Brad Reid

There are several photos/comments around the Internet regarding PDLs and Boonedox Landing Gear installations. Take a look at these for your very best alternative. Not cheap, but if you can imagine pulling up to a ramp, PDL in a truck bed, then dropping two legs/wheels, and rolling directly into the water, you get an idea of what a time and "back" saver this is. I have this on a Native Propel 10 and it is great. Brad

For me, it'd be almost all about overall weight, the one metric that makes the most noticeable difference after a long day with a rod and reel in one's hands. It makes a big difference regarding sensitivity, too. And, this, because as regards a "finger" balance, it isn't a position we find ourselves in while actually fishing. We want our lines out as much as possible. For finesse presentations, almost all are performed with a bit of tension on the line . . . and this adds a bit of downward pressure on the rod tip. This is where you want to perfect balance: lure in the water. For power presentations or active casting and reeling, again, the balance point is shifted toward the rod tip, too, as we experience the resistance of line and lure drag. It leaves me thinking overall weight trumps balance. But, not totally discounting the importance of balance, no, I'd think in most cases using a playground teeter totter as an example, we'd want the tip of the rod higher, the reel end to be the slightly heavier of the two knowing the rod tip will have forces pressing down on it while actually fishing. *** Hoping to hear someone's experience with the super, super light Shimano Poison Adrena rods with a very light reel. I saw the video of the guy walking around holding the butt end of this rod between his finger and thumb like he was holding a toothpick. And, well, I like spending other people's money for them. Ha! Poison Adrena here. Impressive. Brad

I may have posted this on my similar thread. I caught this bass on 3-22 using 2lbs. Nanobraid and a #2 Mepps Plain Aglia, silver blade. Neighbor Joe was next to me in his boat, weighed it: 3 lbs. 7 ozs. You can see the little Mepps in its mouth. I think the largest LMB I have caught on 2 lbs. braid was around 4 pounds, maybe a little over. Also 3 pound white bass, a nice catfish, too, which almost spooled me. That one "insurance" rod to carry along for me, when fishing is tough? I think if panfish weren't in the mix, I'd use a light spinning rod, maybe even an ML, a 2500 reel and size up to 4 lbs. or even 6 lbs. Nanobraid. Whether it is 2, 4 or 6, it is all so very lightweight and fine, I am not certain I could tell the difference. It casts great. #2 Mepps, maybe a upsize to a #3 for bass, I'd avoid throwing it into tough places, likely use it in coves just outside of vegetation, toss it down creek channels or the deepest part of the cove. Brad I should have added something, that when I cast a tiny Mepps with a treble hook? My hand is in position and flipping the bail almost exactly when it hit the water. If not, certainly depending on water depth and what is in it, you can get hung up pretty fast. But, the good thing is the treble hook is so small, it is almost always easily shaken loose to free it. Trouble is, it is easy for a big bass to leap in the air and sling it off. Nothing works perfectly! Brad

Well, I suppose the obvious one is a 2 pc. rod packs and carries really well. So, if you are going to make some longer strolls to get to your first fishing site, being able to break a rod down really helps. A 2 pc. rod and a small tackle bag make for a really finesse approach. As regards any physical attributes, one over the other, I think they perform the same. My most expensive rod, by far, is a 2 pc. but I normally leave it assembled and on a rod stand, often forget it is even a 2 piece rod. ***2 pc. Tip. This may be more common knowledge than I know, but when you assemble a 2 pc. rod, roll the male end of the rod connection in the crease between the outside of your nose and your face to get a tiny bit of oil on it to get the join seated better. It is just a naturally oily place on our bodies to use. Nice selection, the St. Croix is! Brad

