fishnkamp

Robert that is not fair, somebody else should get worn out fingers too!!

I believe some older designs had issues with inserts, but I am not aware of it being a current issue. I have some on my new Dobyns rods and I think one of the other rods I own have them as well.

My friend cut his old boat up with a sawzall. He took it to the dump in small pieces. You could also put it on craigslist with a picture, and for its description say it leaks badly, and that it needs work, free to a good home. Someone out there might want it and be willing to repair it.

Go read the thread "What do you use a 7' 3" Medium spinning rod for?" I spent a good time explaining how one bait can be fished many different ways, but will allow you to fish a confidence bait in many different fishing situations. This goes for fishing a specific technique. if you are fishing a drop shot and do not get bit try a longer or shorter tag line to the weight, try the typical finesse drop shot worm, but have a couple of packs of different baits to try, something like the Hammer Shads or a goby presentation. Too often we throw one bait all of the time, but only throw it one way. That thread has a lot of answers in it about this subject. This mindset does not mean we buy every lure in every color, it means I pick two or three colors of one bait and learn how to fish it many ways, often requiring different rods to do this,

Let's look at your arsenal by techniques. Too often we get caught up by brands and favorites. You should really think about the waters you fish. DO you have any chance to fish a crankbait ( is your water too choked with heavy vegetation, do you fish mostly shallow or can you attack water deeper than say 6 to 10 feet) I realize deep is relative, but you said you often either bank or fish from your pontoon, so it is unlikely you would encounter smallies suspended out 30 or more foot deep. Only you can evaluate your waters. I believe your spinning setup is going to allow you to fish lots of finesse baits and you should try many of them. I always suggest buying a pack of a new type bait in two different colors along with the correct terminal tackle to allow you to fish it properly. So you would want to be able to fish some tubes, grubs, small finesse worms,, Sencos, Ned Rigs, and the terminal tackle to fish them unweighted, on belly weighted hooks, texas rigged and even on a finesse carolina rig using split shot weights.I forgot to mention baits like shakeyhead finesse worms and lightweight jigs like the bitsy bug jig combined with a small trailer. Your baitcaster will cast much better if you learn to set it up properly and you practice more. We can discuss that too. I fish a lot of Daiwa Taulas and Tatulas CTs. These reels work differently so they must be setup correctly. Anyway your baitcasting rod should be a great rod for throwing heavier baits like a 3/8 to 3/4 ounce jig plus a standard trailer, bigger spinnerbaits (3/8 and up to 3/4), and texas rigs with all kinds of plastics. What it will probably not be so good at is fishing treble hook baits like jerkbaits, topwater hard baits, and baits like hollow bodied frogs. Frogs take a very special tip on a rod and a ton of backbone. The rod needed to fish topwater baits, like Pop Rs can easily fish baits like small to mid sized cranks and jerkbaits. I am talking about baits like rattle traps, wake baits, square bills, and crankbaits like KVD 1.5s, and Bandits. Mostly cranks that will dive down no more than maybe 0-6 or 8 feet. My suggestion for a really nice all around setup that would allow you to fish any small to mid sized crankbait, jerkbait and topwater bait would be a rod like the Abu Garcia Ike Delay series jerkbait rod model number IKEC64-5. I would match it up with another Tatula CT in a 7.3-1 speed ( a compromise between the 6.3 I use on my rod for jerkbaits, and what i would use if I was going to set this up for just topwaters then I would use an 8-1) Another option would be the Falcon Bucoo Micro Trap Caster, it is a 7 foot MH that fishes traps, cranks, spinnerbaits. I fish one of these as well. Of course my arsenal includes 12 baitcasters and 3 spinning combos, so I am invested a little different than you. I am also fishing off my 11th bass boat, jon boat and canoe.

