Ren Calamba on SUFSchool.com

Ren Calamba

High Point, NC, United States

Recreational angler here. I fish every weekend, usually both days.

All

Replied on Curious, but are there any BFS (Bait ...

Jul 23 at 09:35 PM

BFS was my only solution to get around spinning gear. I know, spinning gear has its place but once I got into baitcasters I had to see how light I could go. I then went down the rabbit hole of Japanese fishing techniques and how some of them use Bait Finesse. I like that I have the accuracy of a baitcaster with something somewhat light. Granted, I could go as light as 1/32 with one of my setups, but I never go that light. I stay right around 1/16th most of the time. I use heavier line to put up with the bass fights. My 11 year old loves her BFS setup and is pretty good with it. As far as the kind of lakes I fish, mostly the water treatment reservoirs that are within 15 - 30 minutes from me. I have about 9 of them to pick from on the weekends.

Posted

Jul 22 at 10:26 PM

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Here are some pics from my adventures this weekend. Only caught 3, but got 2 bullheads and a largemouth. Caught these guys on my Bait Finesse workhorse rod with my go-to/confidence lure... 1/16th Gamakatsu "weedless" wacky jig, and a trickworm. Normally I use a trickworm by Dave's Tournament Tackle which have a slower fall from any trickworm I've used. This time I used a Gambler Sweebo wacky worm, but I tend to use a lot of Dave's Tournamet Tackle trickworms. I don't compete so I'm not sponsored, but Dave lives in my area and makes all his tackle. Has a nice shop to boot and sells other stuff too. Figured I'd change up the worm shape for a couple weekends, as I think they were getting pressured on the Dave worm's lol.

Posted

Jul 22 at 10:24 PM

Curious, but are there any BFS (Bait Finesse System) reel users out there? I'm not a spinning reel kind of guy, and found BFS is a really nice alternative for finesse fishing. I aim for largemouth most of the time. I have 2 BFS setups in my boat... one always has a wacky rig, and the other is either a shaky head, dropshot, or a silly thing I've been messing with called a rocker head by Headbanger lures. Both setups are my workhorses. I run them on medium/fast casting rods. My 3 other rods are medium heavy/fasts for texas rigs, top waters, and spinnerbaits. For my BFS rigs, I usually go between 1/16 - 1/4oz jigs and lures... anything over that, I'll use my medium heavies. My BFS setups catch me more fish than my heavy setups. Out of my heavier setups, the texas rig and spinner are the workhorses. Just curious though if anyone in the community messes around with BFS reels.

Commented on What I use to detail my Boat and Truck + More

Jul 22 at 10:18 PM

You nailed my last name perfectly Brian!!!

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Posted

Jul 21 at 09:25 PM

Though I'd post up a pic of my little boat. Not sure how many canoe anglers are here, but here's my heavily rigged Scanoe. Started as a temporary measure, but has become our trusty ol' boat. Takes me and my youngest on many adventures every weekend.

Commented on Submit your questions for this Sunday...

Jul 21 at 04:21 PM

Hey Brian! Here's a loaded question. Do you have any tips for those of us who fish smaller lakes, that aren't well maintained, but do have bass to catch, but are heavily pressured? Finding fish seems to be an issue at the lakes I fish. I can usually track them down, but only one or 2 at a time. Does it just come down to finding structure and seeing what bites? Some days seems like nothing works at all. I'll put it to you this way. A legendary day is catching 10 in one day. A good day is maybe 3-5. At my local tackle shop, the guy that runs it always talks about catching 15-20 a day, sometimes more, but he fishes the bigger lakes. I tend to avoid those as its closer and faster for me to get to the smaller ones.

Commented on Drop Shot Workshop - Part 4 - How To Retrieve A Drop Shot

Jul 20 at 11:24 PM

Brian, thanks for this drop shot workshop! I like your retrieve better than what the Bass Resource recommended. Bass Resource says to "just throw it out there, and let the line go tight, then just stand there and wait for a bite. Drop shot does all the work." I'd rather give it some action. I'm going to use this retrieve going forward and see how it works out. The lakes I fish are municipal (the smaller local lakes in my area), and are really pressured. This should help things out.

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Replied on Hello! New to the SUF community, and ...

Jul 20 at 10:42 PM

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Here's one from today! Got it on a laydown, messing around with some of the stuff BLat was talking about in his laydown workshop

Posted

Jul 19 at 10:47 PM

Hello! New to the SUF community, and subscribed a couple of days ago. Looking forward to learning from BLat and others as well. I fish every weekend from my rigged out canoe with my youngest daughter who loves fishing as well. So far, watched the Laydown videos and wow, I haven't been picking them apart as well as I should. Hoping to try those techniques out this weekend.