My links didn't work in a prior post, not sure why but quoting from it now . . . and I put VanDam stats and info in bold print. I must say, I was shocked to see how dominant KVD has been, even since his last Classic victory. Here, summarizing KVD from that source from 2012 to last year: The man with more B.A.S.S. victories (25) and career earnings than anyone has also proven over the past seven years that regardless of the format he's competing under, he’s a force to be reckoned with. A another site analysis of the results of every Major League Fishing Summit and Challenge Cup events held since the organization launched in 2012 revealed that VanDam is just as dominant in the every-fish-counts-catch-weigh-release format as he has been in traditional tournament setups, perhaps even more so. With the completion of the 2018 Challenge Cup held in Natchez, Miss., and Vidalia, La., won by (you guessed it) VanDam, MLF has held 13 Cup events. Each event has three stages to it – Elimination Round, Sudden Death and Championship. That’s 39 possible rounds of competition. Despite missing one event due to a scheduling conflict, VanDam has competed in 32 of the 36 rounds he’s been eligible for, posting a series-best 10 first-place finishes, meaning every time he hits the water for a round of Cup competition there's a 31 percent chance he's going to prevail. He is the only MLF angler to advance to the Sudden Death round in each Cup event he’s competed at and his three Cup titles also lead all competitors. That consistency has allowed him to pile up some astonishing statistics. Here’s a sampling: > His 531 total fish are far and away tops among Cup anglers. Aaron Martens is 2nd with 400 and Martens has competed in all 13 Cups. > VanDam’s 930.1875 pounds is also first among Cup anglers. Martens’ 702.625 is the next best total. > VanDam far exceeds the average production during a given round of Cup competition. He averages a series-leading 16.59 fish and 29.07 pounds each time he puts on an MLF jersey for a Cup event. The series averages are 11.43 fish and 20.05 pounds. The average weight of a bass caught in Cup competition has been 1.754 pounds and VanDam is nearly even with 1.752. > VanDam has qualified for the Championship Round at eight of the 12 Cup events he’s been at. Only three other anglers (Martens with seven, Brent Ehrler with six and Edwin Evers with five) have made it to at least five final rounds. > He’s caught 40 or more pounds in nine different rounds and has recorded three of the top four individual round weight totals in Cup competition. His two best single-round weights have come in Championship rounds. > VanDam’s weight total at the 2014 Summit Cup (190.5625 pounds) is more than 40 pounds better than the next best single-event total (Martens had 147.625 at the ’17 Summit Cup). > VanDam is one of two anglers to crack the 40-pound mark in all three rounds at a single event. He and Greg Hackney both did it at the 2014 Summit Cup at Alpena, Mich. Here’s the kicker: VanDam also did it at the 2012 Challenge Cup at Lake Amistad, MLF's inaugural event. > VanDam is the only competitor who’s caught 40 fish in a single round, logging an even 40 during the Championship round of the 2016 Summit Cup at La Crosse, Wis. > He’s one of six competitors in the 30/50 Club, those who’ve caught 30 fish in a single round and amassed 50 pounds in a single round. The others are: Mike Iaconelli, Ott DeFoe, Todd Faircloth, Martens and Ehrler. Here’s a rundown of the top 5 anglers in several key statistical categories for the MLF Cups (min. 13 rounds): Total Fish Weighed 1. Kevin VanDam: 531 2. Aaron Martens: 400 3. Edwin Evers: 345 4. Brent Ehrler: 326 5. Greg Hackney: 303 Fish Per Round 1. VanDam: 16.59 2 (tie). Martens: 13.79 2 (tie). Mike Iaconelli: 13.79 4. Evers: 12.78 5. Hackney: 12.63 Total Weight 1. VanDam: 930.1875 pounds 2. Martens: 702.625 3. Ehrler: 623.0615 4. Hackney: 587.6875 5. Evers: 565.51 Weight Per Round 1. VanDam: 29.07 pounds 2. Hackney: 24.49 3. Jacob Wheeler: 24.37 4. Martens: 24.23 5. Iaconelli: 24.21 Highest Per-Fish Average Weight 1. Wheeler: 2.031 pounds 2. Ish Monroe: 2.0104 3. Jason Quinn: 1.946 4. Greg Hackney: 1.9396 5. Kelly Jordon: 1.918 Biggest Individual Fish 1. 8-05 (Bobby Lane – 2015 Challenge Cup) 2. 8-02 (Kelly Jordon – 2014 Challenge Cup) 3. 7-09 (Shaw Grigsby – 2016 Challenge Cup) 4. 7-06 (Takahiro Omori – 2013 Challenge Cup) 5. 7-05 (Boyd Duckett – 2016 Challenge Cup) Most Fish Caught – Single Round 1. 40 (VanDam – 2016 Summit Cup – Championship) 2 (tie). 39 (VanDam – 2014 Summit Cup – Championship) 2 (tie). 39 (Evers – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination) 4. 37 (Martens – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination) 5. 34 (Iaconelli – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination) Highest Weight – Single Round 1. 88.00 pounds (Martens – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination) 2. 82.4375 (VanDam – 2014 Summit Cup – Championship) 3. 74.5625 (VanDam – 2016 Summit Cup – Championship) 4. 66.9375 (VanDam – 2014 Summit Cup – Elimination) 5. 62.125 (Ehrler – 2014 Summit Cup – Elimination) A better question might have been who is the second best. Brad

