deep

X2 FWIW, I like Invizx and Spiderwire Ultracast FC.

I can only speak for myself. Anything that weighs less than 1/2 oz goes on my spinning rigs, whether it's a senko or a crankbait or a buzzbait; and I'll never use higher than 8 lb test (not braid of course) on my spinning reels. I get more casting distance and cranks run deeper with a lower test line; on baitcasters or spinning. The flipside is I'll probably break off more fish with a 8 lb test than with 12 lb test, but I'm okay with that considering the advantages of lighter line. And it's not like I lose a lot of fish. I like to play them carefully, and keep them out of snags, which almost always can be done. I hear in the Classic KVD was throwing his squarebills on 17 lb test to keep it higher in the water column. Another reason which probably hasn't been mentioned is that the pros can't afford to miss one single fish.

I have. Here's my 2 cents for what it's worth. As a mainline: A little less stiff than trilene 100% FC, way stiffer than Invizx. Pretty good abrasion resistance, good to almost great knot strength. As a leader: Great. For the price it sells at, it's more than just a bargain. I caught my PB (8 lbs and change) on Daiwa Samurai 6/30 mainline with a 6 lb Stren FC leader. When I landed her, the leader was all frayed and tattered (literally), but the knot and the line held. That fish cured me of using a 6 lb leader, and I've upgraded to a 10 lb FC leader (also Stren). I have nothing but good things to say of Stren Fluorocast as leader material. As a mainline, I think depending on your needs, you might have better options.

Spiderwire Ultracast Fluoro, way underrated and my favorite fluoro. Slightly less manageable than Invizx, and a lower stretch. Most, if not all, other qualities are at par with the Invizx. I tried a bunch of fluoros which cost around 20$ per spool, and I like the Ultracast the best, closely followed by the Invizx. Oh, I'd use 6 lb test and KVD's L & L.

For senko-style baits. What are the factors for choosing one over the other? Bottom compositon (rocks vs mud or grass)? Fishing pressure? Vertical or horizontal presentation? Something else? Do you generally use a smaller (4" compared to 5" or 6") worm for wacky than for texas rigs?

http://thebbz.com/articles/color%20blind.html http://thebbz.com/articles/why%20white.html

Location, location, location. Big fish get the prime locations in the whole lake. Read Murphy's and Siemantel's books. My three biggest fish were caught (respectively) on a 5" senko, 1/8 oz popper, 1/8 oz F7 Rapala original. I know you wanted to know about plastics. Location and presentation are way more important than the bait. The spawn is coming up. Remember that big fish spawn early and late, and in deeper water. My very limited experience with big (5+) bass is that they won't run down or chase a lure.

Update: Hit the same lake and the same points today with a 7" mission fish, matt's trout and a Spro BBZ 6" floater. Air temp was 55 F, water temp 40 F or so, slight breeze, and there should be thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon and on Monday. On the second cast with the mission fish, I *foul-hooked* a 1.5 lb-er or so. (I modified the mission fish with a treble hook on top.) It all went south from there. No bites and no folllows I could detect. Lost both soft baits by the end of the day.

As has been mentioned, spool properly and use KVD L&L. No line twist. Ever. Big Game is too good a line to use as backing. Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's bad. Which braids and what diameter have you been using? Small diameter, smooth round braids like Samurai cast especially well on spinning reels due to the lack of memory and (lack of) line twist.

Like a lot of folks, I started with spinning reels (left hand retrieve). When I bought my first baitcaster, I saw no reason why I would need a right-hand retrieve reel just because most people use them. All my baitcasters are left-hand retrieves. Apart from the matter of switching hands, I find working the lure and setting the hook much more natural with the rod in my my right hand. I'm a right-hander. Goose 52, I palm my reels and have had no problems with that. I think the factors of working the lure, and setting the hook are more important than the switching of hands after casting. EDIT: I fish a lot from the shore, and finding casting room is sometimes a problem. I have tried to cast with my left hand as a lark at times. Works out just fine for me. But working the lure with the rod in my left hand is a huge headache. No switch for me.

Here's mine: ultralight: 4 lb Trilene XL or 2/10 braid general purpose spinning (topwaters, small cranks, jerkbaits, small spinners or rattletraps): 6 or 8 lb Sufix Siege bottom contact spinning (plastics, jigs): 6/30 lb braid (Daiwa Samurai) with 10 or 12 lb FC leader general purpose casting (topwaters, jerkbaits, spinners or rattletraps): 10 or 12 lb Sufix Siege deep diving crankbaits and slowrolling blades, casting: 14 lb Sufix siege/ 12 or 15 lb Seaguar Invizx small and medium swimbaits, casting: 17 lb Sufix Siege

No doubt pointers are great, but if they are not biting pointers, don't be afraid to throw other baits. Each of them has a slightly different action. I love Xraps, good old husky jerks, smithwick rogues. Recently got a bunch of KVD wild shiners, but I haven't thrown them yet.

