IndianaFinesse

I doubt it, the water temperature is still in the upper thirty's and the light angle isn't anywhere near what it is when they usually spawn. Look for them on the beds on the first full moon of April, and for a week or two prior the male bass will be making the beds.

8.2 pound largemouth on half of a green pumpkin zinkerz glued to a 1/16 ounce mushroom head. Got her just prior to the spawn underneath a dock. 21 inch (forgot my scale that day) smallmouth on half of a coppertruse zinkerz glued to a 1/16 ounce mushroom head. Caught her off the tip of a long underwater point.

What does the "own %" mean at the top of the list of pros?

They are a very bony fish, but a small common carp caught in cold water is actually pretty mild and firm. Removing all of their bones is a pain though, so I don't keep much of them any more.

Ipt stands for inches per turn, how many inches of line are retrieved per turn of the handle. Gear ratio is how many times the spool turns per turn of the reel handle, a 6.4:1 gear ratio means that for every turn of the reel handle the spool turns 6.4 times. The IPT is based on spool size and gear ratio, so a 6.4:1 reel with a larger diameter spool will have a higher IPT than than another 6.4:1 reel with a smaller spool diameter.

There are no secret baits, but there are secret bites.

Don't know what they will be doing this weekend, but I do know what they were doing today. Water clarity's down to only a few inches on the upper end of the lake and a foot of visibility on the lower end, with the water temperature reading about 38 degrees. Fished for about three hours this afternoon, and i decided to start out catfishing. After a bit of motoring around I found the catfish hole again, but I forgot my marker buoy and the anchor rope wasn't long enough to reach the bottom so I was unable to stay on top of it. Still managed one nice channel catfish measuring 31 inches on cut shad, unfortunately while fighting the catfish I was blown off of the hole. Drove around for another half hour looking for it again, but I couldn't find it. Must be a very small hole. Switched over to bass fishing and found them in 15-20 feet of water where the channel cuts close to the shore line. Didn't catch anything on the Ned rig or hair jigs and the water was to muddy for jerks and blades, so I tried the 3/16 ounce baby boo jig with a super chunk junior to see if a little more bulk would help, and so I could try my new daiwa exceller out. Three fish right off the bat on the little jig, I thought I had figured them out but they shut down as fast as they started. On a side note, I love the exceller, casts surprisingly far and is as smooth as silk, well worth the $50 I paid for it on sale. Never got another hit on the jig, so I switched over to white bass to see if I could find a nice school of them. I quickly found a nice school of fish that appeared to be white bass by the way they were schooling, so I hung around for a while on that spot to figure out what they wanted today. Turns out theythey weren't a very active school or I didn't figure out the right presentation, cause I only caught four fish on a slimfish spoon tipped with a couple maggots. I also pulled a very expensive canoe out of the water today that someone reported missing, found it half submerged in the water. I'm glad I found it before it sank to the bottom, or get run over by a boat. Wasn't a great day of fishing, but it was good to get out on soft water again for the first time in over a month, even if it is just a tease before freezing back up again. I'll probably be out on Saturday and Sunday enjoying the warm weather, hopefully the water will clear up a little before then.

Looks more like $39.99 to me. Thanks for the heads up (although they are all fast action, a moderate would probably be better for cranks), maybe it will go on sale for even less when they do their spring classic sale.

I saw the medium lite model, but I think that would be to lite for cranks.

I wish... There aren't any academy's within a hundred and fifty miles of me. Online just ran out of the 7'5" medium moderate tourney choice, as I was ordering it. Still show that it's in stock but when you go to put it in cart it tells you that its out of stock. I might try the 7' medium moderate premier casting/popping rod, although its double the price, or just get the whuppin stick. Leaning toward the m/m premier popping rod, you don't happen to happen any experience with it do you? Thanks for all of the help, I didn't think of checking academy until you mentioned it.

I've actually been able to get out ice fishing seven or eight times this year, and i live in the same general area as you I believe. Had five inches of ice the week before Christmas, which then melted enough to open water fish for a couple days just before new years eve. Then the lakes froze over again, hitting about 3.5 inches of ice this this time last week. Now we have open water again. Notice a pattern? This is just going to freeze up again in 2-3 weeks if it follows the usual mid winter weather trend. Oh, and the bass are definitely in winter mode right now, I was catching a few through the ice and just after the ice melted in 15-25 feet of water, on small 1/16 ounce hair jigs and tiny panfish jigs tipped with a wax worm.

Thanks, I didn't see the saltwater version at first. I'm going to go ahead and try the 7'5" medium moderate tournament choice rod, thats one of the few models of moderate action tournament. Choice rods they have left

Thanks, do you know if the tournament choice rod is going to be restocked?

Thanks for all of the reply's everyone! Do you know if its going to be put back in stock, or was it discontinued?

Until they break. And I frequently buy models that are at least a year or two old when they are clearancing the line of rods.

I found all of the different versions of the pointer confusing to, so I started a thread a few months ago asking what the differences between them are. Here's a link to the thread, it should be able to answer your questions. What is the difference between various lucky craft jerkbaits?

Wow, that beast does look more like a dinasour than a gator!

Academy also has the Jarvis walker white tuff tip 7' casting rod that's labeled medium moderate and says it's a composite, is that rating accurate? I've noticed that academy doesn't always have the correct ratings on their equipment.

That sounds great, but unfortuanately they're out of stock. Does anyone know if they are discontinued or will they be restocked? If they come back in stock in the next month or two I am definitely going to get one, they look to be a little lighter and higher quality than the whuppin stick for even less. Plus they're a little longer which is an added bonus. If they don't come back in stock I'll probably get the 6'6" mh whuppin stick.

How does the reel trade in work? Do you trade the reel in for what they think its worth now, or original msrp, or what?

Ned rig.

Thanks, unfortunately that's what I've heard about the whuppin sticks more than once. Do you have any other suggestions for crankbaits rods in that same price range? Otherwise I'm probably going to get the 6'6" medium heavy moderate whuppin stick.

Maybe, but I think that more contact with the guides could if anything increase the sensitivity as the line is almost always in direct contact with the guide. I could be wrong, or there might not be any difference at all (which is probably the case). Time for the "measurebators" to come and figure it out.

How do you think micro guides could reduce sensitivity? I can't see this being possible.

I use roughly eight pound braid on all of my spinning rods. It works for almost everything, ned rig, wacky rig, lite cranks, etc. Just adjust the leader strength to the conditions.