The Mother-Load Of Questions

[gtaylor1023]

Hey all,

 

first post here and I used to be a very active fisherman back in my jr high and high school days, you know before life started.  Now my daughter is 14 and we are starting to really enjoy fishing together.  I used to, and still do, have several dedicated outfits for various techniques or target fish but everything is pretty old - kinda rusty being back in the homestead house garage for 15 years.  I am looking to upgrade everything and before anyone questions budget, spending a bit of money to update is no problem.  I'm not an equipment snob so if there is a better bang for my buck i'd be open even in the BPS / Cabelas named lines ;-)

 

All that said - i was always a light tackle guy fishing creeks and rivers in NE PA and my favorite outfit was the old quantum micro combo.  It was a little tiny 4'6" with 4 lb mono.  Those were the good ole days.  IF anyone has one in good shape - email me :-)

 

Questions:

 

1. I understand all the new lines out, fluro / braid / hybrid etc but do any of you use braids or are there any available in the 4-6 lb range?
2. I want to outfit all my reels in the same general family, call me a fanboy i guess.  Shimano seems to be the king but do they have a dedicated flipping reel like abu does with the winch and its 20+ lbs of drag.  Is that rating of drag even needed?
3. Leaning toward St Croix rods, probably in the legendary line somewhere - anything better or a better bang for the buck? Maybe the shimano Crucial line?
4. Hooks - was always a Lazer guy before gammy / owner and the rest came to my area...is trokar worth it?  I have read on this site the difference between its cutting pt vs needle point and the damage to plastics - that still the general thought?
5. PowerPro or Suffix 832?
6. Plastics - i was always a strike king guy over Powerbaits...the SK Rage tails seem highly regarded any others i should know about?
7. Cranks - It's hard to outrun the success KVD has had with his named cranks - but i have read issues on them getting hung up in certain profiles.  Is there another one to look at or more of a trial and error thing.
8. Transporting 8'+ rods on a plane.  Any of you guys travel with large 1 piece rods ?  If so how do you do it?
9. Best knot for flouro?
10. i have read on several posts on this site about a "bargin bin" what & where is that?
11. Last time I bought high end gear G. Loomis was private and had a no questions asked warranty.  I see they are now Shim-Loomis and that is gone.  Any high end rod builder offering that other than TFO?

Thanks for all your help and time answering any of the above questions.  I know you all are busy and take time out of your days to help lowly upstarts coming out of retirement like me and i appreciate it.

 

If anyone has custom gun / long range shooting questions I can help there.

 

 

Greg

[Glenn]

I suggest breaking those into 11 different threads, as there's a ton of responses you're going to get, all in random order and therefore, hard-to-follow.

[gtaylor1023]

Ah, ok.  I didn't want to be the newbie who takes up a whole page with new threads.  Maybe just ask for PM's?

[Bluebasser86]

A good portion of those questions can be answered by utilizing the forum search option in the correct forum. If you don't find the answer to what you're looking for, post a question. I like helping people with their questions but quite honestly, your post is overwhelming with the amount of information you're looking for in a single post. It's much easier to digest broken down into 1 or 2 question post and doesn't feel as much like a homework assignment for anyone looking to help you out

[Turkey sandwich]

Where in NEPA are you? I grew up in Swoyersville and still make it in to fish the Susquehanna whenever I can.

Thats's a ton of information, and the search option on the forum is your best bet. But since you're from NEPA, I'll give you my .02 and hopefully some of it is a starting point. Also, I just got back into fishing again over the past few years, and things have really changed for the better.

So about braid.... I fished almost almost all light mono up until the last few years. Since, I've learned that 30 and 40lb braid, and a variety of different flouro lines have their specific places - from ripping fish out of cover to super finesse fishing. Now I use braid for my main lines and use flouro or mono leaders. Braid is just ridiculously sensitive, it lasts much, much longer, and it has virtually no memory compared to flouro/mono. That said, with techniques like topwater, Crankbaits, and most other presentations involving treble hooks, a slower action Rod is a good call to compensate for the lack of stretch. Braid makes setting the hook a lot more powerful, so mind your hook sets on moving baits with treble hooks or light wire hooked lures - you can rip the lure away from the fish, straighten hooks, or even break key rings.

As for reels, Shimano is still probably the best make, but they aren't the cheapest make. Lews - and if you like Abu's Revo line, are also solid reels for a bit less. For $150 and up, you can get some really great baitcasting reels. The current trend with casting is higher gear ratios. For spinning gear, $70-$100 is a safe starting point (especially if you're planning on getting multiple combos without taking out a home equity loan).

