QUAKEnSHAKE

Same up here. Last week in the heat was great compared to the past 2 days with lower temps. I managed only one 15" yesterday had 2 other bites in 4 hours.

congrats on your PB!!

I rig backwards I think now that is the standard. I couldnt find the mend-it locally so tried superglue NONONO didnt work. I tried my gorilla glue and thats ok for now I guess. Thanks BIG-O I failed to mention on the jig is a Rage Tail Baby Craw and was the bass that weighed the most.

X2 I used them in the 100 degree heat last week and they produced Here my report with pics of the FAT IKA / Palm Tree. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/104503-kinami-palm-tree-to-beat-the-heat/

I should have got a Lews instead of my JMCarbonlite

AWESOME I see you caught it in 3fow, shallow has been productive.

Yeah you need to try a few even the same frame from one to another can fit differently. Havent seen/tried the Double Haul but many others the largest being XL FISCH. Now even frame such as TAG that is Med Lg fit better on me than XL Man-O-War or XL Hammerhead. The lens size is smaller on MOW And HH so that might be why thy seem small just dont look right on me. Here is their site with the frame and size listing. https://www.costadelmar.com/shop/sunglasses#blackfin

The only other rod I read about breaking more than CS is the Abu Veritas. Just past week read 3 more reports of them breaking.

Thanks guys So you know after about 4-5 of the size pictured the bait is all torn,skirt detatches, or reel back without one on.. Ill try some mend-it or the like see if can be repaired

Well like most places its been hot the past week 98-104 well the bass were hitting on Palm Trees AKA Fat Ikas. Mon Tue Fri all hits were on the initial fall but today Sat all catches were off bottom. I dont get into the technical aspects but think front is approaching so that might be one cause for the difference. Nothing big but at least catchin'em. I targeted weed mats most came from these but a few were out deep 20+. I managed one jig bite was 60 feet out took on fall nothing else on jig.

Kinami Palm Tree has been as hot as the temps for me.

I would say stick to LTB as well. I have 7'6" MF Elite and to me there is not $140 difference from my 8' ML Avid. It might be due do the lighter power of the Avid. I fish mostly senkos on both and the Avid I feel more in contact with the weight of the senko and notice more of the senko wobble than with the more powerful M Elite (use powerpro 10# on both). I only paid $130 for the Elite had I paid full price I think I would have buyers remorse.

I have a 7' Clarus as well fine rod and use PP with it.

I got a Legend Elite for $131 and $12 shipping. Ive been looking everyday to see if they reduce the prices even more but they havent LTB MLXF is very tempting

Yeah could have been a bass. Deadsticking is a term for what you did. Ive done this with senko toss out and just leave it while I fish a jig on another set-up. After a while the pole start jerking and bass on. Couple months ago I tossed out and saw a bass go to the worm and just stare at it and stare and stare like for minutes other bass came by I guess wondering what this bass was looking at, well I gave-in and just twitched the line a little and that set the bass off and bam got'em.

Nice review. The rod really makes a difference doesnt it more so than the reel? St Croix still has some LTB rods Ive been eyeing dont need one just really want one. Long Mike keep the president and get a LTB rod that will make the greatest difference.

Well not really solved. I have that set-up(50E Med rod) but with 15#PPS8S its nice but gets toasted by spinning out fit ML mod action rod and nanofil. Now add a head wind of say 15-20mph that I fish in quite often here in Northern IL the 50E gets fried by the spinning set-up.

My favorite rod is my 8' St Croix Avid ML Mod 2pc spinning rod. Its never given me any issues at the connection it solid and it gets taken apart after every outing and over 4 years of use. Sensitivity is not hindered one bit comparing it to my other 1pc rods. This particular model feels great in hand and only 3.6ozs. Its been basically an all-purpose rod from crappie to catfish, small crankbaits-Bitsy minnows KVD 1.0, small jigs-bitsy bugs, senkos 4"-5", and spinnerbaits. If 2pc is something that will benifit you travel wise storage dont hesitate to get a quality 2pc rod.

I have UL,MH Premiers, ML Avid, M Elite Croixs and the ML is my favorite just a sweet power I think. I see they have LTBC69MLXF so that what I say to look at. You have 3 M as is and the MH croix is stout so I dont like fishing it much. I see the fish size you likely to encounter is under 5# if too you are in light to moderate structure ML should work fine. Senko,flukes, finesse worms 6'-7" and I throw 1/8oz jigs.

pass throught the eye twice into UNI, in knot wars head to head its stronger than the palomar knot.

Smoke rod would pair-up with the Smoke reel you wanting. Have/had the Smoke, Veritas, Premier- the Smoke is the lightest more balanced & sensitive rod in 7'MF cant comment on the others mentioned. Smoke now have crankbait models but havent tried them. My MF Smoke rod is very close to my ML Avid in sensitivity. I returned the veritas and would have returned the premier but scored the premier for just $23 at DSG.

Gander Mountain $130 free shipping for the high speed model-in stock. http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Abu-Garcia-REVO-SX-High-Speed-Baitcasting-Reel&i=401566&r=view&from=grid

The topic I read in replies most relates to #11-- line visibility. I had my best outing with thin white line (nanofil) its said that white is the worst but didnt hinder me. I use timber brown colored line and weeds Ive brought in were the exact same color as the line so might matching the line to weed growth be beneficial? Can you do underwater camera testing of various lines give results? I read people say "I fished braid 3 hrs no bite put on a leader caught a fish" Well Ive fished for 3hrs no bite on next cast caught a fish didnt change a thing so whats that prove. Maybe that next cast without leader would have resulted in a fish.

Though I havent used it for docks the FAT IKA comes to mind as this thing falls away and would actually go under the dock more on its own. From seeing it fall in the clear water that I do fish it has a good fall angle to it I would guess like 30 degrees???

Cant wait for the 3rd or 4th place team with 2-3 losses to be the champs over the #1- 2 teams with one loss(from the play-off). GO SOONERS!!