As some of you know I am new to fishing. I have been fishing for about a month now. I'm finally ready to spend a bit of money to get some appropriate gear. I have been gifted two combo's, I have a Shimano spinning reel on a 5'10" medium Ugly Stick, and an Abu Garcia baitcast reel, on a 6' medium heavy Ugly Stick.
My birthday is this weekend and I have gift cards with the purpose of buying fishing gear. I want to buy another combo, most likely another spinning reel. Not sure if I should get an "ultra-light" rod or something longer with Medium action. I want to be able to cast light tackle as far as possible so any pointers in the rod department will be a big help.
My biggest question is what lures / soft plastics should I get? Can you throw out your top ten must haves for the tackle box?
Thanks Guys!
I mostly fish CC, but I want to start hitting up the rivers....there is no one particular fish I target. I guess I would prefer bass catching.
i use a shimano reel on a 6ft ugly stick rebel crawls work well for me also recently bought the "slingshot" made by zebco not the greatest but it works in tight spots have already caught 20 plus fish on it, also very affordable , but like i said it is affordable but you get what you pay for ,good luck.
Try a 6' 6'' medium-light action rod with a medium sized reel packed with either 6 or 8lb mono. This will be good for river fishing bass. You can also try a 7' medium or pick one of the two.
If your gonna hit the rivers I would buy a pack of wee rebel craws. The best color can be disputed but I think it is the yellower version. A size 8 hook split shots and a night crawler are very good things to start using on the river also. You can also drift with a bobber if you want. Just check out other threads and see what you wanna do.
I'm gonna save you alot of time! My top ten are almost all Keitech Plastics.
The Keitech Swing Impact are minnow shaped- skinny...with a tight minnow swimming action!
The Keitech Swing Impact Fat are...Fatter! More like a Shad...with a wider stronger swimming action!
The Easy Shiner has a shiner/shad profile and a wobble when swimming!
They also have a worm and trailers and a Grub is on the way!
You will never find a plastic bait that has the action of a Keitech, the infused (squid) scent, or never find a more versatile plastic.
You can swim them with a jig, fish them under a bobber, drop shot, vertical jig them, wacky rig, use them as trailers, Texas Rig, Carolina Rig, Alabama Rig, etc!
Also buy some Mend-It (plastic glue)...it "mends" all plastics and does not make them hard like superglue, they remain soft and flexible with no loss of action!
+1 on the the Keitechs. They do tend to lose their tails easily so the Mendit is a good investment.
Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver is a popular and reliable bait...generally Texas rigged and works in a variety of situations.
Senkos produce well too, no secret. Wacky rigged, cast and wait at least 30 seconds on semi-slack line. Flick n jighead is a good tweak on this or rigged with a finesse worm.
Vibe E style blade baits are a favorite of mine. Very versitile and can produce fish during times when nothing else will. They'll catch just about anything...as will an 1/8 oz white roostertail with a silver blade...never leave home without it.
Wild Thangs/Zoom Brush hogs/Vertical Tube X are good creature baits when you want a bigger profile...all produce nice fish in the right situation.
Good ol Powerbait auger tail worms seem to always catch at least one fish, just about everywhere.
Fluke/Zulu (shad/pearl or craw color)
Popper
Mepps Dressed Spinner (white or squirrel tail)
Shadrap
Buzzbait - black or purple
Crawdad (plastic T-rigged or Rebel Craw)
Rapala Original Floating Minnow
Jig and Mister Twister Grub
Plastic frog
Bomber A
Small and largemouth are my typical targets but some of these will catch surprises (gar, sauger/saugeye, white bass, hybrids, cats, drum) as well.
If you want to go light on the rods, Shimano makes a good 5 foot rod with just enough backbone to get a good hook set. The rod model is called Stimula.
Here are the lures I use in the Great Miami River -
1) Strike King Zulu ( Z too - fork tail version ) - anything as long as it has a pearl color in it.
