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Every company has marketing terminology including your silly Daiwas.. heres some info on the Hagane Concept.. why don't you educate yourself http://fishing.shimano.co.jp/product/technology/hagane2/index_en.html

Update on the mystery tackle stocking: After weeks of stalking the elusive stocking bass, with the assistance of my fishing Doe, I finally landed her. She was bigger than I expected, and her belly held treasures I would have never imagined. I must say I knew my woman was a keeper, but she far exceeded my expectations with this epic bounty of fishing loot. I’m not sure how the bait monkey found her, as she doesn’t even fish, but that wily devil certainly did a number on her this year! She told me she spent months researching what baits to get, and which colors work best in the waters I fish. I do believe those are the sweetest words I have ever heard uttered by a woman.

First bass on my dobyns swimbait rod. I've had the rod for a few months but haven't had the chance to use it until today. I just arrived in florida today, and on my 2nd cast I hooked into this 5.26 lb largemouth. Caught on the savage gear 6" line thru.

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ I have & fish Glass, composite & graphite sticks for different type applications but all for crankbaits. Each anglers preference over one or the other all comes down to what You like; they all work. I'll say that the type & test of line I use affect the performance of each system. So despite how much experience I may have with a certain type of rod, Fishing a glass stick is just one of those deals where if you really want to know what it's like, you're going to have to experience it for yourself, my description may not be how you perceive the performance. btw - after reading & reading & reading about the three different rods - I just finally went out and got my own and fished them. I'm glad I did & I learned a ton. Best part was - I got to go FISHING ! A-Jay

I'll have to get some better closeups but FishinDaddy went way over the top and sent me a custom built rod! 7' 6" H/MF with an awesome looking cork handle and a turkey feather with a wolf on it on the handle as well was a really nice touch. It was just very nicely done and way more than I could have ever expected and a huge thank you to FD not just for the gift, but setting this up every year. I guess probably the most important part about the rod, it catches fish!

I've used it and tested it against a bunch of other lines, and it does have much less stretch for the same diameter/amount of force than most lines (including Big Game, XT or InvizX). Stren original is one of the more "stretchy" lines on the market. Sensation has considerably less. Otherwise, nothing outstanding about the line that comes to mind, except if you are a line watcher, they make Sensation in a tangerine orange color which is kind of cool. I use it in lighter pound tests for crappie fishing, or as leader material with braid mostly. -T9

Just an update for everyone who has been giving me advice. By the way, I really appreciate the help. I know yall have been throwing out a bunch of different lure companies, but the SK Red Eye Shad has been producing for me so I've been sticking with what works. Went and bought about 10 different colors (all 1/4oz). I've been off of work since Wednesday, so I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and today in the park testing (had to do the family thing Friday lol) and this is what I've come up with. Like I said, I was trying to find 3 go-to colors so that I could limit the amount of tackle I was carrying around in my backpack. Well, I have found my big 3. 1. Sexy Shad 2. Orange Craw 3. Firetiger Orange Craw has been my top producer as of yet, especially today. Caught 15 bass, 11 of which were caught on O.C. The crankbait bite died out towards the end of the day, so I switched techniques and caught the last 4 on a weightless Baby Brush Hog. And I can now update my personal best to between 4 and 5 lbs!!! Caught the biggest bass of my life today on the Orange Craw. 4lb 4oz!!!

What are you talking about? $199 is the same price as the previous Curado 50e and Chronarch 50e.

I received a nice assortment from @bkohlman, including a 1/2oz. EcoPRO Tungsten Spinnerbait, 1/2oz. ChatterBait Elite, Spro Bronzeye Frog, tube of MegaStrike, some Zoom Speed Craws and a Cabela's gift card. I have always been curious to try MegaStrike, but never picked up a tube. Will try it out tomorrow on the Potomac. Thanks again! I'd also like to thank @FishinDaddy for all of the hard work to make this exchange happen, and of course all of the BR members who participated and make it a reality every year. Merry belated Christmas to you all. Let's make this a happy and safe new year.

