Silas

So what color RES would you suggest in murky water? I have 2-3 in my box and I've used the YO YO retrieve and slow roll and have yet to catch a fish. And, if I let it actually sink to the muddy bottom, then I hang on the wood on the bottom. Frustrating.

My most productive Jerkbait is the Pointer 78 in Sexy chartreuse in this dirty bayou water. Might have to try one of those Rozantes. What is is your most productive color in dirty water?

Throwing large swimbaits is like splitting a cord of wood. I fish to enjoy myself. Heck, I was 50 before I threw anything over 1/4 oz. guess ive been finesse fishing before it was "finesse " now at 77, I pretty much fish 1/16-1/4 oz baits on light tackle. I don't even own a Heavy action rod. But by all means, y'all keep throwing those anchors!! ( hopefully arthritis will not catch up with you!) LOL!

As I fish in a boat with some expensive rods, reels, line; i can't see saving a used plastic bait, for later use. ( like putting a set of used tires on a Porsche 911!) In fact, I may change a perfectly good, but half day old plastic bait for a spanking new one Sort of like using a tired old shiner to catch bass; I've got too much invested in time and money to go cheap on the most important end link-- the bait When I was a kid, fishing with Cane pole and a can of freshly dug worms, I often found, putting on a fresh worm after awhile, made a lot of difference in catching fish. I want to present fish with my best offering. I, myself, RARELY eat leftovers! I throw my used plastics all over the deck while fishing; I pick them all up and put them in the trash when I get home. NOTHING PLASTIC goes back in the original bag.....to contaminate the new ones......could be oil in the water, toxic chemicals or whatever. Then I'd ruin the rest of the new ones.

In my swampy bayous, there are NO rocks to bounce anything off of. The jig head just buries itself into the muck. When Stroker weighted hooks came out, the Biffle bug and Rage craw were (and are) the hot item: a horizontal fall, and light landing on the bottom works great Alsothe Jika rig in lighter weights did well also.

I don't believe in competition fishing, or hunting. To me, fishing is a time to recharge and enjoy the outdoors. I hate to see all the pictures of tournament fishermen holding up fish, which, a large percentage of, die later. And, a host of high powered boats, with thousands of dollars of equipment , hauling butt like bats out of hell, racing to spots and basically removing all the big fish. Meanwhile, a working man and family, trying to fish on the weekends; only time they have to fish, are surrounded by all these pros vying for prizes and points. Just my opinion. I'm sure this comment will elicit many replies at how wonderful the tournaments are. Not for the locals whose fishery that's close enough to fish, but have to try to avoid the out of town players and their "sport." Rant over.

I definitely think the Rick Clunn Lucky Craft are the best 1.5s. Lots of wood in these bayous, and those baits ran through what others wouldn't, and bounced off submerged tree limbs, where the fish would hit them. One of my standard crankbaits, I have a dedicated rod and reel for it: a Kistler Argon and a black Morrum round reel.

This time of year, a cheap cane pole, about 8-10 feet of yellow Stren Original, 6 lb test, a non sliding green/ yellow styrofoam float, and 3 feet below, a 1/16 or 1/24 jig head with a 1 1/2 inch TUBE, blue head and white tentacles: a Crappie( SAC-A-LAIT) killer. Throw it up against Cypress stumps and twitch it. Easy fishing! I've got a BnN 10 foot TREE THUMPER on its way to me now. ( upgrade from Cane pole)

I remember a fishing trip in South Louisiana with a friend of mine. We were going to fish "Turtle Bayou." Said he caught a lot of fish there. A 40 minute boat ride later he pulled up into the muddiest bayou I'd ever seen, and seeing the disgusted look on my face, reached into his ROD box which was stocked full of unopened baits He pulled out a 12bait card of identical spinner baits. He called it the "CLOWN" bait. On blade, a large Colorado, colored ORANGE AND YELLOW on one side and CHARTREUSE on the other. A short arm on the blade. The head was ROUND, painted orange and yellow, and the skirt was plastic in orange and black ( like those on a Snagless Sally. We caught about 30 bass in shallow water----2-4 feet deep. He gave me a card, and over the years, I used up all of them. Now I can't remember the name of the spinnerbaits. But im lookin!!!

