ww2farmer

When I toss the trap out in the creek behind my house I use hot dogs. Heck..........sometimes they go in it with out any bait at all, I think they are kind of curious little things. When ever I take the kids down there, they want to start flipping rocks over looking for them...........I always tell them to wait a couple minutes for the silt we stirred up walking in to wash away/settle out, and then just look close with out touching anything...........the little monsters come out of the wood work to see WTH is going on. They are quite bold, they often walk right up to our feet if we stand still and give us the once over before backing away.

What he said....................when I used St Croix rods, there M power, fast action spinning rods all "felt" like MH's from other brands. I never cared for them.........except the 6'8" M/XF Mojo I had.

NO!. I have a whole bunch of Lightning Rod Shocks. They were my "go to" rod for about 2 years while I wondered around in the "woods" between fishing St Croix rods, and my current line up of custom built rods. Other rods over those 2 years have come and gone, but I have kept each and every Shock that I bought, and even still buy them up if I see them on sale. They are a little softer in the tip than many off the shelf fast action rods, but they are made for braid, and this IMHO, is a desirable trait. Honestly..........and this is just IMHO............I don't think you can buy a better rod for fishing reaction baits with braid AT ANY price point less than $150 than these rods. And they ain't too shabby for bottom contact stuff either. I have fished, cashed in, and won several tournaments where the bite was brutally slow and subtle with these rods.......often against people with way way better equipment than me.

Yes. Some braids will lose there color faster than others, but most of them all will.

Well............I only use 6, and yes I have a boat, and fish tournaments, and do well, so it has not hampered me in the least. My 6: Casting: 7'3" H/F, 50 lb braid, 7.3:1 reel and 15-20 lb fluoro leaders if needed............flipping/pitching/punching, c-rigs, dragging football and wobble head jigs 7'3" MH/F,30 lb braid, 6.3:1 reel, and 12-17 lb fluoro leaders if needed...........shallow, lipless, and mid depth cranking, light cover pitching, blade baits (silver buddy style) 7' H/F, 50lb braid, 7.3:1 reel, 15-20 lb fluoro leaders if needed......................frogs, swim jigs, chatterbaits, close quarters pitching of jigs/t-rigs in heavier cover 7' MH/F, 20 lb braid, 6.3:1 reel, 12- 17 lb fluoro leaders if needed..................power wacky, bubba shot, shallow and lipless cranking, light cover jigs/t-rigs, treble hooked topwaters on the off chance I use them anymore. All my casting reels are LH Daiwa Excelers Spinning: 6'8" M/XF, 15 lb braid, 8-12 lb fluoro leaders if needed............wacky rigs, shaky heads, suspending jerkbaits, dragging tubes/exposed hook jigs for smallmouth 6'10" ML/XF, 10 lb braid, 6-10 lb fluoro leaders if needed...............drop shot, flick shake, split shot, tiny cranks and other hard baits. Both Spinning rods have "30" sized Pflueger President reels on them. If I had to lop off one to get to down to your 5 rod request, it would probably be the 6'10" ML/XF spinning, my 6'8" M/XF can do the things this rod does.......not perfectly, but good enough.

I make and use 3 colors of swim jigs and chatterbaits: Bluegill.............My go to color in both baits with a green pumpkin trailer, often with the tail dipped in chart/ dye. In all water/weather conditions Black/blue...........Dark cloudy days in stained to dirty water White.............. white shines in really "green" tinted algae bloom stained water.

SK KVD's and Storm Arashi's ..................I'll probably try the new Berkley Pit Bull's when this coming season.

That video that AJ posted, along with guidance from bass resource member and long time friend wnybassman, led me to using blade baits this fall for smallmouth. It quickly became a go-to bait in my rotation. So far I have only used 1/2 oz. silver/nickle colored baits..........but they worked fantastic so I have needed to play with them yet.

I use 50 on my flipping and frog rods, 30 on my MH's, and 10 on spinning. K.I.S.S.

Story time......................back when my rod arsenal was all St Croix rods, I had a couple Rage's (along with Mojo's. LTB's, and Avid's) fast forward a few years, and getting into custom rods, I liked the reel seat and guides on the Rage so much, that I have my custom casting rods built with those same Pac-bay minima guides and minima reel seats. the handles however, not a fan, and I have my builder use split cork grips/no fore grip, shaped and contoured like the 2nd generation split grip LTB rods.

