ww2farmer

Try t-rigging them backwards with the tails up, many guy like the fat ika backwards (as do I) but have also played with the grubs backwards and been pleasently surprised

I have the older bait casting 100HL silver capricorn, and both the spinning and casting "orange" capricorn. They are my favorite reels, and get used alot........trouble free, cast like a dream, and often on sale for $79 (I have never bought one at full price) They are built on the same frame as the black 100H/100HL procaster series with a few more "extra's". The new orange Capricorn spinning reel is the same as the Team Daiwa Tierra, without the "air bail", very very nice spinning reel for $79

Clear water and weeds =Green pumpkin and/or Watermelon. You just described about every lake I fish, and that is what works for me.

I honestly don't know.........lol.........what ever it came with.

I have a 2007 Tracker Pro Team 170 (next size smaller boat) with the 4 stroke 25. When I am by myself (90% of the time), with livewell empty, and 1/2 tank of gas it will do about 28MPH. Fill the gas tank, and livewell, I am down to about 22, add a second person, and it goes about 16. It is great on gas, and gets me where I need to go. I like it................on my boat, next size bigger boat might need the bigger motor.

I have several Ventures and like them ...............due to the fact I paid $9 each for them NEW when my local wal-mart had them on clearance. I also had a Techna AV........that rod was super nice, but I had guide issues with it, and had sent it back 3 times, and after each time a differant guide would fail, it sits in my attic, some day I will have the blank stripped and new guides put on it. I also had an Eagle GT fished the heck out of it for a 2 seasons, nice rod for the price.

I have been fishing situations like that every day for the past 2 weeks, back off and make longer cast's, downsize your lure and line, and be stealthy..........it works. I have gone from getting skunked on days like this to them becomeing my most productive.

2 "must have" rods in my opinion are a 7' M power/Fast action rod with a 2500 size reel, and a 7' MH power/ fast action casting rod with a high speed (25"-28" of pick up) reel. These 2 rods will cover about 85% of general bass fishing........when you gain more expierance and confidence steppng into more technique specific rods is something alot of guys do. There are great and not so great rods in every price range.....it's up to you on how much you want to spend.

I have had great success and no problems with the BPS Extreme line of reels, and also the Daiwa Procaster 100HL, just had my new Quantum Accurist out yesterday and love it, time will tell if it last's though.

I like The Pflueger Presidant........$59. Smooth as silk , tough as nails.

I have several BPS rods, Extremes, Bionic Blades, Tourny Specials, and Cranking Sticks, have never paids full price for any of them. Great rods for a great price. Would never buy them at full price.........not because the are not worth it, but because it seems BPS has them on sale in one way or another almost all the time. Also any rod by Fenwick is a great rod at a very resonable price, I have had Techna AV's, HMG's, Eagles, and Venture's in the past. Still have quite a few Venture's and honestly use them alot. Sold most of the others, not because they dissapointed me, but needed $$ for other things. I never had a rod in there HMX line, but I am sure they are fine rods as well. I have 2 new St Croixs this year, a Triumph and a Premier, have yet to fish the Premier, but have used the Triumph a little, nice rod, well worth the $70 they list for. Last but not least, the good old Berkley Lightning Rod...........flat out just a great, probably the best rod you could buy under $40. Light, sensitive, durable.......I fished for years exclusivly with Lightning rods untill I upgraded a bit, but I still would have all the confidence in the world to pick one up and use them again.

Snag proof make a great frog, it' called "Bobbys Perfect Frog", it's a little more $$ than the orginal frog, $7 a pop, but they are incredably durable, and my hook up % with this frog is very high.......I dare say over 75%,

LOL.......that, along with giant bass.........sounds like heaven.

These are a couple of quality combos, won't break the bank, and give you a nice set up for panfish: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_90148_100003002_100000000_100003000_100-3-2 and this one is great for bass: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_59170_100003002_100000000_100003000_100-3-2

I saw these in BPS and liked the looks of them, and they were on sale for $3.99 so I bought a few, I had been changing over to Booyah and Terminator spinner baits, but maybe Strike King has won me back.