MIbassyaker makes a very good point: catching 3 gills, 3 crappie . . . and just one LMB is fun but not always desirable. If we downsize to these inline spinners and others, there is little doubt other species are going to bite them. Same thing here on the 3" curly-tail grubs! It'd be right there with inline spinners and bass just love them. Two years ago, I was tandem fishing from my canoe with my high school aged neighbor, and he was throwing a frog into the pads, doing well, and I was tossing one of these grubs in the open channel we were sitting . . . and getting bit on every cast! One issue is I think I was using Yamamoto tiny curly tails and blue gills can nip the tails off them rather easily. But, bass love them! Brad

For sure on the sarcasm part . . . just bragging to any soon-to-be retirees really wanting to move somewhere with good weather, no state incomes taxes . . . and lakes full of bass and other critters. And, essentially, year-round fishing. There are a few days I don't venture out when it is really cold or windy, but as you know, we are almost 24-7 365 days a year here. Cheers! Brad

The small inline spinners like Mepps, some others? I think they do a really good job of emulating smaller shad. And, for whatever reason, in terms of the variety of fish attracted to them, few are better. Would it be my first choice to catch panfish or bass and so on? Likely not, but it is the "Jack of all trades, master of none" sort of lure. I think that is how I have it dialed in. I haven't done it yet, but on my next order I want to go up to either 4 or 6 lbs. Sufix Nanobraid just to give me a bit more margin for error if I get a really big girl on. However, I still haven't had anything bust my line. So, insurance, I suppose! Brad

No, to anyone but KVD, now or in the past. I saw some startling current statistics on how very much he dominates over a very wide statistical array. We sometimes focus too much on the Classic, even there of course he has dominated along with Clunn, but Van Dam is way, way ahead of the next angler even over the past 7 years through much of 2018. Read this article from just 9 months ago or so. If anyone is sitting on the fence, not certain, if this doesn't change your mind, nothing will. Brad GOAT Does that link not work to KVD stats? http://www.another site.com/news_article/9287/stats-support-vandamÂ’s-mlf-prowess#.XJYasyhKg2w

Texas and bass lakes? They are literally everywhere! Mostly LMBs and less so SMBs but still tons of choices. From my home on Lake Athens, itself one of the best bass lakes in Texas, I am 20 minutes from Lake Palestine, 20 from Purtis Creek, 20 to Cedar Creek, 30 minutes to Richland Chambers, 30/40 to several lakes in Tyler and Canton, an hour to Lake Fork, Fairfield, Tawokoni. Let's see the Neches and Trinity rivers. I'm getting writers cramp and have another 20 to go. And, I am 20 minutes away from Gary Yamamoto's private lakes! There are few places as loaded with good bass lakes as there are in Texas, more so to the east than west side, but you'll have no issues finding a great lake to live on if you move here! Brad

