papajoe222

Now that's using your most valuable tool. Glad to hear you had success trying something new, somewhere new. What's next?

You forgot that he had to walk a crooked mile first.

The TK190 and similar, straight shanked soft plastic hooks are designed for T-rigging. That big keeper just won't fit through all but the bigger bell sinkers. It is possible, however, to super glue a round split-shot inside the tube making sure to leave enough plastic behind the nose for the hook's keeper to pass between the nose and weight.. You can also glue a rattle inside, but I recommend doing both in advance

Someone is a bit salty. You could always take a drive up here and take advantage of the great fisheries we have available to us. Oh wait, I forgot, you guys can't handle driving up here. Looks like you can't handle a real boat either.

Wow, that's a lot to ask in one post, but I'll give it a quick shot. Base your lure selection (type) on the fish's activity level, or what you feel it should be and the type of cover you'll be targeting. Reaction baits for active fish and slower moving baits for neutral. Color selection based on light and water clarity, Natural colors in clear water and more visible colors in stained water. Note: these are guidelines as to where to start, not etched in stone rules. As for hooks size, base it on the thickness of the soft plastic bait you're using. A good starting point would be a gap at the hook's bend that is twice the thickness of the bait. Look at the shore before looking in the water. The contour of the land will extend into the water. Points and cuts in the shoreline are indications of structure (changes in bottom contour and water depth) in the surrounding water. Steeper shores mean quicker access to deep water. Shores getting hit by the wave action will have more color to the water, but will be prime areas for active fish. When looking in the water, attempt to determine whether the bottom is hard or soft and what type of cover, if any, is there. You want to shy away from multiple hook baits, or soft plastic baits with multiple appendages in heavy weeds, exposed hooks in brush or wood and baits that would become easily wedged in rocky or rip-rap areas. Do a search here on shakey heads and Ned rigs. There is a ton of helpful info to be had. Last, but not least, get out there and wet a line as often as possible. It's the second best way to learn.

I'm sure the wife was happy she didn't go full term. That's a healthy one for sure. Congrats.

That or a RageTail Grub in smoke blue. Awesome combo, especially in the late summer and fall.

If you'll be adding a trailer to it, there shouldn't be much difficulty. There's a bit of a learning curve when it comes to throwing lighter/smaller stuff with baitcasters, but it's a short one. One word of advice, at first, don't attempt long distance casts. Unless you're looking to also learn how to pick out backlashes.

For flipping/pitching and jigs worked on the bottom, as stated before; Paddle tail trailers for warmer water and active fish, and subtle trailers for cooler water and less active fish. I'll add bigger trailers for warmer water and smaller for colder water. Don't forget swimbaits and if you've been fishing chatter baits,I'm sure you don't forget adding a paddle tail trailer like a Havoc Beat Shad

For me, it's much easier to work many top-waters with a shorter rod, but I'm not you. Will it work? Yes. Will you feel confident in using it is the question and the only way to answer that is to try it. How much deep crankin' do plan to do compared to top-water? If you plan on using a rod for both applications, get one for what you do the most and try it out for the other.

Havoc Bottom Hopper Trick Worm Shakey Snake (PowerBait)

The last few years, I've gone more to using Fas-Snaps on the majority of my hard baits, including topwaters. With poppers, I'll sometimes tie directly with a Palomar knot if I want it to spit more. If you do decide to use a snap, make sure it's a cross-lock as the cheaper type will fail you given the chance (read; Loose Big Fish). The other thing I recommend is to retie frequently. They make it easier to change lures quickly, but they also make it easier to forego checking your line and knot.

I really don't want to know how many combos I own, but I rarely take more than six and more often than not five will cover the techniques I want to use/try on any given day. If it's an overnighter, or multi day trip, I may bring more, but only take what I feel I'll need. Most of my combos are 7ft. or longer and my rod locker isn't designed for longer rods, so they sit out on the deck when I'm fishing.

I think most beginners would benefit more from a braking system than a magnetic one for the main reason most of their backlashes are the result of the initial overspin of the spool. Beginners have a tendency to snap their wrist in an attempt to get distance on their cast, which causes the overspin. A reel similar to the Lew's LaserPro Speed Spool with both systems is a great entry level reel for beginners as it can help eliminate the two most common causes of backlashes and, once their skill level increases, transitions well to little or no control on either system.

