1/16th Jigger
 

Well today's the day I picked up my Steve F rod. Lou and I ran out to Steve's and saw his "man cave" where he does his magic. The rod is beautiful, and it has my initials on it.
I figure since I run 15 trolling rods, this jigging rod makes me 1/16th of a jigger.
Clyde's Bait and Tackle in Lansdown is having their Spring sale and all reels are on sale. I picked up a nice okuma EF 30 with 10 ball bearings and a 5.0:1 gear ratio for $62 (includes spolled with 30 lb yellow power pro, and tax).
The balance is perfect for the rod, and I can't wait to use it. I told Steve it will be used for everything. I'll catch perch, spot, stripers, blues, hardhead, and anything else swimming in the bay (rays-oh no).
I'm 57 years old, and never had an outfit like this before. When it came to hunting, I always had premium overunders. For trap shooting, I have a beautiful Browning. When I owned and trained gundogs, I would travel to N.Y. to pick out a puppy from Bob Wehle's Elhew line. But, when it comes to fishing, most of my tackle was either an ugly stick, or combo picked up from walmart, bass pro, or some fishing expo.
This is the first rod and reel that is sitting next to the fireplace:).
When I step on Pete's boat next time, Pete will not recognize my tackle. Don (Hunter), Mark (Baldzilla), and Pete have planted a seed for jigging.
I still like trolling, eating a sandwich, bs'ing with friends, and dragging fish through the water:eek:.
Thanks Steve for not only a new piece of tackle, but a piece of art as well.
5th (Marty)

Marty, funny you posted about this...when I first started jigging I went and got a BPS Bionic blade w/ a shimano spirex...man I thought that was the best LTJing combo ever made..
You don't want to know how much money I have tied up into what I use now...actually I don't want to know either...
I really like Shimano products, they seem to really hold up well..they can take the "heat" if you will..I am sure these Shimano saros' 2500 that I use now aren't made for handling 40# fish..but they can..:confused:
I have fished beside guys that aren't catching, and they can't figure out why...most of the time it's the rod they are using, they just cant feel the "tick" or bite..or the fishing line, I like 10# power pro..all year.
BTW You can still eat a sandwich...BS w/ friends LTJing too...

Congrats on the combo..Steve makes a nice rod, hope to see ya out there..
P.S. Don't let Don hold any fish in the pics, he's too big and makes the fish look small..:D

i'm more or less 100% whatever it is i'm doing. i can remember putting everything i had into trying to find a bass from behind a 1/2 sunk refrigerator or car tires at a screwed up little pond i saw from the highway, or crawling along rabbit trails just to access 'unfished' crystal clear water at loch raven, or,...

but most of my fishing is entirely normal. casting from community pier for the white perch, drfiting/jigging on the bay mostly unsuccessful, putting worms on hooks for kids, etc.. but among my more normal and mainstream goals this year, i want to go out on cold gray, rainy, windy day by myself and troll up a big fish. and be 100% into it while i'm doing it.

and on another day, be spooled up with the 10# power pro of course. 100%

10# braid:eek: How would I ever get those abandoned crab pots to the boat with 10#:D.

As I said before, I used 80# because that's all I had for trolling and I wound some on my reel for Pete's trips, when I felt the 30# braid at Clyde's, I thought I was going to break it trying a knot:rolleyes:.

I'm headed to some water in a few minutes to see how far I can cast this outfit and try to pick up some perch (C/R).

5th (Marty)

Put the fairy wand down ASAP. :D

Put your " Jaws " video in and watch it while holding a 4/0 reel.

Come back to the dark side - resist the pull of LTJ :D

Congrats on a fine custom rod.

Marty, I have 2 of Steve's rods. They are good for jigging, live lining, chumming and catching bait. I have a Stradic 3000 on one and a 4000 on the other. Wayne Morgan said he caught a 50 pound drum on his. Enjoy it............Gary

Marty..the 10# braid makes a huge difference...your line will get down faster to the strike zone and it has way better feel...when you are drifting on a pod of fish and you mark them..it will get you down fast...It can handle any fish in the bay...including a 50# drum...which is like pulling in an anchor..
I have caught 50# Rock on the 10#..
Once you've caught a few quality fish on it, you will laugh at trolling...:rolleyes:

i guess my mentality has always been to use the lightest test that will do the job. and still believe that.

and then i see freshwater bass fishermen using 65# power pro to catch 2-8# bass:eek:. blows me away! the explanation isn't the fish in their case, it's pulling them out of heavy cover. the heavy line lets them cast places i would consider suicidal for 10-12# test and just plain hoss in the fish, sticks, lily pads, grass and anything else the fish wraps around.

10 lb braid is way easier(and safer) to work with ! there was a guy last year at one of the winter warm water spots using 65lb braid and cutting it off AT THE REEL every time he got snagged :eek:...I wanted to puke !

Well I took the rod out for a test spin:). I was really happy with the way it cast. The 30# braid flew through the eyes.
Steve said the blank he uses makes feeling the slightest tick from a bite noticeable. I don't know how it would respond to 10# braid, but I think I detected a fish that farted close to my bait today:D.

I'll be trolling Thursday and Friday this week. I don't want to lose my touch with the broomsticks:rolleyes:.
5th (Marty)