Well.................the #1 requirement is...........make sure there are smallmouth in the bodies of water your fishing. A lot of lakes/ponds/rivers/etc....have both, but a lot have just one or the other.

Exactly. I went with a fast action, heavy power blank for the pitching and flipping rod that i had my rod builder make. I was fortunate enough to try this blank out before I bought it, because my builder, whom I fish with often, has the same blank for his flipping/pitching rod. It has just the right amount of "tip" to pitch very VERY accurately with, and enough "back bone" for getting fish out of the heaviest cover we have around here. I was always caught between a rock and a hard place with factory rods. Many of them labeled as "flipping" sticks sucked for pitching, because , while they had all the power in the world, they were pool cues and need 1+ oz baits to load the tip............and just the oposite for many of the off the self "pitching" rods I had........nice tip, but lacked in the power department. It took me 5 years , and a lot of rods to settle on one "jack of all trades" stick. Now, most people can have the luxury of having a rod for every tech....I do not. Space is tight in my boat, I just plain don't like or want the hassle of having 15 rods all over the place.

Palomar works just fine. If I am fishing over mats where often times I have to winch in a bass with 10lbs of grass with it, I will use the double palomar.

I do it all the time. Works and works well, it has gotten to the point that I don't even use treble hooked topwater baits any more.

The simplest way to get into making jigs is to buy heads that are pre-made in a style you want (grass, swim, finesse, etc...) and then buy some pre-made skirts, and simply put them together in a combination you want. Boss makes great DIY components with excellent hooks that meet almost every need. The next step is buying bulk skirt material, bands, and the skirt making tool to make your own skirts in exactly the colors you want. This is where jig making started for me, and likely where it will end. I am not set up for pouring heads, and have no desire to get into it. This is also IMHO the most economical way as well. On a per unit cost, the most expensive jig I put together is roughly $2.50 per jig (Boss Invader heads @ $5.99/per 3, and Boss Skirts @ $3.49/per 5). Most store bought jigs of any decent quality START at $3 + and get up to $4-$6 pretty quickly. Another example of the bang for the buck you get with the Boss stuff.........the finesse flipping jigs I put together using their heads/skirts cost me $1.95 each............The only store bought jig in that price range are the SK Bitsy Flips, and while OK..........the Boss stuff is head and shoulders better quality for the same money.

My mother in law has one. Perfect gun for her little hands, and not "snappy" for such a small package. My catchers mitt hands just swallow that thing, so it's not for me. The next size up...the LC9s fit my hands better.

-20 at Silver Lake this morning................I guess it's still winter.

I don't know what the best one is. But out of the ones I have owned, and used.............SK KVD, Spro, Booyah, Snag Proof Bobby's perfect frog, and probably a few more I can't remember, the Booyah is my favorite. #1 It's the best bang for the buck #2 It walks easy and skips under cover super well #3 It has the "softest body" of any of the other frogs I have used, hook ups are a non-issue with this frog. I carry 4 colors with me Bullfrog Cricket Frog Shad Frog Dart Frog They cover my needs well.

More times than not I have my ipod with me............and when it's with me, I listen to it about 1/2 the time. If it's peaceful and quiet on the lake, I do not. When the background noise is jet skies, wake boats, or drunken morons hollering "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" or playing their radios loud enough for the whole county to hear, in it goes. When the wind gets whipping I also use it, I hate the sound of wind in my ears. During tournament I have used it a few times to "settle down" OR drown out the complaining of my partner.

Stanley makes a "double" hook with a weight on the bottom. When used with the ribbit, it lands belly down every time, and cast's like a champ.

Fun little story about lightning rods..............to this day you can still catch fish on them. In the last few years after selling off all my "better" rods, and waiting for my custom builder to replace them 1 at a time, I filled in the gaps with lightning rods. I still won tournaments and caught as many, and as quality of fish as I ever have. As my arsenal of custom rods grows and nears completion, the Lightning Rods stand ready and willing on back up duty. I will not buy any more store bought rods since going custom..................except lightning rods

I use both. Shaky head during a tough bite. Texas rig in cover.............especially grass

Take it from someone who joined the ranks of custom rod users last season...........there is nothing that will do now. All my rods will be custom built as $$ allows.

Your friend is weak. Kick him in the shins and never speak to him again.

I'd like to change my answer...................I would fish with Ike..............when he's not looking, or expecting it, I would push him in the water, sit back and watch the hilarity ensue.