biggiesmalls

Looking to get a new 1000 size Daiwa to use mostly for panfish. I'll have two spools, one with 3 and one with 6 lb mono for different scenarios. Looking for something light and smooth, and just looking to get the best bang for my buck in a reel. Don't need anything super expensive for this rig, it'll be handling panfish up to a few pounds.

Hello, Wondering what rods you would choose for the following applications, as far as length/power/taper. I want to be able to fish: Large jerkbaits (Yo-Zuri crystal minnow, X-rap, etc) Spooks 1/2 ounce jigs Large texas-rigged worms (typically with 3/16-3/8 ounces of weight) Hollow body frogs Lipless crankbaits Ideally, I'd like to put together two rigs to handle those lures. Then add in a spinning setup to handle: Senkos Finesse jigs (around 3/16 ounce) Flukes (on a 1/16 ounce weighted hook) Small topwaters (such as tiny/baby torpedos and chug bugs) As far as length, power, and taper of the rod, gear ratio of the reel, and material/strength of the line - what would you put together that can fish those baits with 3 setups or less? Tight lines, Drew

How do y'all store your hooks? Just a tray box? Has anybody used something like a small binder, similar to one used for soft plastics, before? Or something else interesting? Tight lines Drew

Sounds like I'll pick up a few tiny torpedos to try out. Do you have a color that works best in SoFL? Drew

Travelling to Florida for two weeks, and while I'm there I want to try some freshwater ponds and canals for exotics, like snakeheads and peacock bass. So, which of those lures in the title would you choose when going for these species? Tight lines Drew

Hey all, will be fishing in Cape Coral for a week, and wanted to bring along a few bass lures just in case. What are conditions like in the ponds/canals around here? Mostly dirty, stained, clear? Shallower or deeper? Also - are there snakeheads or peacock bass around here, or too far north? Thanks Drew

What are your favorite lures to use for dinks? I have a pond I fish now that's got some big bluegill, but sometimes when they don't play along it's fun to go for some of the bass in there. Problem is, they're only about 6-12" for the most part, with a few fish that have hit around 14-16". There's plenty of them - so I'm mostly worried about what you think the most FUN lures for these smaller fish are. Tight lines Drew

Does anybody know where I can get a carbon fiber reel seat for a spinning reel? I want to do the two parts at the top and bottom to hold it in place and do a cork inlay between them, if that makes sense. I am looking to do something like this. Just need the carbon fiber pieces for it. Let me know if you know of anything. Thanks and tight lines, Drew

I tried WRB's idea of a #4 drop shot hook (used a Gamakatsu drop shot/split shot hook) and a whole tail-hooked nightcrawler, flylined to the fish. Yielded a 10-1/4" fish from the same pond. I didn't see the big guy swimming around, though - so when I go back (I'm out of town until Saturday), I'll see if I can find him and try that. It did catch the smaller fish too, but I could usually pull it away before they got the hook. And I always got the nightcrawler back - I could catch 5+ fish on one whole nightcrawler before it didn't work anymore Drew

Because I want to actually catch the fish on rod and reel and not take the easy way out. Drew

My concern with the red wigglers, especially a smaller one, is that the smaller sunfish will get to it much faster than the big guy will. Also worried with the bigger fish swallowing that small hook. Tom, what do you mean by "tail hooking" the nightcrawler? I'll be sure to try some #4 drop shot hooks - how are Owner Mosquito hooks for this? I've tried these before, the smaller fish get to them far before the bigger fish can, unfortunately. That sounds like a good idea to me, worth a shot. I will try to see if I can find a 4-weight or something similar. I don't have an ultralight rod, I do have a light rod though. I don't think it could cast such a light jig though! The ned rig is a good idea though, there are very few bass in that pond so it just may work to solely target the big redear. I think I am going to try Tom's idea of a fly-lined nightcrawler, and see if that works. I just have to hope that I can get it out there without the smaller fish getting to it first... maybe I could try throwing some bread in another spot of the pond to distract them, and hopefully the big guy will be alone. Another thing I am going to try is casting at least 15 feet away from the fish when I see him, I've been casting 4-6 feet from him and he's getting spooked. I want to try fly fishing for them too if it doesn't work... we shall see what happens with it though. Drew

Hi everyone, I am being driven absolutely crazy by a massive redear that lives in the pond in my backyard. It's gin clear, there's over 10 feet of visibility in this pond. There aren't many large fish in there, except for a giant redear. For a size comparison, I caught a 10.25" hybrid a few days ago and put him in there. When I walked past the pond today to see if I could find the large redear, I saw them swimming next to each other and the redear was substantially larger, probably by at least 2-3". I am positive that this is at least a 1 pound fish and I think that it may be a 2 pound fish, considering my hybrid was in the 18-19 ounce range. Here is my issue though - I can't catch him for the life of me. There are tons of smaller redear, bluegill, and hybrids in that pond, and it's difficult to intentionally target him. I've changed hook sizes, baits/sizes (bread, crickets, whole nightcrawlers), and nothing has worked. I casted a bait out in his area when I saw him today, I made it probably 4-6 feet away from him - he saw the whole nightcrawler falling and instantly took off for the other side of the pond. I later found him, tried again, and he took off and I couldn't relocate him. It may have been the hook which spooked him - but I am not too sure. Does anybody have any tips at all on how I can catch this fish? I can provide almost any info on the pond that you could want, just ask. I'd love to catch this fish and won't stop until I do! Tight lines, Drew

My apologies. I didn't think that it would be appropriate for the same thread, since there was no specific comparison of the two frogs.

Wondering what people would recommend doing - spending the $10+ on Livetarget frogs, or saving cash and just going with Pad Crashers. Or, going with another frog. Would you go popping or walking-style? I'm set on color selection. Thanks, Drew

This is only going to be used for frogs. Probably just going to go with a 7.5:1, should be plenty fast. Thanks everyone