ww2farmer

Fancy electronics are nice, but I know far too many people who have them because every one else has them, and wouldn't know how to read them any better than I know how to read Japanese. I suppose if your a touring pro, or a tournament fisherman who fishes a ton of unfamiliar water every year they are a must. I have simple, color, 2d sonar, and GPS on my boat, and I have yet to have any one come here and beat me because of there electronics, if they beat me, it's because they are better than me on that day. Yeah they may know exactly what that "thing" is in 22 feet of water 10 yards out side the weed-line , but all I need to know is it's there, and I'll catch fish off it just the same, if not better than a guy with $4000 worth of electronics on his boat. To me the most important things to learn on a graph are, bottom composition changes, subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) changes in depth, and being able to read the "mood" of fish by how they position themselves in the water.

You can pitch and/or flip with any rod. While technique specific gear is nice, it's not needed. That being said, I do pitch and flip with rods dedicated to those techniques. I like a shorter 6'9" MH rod for pitching in close quarters to small targets, a 7'3" MH rod for general use or pitching in grass beds, and a 7'11" H rod for flipping. Mod fast, fast, and extra fast actions (as well as rod powers) are going to very by MFG. IMHO semi- soft tips that transition into a very stout "backbone" are a must for both.

Drop shotting works very well in water deeper than 10 feet. Locate them on your electronics and "drop to them". I use a #8 VMC spin shot, a 1/4 oz DS sinker, and a 1" or 2" gulp minnow. If we had bigger perch in my home lake I would use 2" more often, but I use 1" almost exclusively, it still seems to catch the rare bigger than average perch, plus often, big bluegills are mixed in with them from late spring till late fall, and the gills prefer the 1".

Untill they stop biting it. But seriously, every day is different. Some days the topwater bite last all day, sometimes it's over about as fast as it starts.

Cast, wait for ripple to fade, then "walk walk...pause....pop...pause...walk walk ....pause....pop" etc....

Every Shimano reel I own, gets smoother with use, I can't say that about any other brand. In fact just the opposite, they start out smooth and go downhill.

I have just the opposite opinion, I have owned both Premiers and Triumphs, and I liked the Mojo's better. But it had nothing to do with performance. Just little things, for one, I like the "texas rig" hook keeper on the Mojo over the old school closed loop on the other two. And I just like the action/taper of 6'8" M/XF Mojo spinning rod, along with the split grips, neither of which are available in the Premier/Triumph line up.

No such thing as "too big" as far as TM are concerned I have a 70lb thrust on a 17' Aluminum. It flies on high, and I can make my batteries last forever because most of the time I only have to run it on 25-30% in "normal" conditions, and 50-60% in wind, and usually no more than 75% in grass mats. My old 46lb 12v motor had to be on high to do the things I can do with this one on 50% and it killed my battery quick. By the end of a long tournament with the 12v motor, I had to be on high just to move. I can fish for 2 10 hour days on the 24v system without charging. I don't do that on purpose, but I forgot to plug the charger in one night after fishing all day, went out 3 days later, fished all day again, and never noticed ANY lack of power from the TM. 36v is out of the question for me because of space for batteries, but next time I need to replace/upgrade the TM I am going to go with 80lbs.

I currently own and use 4 different spinning rods in the $60-$100 price range. An Abu Garcia Vendetta, a St Croix Mojo Bass, a Shimano Clarus, and Shimano Convergence. Of the 4, the Clarus is the best IMHO, then the Vendetta. The Mojo and Convergence are about equal, but the Convergence costs $40 less.

What kind of line are you using? If your using a really whippy rod, and strechy line like mono, you might not be getting the hooks into them, especially on the end of a long cast.

Back when I used mono, Trilene was my line of choice. Never had any issues in 20 years.

Things I have no control over: #1 - Water clarity. #2- What the bait is doing. #3 - Water temp. #4 - Weather #5 - Fishing pressure Things I can control #1 - Accurate, and quite bait presentation #2- Adapting to changes through out the day #3- Confidence #4 - Not worrying about what everyone else is doing. #5 - Not getting spun out when things don't go my way.

All braid for me, with fluoro leaders when I feel the need for one.

I throw my topwaters (and jerkbaits) on a 6'6" M power, fast action rod rated for 1/4 to 5/8, and 10-17 lb line (St Croix Mojo), works great with what I use.