2) Rebel craws - ditch, moss and chartreuse colors seems to work the best
3) Super Pop-R - shad color
4) Boo-Yah Double Willow Chartreuse spinnerbait - 3/8 oz ( or chartreuse and white )
5) Mepps spinner - size 3 blade, silver blade, white tail
6) Black buzzbait - silver blade - buy the large size ( white and chartreuse as well )
7) Twistertail jigs - white ( 1/8 oz jig head )
8) Tube bait - green pumpkin ( 1/8 oz jig head )
9) Jointed Rapala - perch or silver and black - J9 size
10) Floating Rapala - perch or silver and black or chartreuse - size 9
Fluke/Zulu (shad/pearl or craw color)
Popper
Mepps Dressed Spinner (white or squirrel tail)
Shadrap
Buzzbait - black or purple
Crawdad (plastic T-rigged or Rebel Craw)
Rapala Original Floating Minnow
Jig and Mister Twister Grub
Plastic frog
Bomber A
Small and largemouth are my typical targets but some of these will catch surprises (gar, sauger/saugeye, white bass, hybrids, cats, drum) as well.
I'd look into a medium heavy 6.5 to 7' rod for single hook techniques like plastics.
Here are my top 10 baits for local lake bass fishing:
1) Zoom baby brush hogs ( Alabama craw or green pumpkin)
2) Terminator 3/8 oz white/ chart spinnerbait
3) Senko in amy dark color - actually I use BPS stickos which are half the price
4) KVD 1.5 square bill crank in shad or chart/ black back
5) Zoom finesse worm on 1/8 oz spot remover shaky head
6) Bandit 300 root beer chart belly crank
7) Berkeley chigger craw Texas rigged or on football head jig
8) Any 3/8 oz football head jig blue/black with net bait craw trailer
9) Berkeley 3" minnow green pumpkin drop shot
10) 4" green pumpkin tube on 1/4oz internal tube jigs
To complement the list I'd suggest yozuri ultra soft line (12# for bait cast or 8# spinning), gammakatsu 3/0 EWG hooks and polarized sunglasses.
Step one: keep reading these boards, I'm fairly new too and the guys here have been great!
" I want to be able to cast light tackle as far as possible "
maybe someone can confirm but from what I understand...the longer the rod, the farther the cast.
Caution! Once you catch a decent size river smallie... you will be hooked...from my inexperience the Rebel Craw with green bottom and black top is the way to go.
I want to be able to cast light tackle as far as possible so any pointers in the rod department will be a big help.
My biggest question is what lures / soft plastics should I get? Can you throw out your top ten must haves for the tackle box?
Well, the longer the rod (rod blanks being equal) the further you will be able to hurl a lure. I use my dads old Garcia Mitchel 510 on a 7' Conolon fiberglass rod and I can hit the trees down by our creek from the street with a 3/8 oz practice plug. It's over 165' and the lure is still over my head. That's on 12# line. Long rods don't work well in places like tight river banks though. Keep in mind rods are built around the weight of the lure you will be using too.
Lighter lines will allow you to cast further also.
Reels - I'm sure I'll get jumped for this, I believe spinners will get you more distance since they are designed to work with lighter line and don't have that spinning spool to deal with. Remember boys he's asking about casting distance. I own and use three bait casters, an Abu Garcia 5000, a Daiwa and a BPS model that escapes me. I like them all, but when I need distance I reach for the 510.
I'm not sure I have 10 favorites when it comes to lures.
1 Rapala Shad Rap
2 Rebel Craw
3. White Twister Tail
4. Silver Spoon
5. Scum Frog in the right places
6. Soft Plastic Worm
I almost forgot, if you really want to hurl the lightest lure the furthest distance, look into the fly fishing cult, it's a different world and a lot of fun too! Fun catching fish with the flies you tie yourself.
__________________
2010 Tracker PB20 90HP Merc
Vapor 10XT - Ascend D10 - Jackson Cuda
Last edited by backlashed; 06-15-2012 at 04:30 PM.
1. 3" Jackall Cover Craw in pumpkin or green pumpkin
2. 3 1/2" to 4" tube bait in pumpkin, green pumpkin, or green pumpkin with copper flake
3. 4" or 5" Senko or similar style stick worm in watermelon, natural shad, or minnow flash
4. Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver in Big Tex, Hemotoma, and Corndog
5. 1/4 oz. Rebel Pop R or similar style popper in chrome with a black back
6. 1/4 oz. Buzzbait in white, chartruse, or black
7. 3/8 oz. double willow leaf spinner bait in white, chartruse and white, or a shad color
8. Mann's Baby Minus One in Chrome with a black back
9. Koppers Live Target Bluegill square bill crankbait in natural matte or metalic gloss
10. 3 1/2" or 4 1/2" Strike King Shadilicious hollow body swimbait in blue gizzard shad
Suggestions on Lures / Softbaits *top 10 list*
Suggestions on Lures / Softbaits *top 10 list*
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