I haven't visited this forum in about a year Been through 4 hurricanes, and water was never right, so I haven't fished in months. Focused on buying weapons and ammo and now have everything I ever wanted. And had fun learning them. Haven't even ridden my motorcycle for months: lots and lots of my friends died of COVID, so I sort of hibernated in the Swamp. Looked thru my 30 or so setups today, and rigged them for jerkbait fishing. At 77, I gotta watch health issues very carefully and space out my fun times with about a 2-3 hour limit on any activity. Today I respooled several reels and cooked some prime filet mignons, and quaffed down some very good champagne. Watched Jupiter and Saturn line up.......for the last time for sure. Enjoy more simple pleasures now. Id like to have one more season. But I'm very thankful for such an adventurous life. Nice to read the chatter of you guys! Makes me feel young again!!! Mitch

Down in the Louisiana Swampland, I've rarely seen clear water, the likes I have seen in Lake Ouachita in Arkansas, where I could see my bait even 20 feet underwater So I read about them but never fished them here. About 2 years ago I bought a Lucky Craft Pointer in Sexy Shad jus to put in my tackle box. About a month later I came upon a stretch of bayou where I could see the bait around 4-6 inches underwater so I tied one on and chunked it as far as I could and pulle in about a dozen bass in half an hour. Wow! I went crazy and bought 10-12 jerkbaits. Ive found in November- February, between fronts and floods, that I can do well with them. Problem is last few months have been floods, and murky water, so black and blue Bitsy Bugs and Zoom Sapphire ultra vibe speed craws have been the ticket. And in my depressed area of the South, the Pointers and Visions are too expensive to lose. Lots of debris on our shallow soft bottom bayous.

Low Range, what brand finesse spool is that? Nice looking. I might try one on my IP79.

I have 2 J Dreams and 2 TD Itos. I rarely use anything larger than 1/4 oz. the Dreams are a tad smoother than the Itos. I also don't own a heavy action rod and only a couple medium/heavy. Most are medium/light with a few light. After casting extensively with these reels I actually have no trouble with 1/8 lures of course I usually use 6-8lb line. Match those reels with appropriate line and rods and you will not find them lacking. Their spools are so good you don't need to buy others. I just seem to fish with more confidence with those on deck. I would think that the SV103 is best bang for buck. Best value. There is a time for many that best value is superseded by the synergy of art.

Ive got one too! It works nicely on a G Loomis GLX 843 for many applications.

I don't even let my brother cast my Megabass reels. He can use my OG Zillion. He he was eyeing my new (used in perfect condition ) J-Dream recently. Dream on!

Daiwa SV103 on sale at TW for $202!!!

There IS: the Japanese invented it and rape and decimate the seas with it: LONGLINING!!! miles and miles of baited hook pulled by a ship.

Best finesse crank for me is the MEGABASS GRIFFON. Costly from Japan but worth it. PEANUT custom crank. LC .5 love to throw them!!

I only carried one ice chest. ( no live well). Cold drinks and sandwiches stored on top of ice. Put bass I caught in same ice chest. ( family actually ATE bass! The Horror!) And yes, DRANK DRINKS WITH FISH SLIME ON IT. ( sometimes "rinsed" them off in Swamp if we caught a bunch of fish. never occurred to me to bring 2 chests. No room. Still fish a SNAGLESS SALLY WITH UNCLE JOSH GREEN POLKA DOT PORK CHUNK! AND CATCH A LOT OF BASS!! "Scaled" bass by placing them in Croaker Sack (burlap bag) put bass in sack, tie rope to it and motored down the bayou--fish cleaned by time we got to landing. Sometimes sack broke or knot came loose and lost days catch!

I have ALL of the reels you mentioned: fluoro was tried on all and the stiffness of the fluoro and casting limitations made me take it off. Wasn't cheap fluoro either: Sniper , Shooter, Tatsu: all very expensive. The Armillo Defier in 11 pound on the 200GTB worked well . Surprisingly, YOZURI Hybrid worked well in all. Used 6 lb in the 50 and 10 lb in the larger ones. Casting, abrasion resistance, limpness all good. Only one I put BRAID on was my CONQUEST 50S with shallow Spool Put 12 lb white TASLINE from Paulus in Australia $40 for about 125 yards. ABSOLUTELY SUPERB on the S. paired it with a St Croix Gulfcoast Wader that St Croix had for a fantastic sale on their website. Ordered it direct from St Croix. While the Calcutta 100 G TE was Ann extremely smooth reel along with the latest Conquest 100, the smoothest and most effortless casting is my Conquest 100DC. I LOVE MY ROUND REELS! Now Ive added a couple of RYOGA 1016's that are just as smooth if not smoother than the Conquests. Hard to believe.

I feel the Dobyns Champion 704CB GLASS is beyond compare as a dedicated cranking rod.

I use 6,8,10 pound YOZURI on my squarebills with excellent results. It's breaking strength is more than its rating. Buy BULK spools af each and change them on a whim. No no need to buy the expensive fluoro for cranks. OR Try the YOZURI first on your new reels to become acquainted with how they need to be set, then put your expensive fluoro on later and not have to worry about backlashes and kinks in experimentation with it.

I have found the 704 CB GLASS to be an excellent cranking rod since it "SLINGS " the bait with ease!! Better than some of my much more expensive rods. The KISTLER ARGON ( a glass composite) is a close second and inexpensive.

CALCUTTA 100DC MET MGL ZILLION PE Pretty much a tie although listed as best first.

Too much ado about nothing here: buy a 600yard spool of YOZURI in 8,10,12lb and change lines every season and be done with it. Ive found no downsides to this approach.