ww2farmer

I use two rods for spinnerbaits. Fpr 3/16 and 1/4 oz. baits I use a St Croix 7' M power/fast action Legend Tournament with a Curado 51E, and for 3/8's and 1/2 oz baits, I use a 7' MH power/fast Legend Tournament with a Citica 201E. I don't use 3/4 or 1 oz baits much, but if I did the MH LT would be ok with them.

I used a few last year, they are decent. I didn't have any issues with them. Caught plenty of fish. IMHO they skip better than the Spro's I usually use, and they walked fine right out of the box. I like that they have a rattle in them. Spro still gets the nod for better overall frog IMHO.

By type then size...usually plano deep 3700 size boxes. Square bills get a box, lip less cranks in another, medium divers , deep divers, jerkbaits, top waters........etc. You probably get the picture.

Around here $10,000 will get you a decent 5 to 6 year old 1/2 ton V-8 4wd regular cab/short extended cab with 60K-80K miles on it.....people asking $10K for trucks with 125k+ on them are in a dream world...keep looking. How far and how often you will be towing would be a big factor in what kind of reliability you can expect out of a truck.

I fish them on 10lb braid with a couple feet of 8lb flourocarbon leader on the weed line and deeper cover in more open water on spinning gear. Around the docks I fish them on 20lb braid, usually straight braid, even in gin clear water, also on spinning gear. It's dark under there line visability is a non issue with LM., same with bedding fish, LM or SM. 12lb fluoro would be fine on casting gear with 1/4-3/8 heads...but on spinning gear with small 1/8 oz heads you will be in for some line managment headaches....IMHO

Frog, #1a hollow body, #1b soft plastic/horny toad type, #2 popper, #3 spook.

3/16 is pretty versitile, and if I only has to carry one, that would be it. I typicaly carry 3-4 sizes, I use the Strike King heads, in the round size I use 1/8 for shallow water/skipping under boat docks etc..., 3/16 for fishing the deep weedline out in 12-15 FOW, I'll bump that up to 1/4 oz if the wind is blowing. I'll use the football heads in 1/8 oz around docks if the weeds are sparce, and the I skip all the way to 3/8 on the football head for fishing deep hard cover like rocks piles etc...

Spending two hours with your grandkid/ family shoe shopping labled as "total torture"........what????? Some people don't have a clue. Yeah.....this forum almost burst into flames while you were away, too bad you missed it while being tortured.

I bought ans used the flipping hooks when they first came out, I liked them, no real issues, but I was not wild about the price. When they were gone, I switched to the Gamakatsu heavy cover straight shank worm hook, I like Gamakatsu alot................but I am going back to the Trokar this year.

I won't part with my D's (Citiac 201D, and Curado 201DPV), I have a couple E's (Citica 201E, and Curado 51E), and yes they are lighter and smaller, but to me that was not an issue with the D's, but for most it was. Compairing a 51E to a 201D is not a good example, but compairing 201s to 201s....I like the D's better.

For me, the best combination in cold/dirty water is the couch and remote...I'll pick a better time to fish.

The Spro is on my list of new baits to try for this year. Before I switched over the SK Xd's, I used alot of Rapala DT's...broke a ton of bills off of them, ticked me off too, cause the pieces of junk catch fish.

Yes I am quoteing myself LOL....just got the reel back today from Shimano. Smooth as new, they replaced the main drive gear, pinion gear, and a ball bearing part# BNT2170. Along with a clean and lube job...for $25.

I am waiting for the " What color Senko works best on the Alabama rig ?" questions to start. LMAO....

HIs boat weighs more than mine and a 45lb 12v motor was a joke on it.

6xd's and 5xd's for me. I toss the 5xd when I want to ride the out side weedline in 10-12 fow, and the 6xd when I want to get down and bang around isolated cover outside the weeds in 12-16 FOW. I don't go wild and buy all the colors SK has, just a few. Some thing with chartruese in it always seems to get bit.

Your going to recomend a 12v system, even though it wasn't good enough for you??? Going from a 24V to 12V system is an absolute backwards and frankly ....stupid move. If your worried about battery weight, use smaller batteries. I use 2 group 24 deep cycles in my 17' aluminum boat, they last all day and then some, plus they weigh less, cost less, and are smaller than 27's,29's or 31's so I can fit them in to a tighter spot with out making any modifications to the boat to accomadate bigger batteries...just look for ones that have the highest reserve capacity you can find. Don't quote me on this, cause I am not in front of the batteries now, but I found NAPA brand group 24's with 150 A/Hour RC, the Interstate group 27 I replaced with them was only like 165. Seeing as you boat is only 16' you will be fine with group 24's, if it was a 18' + glass boat I would go bigger. Your right in you line of thinking of getting the TM it's own dedicated batteries, and using the cranker for just the outboard. Besides, seems, IMHO, foolish to spenf $500+ on a new TM, when the one you have now is fine, and another battery is less than $100.

Dang...so does an old buddy of mine from out Syracuse way, Brewerton to be exact. Also in the NY NG (not sure what exact unit).

You didn't hear it from me but...................wait, I don't know what your talking about.

I know, don't rub it in. Hopefully since it's already 5" thick here it will survive next week, plus we have two more cold days ahead, it might ,make another inch oe so before the warm up. From what I see it's still going to close to or below freezing at night next week. Those 40-50 degree days on the ice are the best, sit around with the top down on the shanty and socialize with every one around you. It's a little different than tournament bass fishing LOL. Come on down John....I'll give you a bucket to sit on LMFAO....

Hit the lake today for the first time since my last open water trip the day after thanksgiving. You going to make it down this way this year Clayton86??

When soft plastics get "low", like down to the last 2 bags of that perticular size/color/style of bait, I usually bolster the stoc of that bait with a bag or two. Hard baits usually get restocked also when I am down to one or two of that bait. I keep my boxes full in the boat and have "reserve stock" back at the house that I refill the boxes with. I buy alot of my stuff when places like TW have sales, or when I get gift cards for xmas etc....

Great minds think alike.....If I buy another spinning rod, it will probably be the 6'3" M/XF Eyecon. Unless I can find the same rod in the Avid line up lightly used for about the same $$. I too think it would be a good jerk bait, dock skipping, AND, drop shotting in the "cone" rod. The 6'3" ML rod would probably be the better drop shot rod, but the M would be the more versitile. One thing I did notice about the Eyecons, is the guides, while not micro guides, are smaller. IDK why? I also noticed alot of the techniques listed on the rods are verticle technigues, that probaby has something to do with it.

Look for a 2011 or older St Croix 7'10" Legend tournament "Magnum Cranker", you might be able to find a new one for that price as St Croix closed them out and re-vamped the LT Line for 2012. It's my deep cranking rod, and I can't think of any bad things to say about it.

Braid for everything. Power Pro. Fluorocarbon leaders where needed. Trilene 100%. On spinning tackle: 10 lb braid on my drop shot rod with am 8lb test fluoro. leader ALWAYS a leader on this rod. 20 lb on my dock skipping/shakyhead/flick shake rod, 8lb fluoro leader where needed. Casting gear: 20 lb braid on my 7' Medium power fast action rod, 12lb fluoro leader where needed 20lb braid on my 7'11" Heavy power, moderate action deep cranking rod, 10lb fluoro leader where needed 30lb braid on both my 7' MH/fast rods, 17lb fluoro leader when needed 50lb braid on my 7'11" H power mod fast flipping stick...never use a leader on that. I need to add another 6'6" M power/fast to replace one that I got rid of, that too will have 20lb braid/12 fluoro