OR, Shimano thinks that there will be a smaller market for the 70 size as compared to the 200 size and thus feels the need to increase the price a bit to amortize the tooling/startup/support costs over a smaller production quantity (just as it did with the CU50E). OR, Shimano knows that it will be a popular model with a small number of anglers and charges more...because it can... Regardless, perhaps down the road there will be some deals to be had. At the end of the day, businesses are in business to make money...

This is the warmest Chistmas eve we can all remember up here in Maine with no ice so I had to take advantage of it. Launched at 6:30 and threw some buoys on a point that runs from 10-12 fow to 40 fow. Caught a bunch of white perch and crappie on a blade and only a few bass so we went to the bank and beat em up on jerkbaits. My buddy and I ended up getting 22 bass, 2 pickerel, 1 nice brown and a good brookie on the jerk. Just a beautiful day on Dec 24th! I hope this leads to an early ice-out as well. Here's a few: Came home, washed the boat and will do some winter maintenance on it in the next few weeks.

There is a new i model coming in February! Instead of a 50 model they're calling it a 70 size. Here's a picture. If it doesn't come up pm me and I can tell you the website.

Agree with T9. Good post. Brian goes above and beyond in his fishing and tackle knowledge. I use XT, and have been using Sensation some now, for mono's. Been an XT user for a loooong time. I know it and trust it. A while back -like in the 1980s- XT was very wiry and had reduced stretch. I worked in a large tackle shop and on quiet nights we would test all sorts of things. We found XT to be the lowest stretch line on the shelf. I also found it to be true in fishing it. It would load up (you can feel the stretch come out of a line as it maxes out (I was/am a back-reeler)) and when it broke it gave all of a sudden. I believe the formula has changed since then, as it appears to stretch more. The packaging now says "shock resistant" (or something along that line) which indicates stretch. Big Game is also a "shock absorbing" line and thus likely has some stretch built in. Sensation is advertised as a "controlled stretch" mono and it does feel that way although I've not tested it. It feels a bit more like the old XT but I haven't had it give all of a sudden when maxed like the old XT did; "controlled stretch" is a good description I think. It's a nice line. Another thing about XT: It's much thicker than other lines for the "Lb Test" rating on the box. And it breaks at a correspondingly higher load than others. One way to get abrasion resistance is to go thicker. So... 8lb XT is the same diameter -and break strength- as most other 10lbs, Sensation included. Diameter is what counts in presentation so keep that in mind when you purchase. I'd recommend either line.

I'm not saying its not marketing terminology, I'm saying everybody has just as much marketing terminology including your silly Daiwas, which by the way is probably has the most gimmicky "tech" out of all the reel companies lol. Apparently though you will only call Shimano out for using marketing terms? I'm very familiar with Tackletour as I'm much more active there.

Any specific applications? For the longest time (about 20 years) I simply used Big Game for most everything bass. A solid all-around line, though it can get a little wirey in cold weather or if it dries out in hot weather. Used to not come in anything less than 10 pound test. I believe several well respected members of this site have also been heavy users of Big Game over the years. Certainly worth a try if you haven't used it before. For anything under 10 lbs., I used BPS Excel. Not certain if the formula/maker has changed over the years, but other than lots of stretch, it was a good all around line for the money. Beyond that, it's been odds and ends just to try specific lines here and there, but nothing so much better than the two previously mentioned that I ever stuck with them. -T9

In the true spirit of the Gift Giving Season, you've given away yet another gem Catt - "Crashing Traps". Sometimes It's Pretty Killer. And I'll add that if one switches out the treble hooks for double's (think little frog hooks) with the business ends pointing up - hanging up is reduced quite a bit. btw- crashing traps is pretty tough on the paint job and definitely not for the faint of heart. A-Jay

twitch, twitch, pause, twitch, twitch, pause Vary the intensity of the twitches and lengths of the pauses accordingly until you figure out what the fish want. As a general rule, more aggressive snaps and shorter pauses for warmer water/more aggressive fish, gentle twitches or even slow pulls and long pauses for cold water/inactive fish. The rod is the only thing that should move the bait. I've helped lots of people learn to fish them and one of the main mistakes I see is reeling the bait instead of twitching it with the rod and just using the reel to take up slack during the pause.

