deep

I use braid for jigs and soft plastics (spinning or baitcasters); and I almost always fish them on slack line, unless there's too much wind/ waves and then I'm trying to feel the bite, instead of seeing it. Usually, on a bite the line shoots forwards, or moves forward or to a side, or jumps, or one or more of these. It's sort of difficult to explain what exactly to look for, but you should have a general idea about how fast the line moves when the bait is sinking on its own. Anything different is a bite. I don't use mono/ fluoro, so I won't know what to look for if you're using those. If it's windy. I hold a taut/ semi-taut line- watch fluemaster's jig fishing video- that's what I'm talking about. No matter what you do, sometimes the fish eats the bait and sits there; and if the bait happens to be a weightless T-rigged senko, I have had a few gut hooks. I don't really fish fat ikas the way I fish a senko. Roadwarrior made a post once about dragging fat ikas like a football jig, and that is what I do. If the fish bites while I'm dragging, I feel the bite; if it bites when the bait is sitting still, I can see the bite. That's the theory anyway.

What he said! Welcome to the club.

Idk about the rods, but you can find yourself a Shimano Curado 200/201B for under 70 bucks on ebay if you look hard enough. Or a gently used older shimano Citica (B/D) or a bass pro shops pro qualifier. All great reels that'll serve you for years. Good luck.

What a catch SirSnook! I wish I could fish the salt at least once in a while.

I didn't want to mess with the other thread about fishing football jigs, so I made a new one. Hope that's cool. Anyway, here goes. I have always had terrible luck fishing football heads in rocks. By rocks, I mean chunk rocks and boulders of different sizes (from pebbles to as big as 5 feet diameters). I fish it like I ordinarily fish jigs; cast it out, let in sink, shake it a couple of times, hop it, or drag it. Invariably, I manage to get it snagged. I have had days when I lost half a dozen jigs in less than an hour. Now, I fish from the shore mostly, and fish uphill (of course). I tried brush and/ or grass jigs, which is what I now use 100% of the time anyway, irrespective of bottom composition; and it definitely doesn't get snagged (in rocks) half as much. What am I doing something wrong with FB jigs in rocks?

Sorry to hear all this, Grimlin. I'm hope everything works out.

I think they go for a little over $60 on the bay. Great reel, I owned a 201 bantam curado for a few months.

Bill Murphy said that photo-realistic crankbaits were his worst producers (In pursuit of giant bass). That said, I caught plenty of (keeper grade) bass on the one Koppers lipless bluegill crank I had. Those fish would have probably hit other less realistic rattletraps too I guess.

If you aren't going the cheap route- braid lasts forever as it is- you might as well buy (one of) the best. Daiwa Samurai. 55 lb test for regular bass fishing.

I'm confused! If you have the fish with you, why not just weigh it and let us know? Congrats on the PB. May you catch a bigger one soon.

Very cool! Congrats. Sick bait isn't it. How do the babies compare to the regular hardgills?

The best thread I've found, anywhere, on jigs. (Worth bookmarking- to me anyway.) http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12694-bass-jigs-what-ive-learned-this-year/

"The Young Gun", if you got a rod stout enough to handle upto 4 oz baits (maybe a light musky/ inshore rod?), I got a few baits for you. All you have to do is PM me a mailing address, and promise to fish the heck out of those baits until they they get torn up by fish, or you lose them.

That's right. I haven't owned any Phenixes, but my Powell Maxes have treated me so well; I didn't need to! The Endurances are supposedly lighter and more balanced- I don't know how that's possible. The Maxes are awesome as they are. Oh, and the one time I had to contact Powell (a ceramic insert popped off from a guide after a year's hard use); I got to talk with Keith. Great customer service. He sent me a couple of tip-tops for free, and didn't ask me to even pay shipping.

I won't know about chatterbaits, but my booyah jigs all have sticky sharp and reasonably strong hooks right out of pack.

I'm sure there's a more correct answer; but I use grass/ alien head jigs for everything, be it brush, grass, wood, or rocks (casting or pitching, I don't flip). I don't lose too many jigs either, and catch my share of bass. Takes the guesswork out of which style of jig to tie on anyway. Swim jigs I strictly use for swimming, but I have swam my regular jigs (craw trailer), and jigged my swim jigs (paddletail trailer) when I felt too lazy to tie the other one on.

