That's a "Take your ass to the front of the boat and don't come back until it's untangled". I never could figure out bait casters.
Loading the boat up and heading out to fish for bedding bull bluegills this morning. I got the full moon in May itch to hammer some.
I figured them out when I was a youngster. There was quite a bit of frustration involved, but once I figured them out there was no looking back. The only time I’ll pick up anything else is the very rare occasion when I fish for something besides largemouth bass. Someday I’d like to buy a skipping baitcaster and teach myself how to “skip” lures.
So did I. We used to cut our own cane poles out of canebrakes in the river bottom near where I grew up. Things sure have changed.
I ended up going to Lake Lemon with the wife and caught 23 gills, 11 crappie and 2 huge red ear. Not the size I was hoping for. Gills were 7-8 inches long and the crappies were all under 9 inches. Brought the 2 red ear home and tossed them in my pond. I was a great day to get a sunburn... Fishing not so much!
Get a good bait casting real and learn how to use it. You'll wonder why you didn't have one years ago.
I use a spinning rod for most of my finesse setups and many soft plastics - Ned rigs and Senkos mostly. Baitcasters for everything else. It's amazing how far reels have come in the last 25 years. I have an old Shimano Bantam Coriolis that I got in the late 90's that I use every now and again. I sent it out last year to get fully disassembled, cleaned and tuned up. Still works great, but it doesn't hold a candle to any of my newer stuff. I've become a really big fan of Lews baitcasters in the last couple of years. I have a $100 Speed Spool that is right up there with some of the stuff that's 2-3x that price from other brands.
When I bought my boat 2 years ago I went crazy upgrading tackle and bought pretty much an entirely new fleet of rods and reels. I had been using the same stuff since the late 90's. I splurged on a couple of really nice spinning reels, and I'm happy I did.
Finally got out on the water up north in WI this weekend. Have spent the last couple weeks getting our new seasonal campsite setup for the year and just got the boat up there this weekend. We were catching them pretty good on Saturday morning but we had a stiff NW wind and I ended up stuffing a couple waves and little man got wet and was freezing so we headed back in early. The next month or so should be the best fishing of the year, I hope to be out almost every weekend till early July!
The truth is, most higher end stuff, 150-250$ range is usually smoother, lasts a bit longer and the rods are lighter and more sensative. With that said, there are some sub 100$ rods that preform very well. Hadn't had a lot of goo reels sub 100$ . The Shimano SLX reel, not the Digital Control, this reel is 109$ and it is very solid. I have several. I also have a few higher end Shimano baitcasters and they top notch. I prefer to spend more a rod than a reel. Rods to me are critical with the right action and power for the right technique.
So the new Missouri walleye state record was caught on a trot line, that is not fishing, it is like catching fish on spawning beds.
Nothing much better than catching a 2 man limit of walleyes in 1 1/2hrs at a small lake 15 minutes from home. Anchored Modified Lindy Rig with a small plain hook and jumbo leeches did the trick. Cast out and slowly reel in.
