flat

When I fish fluoro a few shakes will often untangle the line. With 14# Fireline ultra 8 no amount of shaking will help, the line occassionally wraps around a hook twice, so I need to unwrap it by hand. This is my crankbait rod so its dual purpose.

Interesting to hear about the issues some are having with the 90, glad I skipped over that size. I've done a little fishing since adding a short fluoro leader to my fireline, seems to be the answer for braid wrapping around hooks. I took the time to learn the FG knot and it's definitely an improvement over the Albright I've been using on my senko rods, no more leader tag snagging up in the guides. Most of my shipment came in so I'll be set for awhile.

I use a Revo Toro 51 with a St. Croix 76 Heavy telescopic for slop, it's also my light musky and flathead rod.

I've been using a premier casting 6'6" medium light for around 20 years. Using it mainly for lighter topwaters such as the skitter pop 7, chug bug, or 1/4 ounce crankbaits. Great rod in my opinion and fun to catch fish with. Like most here I have a pile of very expensive rods and this is one of the few older ones that hasn't broke. Edit: I used it many years for throwing jerkbaits as well, worked wonderfully.

I have a couple Okuma Celilo CE -S-702L-1. Nice little 7 ft 2 piece light for around $20. Good rod that wont make you cry if you break it. I paired them with Shimano Sienna 1000FE's to make them $50 combos.

Any ideas why this thread was removed from the smallmouth section?

Yes, i purchased one after watching his video a few months ago. I was never a fan of prop baits but there were too many testimonials that it works. 18" ers are fairly common on my stretch, I may see a few over 20" each season if I'm lucky enough to get out enough. Anything 17" or bigger is a nice one in my opinion.

Good to know thanks. I picked up a couple 110's for night fishing and musky. Apparently the 110 and up have beefier hardware.

Yesterday I loaded up the boat for the 1mile trip to the river and threw top water for the first time this year. I started out with my old standby skitter pop and quickly caught a few and could see it being a good day. Switched over to a 75 whopper plopper for the first time and found the bass liked it as well, maybe better, but the jury is out until the end of the season. It sure is easy to fish though, chuck and wind vs. twitching. A very relaxing way to fish. The bait is enormous compared to the 1/4 ounce or less baits I'm used to throwing. The weight does have its advantages with bucking wind and casting under low hanging limbs. When the bass jumped I felt they threw the heavy bait easier was the downside. Not a big deal though for a recreational angler who is more concerned about getting a bite than landing a fish. It seemed durable, I sent it several times smashing into rip rap on warp speed casts under limbs. There was no sign of damage to the bait. A musky will probably be the undoing of my plopper, seems like a bait they would smash. I was using fireline and had issues with the line wrapping around the hooks so I added a 6" 20# fluoro leader for next trip. Also the fluoro will give me a little protection from pike/musky. The issue is not unique to ploppers of course, I had just respooled to fireline from fluoro as I tired of dealing with sinking line in the current. Cabelas is having a sale on them this weekend- sub $10, more on the way!

Ok thanks, I'd imagine I could cut off a half an inch on the rod to get the result I'm looking for. The price of a single cavity mold is about all I would be willing to invest in this. Whether it's worth the hassle is what I'll need to consider.

Thanks jig man, that's what I was hoping to hear. Just need a mold to make my bluegill flipping tubes now.

Hello, I'm wondering if there is a mold to closely replicate the Denny Brauer 4.5" flipping tube with the solid head? Another question is what is the shelf life of plastisol?

For river fishing, a Texas rigged 4 or 4.5" tube for pitching, a skitter pop or chug bug for top water, a 100 series bandit for cranking, and a 1/4 oz. cleo for schooling/busting or top water wise fish.