Fishin' Fool

Ironically the Tmac were 1 of the 2 worms I picked. The other was the Larry Nixon Berkley Havoc bottom hopper. Both got great reviews.

I'm going to hell for sure. Here it is Mother's Day weekend coming up. You'd think I'd be shopping for gifts for my wife and mom. Nope I've ordered a rod, reel and some worms and jigheads to start trying a Shaky head worm. I got the bug bad....

Daiwa Tatula all day everyday. You can find for $94 on Ebay. Very user friendly.

Yes only a small fish bait. You won't catch anything over 12"

Thanks for the ideas everyone. You're all helping to contribute to my problem

I'd like to put together a small zip lock bag of shakey head tackle. What jigheads and worms do I need to grab? I'd like to keep my order to $20 or less. Just want to try a sample.

Could you use it? Yes. Is it ideal? No. You'd be better off with a casting rod and reel for this type of fishing.

I agree that durability is a big factor of the more expensive reels. I've bought the "higher end" Gander Mountain reels only to get a few seasons out of them but my Stradics take a lickin' but keep on tickin'.

Compare your Sienna to the Stradic FK and then the CI4 you should feel the difference between the reels. FWIW I own 4 Stradics but have not felt the need to spend the extra $50 to grab the CI4 at this point.

I'm assuming this would make a good worm/senko maybe light jig rog with the extra fast tip. This would make the first baitcast rod I bought for bottom techniques I have been exclusively spinning in the past. For those that own this rod what else do you use it for? Thanks.

I agree with what Hootie said. Have your friend buy you the E6x since he broke your rod and then take $75 of your own and get the GL2 replaced. That's a win-win!

Everyone on here seems to recommend the Pflueger President for $60. Shimano makes great spinning reels the Sedona and Sahara. I have a Daiwa Fuego too that is a nice reel for $100. Lots of good options. My suggestion is find something you like and see if you can grab it for less on Ebay or Amazon.

I still remember this story shortly after I had caught my personal best largemouth weighing 5-2 the weekend before a tournament I had out on St Clair. Now let me preface this with I hadn't felt the pull of a smallmouth since the previous season. I hooked up with a fish that tournament morning and I was hooting and hollering about how big the fish was and told my partner to get the net as I apparently had a "big one" by the way it was fighting. Seriously by the time I got it in the boat I has to put it on the bump board to see if would keep. Hardest fighting fish pound for pound! Welcome to the club. There's no going back from here.

http://www.gloomis.com/content/g-loomis/us/en/home/conventional/support/xpeditor-program-details.html For $75 with the Xpeditor-program you get your rod replaced. That's the cheapest way to go. No shipping costs either.

Bud get yourself a Daiwa Tatula casting reel MSRP $150 for around $94 on Ebay and don't look back. Those things are so smooth. I've mainly fished spinning gear my whole also but it makes a huge difference when you get a decent casting reel. The $59.99 reels aren't the same. I'm kicking myself for not getting decent casting reel prior to this year. It's just so much easier to fish once you get the hang of it.

In the rod that you pick consider warranty also. I believe that the Avid X is 15 year. The Phenix M1 I believe is limited lifetime but the Zodias is only 1 year. This should factor into your decision.

What would you buy? Actually I did. I have a $150 rebate gift card and I just bought a Daiwa Tatula CT XS reel. 8.0 to 1 gear ratio. Should be a good frog reel.

I'm trying to decide between 3 different rods for my frog setup. I'm trying to decide between: Daiwa Tatula XT 7'4" H frog rod- $79.99 Daiwa Tatula 7'4" H frog rod- $119.99 Daiwa Tatula 7'2" HFB- $106.00 Other than frogs I would potentially also use the rod for A-rigs. Should I save the extra $30 to $40 and grab the XT. I don't understand why I would need a more sensitive rod for frogging? Thanks for your input.

I ordered one rod through Amazon and it came in a damaged flimsy cardboard box. I don't know if I could stomach that again.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think he's saying he got it for $425 but was willing to spend up to $650 for it. Getting a NRX for $425 is less than MSRP.

Most people fish braid but the reason for that isn't because it's better for the situations you described. Braid doesn't twist your line so if you used braid with a leader you could conceivably fish that braid for fishing seasons and not change your line many times in a given season.

Yep. The Tatula 7'4" heavy frog rod gets good reviews. If you search around you can find for $125 or less.

The smallies usually have some nice markings but the water is pretty dirty right now so they get "pale" in the stained water.

Caught my personal best 5.5 pound smallmouth on Lk St Clair today. Anytime you can get out during the work week is special and catching my PB is the icing on the cake. It's still cold out there wore multiple layers all day long and water temps are 52 to 56 degrees.

You're right about one thing it's all about confidence while out on the water. Lures are marketed to catch fisherman not fish. Saying that if the latest and greatest is xyz and you only have limited time to enjoy your recreation then chances are you will have 3 (if not 20) xyz lures with you