Many times an angler will come in looking for the "perfect" next rig that they will magically catch all of the fish with. My advice to most of the posters is to explore what they have and what it can do first. Building a well rounded rod arsenal could include just a few rod combos or be as advanced as mine, and I do not hold a candle to many others on here! In my rod box is 15 rods 3 of which are spinning the rest are baitcasters. Take any technique and explore how it can be used better. Many times I look for baits I can use in many different ways. If you look at the drop shot technique. It is a pretty simple setup, you either tie on a hook and leave the drop tag line for the weight or you tie on one of the drop shot spin rigs like many manufacturer makes. The fish will not care. Then most anglers will put on a short finesse worm. If it does not get bit they are done with it. If it catches fish they never experiment beyond it. Instead, if you catch a fish here and there, try the same rig and test a Hammer Shad, a leach pattern, maybe a thin worm, maybe a Roboworm Ripper worm. Try a longer drop or a shorter drop to the weight. That is what it takes sometimes. Picture the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, Remember they come in 3 sizes and each offers a different profile and options when rigging. I prefer the smaller size if I am covering really shallow water and it will be thrown on a spinning rod most times weightless. If I am fishing 1 to 8 feet of water, then it is most times a Skinny Dipper instead of a Little Dipper that will be tied on. If we are on Dale Hollow lake, a huge gin clear lake in Tennessee, and we are chasing BIG smallies that are suspended under big schools of shad, then we use a 3/8 to 1/2 ounce Picasso swimbait jighead and we will be throwing either Skinny Dippers or Big Dippers. Just look how 1 bait in 3 sizes rigged 3 different ways can potentially be the answer to catching fish in so many different situations. I have confidence with each one, regardless of how it is rigged, because i have caught so many fish using essentially the same technique. By the way, I am not suggesting you fill up your boat full of tackle. Instead, I am suggesting purchasing a few packs of different baits in a couple of colors and using them with techniques you already have or will gain confidence in. By being able to use the same baits multiple ways you make it easy to switch up what you are offering the fish. I own and fish some crankbaits for the 1970s-80s and 92s and I believe they are fish catchers because they act different than today's KVD 1.5s that everyone else is throwing. Mix it up and see what happens. Here are a few pics of the swimbait equipment that works for me.

First you have assembled some nice gear congratulations. All of the combos will fish nicely. Let me share some thought and ask a few questions. I look at my rods first, then ask myself what lures would that rod fish well. Also, a little of topic, but you never said if you own any good spinning combos, I believe two spinning rigs are needed to handle most finesse bass needs. One would be a 6'6" to 7' ML and something around a 6'8"medium. These handle thee typical grubs, tubes, drop shots, Sencos, Ned rigs and paddle tail swimbaits like Skinny Dippers, Roboworms and Keitechs. You probably have that handled but I wanted to mention it. If I only owned one it would be the medium power fast action rod and a good 300 size reel. I am going to make a few suggestions. I am neither holding your rods, nor have I fished some of them, so as I suggest how I would use them, I may be totally off base. You are going to have to tie on some lures and fish them, I could be totally wrong, because no two manufacturers rate rods the same. Rod 1, your Zodius MH 3/8 to 1 ounce would be my jig rod, specifically swimjigs with trailers, and texas rigs up to 3/4 ounce weight. I would prefer a Tatula CT 6,3-1 reel on it. Rod 2 your Mojo Bass I probably would have another CT 6.3-1, however the Fuego is a nice reel and if you are using it for light plastics the 8-1 will work. Most of the time you will be working the plastics with the rod anyway. One bait I would try on this rod is a paddle tail swimbait on a belly weighted swimbait hook. I love the Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers the most, but Roboworm Ripper Worms and Keitech Swing Impact are both nice as well. I also like to fish these same baits on a swimbait jighead like the Picassos in both 3/8 and 1/2 oz. These baits fish really well rigged like this and fished as deep as 30 or 40 feet down for suspended fish Rod 3 Premier crankbait rod I like the Lews LFS on here. I would throw cranks, traps, jerkbaits, and even smaller sized spinnerbaits ( 1/4 to 1/2 oz) Rod 4 Tatula 7'2 MH If this rod is stiff enough I would use this rod for topwater like Pop Rs. chatterbaits, buzzbaits, big spinnerbaits ( slow rolling a big bladed 3/4 ounce spinnerbait deep in the winter), I think you could get away with using this rod as a carolina rig rod as well. I would match it up with your Tatula CT 8-1 reel. I know I said an 8-1 and said "slow roll a spinnerbait" and it sounds counterproductive, but you would be barely reeling, just fast enough to turn the blades. I would throw big plastics like a 8 or 10 inch texas rigged worms on this too. Rod 5 The Green rod and the Quantum are fine but try some things. See if this rod has a quick enough tip to handle fishing hollow bodied frogs, bigger topwater like Zara Spooks, Lunker Punkers, etc. ALso this rod may handle big heavy football jigs or heavier carolina rigs. It all depends on what you want to do with this setup the most. If it works out to be your best topwater setup and that is what you end up doing with it then I would switch the Fuego and the Accurist. Just my thoughts. Find out what type of lure and weight of baits each rod fishes best. It also does not matter if a certain rod fishes say a frog well if my body of water has no heavy vegetation, like lilly pads and hydrilla. After fishing for 38 years I finally live and fish near water that one can fish frogs and punch heavy baits in. I had to set up two new combos for fishing here. I never needed either combo before. This rig may also allow you to fish an umbrella or Alabama rig.