3/4 oz lipless cranks, or a big Mission Fish?

A crank imitates a single baitfish. When you're fishing a tube, you're trying to imitate a ball of baitfish. You want it to dart erratically with sudden jerks and pauses in between. With that said, sky is the limit. Try different retrieves and figure out. I've had great luck dragging an ika on the bottom or fishing it like a jig.

You can finesse a 8" hudd deluxe with 25 lb line, or a 3" senko with 6 lb line. It's not the line, or the bait, or the rod. It's your presentation. Now, if you're talking about dropshot.... EDIT: Well, that was sort of a smart@$$ reply. If you think a 8lb line is not thick enough to hinder the presentation, keep using it.

Why not a 7'6" or even a 7'10"? For techniques that don't require a tip-down presentation (jerkbaits/ topwaters etc), I'm leaning towards longer and longer rods for better casting distance and moving more line during hooksets. Compres are good value for the money btw. The quantum-KVD composite rods are good too, but they were a bit too heavy for my liking (disclaimer: I don't own a KVD sig quantum rod).

Probably. There was ice near the dam, and at the river-mouth (where the lake starts). But then, I read of people catching bass on MS Slammers in the middle of winter. EDIT: A funny note: Either the wind or the UVA-VT basketball game (we won.. woo hoo) kept all but one trout angler away from the lake. I struck up a conversation before I was leaving, and the guy asked me what I "hoped" to catch with that "huge" lunker punker. He got a nice limit of six 10" rainbows though.

Ha ha, idk. If they were inside my casting range, active or not, I probably would have foul-hooked them. I combed the 5 points. This weather sucks. The last 3 days were nice, and I was stuck at work. Looks like it's gonna be pretty cold the next week.

I went swimbaiting today. Water temperature was 40 degrees or so, air temp was mid to high fiftys. Yesterday was 70+ degrees, and the two days before that were in the sixtys. I hit 5 points in the lake; two of these are adjacent to spawning coves where I caught big fish last year. I was shore-fishing, casting where water depth is around 30 feet, and bringing the lure uphill. I figured the fish might be holding at the drop-off, although there's no real abrupt "drop-off" that I found. Anyway, I started at 11.30 am with a 8 inch mission fish. I fished it as slow as I could. I dragged it, and fished it like a jig. Snagged and lost it on the sixth cast (so much for its weedlessness!). Switched to a Mattlures 6" tournament series light trout; dragged it, hopped it, jigged it, and steady retrieved it. No luck. I snagged the Mattlures trout at least half a dozen times, and managed to unsnag it every time. (Thank you Matt, great little lure.) So I guess the places I fished weren't all that bad. All this took about 3.5 hours. Switched to a wood Lunker Punker jr, searched the first two points, and then gave it up. When I started at midday, the wind was blowing at 20 mph with 35 mph gusts. It continued that way pretty much throughout. I left because I couldn't work the Punker properly in the wind. The strange thing is I felt like what Ike calls being in the zone. I felt the Mattlures trout (which I fished the longest) working like it should, I casted into the sun, I casted into the wind (got three overruns to show for it), I hit stuff on retrieves almost every cast. And at the end of the day, I only have a sore arm, and a lost mission fish. Blah.

Cover on structure. Cover on its own is no good if it's not on a structure. Points are the easiest structures to find, you got google maps, right?

To answer the original question, I recently got myself a pair of 7eye glasses, polarized gray. I think 7eye is a sponsor of BR. A $170 pair of glasses, marked down to $85 on clearance, take 50% off that; I got it for $42.50. I don't know what my eyes are worth, but I thought it was a good deal. Works lie a charm too.

I can get two fish average on a senko, at least. T-Rig each end, when both ends get torn up, wacky rig it. And use Mend-it. Mathematically, I should get at least three fish per senko, but it gets thrown off the hook by the fish sooner or later. But I'm not complaining. I'd rather spend $6 and catch 15 fish, than spend $3 and catch one or two.

Isn't that how you wacky rig anyway? P.S. Thanks for the idea, but I am sticking with my senkos regardless. I'm sick of "new" senko imitators coming up every few weeks.

For a couple of weeks, I've been following a rather "interesting" trend on Ebay. Lunker Punkers, always wood, always in foiled trout, have been turning up on Ebay; along with G2 shellcrackers, always in ghost bluegill pattern. Invariably the punkers sell for $30 or more (plus shipping). I didn't care to find out what the shellcrackers sold for. What's wrong with you folks? You can get the punker AND the shellcracker for $29.99!! Well, if someone wants to blow away their cash, I guess I shouldn't bother. \\ End of rant

Wayne, have got any suggestions for shore-fishing Briery Creek this Saturday? Any info would be great, even what rods to take. I did see some pics of Briery, and it seems it's a sea of stumps. Are treble hooked baits out of the question? I went through most of this thread. About the finesse presentation with 30lb braid you mentioned; do you use a leader? P.S. I've never been to Briery before. EDIT: I also sent you an email.