Just to keep the thread alive, I was out last late afternoon and ended up with 3 gills (bluegill and redbreast), 3 crappie and a single 3 lbs. 7 oz. LMB all using the same thing I have been fishing for a week or so. A long ultralight rod for long casts to cover water with a #2 plain Mepps silver Aglia, 2# Sufix Nanobraid. The bass WAS a challenge but more so for the ultralight rod than the 2# line. My neighbor, Joe, was in a boat next to my canoe as we were wrapping up the evening of fishing and he weighed the bass for me. One of the gills was closing in on one pound but I didn't weigh it. The crappie were all nice legal keepers but I released everything. One side benefit of using light tackle? If you like catching multiple species, it definitely increases your chances. I had a "3 species" outcome! Some pics. Brad

Oh gosh! I went out last evening around 5:30 and was casting a #2 Mepps on my finesse gear, randomly picking up beautiful crappie all over my cove. Well, the downside to tiny treble hooks is, whew!, a big bass can spit one out rather easily on an acrobatic jump. 50/50? I have had it happen twice in the past 3 days. The one last night? I was handling her so well, my Soare rod was really working her in, what a rod, but then she jumped about 20 feet away from my canoe. I got to see this LMB up close and personal: huge, long and chunky. It is always hard to say how big . . . but it'd have easily been my biggest bass of this year. Oh well. I cried, tears shed, then got over it. I always do. Some pics of some crappie that made it all worthwhile! Brad

J Francho, for its weight class among longer kayaks, this is a great choice! The only negatives I have heard relate to it having a fairly low seat compared to some others, that and I think the seat is wider than a PA but not as long. That is, the under side doesn't extend as far toward your knees. The other is Hobie had to do sort of a last-minute engineering adjustment, build a little plastic guard that snaps on the stern handle to keep the rudder from scraping along the ground loading or dragging, I guess. Not a big deal there, but many suggest this will be corrected in the near future. It seems to me that this 2019 Hobie has leap-frogged the competition and holds the lead now. *To help you and others decide on whether or not to get a "boat," I offer this. Can't recall where I saw it, but, cute. Brad

Well, a 6 pounder that hits the veggies is going to be a challenge. What I do if they get wrapped up in pad stems is sort of reel my line in and I have grabbed some nice fish right out of the lily pads after plucking a few. I must say that it is the biggest obstacle to using light lines and small baits. We have large bowfin on my home lake and when they grab one of my standard bass presentations, 8 lbs. leaders, they take off and go straight down into vegetation/pads and rather quickly break me off. Bass, less so, but still and issue to deal with. Brad

I just generally like the power advantage of a moderate over fast action, casting distance, too. And, since I am 80% spinning over casting gear, I want a rod that loads up well to pin the fish, using the rod to fight the fish, not my reel. Hook sets? No doubt a fast tip has its place for many, many presentations where it excels. But, for any cases where you let the fish hook itself, or you reel in slack line quickly to start loading the rod, then sort of use a delayed and modest sweeping hookset? The hook will be driven in deeper by a moderate action. That shorter lever on a taut line delivers more force to the hook. Brad

Well, your drag is still operable and it depends on how tightly set your drag is as to whether it kicks in over an angler manually reeling line in and out. Other than just the added control aspects, I can think of a few circumstances it comes in handy. In deeper water fishing vertically, if you see fish on your electronics, dropping down to them and bobbing the lure up and down and up and down is easier. While I have not done it, it makes me want to cast on top of some lily pads, drag a little Keitech weedless shad off the edge and use my switch to bob the plastic up and down after it falls. That'd seem more convenient than just opening the bail. I need to try it more often, see where it helps, perfect the skill. On the most recent televised MLF competition, Mike Iaconelli can be seen back reeling while fighting a small mouth bass as I recall. Mike can do that and yell, "giant!, giant!" at the very same time. Now, THAT is skill! I put that way ahead of walking and chewing gum. Ha! Brad P.S. I really like Mike's antics and showmanship. Fun to watch for me.