I have had almost the same experience, except that in my case it was a 3/16 oz jig, and I ducked a little so that my hat (and my head under it) took the blow. God it still hurt like #$@%.

That looks exactly like one of the lakes I started fishing this year. Try the other suggestions, but this is what I do apart from frogs on top. I chuck a weedless hudd (ROF5 works better) as far as I can, let it sink, and then jig/ swim it back. I'm using 80 lb straight braid for this. Unless there's slimy algae, I don't usually have too much trouble. If and when the bait digs into the vegetation, I try to work it out. If that doesn't work, I rip it free. That weedless hudd comes back through everything without picking up much trash. A weedless hudd is NOT too big for a 1-2 pounder to eat.

My Okuma EVX Musky rod is exactly like what you describe (telescopic). The rod is 9'3", and goes down to 7'6" for storage. It works fine.

If you're looking to primarily throw 3/8 to 3/4 oz jigs, and are considering the 734C Max, you may want to check out the 753 Max. It's the TW special Jared Lintner football jig rod. I have had it for the last 10 months or so, and I'm very impressed with it. I don't throw football jigs on it though- mostly brush/ grass/ arkie jigs. Heck, I don't even own a football jig. I don't throw plastics or any other baits on it either. Just a 100% casting/ pitching jig rod for me. I feel the rod is perfect for 1/2 to 3/4 oz jigs, the way I fish them. (I notice the rod you are looking at is one power heavier.) It's matched with a Citica 201D. It is by far the most balanced setup I have. The balance point is right on the reel seat. The Citica D is sort of heavy compared to more modern reels, but I like it that way. The rod is very light for its power, and very sensitive. I haven't fished the other Powell or the GLoomis.

Yep, love those Booyah jigs. I get them from walmart/ ebay. I see no need to spend $3-$4 on a jig when the $1.50 ones work so well for me. I'm somewhat of a snob when buying plastics- I mostly use reaction innovations/ gary yamamotos/ rage tails. But I see so many reports of people doing well on Yum/ Zoom etc that maybe I oughta give them a try! Buy some hardbaits. As long as you don't lose them, they'll probably keep catching fish forever.

Looks good to me! You could try using a paddletail or a single/ double tail grub as well..

This I'd say is the standard senko: GYCB regular 5" http://www.basspro.c...uct/58909/65183 There are 4", 6" and 7" versions too, as well as some pro-senkos (thinner? I never bought them) and some fat senkos (I have a few packs of 3" fat senkos). Then there are swim senkos- basically a senko with a paddletail.

Incredible Jeff! Catching big fish is never easy, and you caught them by the dozen! Great pics, great report, and awesome healthy looking fishies. May you catch a (a few) teener(s) the next time.

.. why some of you might like pond-fishing. (If that is your cup of tea though, more power to you.) I drove some 60 odd miles (round-trip) today to check out a pond that is home to an alleged DD. Now, this is not a private pond. This is a public lake managed by the VA DGIF. But I understand it gets very little serious fishing pressure. I started with a 1/2 oz backwater (Dominic's) brush jig with a rage lobster trailer. I was trying to catch a big fish after all. You'd think that the jig + lobster would be a big fish bait. WRONG! Turned out to be a dink magnet. I caught 12 keepers and half a dozen 10 inchers on that jig in 2 hours. I couldn't keep the jig away from the little ones long enough to let the bigger ones find it. Two of the dozen keepers were 3+ btw, and fat. My guess is that these fish have never seen anything other than nightcrawlers, beetlespins, and inline spinners. In addition, fishing the pond, and keying in on the area where the bigger ones might be expected to live was sooo easy. I had a topo map of the surrounding area, and before I left home, I intended to fish only a tiny part of the pond thoroughly. Sure enough, both the 3+ fish came from that one place (point on a creek channel). Well, the dinks won't leave my jig alone; so I switched to a hudd 68. Caught a little 1.5-ish fish on it, but I had so many bumps on the hudd, it wasn't even funny. Big fish don't eat all the time, so I'm not surprised I didn't catch my DD; but really, even if I stuck one today, I won't know if I would have been able to brag about it. Pond fishing is a lot of fun for sure, but not challenging enough for me IMO. I don't know how the situation would be in real private ponds, but I can guess!