Heddon Zara Spook Rapala X-Rap (4in.) Red Eye Shad Norman Deep Little N KVD 1.5 Squarebill

One of two presentations should render some results. Mojo (split shot) rig and a crank that will get down to and deflect off the rip rap. With the clear water and lack of other cover, you want to get down into those rocks. Start with the crank and follow up with the mojo rig. I'm assuming that you're shore bound, so casts parallel to the shoreline are out, biut you can still angle your casts to the right and left. Work the area as if it were a clock from 10:00 to 2:00 then move down the bank you can add a spinnerbait or topwater to the mix under low light conditions and like F-O-M night fishing eliminates your concern regarding water clarity.

Once you've located a point, look at the shoreline on both sides of it. That shoreline will give you clues to how quickly and where the sides of the point drop off to deeper water. Those are the areas to target. Working your way from the the shallow (top) section of the point toward deeper water with some type of slow moving, bottom contact bait like a Texas or C-Rig will allow you to locate areas of structural change and cover. Work your way deeper and repeat. This will help you form a mental picture of where the drop begins and ends and what cover or changes are there. Then you can go back and cover the prime spots with either the same presentation, or something to trigger strikes from neutral fish like a crank or spinner.

Cabela's has their tourney trail rods on sale for Father's Day for under $50 The 705 is a M/H Mod.Fast. May be worth looking at.

The difference in running depth depends on the difference in line diameter. I'd venture a guess of 1ft. Less for .02 increase in line diameter. In regards to your original post, your KVD rod may not be loading up sufficiently to make longer casts an you are trying to compensate for it by casting 'harder.' Do you have a rod with a Mod, or Mod/Fast action. If so, try casting with it even if the lure you're using doesn't fall within its rating. Deep Cranks, because of their shape and bill length, are going to tumble. Helicoptering is completely different and is usually the result of too much effort on the'follow through' (don't know how else to describe it) of your casting motion. If you've ever fly fished, you'll understand what I mean.

You may need to experiment a little with rigging, but Carolina and Texas are my most productive ways. Experiment with dragging, lift drop and swimming the T-rig and I've found that they can show a profound preference for one over the others. I like an offset worm hook to start with, but will switch to an EWG threaded a couple of inches into the worm if I feel they're short striking.

I've fished a ton of quarries and strip pits here in Illinois and found that if the fish aren't up shallow and active, they're likely suspended. The problem was always figuring out depth at which they were suspending and water clarity always figured into where. The easiest way to determine light penetration for me was to drop a line with something white tied to it (I used my white coffee mug as it was handy) overboard until I couldn't see it. I could normally find the suspending fish within a foot or two of that depth. I would target them one of two ways. The first was with a small bodied crank, either a suspending model or one I'd added weight to. Crank it down to running depth and pause it frequently. The second was using a hair jig coupled with a 4in. plastic worm suspended under a slip float. Cast it out and let it sink until the float sits upright, slowly reel a little and let it settle again. You can make quick adjustments to depth with that float and you could use a wacky worm or any number of soft plastics under it

Without a doubt, I catch more bass on topwater at night. I catch bigger fish during mid-day, but the bites are few. For someone just starting out with them, I'd recommend low light conditions. Dusk, dawn and overcast or rainy days. Surface conditions dictate the type of bait I choose. The more ripple or chop there is on the water, the more commotion I want the bait to make. It doesn't have to move quickly, just get their attention. More so than most baits, IMO, you need to determine the speed which the fish prefer the bait. Some anglers will fish a bait one way and put it down if it isn't producing. Always try speeding up, slowing down and pausing the bait occasionally before switching to something else. Lastly, pick areas that have a high probability of holding fish. Some topwaters will draw fish from a good distance under prime conditions, but that is rarely the case. Switch to topwater after you've caught a few on something else, regardless of the time of day. You've eliminated finding fish, it's just a matter of catching them on something different.

Is the release bar/button in the up position? If it isn't, there is likely a spring that likely popped loose and the the gearing isn't re-engaging.

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned mono. With the short length of line used in flipping, the stretch and sensitivity aren't a factor. If it gets nicked and that goes unnoticed, it still retains a good portion of its strength and Visibility is minimal. For flipping, I don't feel the type of line is as important as it is with other presentations.

I prefer cork, either straight or split handle. Long handle for cranks and pistol grip for most top waters.