My friend is is a stickbait freak as well. Have you tried the Yamamoto fading watermelon/ black flake? I think that is his favorite. We both fish them with o rings and the wacky style jig heads. Those worms can be fished many different ways but always get bit. Most people get locked into one type bait on their drop shots too. Big Mistake. The typical drop shot worm is great. If it does not get bit have a bait like the Power Teams JP Hammer Shads, a leech pattern or even a goby style bait ready. I like the Hammer shads myself.

Never be unhappy with a deal. Well if you ask my wife she will tell you her number one confidence bait is a grub!! We have fished for lets say the better of 4 decades and the Kalin grub is it for her. They discontinued her favorite color, so I had to scoop up every available Kalin 5 inch Lunker grub in smoke salt & pepper with red flake in the US. I am the PROUD owner of almost 400 of them. Believe it or not. having said that it is her best clear water color, great for gin clear lakes that hold smallies, largies, and Kentucky spots. We always use that BPS Perfect Finesse worm jighead, It is a simple rig and good for grubs, worms or small creature baits. It is better than typical texas rig setups because the worm weight will never separate from the bait causing you to hang up in structure. I have found the watermelon/ red flake is the next best color and bluegill works great in clear and tidal water. We have used a ton of other brands and they never matched up in success. The Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers are my go to bait I throw them on the belly weighted Gamakatsu swimbait hooks most of the time ( anytime I am fishing in water 5 feet to 10 feet). If I am fishing shallower than 5 ft it is usually unweighted, any deeper than 10 it will be rigged on a Picasso style jighead.. These are always on our deck for sure. They also both make great follow up baits for a missed frog or other topwater bait fish. My local tackle shop is amazing and stocks so many brands that big box stores do not, that I get to handle rods from your brand, Powell, Irod, Dobyns, Duckett, and many more. They just started to stock reels like the Origins, Concepts ( all of the alphabet LOL)

I am not sure it is worth it to go with the Silver max just for that option. i have heard a lot of guys end up moving up in gear from that reel. I always suggest better equipment when someone new wants a baitcaster. The equipment available for around $100 is a huge upgrade. Now that is advice geared towards a typical bass fisherman. I will make a better suggestion for you. My wife and I wanted to troll for fresh water white perch in a nearby lake. It is over run with 8 to 14 inch white perch and BIG walleys ( I wonder what the walleye were getting fat on LOL) My solution was to go to Cabelas and purchase a pair of Daiwa Accudepth plus 17LC reels for like $70 each. For your purpose you may want to look at the new version in that size and the 27 size. I loaded it with a bunch of 14 pound mono for backing and then Suffix 832 in 20 pound test. Build up you bottom bouncing rig and you are in business. We fished worm rigs on ours. We purchased a pair of Cabelas Tournament trail TTC704-2, they are 7 foot medium 2 piece rods. You might want to go with the mediums or mh in either 1 or 2 pieces and they are only $60 as well. Here is my thoughts. If you purchase that rod and one of the trolling line counter reels you will have a very good well balancer setup for chasing your walleye. The ability to know how much line is out, and adjust boat speed and weight on the bottom bouncing rig will help you be more successful when dialing in your catch repeatedly. For me, we used a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce inline weight and adjust my speed and length of line until I got bit. I would look at my gps and know what my speed was. Next drift ( I used the trolling motor) I would do the exact same thing to get my next bite. After that you could buy a regular low profile baitcaster and switch between bass rig and trolling rig. Now a black max or ProMax, a deal on a Daiwa Fuego, Tatula, Lews , or Shimano and that rod will make a much better bass rig. It costs a bit more money this way, but you will be much happier with your setups in the long run.