I went down last night again, same finesse Soare rod, 1000 spinning reel, 2 lbs. test, and I caught a 2.5 and a 3.5 pounder, LMBs, and one average sized crappie. 30 minutes of fishing. I totally agree with the earlier comment that there is no reason to drop all the way down to 2 lbs. (not if the true goal is LMBs and not really panfish) and that 6 lbs. braid would eliminate margin of error, still allow for longer casts, if needed, say in open water. And, I'd certainly move off of a true finesse rod and go to an L or ML with the proper rod characteristics for what I am doing, how and where I am fishing. "Moving to fish." Since, more often than not, I am fishing out of a canoe or kayak, I know exactly what Toxic means here. Too, my lake has tons of American Lotus and other lily pads making this a skill worth learning. If you can't move the fish, move your boat. *** So, it really makes me wonder for these pro anglers in the new competitive format of weighing fish on the boats, no numbers limitations, why in the heck don't they use lighter gear, again other than maybe just a drop shot, to catch some fish? In that tournament the other day where Mike Iaconelli got off to a huge first round lead? I think Mike was fishing something small. I'll have to go back and watch it again. But, several anglers were just not catching a thing as I recall. Mike had 20 pounds while one or two anglers had zip, zero. Why in the heck would they NOT downsize? Some do, but I think it is sort of far down in the thought process for many of them. Maybe a bit of ego, too? Not certain. I think if I were a pro bass angler, I'd have at least one rod set up in the manner we are talking about, maybe put a red ribbon on it as a reminder. Ha! We ought to discuss what that perfect set-up for finesse, but truly intended for bass and not panfish, would be. The rod, the reel, the line, some favorite small lures. Sure, Ned Rig and Drop Shot, but others??? Brad

Tom, just based on my own experience, those I hear and read of others, I am sort of surprised that so few pro bass anglers seem to really scale down to get bites. I mean, yes, I know they do Drop Shot, but I mean like little spinnerbaits, finesse jigs and more. Maybe some do and I just don't know it. I went down again this afternoon, just fished off by dock and I caught 2 nice bass and an average sized crappie. 2 lbs. braid and that same long finesse rod, 1000 series spinning reel. With that 2 lbs. braid, I can cast a #2 Mepps Plain Aglia really far, cover a lot of water! Brad

Fishing has been so great here in sort of the pre-spawn/spawn period on Lake Athens in Texas. Well, two evenings ago, the LMB bite was slow; but, my neighbor was seeing plenty of fish on his electronics as he idled by. Hmm? Could it be the white bass have finally come in shallow to spawn? Is he seeing white bass? So, yesterday afternoon I grabbed a finesse rod and reel, spooled with 2lbs. Sufix Nanobraid and a #2 Mepps Plain Aglia inline spinner in silver, thought I'd paddle around in my kayak and see what was down there. No white bass, rats! So much fun to catch on light tackle as they grow extra large on our lake and make for a good fight. What did happen was I got into to some nice LMBs, sort of in the 2.5 lbs. range. On a 7'+ finesse rod, a 1000 series spinning reel and 2 lbs. test, you know I really let the rod do the work, took my time bringing them in. Nothing, so far, over several seasons has ever snapped my 2 lbs. braid. Sufix says it is multiple times stronger than other similar lines, whatever that means. I have landed a 3+ lbs. white bass, an LMB close to 4.5 lbs. and about a 5 lbs. catfish with this in previous seasons. I'd like to hear more stories, anecdotes, since it happens to all of us. We go out with gear for LMBs or SMBs and they want no part of it. Go out with some tiny finesse gear and tackle to target panfish or smaller fish? Some big fish jumps on it! Cheers! Brad