St. Croix, Loomis, etc still make great rods. I like St Croix. There are a ton of other brands that all offer great rods from $150 on up, and it's all preference, really. On here, you'll hear about St. Croix, Loomis, ***, Powell, Shimano, Abu, Duckett, Daiwa, and the list goes on... (I've been pleasantly surprised by the Abu Garcia Veritas rods for $100 rods, and now St Croix will be upgrading the blanks in their Mojo Bass rods, for probably$150ish and will be great options if you're looking to pick up multiple rods and rig them without spending $10k) Really, Rod quality has improved a ton and it's almost hard to spend $150 or more on a rod and not get a great Rod with a warranty. One change to pay attention to is micro guides versus regular guides. Microguides claim to add distance to casts, and take strain off the blank (you may have 11 or 12 tiny guides on the blank). That said, the smaller guides also probably beat up leader to main line knots a bit more. Again, it's all preference. Do you like cork or foam grips, or would you want to try something totally different like St. Croix's neoprene sleeve grip? Do you like traditional handles or exposed blank? Do you like palming your Baitcaster? These are probably some of the biggest determinates as to which rods you'll gravitate towards. As for the Legends, I'm probably buying two the next time I have an extra $600 to drop on rods.

832 is a great braid (I have it on 3 of my reels). PP super slick in 20lb has had me clearing backlashes more than fishing on a Lews Speed Spool BB, but it's been great for me on spinning gear. Some folks here love it. I like it for high vis finesse fishing and watching my line on rivers.

There are a million soft plastics companies now that cater to everything specifically from giant swim baits, to 10 in worms, to drop shot baits. Berkley now has at least 4 lines of soft plastics (if you want to include whatever Gulp is made of in the conversation). There is a (or maybe 100...) soft plastic for virtually everything, in 300 colors that are mostly just 10 different variations of the traditionals. And you wouldn't believe how complicated something simple like jig heads have gotten.

KVD Crankbaits are solid, as are fat free shads, XDs, Rapala DT and shad rap series, and a million different companies that specialize in everything from square bill to $25 crankbaits that are blessed with the tears of the Virgin Mary while being hand carved by Buddhist monks. My suggestion, buy from one or two of the established crankbait companies(Strike King, Rapala, etc) and then build a collection from there. Buying Crankbaits gets ridiculously addictive.

Different guys prefer different knots. I like Uni to Uni to connect leaders. Some prefer the Albright knot. Picking one and getting good at tieing it is probably the most important part. Sometimes a dot of superglue will keep line-to-line knots from slipping/getting beat up by your guides. As for tieing flouro to lures, most of the time I'll use an improved cinch. Some folks don't like the Palomar with flouro, though I've never had problems with it, I just don't always like making a giant loop with leader line to get a large lure with a bunch of trebles to fit through.

St. Croix has a bargain bin section on their website, but tackle warehouse also has a sales section where they have some pretty ridiculous discounts that change pretty frequently. You can find rods and reels discounted over 30% at times.

Still, a million rods and the tackle for them doesn't mean a whole lot if you don't have a boat. Now instead of dropping a ton of money on bass boats, you can put together a well rigged kayak for around $2k including sonar. Kayaks are awesome for spending time with your daughter and they allow you to fish almost anywhere, including shallow stretches of the Susquehanna that would eat bass boats. Up your way, you'll see them all over the river, Slocum, Lily Lake, etc.

When I got back into fishing a few years ago, reading this forum helped me catch up on things a lot, even before I registered. Hopefully, this pays it forward a bit and you can take something useful from it. Welcome to he forum!

[smalljaw67]

I can't answer all your questions but I can say this, I fish the Susquehanna river and the main stem and lower end have changed. It has turned from a numbers fishery to a trophy fishery due to pollution which is a big reason for a smaller fish population but it lead to massive size smallmouth. I watched in horror as a man fishing with an ultra light set up with 4lb line in the middle of July battled a 4lb smallmouth, he released the fish after a 20 minute battle (22 minutes by my watch), and 5 minutes after the fish was released we found it floating in an eddy just a few feet away.  If you plan to fish the river, please use at least a medium power rod with 8lb line, 6lb is more for those with experience in that situation, normally this isn't a problem but the fishery is in trouble and needs all the help I can get, so please, use the right tackle for the fish you plan to target.

[Turkey sandwich]

I can't answer all your questions but I can say this, I fish the Susquehanna river and the main stem and lower end have changed. It has turned from a numbers fishery to a trophy fishery due to pollution which is a big reason for a smaller fish population but it lead to massive size smallmouth. I watched in horror as a man fishing with an ultra light set up with 4lb line in the middle of July battled a 4lb smallmouth, he released the fish after a 20 minute battle (22 minutes by my watch), and 5 minutes after the fish was released we found it floating in an eddy just a few feet away.  If you plan to fish the river, please use at least a medium power rod with 8lb line, 6lb is more for those with experience in that situation, normally this isn't a problem but the fishery is in trouble and needs all the help I can get, so please, use the right tackle for the fish you plan to target.

Taking good care of fish is definitely important. There's actually a big difference between the lower Susquehanna and the north branch. The north branch hasn't had the YOY mortality issues that have shown up down stream and it's still a great fishery for numbers that still produces quality sized fish (though not the consistent 5-6lb footballs you guys see on the regular).