This website was asked by the manufacturer to censor it's name or face legal issues, There were some ignorant members that let's say were not fairly treating their brand here on the site. The owner took action and developed this censor, something that satisfied the manufacture at the time. Glen is not trying to suggest the brand should not be mentioned because of any other reason than a serious request by the manufacturer. The shame of it is time has past, most of the members on here consider their products to be first rate and would actually give them high praise for their products. You can understand that the ills caused by a few often impact the rest of us. I forget where it is but I read a note on here sorta explaining all of this in one of the sticky posts. Ironically, when it is censored, so we can not read it, we sorta automatically know who you were typing anyway. LOL Have you had one of their " Fate Chrome: rods in your hands. That 7'1" looks like it might be nice. Actually so does the Fate Black.

I am not sure what your budget is butt take a good look at a rod like the Dobyns Sierra SA693 SF. I really like these rods. It specs 3/16 to 5/8 but will handle a bit more. Another good option would be a St Croix Avid X AXS68MXF. That is a 6'8" Medium xf rod and specs the same. I like to throw Berkley FireLine 14 pound test which is equal 6 pound mono. I also usually add a 4 foot leader to it. I really like P Line CXX in 8 pound test, That combo works great. There are a great deal of basic bass lures that will help you catch fish and much of it can be best fished on that medium spinning rod. Look to add these lures to your arsenal. Like you, I always have a swimjig tied on usually with either a paddle tail swimbait or a grub body. I also have a 5 inch kalin Linker grub tied on my spinning rod. It will either be bluegill, smoke salt pepper or watermelon/ red flake. Check out a BPS Perfect Finesse Worm Jighead. It is like a slider head and is perfect for grubs and small worms. It is a one piece texas rig. Definitely add shakeyhead jig heads and some typical straight tail worms like the Z man products. Be sure to add some tubes to your arsenal and they have lots of ways to be rigged as well. When fishing more open water (covering flats, fishing between docks, even covering a grass flat etc.) I will either texas rig it with an internal weight or even use spit shots and make a finesse carolina rig, Next comes paddle tail swimbaits. I use primarily Reaction Innovations Little Dippers, Skinny Dippers and Big Dippers. I also like some of the Roboworm baits, and Keitechs as well. If you are fishing them on swimbait hooks unweighted than a medium spinning rod is my choice. If you are fishing them on a belly weighted swimbait hook then it goes on your medium spinning rod also. If you are throwing them in deep water then use a swimbait jig head like Picasso offers. They look like a fish head molded on the hook. I will throw 3/8, and 1/2 0z. These would probably throw best on your baitcaster, maybe your medium. If you fish early and late season (cold water ) add some jerkbaits, things like Lucky Craft, McSticks ets. Normally these would be fished on a medium mod baitcaster using say 10 to 14 pound fluoro, but in cold water throw them on 5 or 8 pound test on a spinning rod. Fish them slow with small twitches and long pauses. ALso if you are fishing deeper cold water add some Cincy Fisher blade baits. These are a very well made copy of a Silver Buddy and cost way lees. They also come with great hooks. These are just a few of the baits that will help you as you dial in your rod arsenal. There are many more, but these baits allow me and my wife to catch bass, stripers, panfish and catfish from my home waters on the Chesapeake Bay ( Susquehanna Flats, Upper Bay, Middle River, Potomac River etc) and deep clear lakes we travel hours to get to. Some of these are located in Tennessee, Kentucky, VA, PA, MO,and NC. Oh and if you do not have Ned rigs get them. These little do nothing baits have saved my but and helped land over a dozen smallies and largies that weighed over 6 pounds. I fish them on my ml spinning rod.