I have a Shimano Soare and it is a great finesse rod. One thing about it that is most noticeable is its grip. Gosh, it is just so comfortable to hold, much different than any other rod I use. I see a similar designed grip used on this Poison Adrena rod. Agreed, pretty expensive but these will likely sell very well if the performance is there. The workmanship, the lightness, the appearance? Off the charts! Brad

Back to using straight mono for a comment. I might suggest that if you plan to use 100 yards or more of it, just drive to a park or another large open area, maybe a shopping center lot when it's not busy. Carry along your new line spool, tie the line end around something, a mirror on your car maybe, then just stroll off unwinding line off the line spool some distance longer than you will put onto your reel and just stretch it really thoroughly repeatedly. Don't overdue it but just give it a good stretching. You could do it as it is now, all spooled onto your reel, too, then reel the line back on. While I don't use any, I suppose if you have spun out the line from a reel to stretch it, you could apply a line conditioner to a hand towel and retrieve the line under a bit of pressure through the towel to apply it. Some swear by it; I have never sensed the need to apply it. If not this or other ideas, time to head to straight braid or braid to a fluoro or mono leader! If you don't like mono, you will likely hate straight fluorocarbon main lines I suspect! Hope it works out for you one way or another! Brad

I've been out almost every day for the last 2 weeks. 5 out of 7 is a common statistic for me, so 71% is about my average with a weightless 4" Keitech Impact. Pretty similar to a weightless worm. What I don't necessarily know is what critters I am missing on the 2 out of 7. Depending on the plastic, I can often tell, say, if a small paddle tail is chewed off by a big bluegill or a crappie. You likely know what just nipped a dollar bill out of your wallet. I had a weird thing happen 2 years ago. It changed how I fish. I was on Purtis Creek Lake, just happened upon a point where I was getting hit over and over as I made short casts to various locations using a drop shot and a small Roboworm. I had solid bites, too, yet if I recall correctly, I missed 25 out 25 fish. Nothing similar had ever happened to me, before or since. I was using one of the Gamakatsu swivel hooks. Always worked before. I surmised that the bass were spawning and just picking my Roboworm up and moving it away, not trying to eat it. Anyway, something weird. So, I changed up after that miserable spring day statistic, and have been using a T-Rigged Roboworm on a light wire Rebarb hook ever since for drop shots. No issues. I'd use up my swivel hooks sooner or later, maybe when fishing a bit more vertically where I am pulling "up" to set the hook. And, ANYTIME I can use a straight-shanked hook over an EWG, I never fail to take advantage of it. Or, at least as far away from that sort of hook as I can get. My hook-up ratios have improved a ton, still not perfect. My personal calculus: Straight shank > Jig hook > offset hook > EWGs. Brad

It'll work great assuming you mean the finesse version of the drop shot. Would a Medium Light be better? Maybe so but you have a great idea adding this one back to your arsenal, especially since you love the set-up. Just be certain to use the spinning gear as intended, use the rod to fight the fish, reel down on the line once the tip is high and repeat to bring the bass in. Let us know how it works. Brad

They even have a series of smaller Rebarb hooks, Aberdeen style hooks, then the light wires up to 1/0, then just a slightly heavier wire up to 4/0. You'd choose a hook based on the size of the plastic you are using. Even the 4/0 is not particularly heavy wire, but does a great job if you size up from what a traditional Drop Shot is. Brad

KVD used to nose hook small Drop Shot worms/baits where he'd essentially put it in the "jaw" and work the hook up, but not out of the plastic "nose." This differed from others who often nose-hooked with an exposed hook tip, sort of in and out up near the tip or nose. Not certain what hook he was using. . . but if he is T-Rigging a small plastic for drop shots and not using a Roboworm Rebarb hook (made my Gamakatsu), he ought to give them a go. They are magic and work wonders of hooking fish and landing them. Brad