Also, the north branch still rocks for getting kids interested/introduced to fishing. You can pick clippers and stone cats and have new anglers catching 20+ fish in an afternoon during the summer/early fall. You'd be hard pressed to find a better way to get someone hooked on fishing than that.

[A-Jay]

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ 

 

A-Jay

[NathanW]

Since this is a pretty long winded Question I am going to be blunt with my answers. My answers are based upon my personal knowledge and/or opinion so people will disagree.

• I understand all the new lines out, fluro / braid / hybrid etc but do any of you use braids or are there any available in the 4-6 lb range? Stay away from braid 8lbs or less.
  
• I want to outfit all my reels in the same general family, call me a fanboy i guess.  Shimano seems to be the king but do they have a dedicated flipping reel like abu does with the winch and its 20+ lbs of drag.  Is that rating of drag even needed? The winch is garbage, I wish I could have sold you mine. No the 20lbs drag will never be required in bass fishing. Shimano vs, Diawa is the most respected argument in bass fishing circle. 
  
• Leaning toward St Croix rods, probably in the legendary line somewhere - anything better or a better bang for the buck? Maybe the shimano Crucial line?  If this were 5 years ago I would recommend those rods but there are now rods being sold for less than $150.00 that perform just as well or better depending on what you are looking for.   
  
• Hooks - was always a Lazer guy before gammy / owner and the rest came to my area...is trokar worth it?  I have read on this site the difference between its cutting pt vs needle point and the damage to plastics - that still the general thought? They are all good but Gammys best. Trokar are worth the money if you don't lose them right away but they do tear up plastics and I really regret using them for T-Rig.
  
• PowerPro or Suffix 832? Power Pro
  
• Plastics - i was always a strike king guy over Powerbaits...the SK Rage tails seem highly regarded any others i should know about? Keitech, Yammamoto, Strike King, Roboworm, Yum, Reaction Innovations, Missell Baits, Gene Lerew, Zoom. All making great baits.
  
• Cranks - It's hard to outrun the success KVD has had with his named cranks - but i have read issues on them getting hung up in certain profiles.  Is there another one to look at or more of a trial and error thing. Strike King and the KVD brand are both excellent choices. 
  
• Transporting 8'+ rods on a plane.  Any of you guys travel with large 1 piece rods ?  If so how do you do it? ​No experience here.
  
• Best knot for flouro? Polomar. No contest here.
  
• i have read on several posts on this site about a "bargin bin" what & where is that? Its that sale bin at your local tackle store with all of those bright pink and orange Senkos, Hot purple crankbaits, and Vanish fishing line.
  
• Last time I bought high end gear G. Loomis was private and had a no questions asked warranty.  I see they are now Shim-Loomis and that is gone.  Any high end rod builder offering that other than TFO? GLoomis really hasn't been relevant for about 3 years and they likely wont ever be again in bass fishing. I also have not heard anything great about TFO. Lamiglas is becoming a dinosaur as well. The difference between a 100 dollar rod and 350.00 rod is so little these days and the cheaper stuff from one brand may easily out fish the expensive stuff from another. 
  

[tomustang]

Welcome aboard, are you still in NEPA?

[gtaylor1023]

hey all

 

Thanks so much for all the great info and reaffirming some of my suspicions.  I grew up on the North Branch of the susquehanna in Bradford County.

 

I think i will stay away from the high dollar rods as per so many responses.  I think the Avid / Avid X and then new releases from shimano at icast '15 are great choices as well.

 

I have always tied the Palomar knot on my flouro but i have been hearing different knots, especially the knot by Shaw G. seems to be pretty good as well.  found here

 

I currently live in Houston ( just moved 2 weeks ago), MT for a few months a year, and visit NEPA quite a bit.  

 

I think i am gonna go with the Ci4 lines from shimano in Spin and baitcast.

[Turkey sandwich]

Good choices. My dad has a cabin in Lovelton PA. The farm ponds and the Mahoopany - Harding stretch of the Susquehanna are phenomenal.

[DaveT63]

Welcome to the forum, and back to fishing!

 

The Avids are great rods and in my opinion, well worth the money.  But right now, it you go to the Bargain Room on the St Croix web site, they have their whole line of Rage rods on sale for $89 with free shipping and a free hat and sticker.  You could buy a different rod for a number of different techniques their without breaking the bank if you are a bang for the buck guy.

 

I haven't seen anyone mention them yet, but the Pflueger reels, especially the President spinning reel, get a lot of love on here for the money spent on them.

[PitchinJigz]

The Winch by Abu is made for cranking, not flipping.

[Penguino]

Rods: For Bang for your buck rods, its hard to beat 13 and/or Abu Garcia

 

But if you are looking for the best you can find reasonably , then G. Loomis or St.Croix or Megabass would suit you best.

 

 

Like others said, you probably should separate this thread into several individual threads, because otherwise it will become too unorganized.