Ordinarily, before I start fishing, if you look in my rod locker you will find 10 of my 12 baitcaster inside. Then once I gear up you will find 3 or4 of the baitcasting combos will be on deck, there will always be at least 2 of my 3 spinning on deck as well. I personally like 6'6" to 6'10" for my mediums especially when I want to fish tight to cover or skip. My two "tight cover rigs" are a 6 ft G Loomis SJR722 medium spinning rod and my favorite universal baitcaster , which is a Powell Max 683 CEF. That rod is a weapon!!!

That rod, like all Dobyns Fury rods, fish more like a $200 rod instead of the $119 price tag. Gary spent two years developing the blanks that would allow him to offer a rod in that price range and still put his name on it, He has said that the swimbait rods are very good performers and very popular. After you fish it you will not think of that rod as anywhere near a starter combo. i have no experience with the reel though, sorry. I still think you will be happy with the setup.

Most often your ML will cover baits that weight between 1/16 to 5/16 or 3/8. Most medium cover baits that weigh between 1/8 to 3/8, or 1/8 to 5/8 or 3/4. I fish a G Loomis ml fast for the lighter baits like ned rigs, drop shotting real light tubes, and unweighted plastics, Sometimes even for lightweight texas rigged baits. Medium spinning rods with the fast action are better for fishing shakey heads, heavier texas rigs up to say 5/8 (hook,bait and weight combined) medium to heavier tubes, 5 inch grubs texas rigged, and even baits like belly weighted Keitech swimbaits. These baits need a little stronger action to get a good hook set. I find both rods extremely important and yes it is worth having in your arsenal.

There is a nice thing about Piney Run Reservoir ( in Carroll County) and Centennial Lake (in Howard County) both rent boats so it is possible to get off shore. I could not find the rental info for Piney Run, a simple call may help with that. Centennial Lake advertises $10 per hour to rent a kayak, a canoe,or row boat. There are other areas to do this as well. There are other ideas. There is a company on the eastern shore called http://cdollaroutdoors.com/. Chris is located above the 301/50 split and rents fishing kayaks. He is a kayak guide as well. It might be fun to rent one and go explore some eastern shore ponds or rivers.

Now that you have your rod arsenal coming together lets talk about some lure/ techniques that will help you catch some more fish. Here are some of my go to secrets that I do not keep secret. These are baits that end up on my deck almost every time out. Goodies for spinning. I use both a 6 foot ML and a 6 foot fast action G Loomis Spin Jig rods. If I were to purchase a rod today it would be a Dobyns 702 and 703 or a 692 and 693. Make sure you add Z Man Ned Rigs, of course Sencos weighted and unweighted, they can be fished wacky style unweighted, texas style, wacky with a jig head, even on a finesse style carolina rig using split shots. Never forget o try tubes,these can be internally weighted, fished using a lead jig head, and lots of other ways. I never leave home without having a Kalin 5 inch Lunker Grub tied on. My favorites include bluegill, smoke salt & pepper, and watermelon red flake. One other note on these grubs, I prefer to rig them texas style using Bass Pro Shops Perfect Finesse Worm Jigheads. They come in lots of colors and are made up of a great sharp hook and a fully attached worm weight. I like 1/8 and 1/4. These along with the larger versions are great to fish worms also. They are basically a type of slider head. Now for the baitcasting equipment. If you are not already fishing any soft paddle tail swimbaits you are missing out. My favorite is Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers, but I often fish all 3 sizes. I rig them using 3 methods, unweighted and belly weighted using special swimbait hooks and lastly using a Picasso lead jig head made special for swimbaits. They look like the head of a fish molded on the hook. I like 3/8 and 1/2 oz. for fishing down to 30 feet. These baits are really tough to use. Throw it out let it sink a bit twitch it, swim it back then kill it letting it flutter add a twitch and repeat. Oh I forgot the most important thing, HOLD onto your rod at all times. Big fish eat these baits. I really like White Trash, Houdini, Sexy Shad, Sungill, and a few other colors. Try these out and see if you catch a few more fish.