Put the 4" Pit Boss on the chatterbait. It should look like this.

The 1016 is a significantly deeper spool than the smaller versions (50, 70) of the Curado/Chronarch in terms of how much line it holds. The 1016 is also a much more controlled spool due to it's breaking. The 50 size shimanos have a strong following due to their much smaller profile than their counterpart (200+ series) and capability of throwing lighter baits better than a 200 but still very capable of throwing upper end weights well. I felt the 50 size reels responded better to tuning as well. In the past, these were only offered in a single 6:4 gear ratio and you had to drop core gears into them to get the higher IPT. The excitement surrounding these is that the new curado is finally being offered again in the very popular smaller frame size that we haven't seen since the chronarch 50(hence the 70), X ship on a smaller reel, and 2 different gear ratios; with the higher end being something like 8:1 or 8:3. It also has Shimanos new(?) hagane stamp. I haven't read enough about it to give a through explanation of what Hagane is aside from that it has to do /w gearing.

cannot stop buying spro little johns and fat papa 55s. just saw the KVD 1.5 in River Minnow for the first time, bought a bunch.

x2 for Yo-Zuri

The more opinions you get the more confusion can set in. Many of us have gone the lighter braid route because we have confidence in it despite how thin it may seem, 10# braid has a high breaking strength. If you feel more comfortable with 20#, go for it. For me, that's what I put on my casting reels. We all have different experiences, plain and simple. As for copolymer line like Yo-Zuri Hybrid, etc., they are great lines, good for abrasion resistance, and so on. Some are coated or bonded with fluorocarbon. Using fluoro as a leader is fine if you want to use it. Has its own advantages and disadvantages. I've taken advice from this forum and made purchases based on it that I later regretted. My experience differed from the other folks. You may drop some $$ on pure FC and love it, or hate it. Part of the game as you develop how YOU like to fish.

It's a Jaguar Guapote... Look it up on the Internet for more info and pics (here's one: Guapote link). -T9

Were you laying on the floor when you took these pics???

I held out all the way til Christmas to open my package from Catt that had been staring at me for a couple weeks... it was well worth the wait and I cannot wait to try out these swim jigs w/menace trailers, shell crackers, and SB's! This exchange is one of my favorite gift-related things every Christmas... thank you to Catt and to FD for setting this up each year!!

Around here it would be pretty hard to beat somewhere in the Ozarks. Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Beaver, Grand, Stockton, Pomme De Terre, all within an hour or so if you place yourself right. Then there's the trout parks, Taneycomo (which also has some monster bass). Pomme and Fellows both have muskie. Beaver and Bull both give you shots at monster stripers and big walleye (Stockton is a good walleye lake as well). Table Rock, Bull, and Beaver all give you a shot at 4 different species of bass (LM, SM, spots, and meanmouth). The Ozark streams are great places to wade and catch gobs of smallies along with some spots and LM and various other species. I'd love to live down in that area.

What are you missing out on?? Big Bass! 1. I may lose a jig but I aint never worn one out 2. I can change my jig color by chinging the trailer 3. A larger slip does in fact effect the rate of fall; how much seperation do you believe there is between the lure & weight? 4. It's called rattles! I keep both tied on 24/7/365

I think firetiger is the most versatile color made . Shallow to deep , clear to stained , its always a good starting point .

No need to ever BB rig a 6" Hudd.

The 6-6 Hoosier's got into the Quaker Oatmeal Bowl. Pretty crazy when a 6-6 team makes a bowl game, but I'll take it. GO HOOSIERS!