I have not had a Revo since the first generation reels. And I had all three. I used the S for any thing that required "casting" like spinnerbaits, cranks, frogs, etc...and the SX and STX for pitching, and flipping. The mag breaks were fine for that, but I preferred the cent. breaks on the S for casting. If I were to buy another Revo, I would do it the same way, except the STX now has the dual breaks ( I have never had a reel with those)

Just to give you an example..............I have had my boat for 6 full years, going on the 7th now. I bought it new. I have used that boat AT LEAST 120 times per season (between April-November) every year. Most of the trips are 5 miles to the ramp, and five miles back, with a few trips a year to other lakes between 25-50 miles away. So I average just a little less than 1500 miles a year on it. My best guess is they would have had around 10,000 miles on them. I just put new tires on it for this season. The original ones probably would have made it another year, but I would rather be safe than sorry, I had the money, and who knows what I will have to fix next winter after another season of abuse LOL, at least it won't (I hope) be tires. I didn't have any odd tread wear, they were just getting down there. Specific of my trailer are 13" tires (smaller tires wear faster), and no brakes (IDK if this matters). I am not too worried about it. They are $80 each, mounted at my local shop, I got $160 worth of use out of the original tires in the past six years IMHO.

I run a transom mount with the head turned 180 in my Bass raider, works great. Not much room in those boats, a foot pedal IMHO would be in the way. Heck it's in the way on the deck of my tracker too, so maybe I am not the guy to be asking LOL

My "system" YMMV. Shallow water ( 5 feet or less) 1/8,1/4, 3/8 or 1/2 oz in. wood/hard cover or colder water, 3/8-1 oz in grass depending on the thickness of the grass, bulk of the bait, and "what the fish are telling me". The warmer, and clearer the water, the faster I want it to fall, and just the opposite in dirty and/or cold water. Mid depths (5-15 feet) 1/4 -1 oz..........many factors determine what size I am going to use. Generally 3/8's 1/2, and 3/4's get used the most in this range. Deep- as heavy as it takes to get it there, and maintain feel. On a calm day it maybe 3/8's, or in the wind it maybe 1oz. Not all baits are going to fall the same with the same weight on them, and line size plays a role in it too. A t -rigged senko or straight tailed worm with a 1/4 oz sinker pegged to it's nose on 12 or 15 lb line will rocket to the bottom as fast as a bulky bait with lots of flapping stuff on a big sinker, to give you an example, and t-rigged plastics will generally fall faster than a jig of similar weights.

Flick shake ?!?!?.............that doesn't work

I set the hook with a swim jig just like I do with a spinnerbait. Feel the thump, lean into them until you feel the fish, and hit them.

They "slap" a lot too when they are on a bed. No interest in eating, just trying to "discourage" what ever saunters overhead from getting any closer. I had one the other day blow my spook out of the water a dozen times, wouldn't touch a senko tossed back to it's area. I just kept casting to it with the spook and eventually on one of it's slaps a hook point found meat.

Look for a used Curado 200DPV ( or 201DPV if you want LH retrieve). I have one and it's fantastic. Heavy.........yes. But IMHO it's the best 5:1 cranking reel ever built.

Which ever one I am using, where ever I am using it.

My hook recommendations for SK hard baits. All hooks are changed to Mustad KVD Elites, the 2x short, 1x strong triple grips. KVD Squarebills: 1.0 = #6's 1.5 = #4's 2.5 = #2's KVD Sexy dawgs: Jr = #4's Sr= #4's KVD jerkbaits: 200 = #4's 300 = #4's Pro series cranks: series 1 = #6's series 1xs = #6's series 3 = #4 on front, #6 on the back series 4s = #2 on the front, #4 on the back series 4 = #2 on the front, #4 on the back series 5= #2 on the front, #4 on the back series 6 = #1 on the front, #2 on the back XD series crankbaits 3xd = #4 on the front, #6 on the back 5xd = #2 on the front, #4 on the back 6xd = #1 on the front, #2 on the back 10xd = ???? I have not used them yet. Red Eye Shads: 1/4 oz. = #6's 1/2 oz. = #4's 3/4 oz. = #2's King Shads: Baby = #4's Regular = #2's

Thoughts and prayers to the family of the man who passed away. I will fish in the rain all day, but I high tail it the minute thunder and lightning approach.