I am so glad you like them. I am one of the guys that has been speaking up for them as you know. I am lucky that my local tackle shop is an exclusive dealer for them in a 4 state area. I get to put my hands on them frequently. I have a friend, and fellow member on here, Kris that refuses to spend more than %100 to $150 for a rod and after using one Fury he sold off many of his longtime rod arsenal. He now fishes with 4 Fury's withthe intent on adding a few more. It is hard to explain the "balance and feel" to someone on the web. I personally own Sieras and Champion XPs. Since all of his rods get nicer as you go up in the lineup you can imagine how he DC705C is. That is my frog/heavy jig rod

Take a look at this one I understand it is even older, it has had some updates and the price is fair in my mind. These were some of their best hulls. https://swva.craigslist.org/boa/6082061331.html https://roanoke.craigslist.org/boa/6112834056.html

Lets get back to the more important question. Do you know why your engine stopped running? If the engine was running fine and you were flying down the lake, then it just quits there is a serious problem. Your starter may be a victim of another issue. Could you have just accidentally pulled on the kill switch lanyard, putting the switch half way in the middle of on and off? That can happen and you may not notice it because when you move around to see what happened it may have sprung back to the on position. If it was in the off position you may have burned up the starter cranking it while the kill switch would not allow the engine to start.

Anyday you want we can go to one of the local ramps and I will be happy to assist you in learning some good habits. I am available almost any day right now.

With an optiMax there are some things to look at. First if you have the original fuel lines from 2011 then they need to be replaced. I just did it on my 2010 Lowe. Those lines are causing lots of trouble because they disintegrate internally. In your case you may have an inline fuel filter in your boat. You definitely have a fuel filter inside the fuel manifold/ fuel box. I say inside because some are inside and some are on the side of that manifold box. Inside that box is a float like a carburetor and an electric fuel pump. There is also a mechanical diaphragm pump and it could be partly your problem. This needs to go to your Mercury mechanic to be cleaned, inspected and repaired. There is no problem with you saving some money and replace your filters and fuel line yourself. It cost me about $45 for the new line to go from the tank to the engine including the new Johnson brand fuel primer bulb. I have had issues with a few brand new Merc bulbs and the aftermarket bulbs are a crap shoot. I had two Merc dealers even suggest the Johnson ones. So start with the simple things which should also include a new set of spark plugs. Another important thing to do is hook your boat up to a garden hose and supply water to the engine using earmuffs. Start and idle at night and inspect around the engine and see if any of the plug wires are arcing. It should be a snap sound and a light show. It might be time to replace the spark plug wires too.

I know you said your budget was $100 and you wanted to get a 6 footer. My best suggestion is to look at an Abu Garcia Ike Delay series rod model IKECW64-5. It is a terrific jerkbait, topwater rod and I have been fishing mine for about 1 1/2. It is 6'3 inches and was designed to have that shorter handle to avoid hitting your arm. The price is $129.99 so it is just above your price range, but I truly believe it is worth the extra few dollars. Maybe you could find it somewhere on sale. Check out the video on it.

68camaro your 735C is listed as a MAG Heavy not a medium heavy. They are terrific rods. My frog rod is a Champion XP DC705C. That is the 735Cs little brother. It is rated as a Mag HVT also. Both make great frog and deep jig rods. You are correct they fish more like a heavy.

Hi Zeeter, Where were you trying to launch at? There are some tricky ramps around here. The ramp at Wilson Point is one of them, since the right hand ramp has a turn of he sidewalk half way back into the lane. The left one is better since it is a straight. Both have plenty of room to leave the prep area swing forward till your trailer is straight and then back down to the ramp. If you use the ramp at Mariner Point make sure you pull up and straiten out before you try to go backwards. If you are off loading up by the flats try Anchor Marine. They have a large prep area and lots of room to swing around then back up. If you would like some personal help, I would be happy to help you do some launching up at Mariner Point Landing. That is a county launch onto the Gunpowder River located near the Baltimore/Harford County line. It is located behind the shopping center with the Amish Flea Market and the Wendy's in it. I believe that is Joppa Farm Road. We could meet up there during the week, which will definitely be less busy. It has about 4 ramps so we would not need to hold anyone up. During the week Wilson Point near Martin State Airport or better yet Dundee Marine is always empty during the week..Dunde would cost you around $10 but thew others are free. If you are interested just let me know. Do me a favor post a pic of your boat and trailer from the side and rear, there may be some things tricks to make it easier to launch, these are mods to do to your trailer.