Pics when the combos complete!

That new St. Croix Legend Elite I posted a few days ago.

nope, never had an issue while flipping the line. As long as you make sure its spooled on tight you shouldn't have any problems

FloridaFishinFool, I have the Navionics mobile app and it shows your two lakes with much more detail although the second hole you referred to and is shown in the DEP images not there. There is a big gap between depth lines that could hold that hole. On Lake Kingsley, there is a ledge where the "30" is shown below the "65". It is almost a straight drop, not the slope on your picture. The Navionics map of Maitland also shows more detail. But I have "Sonarchart" selected, not "Navionics" under the little sonar symbol. Under the sonar symbol there are three choices...Gov't Chart, Navionics and Sonarchart. Select whichever one gives you more detail. I don't have the Lakemaster card for the SE so I can't tell you what it looks like.

The retention ponds (local housing ponds) down here tend to have a lot of crud on the bottom so fishing weightless wacky/TX has been the go to ticket. Have had some luck on mojo, but a lot of crud comes in on the weight. Drop shot has worked some too.

A quality glass glass Rod can be plenty sensitive for crank baits and have backbone to move fish. The now discontinued Lamiglas sr 705 is a prime example. I like graphite with a little faster action for ripping from grass .

and all are within 100 miles of Grand Rapids...lol

Something that won't break the bank will be Yo-Zuri Hybrid, or P-Line Floroclear. I use both from 4 to 15 lbs as leaders on all of my spinning/casting setups.

Deep the 120sp is 4.75" & 5/8oz. It has a weight transfer system & a 4 chamber sound system. The action of a 120sp is more of a slash bait with real strong rolling action. I work them hard & erratically. The 100sp is 4" & 7/16oz. It has a 4 rattle chamber sound system but no weight transfer. The action is more subtle with less pronounced action than the 120sp. It's more of a walking style bait. The 110sp is 4" & 1/2oz. It has a 3 rattle sound system with a balanced weight system. It's an inbetween action between the 120 & 100 but doesn't run a deep as the other two. I have a couple of the 110's but mostly use the 120sp & less often use the 100. The 100 might be better used as a finesse jerkbait while the 120 is a more aggressive in your face type of action. There are times when both baits catch fish with just a steady retrieve. Just saying.

Beat me to it. LOL Although if you have trouble with that use Nitro.

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource Congrats on living on what sounds like quite a Smallmouth Factory. I'd recommend fishing different locations. You haven't listed where you're fishing, but every where I've fished for smallmouth, the larger adult fish usually do not feed on the same items or in the same places as juvenile bass. Figuring out what the adult bass prey on in your body of water may help. Remember the prey's abundance & availability play a role too. Then learn about the prey's life cycle; where it lives in the lake / water column, where & when it spawns and just like the bass, what it eats. All of this can often help lead an angler right to the fish he / she is after or at the very least, offer a place to start looking. There is a reason the small fish are where they are; and it probably revolves around self preservation & Food. The adult bass population will be looking for the same thing Good Luck A-Jay

I would throw whatever I had available till I caught it lol. Probably shaky/senko, wacky/senko, jig and craw, I would imagine it a shallow fish on a bed if I could see it. Would want something not to big to spook it at first and work my way up. If it is on a bed throw at it for a few minutes mark the spot and move off and come back later

No that won't happen.

This thread is about to blow up in the next 24hrs.

Great answers!... I knew there was more to it than just a skirt... I think every fisherman gets set in their ways, and im no different... But im looking to broaden my horizons Great to see some fellow tackle makers here!... I do pour my own plastics, but i make all my molds.. Not only is it cheaper, but i can customize my baits...... Currently i dont have any jig making supplies, but i can change that! One question... The lakes i fish are 99% soft bottom, and about 50% of the bottom is matted weeds... If you had to choose one style of jig head for these conditions, what would it be???