About the only lures I change them on anymore are Rat-L-Traps, and Jitterbugs. I find that the Rapala's, Bandit's, Bombers, and Mann's hardbaits I use come with decent hooks out of the box. They only get changed when bent/dull. I see Rat-L-Traps are offering now beeing offerd in a new series with better hooks, I'll probably take a look at these when I need some new ones. I usualy replace hooks with Gamakatsu trebels, regular gap, red on front, unpainted on back. HTH.

Muddy I have 2 Cranking sticks, worth every penny. Now put your new Trion on it, and that will be fine set up. To top it off you got it for $29 I paid full price for mine.........you sir should be arrested.

I am a big fan of the Yum Crawbugs, they are my #1 jig trailer, and are also great on a mojo rig or drop shot. I also use the yum chunk as a jig trailer, but am not all that impressed. I have soem paca chunks to try this year. Also have just bought soem Yum craw papi's, paca craws, and berkely chigger craws to try.

Rod: 7' ML St Croix Triumph (new to me this year) It WAS the 6'8" BPS Extreme, but my wife has confiscated that rod Reel: 6035 Pflueger Medalist Line: green 6lb Trilene Sensation Hook: Gamakatsu drop shot weigth: BPS XPS tungsten drop shot (size varies) bait: depends..........

I just got a Dicks flyer in my paper, Capricorn spinning and casting reels on sale for $79, Capricorn/Triumph rod combo $129

The "new" Capricorn Dicks is selling is NOT the same Capricorn that Daiwa discontinued. This Capricorn is finished in an orange color scheme, much like the Daiwa Sol, it is also based on the same frame as the new Team Daiwa Tierra, it is almost identical to the Tierra with the excpetion of the "air bail", the Tierra has it, the Capricorn does not. These reels just came out 2-3 months ago, Dicks has them on sale for $79 all the time, I bought one, when they were one sale, I have yet to use it, but at $79 I have not felt a better reel, includeing the Pflueger Medalist I bought a few weeks prior. My spinning reel "collection" consists of 2 Pflueger Presidants, 2 Pflueger Medalists, 2 Pflueger Gold medalist's, a Team Daiwa Advantage, a Daiwa Procyon, and this new Capricorn, the Presidents have been my favorite, but when I finally get to use some of me new ones this year I have a feeling the Capricorn could take over.

Seeing as how we are both from WNY, we probably fish many of the same waters.......he is what you will need to cover the basics: Soft Plastics: Stick to one or two colors to start with. Green pumpkin and/or watermelon are the best. Get some 4" and 5" Senko type baits, 3.5" Tubes, and some Zoom flukes Hard baits: go with natural looking paint schemes, perch, bluegill, baby bass, silver/black, gold black are my favorite. You'll want some #9 and #11 orginal floating Rapalas, #8 Husky jerks and/or x-raps, #5 and #7 shad raps.......all in the above colors. Also get some manns baby 1- minus crank baits, and a few 1/2 oz Rat-L-Traps Top waters.......same colors as the cranks/jerk baits, Rapala skitter pop, , storm chug bug, and heddon tiny torpedo are good baits to start with. Spinner baits, go with tandem blades (1 willow, 1 colorado) 3/16, 1/4, and 3/8 oz are the best sizes around here. White, White/chart., Chart., and fire tiger. Same goes for Buzz baits, add black to the buzz baits for night time. Don't forget to pick up a big black jitter bug.....killer night time bait. This is what I would consider the "basics" for a shore fisherman, if you are in a boat the list grows..............alot.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_53865_100007003_100000000_100007000_100-7-3 Kinami = Yamamoto. Same bait as the Fat Ika...........EXACTLY the same. I like the baby bass, green pumpkin/watermelon, and xmas pumpkin

Is it a Pflueger only posse? Or can it be Pflueger/Daiwa/Abu Garcia/Bass Pro Shops/Quantum/Fenwick/All-Star/St Croix/Berkley/Cabela's/ and Any thing BUT Shimano,Flurocarbon line and G.Loomis posse..........if so I'm in.

I would say that too Einstein.......that is if I just bought a reel that cost twice as much as the Trion. Good choice Muddy I also bought a new Trion this winter, can't wait to use it. I got the wide spool, feels good in my big mits.