give the bait action, then I prefer a left hand reel instead. I have better control that way. So if I am worm fishing, jig fishing,, fishing a jerkbait or using a carolina rig, I would be using a left handed reel. I also like to change hands while fishing as it reduces the cramping I can in my hands.

Well that sets that straight the sv spools wont work in a standard or type r ct bodied reels. Looks like the Rays /DIY is not a true SV spool only a lighter spool than the original. Interesting.

They are building the newly released Tatula SV TWS which is a CT body with a SV spool. I do not think they have released any or the spools to the aftermarket yet. That reel just became available for only 2 months now. Check this video out:

Isn't it amazing, when you find the right mix of line out, weight on the line, and the right speed, the fish seem to come out of nowhere, and it is repeatable, once you can duplicate the run? I can tell you, we would set up and graph huge schools of freshwater white perch, down say 10 to 15 feet below the surface. You could see the walleye below them, maybe 10 or 20 feet below them just swimming around. They might be swimming over a 50 foot bottom or more. As soon as you got the white perch hot on the spinner rigs with 2 hooks and a night crawler you would catch maybe 5 or 10 white perch, next the rods would be hit by the walleye as they started thrashing through the white perch. We had times where we would end up catching 50 or more white perch and maybe a dozen good walleyes. Dinner was good after that!!

I think many of you are correct with your suggestions, if his main purpose is to fish for bass. The OP is considering the Silvermax specifically because of its flipping switch. That was shown as a positive by someone trolling for walleyes. Trolling for walleye is his "perfect excuse" to start fishing a baitcaster. Most have said the Silvermax is not the best choice in a quality reel for bass fishing and the flipping switch is definitely not a good option when bass fishing. Bass fishing is only his secondary use for this setup. I did suggest getting a decent rod and using it with two different reels. One reel would be a good low profile baitcaster to use for bass, perhaps a ProMax, an Orra, perhaps a Tatula Ct or any of the Lews or Shimano reels that run around $120 or less. The other reel should be a reel designed for trolling. That reel would include the line counter. The Daiwa Accucast is a decent reel and is an economical option. This approach will give a combo that will meet his needs while trolling for walleyes, and a different combo better matched to bass fishing with the simple switch of the reel. At first he could share the rod and save some money.