Hattrick7

For the SX I think that's the biggest thing to how you'll get the best casting performance. I only paid 130 on eBay for a brand new one but with tatulas going for 100 on amazon that's pretty tough to beat.

When you feel that thump I'd reel in slack and if there's a bass on the other end you'll feel the weight. Bam whack em. You may be hitting a branch or something while falling. Usually when I get bit on the fall it's more a slight tick than a thump.

Never had a problem throwing plastics weight less unless it's really super light and there's wind. I normally don't throw weightless trigs but the times I have never had an issue. I usually keep my brakes around 5 or 6. With the wind to 8 or so. Spool tension is pretty loose. Don't even bother adjusting to different baits anymore.

Have a gen 3 sx and so far so good after a good year half of almost daily use. No problems casting. Great workhorse reel. Only complaint is that I've grown more accustomed to the longer handle if my tatula. Other than that been a great reel so far. This was my first BC and had minimal issues with backlashes. Brake settings are key on this reel.

In my limited experience if you're familiar with a trig bite I find it to be the closest thing. Sometimes it's a very subtle tick to a good thump. Sometimes hitting a rock, stump or other bottom contour May kinda feel like a bite. In those instances I will reel in slack to feel the bass weight. You can tell pretty quickly if it's a bass or maybe just stuck on something. I agree the hooksets are free thought but that can lose you a lot of jigs if you swing away on everything. I would not cast as far if you can do that so you can get the feel for bites. If you're dragging it I would say it's pretty similar to a trig bite. If you're casting/pitching to targets and they hit it on the fall it'll usually feel like a subtle tick. If you feel that tick before you know it hits bottom swing for it I'd say it's in the bass mouth at that point.

I would try a super fluke with a weighted hook and use it as a jerkbait through the weeds. Make sure you skin hook the bait so you're not getting caught up. It probably looks like a wounded baitfish to them.

Looking to get some input on the new AG Veritas 2.0 casting rods. Mh power. How do you like them compared to the first gen ones? More sensitive about the same or less? Overall feel? Anything else. Thanks

I like to getting moving forward a little before taking it back. Something about getting momentum started backhand allows me to be more accurate.

If it is than I be sinning at times. I only do it if I'm confined to a space that doesn't allow me to sidearm or I want pinpoint accuracy. If I'm trying to hit a target like going between two stumps about three feet apart 30+ feet away I will overhand cast. You're already on that line trajectory and it's just releasing the line to target.

Dropshotting or t rigging plastics weightless

Man this happened to me tonight. Hooked into a nice one and realized drag was too loose. Kept taking line so I go to tighten drag down some more and then it's just dead weight. Nothing moving on the other end. This lake normally doesn't have a lot of weeds but as I continue to pull there's a good mass of it. We'll my knot breaks and there's this hunk of weeds just sitting about 15' away from me. No movement in the water. I tied on a lipless to drag the weeds in and this one time I felt the bass hit it and swim off. Interesting behavior.

Always weighted for me unless it's really shallow.

Straight tail roboworms in 4 & 6" should be a staple for dropshotting. Aaron's magic, bold bluegill, oxblood can't go wrong. It's the simplest bait to rig up. Nose hook it about a 1/4 inch or so, twitch and get ready to get bit. I would have your weight about 4-6 inches from your bait to start. Might be less or more and you'll find that out pretty quickly.

With plastics it's normally t rigging for me and I rarely touch my line. I use the "broomstick" Veritas and I feel every nook and cranny of the bottom plus the slightest of bites. The only real time I might touch my line is if I'm using a jig and it's windy out.

Oops...braid for backing never heard of that. Never thought about it either. To the OP just put straight braid on then tie on a leader. It'll save you money down the road since you won't have to respool so often with mono or fluoro.

My spools have holes in them and so I tie braid straight to the spool. I spool it all the way up and have about a 7' or so flouro leader. Try seaguar red label flouro. It's cheap but strong and sensitive. I use 50 lb power pro because of line diameter. Been pretty happy with it and it's lasted me half a year with mo problems so far. When the braid starts getting a little worn you can pull the line out and respool the other way.

Braid + flouro leader = awesome. Line memory? What is that? I went that route and I'll never go back. I backlashed pretty good this one time after I cleaned my reel and forgot to set my brakes. Normal cast and the spool is spinning like crazy. Worst one yet took me a good 10 minutes to pick out and that was three months ago but using the same line and zero issues. Love that braid stuff!

Yes happens often to me. It's kinda cool finding that one bait they really want and then just finding where they're really stacking up at.

Depends. If I'm familiar with the spot and I know what to throw and they're not biting I usually don't stay for too long. Maybe 15 minutes tops. IMO it's really about casting accuracy. This one spot has a bunch of tree branches sticking out. I threw a couple times to the right if it, right through the middle and and then left of it. No bites. But the left side wasn't tight the trunk so I cast it fairly tight to the trunk and bam right on the fall. Did those 5-6 casts in those other spots sorta get the bass attention? Not sure but as soon as I landed the cast exactly where I wanted it to land it was fish on. If it's a new spot I'll work an area where I think bass are holding longer maybe up to 30-40 minutes throwing different baits in different colors. Bob Lusk was saying that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. I think messing with fish for over three decades he knows what he's talking about.

Yeah AG support is pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to getting that new Veritas.

I've found a little trick that works well sorta close by but not sure if it works far out. I get as close to the edge as possible. I lift my rod as high above my head as possible with the tip about 11 oclock. With slight tension I will bounce the tip up and down repeatedly and that usually releases the snag. If that doesn't work I'll go to another angle and start over. Once I feel like I can pop it out I'll give that a try but there's no guarantee there since it may dig further. But for the most part is been working well.

Picked some more red eye shads and gonna give it another go. If I lose it I lose but the alternative would be better. Last time I tied a uni knot with 5 wraps on 12# mono. Going with the ole palomar this time around.

I'm a believer in it now for sure. What was weird was that there was no fight on the other end.

I'm a believer in it now for sure. What was weird was that there was no fight on the other end.

It was weird. The first time I set and my drag went off so it was either a snag or a giant. So after the set there was no movement on the other end. But yeah you're right I should have set the second time regardless. I think it was definitely over 6. Now I'm just hoping that sucker can shake the bait loose somehow.