I would use some shallow running crankbaits. Firetiger, crawfish, and shad are the colors I would start off with.

You might want to throw some 4-5 inch wacky worms in black/blue flake or watermelon red flake. . Use a 1/16 oz weedless wacky hook. Also a Flick Shake worm or Zoom finesse worm. Small cranks in Green back/ chartreuse sides and orange bottom. especially good are the Keitech Swing Impact Fat 3.8 in a Smoke glitter on a weighted 1/16 oz weighted Owner Twistlock hook. Or a Little Dipper on a 1/16 oz Owner Twistlock light swim bait hook. (Sexy Shad) Last would be a 1/4 oz swim jig in white/Chartreuse tipped with a Baby Rage Craw in blue or a 1/4 oz Bitsy Bug in Black/ blue tipped with small sapphire plastic chunk A light spinning outfit would help in getting the distance you need. Casting parallel to the bank is a good place to start.

Yep, it was an awesome weekend. Upper 60's here in Indy and cought 5 LM.

I cant get over the stretch feeling of the line when I work a Jerkbait. I feel I need to really jerk it hard and long to get the lure to move.

There are many theories on it, in terms of rise, sink, true suspension. I fish the Vision110 Silent Riser an awful lot, and I catch an awful lot of fish on it- the theory of not wanting a jerkbait to rise. I believe Mike was misquoted on that- he doesn't want a jerkbait that rises in very cold water. At least that's what I've gathered from conversations and from writing he's done on the subject. I'm very particular about jerkbaits, because there are specific things that I want them to do. A huge portion of my annual catch is attributed to jerkbaits; I'd go so far as to say that it's a full 1/3 of what I do every year. When it comes to what I'm doing in terms of which style, and the floatation of a bait, I'm almost always looking for a true suspending bait. That said, it's only at specific water temperatures that it is going to do that. I would prefer a bait to rise slowly in a nose down attitude than I would prefer to fish a sinking bait in cold water. I select my baits a lot by what I'm fishing them over, or around what sort of structure I'm fishing them. I like some baits more in rock than in wood, the same can be said for open water or over weeds. In the Highland Reservoirs that I so often fish in Spring and Fall, the LC Pointer 100 and Pointer 78 are king as my all around baits- the size is based on depth and forage. When fish are on smaller profiles, obviously I fish the 78; and vice-versa. I prefer the Vision 110 for shallow weeds and wood, and in open water where there's very good visibility. I'll fish LCP100 in open water and wood as well, but typically where there's a little less visibility. Only very, very rarely do I go to a silent, or wood, bait. I do love my wood pointers, as they're simply superb for those situations in which an absolutely stealth bait is the way to go. The other style of bait that I have a lot of confidence in is the Flash Minnow 110- This bait, or style of bait, if you will, is a far more active bait. It's a bait that I generally do well with in spring and in certain situations in fall. When fish are on the tops of shallow rock or shallow primary points in fall, it can be absolutely dynamite. I'm not 100% certain of why it's so much more effective in those specific situations than other baits I fish; I'm sure of it is just my confidence in the bait. Sure it's the right depth and profile, but there are other guys that would rather fish a Vision 110. The depth of the Flash Minnow, I'm sure, is what does it for me in those situations- or at least that's the heart of it. A bait that will without fail stay at the 2' depth is pretty key. Lastly, when I desire a deep bait, such as when fish are stacked on deep edges or on the backside of primaries in the 12-16' range- the only bait of choice is the Staysee90. It's extremely tight moving and it's very erratic. Overall, in jerkbaits, it's getting an idea of what works for you. For instance- less is more. I really prefer to move a bait far less initially, until the fish tell me what they want. I'll move the bait very, very slowly at first. Dwight's post is absolutely stellar with information, too. Hopefully he chimes in on this. I'm very proficient with a jerkbait but I took several things out of his post and have since applied them to my fishing style.