Hammer 4

Bought 2 1/2 bags of gerociers last night, no meat, and nothing expensive. Cost $ 80.00 Sheesh...

All this talk about Irod quality, all you have to do is take a look at the reviews on TW.

PM Glenn, he can help you.

A Very Happy Birthday to Lynn. Wishing both of you the very best.

As per your diagram, I've always tied mine that way, even in grass and algy.

Then Practice casting. Everyone looses tackle now and then, it's just part of the game. When you start loosing 35.00 baits is when it really hurts...lol

For a guy that spends Hundered's of $$$ on swwimbaits, your complaining about spending 14.00 for a underspin ????

No problems with the EVA grips on my Irods.

Thanks John, thought you did a great job.

Use to be fairly good at guessing weight. Lately with my failing eyesight, not so much lol

Most if not all rods are a wee bit over rated for weight. If a rod is rated say 6 to 10 oz, then usually about 8.5 oz would be the max weight for good casting. This holds true for evey rod I've owned, and yes even my old 807 XP..

I dunno, I use slow sinks, and keeping them above the weeds doesn't require "burning" them. Maybe it's the maker of the baits ?

Yes, most MH rods can handle most if not all other baits as long as the baits are within the rods weight requirements.

This.. Armilo defier

Why 20 lb test ? I would use something in the 15 lb range, unless your fishing over heavy vegetation.

In that case, I'd say the cork grips would be best.

These days, i.e, in the last few years, I prefer a split grip, but everyone has their preference. As a side note, When I was float tubing alot, I could cast my Dobyn's 8' heavy swimbait rod with out any issues, sitting in a float tube you are more restricted in how you can move, so cast a rod 7'9 and longer is doable, just takes some practice. Also note, I have scoliosis and arthritis in my back, casting big baits all day never really affected me.

Usually my Diawa Tatula CT 200. I tried my CT 300 on it just for fun, but the 200 works fine, as would a 150 most likely. For line I use 17 lb mono, unless I'm fishing in heavy mats, then I'll go with 50 lb braid.

I've had this rod for almost a year now, imho, it's kind of between fast and moderate. For me, throwing 6" hudds and like weight baits, the rod is perfect and suits my style of casting. I also have the 8' heavy swimbait Gen III and a couple other models of Irods as well. For 150.00 usd, pretty hard to go wrong.

SDJ has never failed me. And Ditto to what Tom posted.

JFYI, fishing big swimbaits like 8" Hudd, ect, try to think like a bait fish, i.e. don't just cast and start winding, pauses and little twitches can go a long way to hooking the big girls. Also don't rule out SLOWLY working a 6 or 8" soft bait along the bottom to mimic a feeding fish, this makes your bait an easy target for bigger bass, as the really big girls would rather ambush a bait than to have to chase it. This technique requires COMMITMENT, you may get skunked often, but keep at it.

For those that drag a fish across rocks, gravel or grass, doing so removes the slim from the fishes body, which Protects them from Parasites, even handling a bass with dry hands will do the same, if touch any part of the body other than lipping it. By removing the slim, there is a chance the fish could die, so please use a net or whatever means you have to as not to drag them. Just interjecting this mainly for new, or for those that don't know.

Yeah, trying to chuck big baits with an overhand cast isn't the best way to get em way out there. As mentioned above more of a sidearm cast, and as Tom said, let the rod load up before releasing the thumb bar. Been chucking big swimbaits a long time, never had any issues.

3 or 4 depending on where I fished. They ranged from my drop shot spinning rig to my 8' swimbait rig.

I don't buy huge lots of anything at one time. I do have enough to last at least 1 1/2 maybe 2 years, depending on the baits I use most. Never broke a rod, so hopefully I'm good there, same goes for my reels.