gulfcaptain

No bias in that statement..... But with your question, go down to Gander Mountain and put both on a rod you like and see which one feels the best to you and take it from there. I don't fish either, but both are quality products.

We have a city lake similar to your situation. If it wasn't clear you would swear there aren't very many fish. Problem being the fish in there are all mainly bigger fish. Bigger fish become wary, more selective feeders, and if there isn't much cover, well they may have migrated to deeper structure except when they feed. Do you catch any bluegill in the pond? Have you tried fishing with live crayfish just to see what happens? Only way you are going to find out what is going on is probably to get someone out to shock the pond and see, but may only give limited info due to the pond being up to 30ft deep and if they are relating to deeper structure you're probably not gonna be able to shock those fish up anyways. The larger the fish become the less density and less amount of bass the pond can hold. If it doesn't have a good food base the amount of fish you are going to catch is probably going to fall off due to the fewer fish in the pond. If there is a shortage of baitfish, then you would have to get an estimate of what the bass population and size is. It may be as simple as adding forage fish to the system to help with the food chain or it may take culing some of the current population of fish with stocking of forage. But sounds like that pond needs some management as well as a good assessment of the current health of the pond.

Well big boy swimbaits, you're gonna need a bigger reel. The Cardiff 300 would be a good start. If you want to throw the bigger baits, well it's hard to have a rod that will throw 3-4oz baits and then want to use it to throw a 1/2oz hollow belly. What you were asking about color/profile, well I know here in S, Cal we try to match the hatch fishing the rainbow trout colors but also use bass colored swimbaits as well as the bluegill hardbaits. I believe it's a bit of both profile as well as color, but you are going to have to find out what patterns will work aroud you. Seeing you are from Ohio, I would probably match the bigger baits with the yellow perch color in the 6" baits such as the Huddleston. As for the smaller hollow bellies, I don't believe color is as important as it is in the bigger baits.

should have put in January as well. Great thing about S. Cal, year round bass fishing. I don't think I'd do snow and ice very well since I don't like to be cold.

First fish, well caught it on a BPS IM6 Graphite 7'6" H Musky rod with a Lexa 300, 65lb braid with a 25lb FC leader and an 8" ROF 5 Huddleston in Rainbow Trout. Fish weighed in right at 6lbs. Good way to start the new year.

There is no shortcut to becoming a better bass fisherman. The things you ask for are all here on this site. What makes them overly aggressive one day and then not the next.....well that day, was there a storm front or weather pattern that rolled through the next day....could have put the fish on the feed. Fall for instance, that first big chill will cool the water down and send them into overdrive to feed up for the winter. Was it cloudy and windy, then sunny? Were there a ton a baitfish around when you were catching them? All these questions YOU can answer yourself if you pay attention to the conditions you fish in each day. There is no holly grail for bass fishing, just lots of pieces of knowledge you need to put together to solve the puzzle. It's what makes bass fishing such a challenge. Such a simple fish causes us such frustration, and most of the time we get in our own way. Reminds me of a saying I heard one time....Keep it simple stupid. Makes since if you think about it. I would first start with seasonal patterns and that will give you a good starting point to understand our finned quarry.

You can go that route, you can read quite a bit from this site in the article section, magazines, tv shows...gotta love Bill Dance...lol, ask lots of questions, and each time you go fishing make it a point to try to observe what is going on, the conditions, where you caught a fish that day, etc. I think I have read almost every article on here in the last 2 yrs and have gained A LOT of useful information. I try to put it into situations that I face when I go and apply it where I can. Asking like you did with this will get you lots of answers from the great people on this site....even if we poke at one another every now and then...that's just part of being a fisherman and being competitive. Each has a wealth of knowledge and information that they are willing to share if they can answer your question. If that doesn't work, well you can always stock KVD......j/k

I come home, and mentally go over what I did that day that made me successful. Think about why they were there and what conditions created the chance or me to have such a great day. Then of course, I go online or to the store to make sure I have back ups for whatever I was using if I don't already.

Don't expect the Zinkers to float because they sink like a rock due to the high salt content in them. Also, I would save you money on the Jackall Clone Gills, not worth it, been there done that. Great idea, but not a very good product IMO. If you're gonna spend that on dropshot baits, stick with the Keitechs. The Live Impact and the Swing Impacts are awesome dropshotting....use the 3.5 Swing's and a #2 hook on both. The slightest twitch brings these baits to life. And remember DO NOT STORE ANY ZMAN ELAZTAC BAITS WITH ANY OTHER SOFT PLASTIC BAITS.

There has been studies done that a percentage of bass are more cautious and wary of their surroundings while others have a more aggressive nature. Not sure where I remember seeing or reading it(may have been in pond boss) but someone was working or studying a way to bring out the more aggressive nature. This may have been a topic on Florida strain vs Northern as the northern were a more aggressive strain opposed to the Florida's which have grow bigger. Tom like myself I'm sure has watched many fish here in S. Cal follow lures, study them with interest and then stick their nose up at our offerings. This is true with the trout fed fish. The bigger fish are more cautious and odds are they have learned due to the amount of the fishing pressure. But then there are a few bigger fish that have the more aggressive nature that do get caught. But with all that said, it has been shown that I think its around 20-30% (shot in the dark) of a population of fish do not strike or haven't been caught due to their genetic nature of being wary and cautious. You asked, but I'm just a guy that fishes and has lots of useless info until it's needed by someone at which time it becomes useful.

oh, and TW also sells them. And Keitech's Live Impact floats if you want another dropshot idea. They look awesome in the water and are my new go to dropshot bait.

Zman's Elaztech floats well, Used their finesse worms and work well on the dropshot. And now Strike King's super fiesse worm that is made from the same stuff, Elaztech also floats. Just don't store any of those baits with regular worms, they melt and make a mess.

Try and give it a good soaking of KVD line conditioner as well. I do that with every reel just to condition it before I take it out for the first time. I know PowerPro does have a little break in period before it looses its stiffness.

you can get one you hold that has the groove with 2 angled steel sharpeners and it will do you fine. And it's got the plastic where it lines up to protect your hand and fingers. May be able to find them at Wally World or any grocery store if you look.

I remember those days, it was called being single without children. I altered my feeding habits depending on how much money I had left after bills and of course the going out fund.

They won't stop eating, but they will change their feeding habits. Here in crowded S. Cal, the city park fish get too much pressure they simply shut off during the day and change their feeding habits to nights since we aren't technically supposed to fish those places at night after they close the parks.

Yep, pretty much says it all.

Yes, most carry a 8" and a 10". And the #1 rule on those boats, don't use another persons knife....#2 rule, see first rule. Those knives have to stand up to the abuse we put them through each day and cheap or poorly made knives don't stand up to the daily abuse we put them through. And if you ever have a wooden handled Forschner make sure you wrap the handle with some seine twine, it keeps it from wanting to split as well as gives you a better grip on the handle. I have seen a knife catch an edge on the way in and stop....unfortunately the persons hand holding the knife didn't. New deckhands have a steep learning curve that can hurt if you don't pay attention to what others say while learning.

My intentions and reason for posting was I wanted honest answers of why some choose to use such heavy line. Not to bash one another nor to call me out, which I have defended myself very respectfully. If Catt wanted to fish sometime and see if I could fish my way in his area, I'm only down the river in Cameron where I work and would be excited to. I would just need some heads up to bring some gear with me when I went to work and. Snookalot, your opinion is valued as well but I wanted individual reasons and they did give them. Now with that said, carlm01, does your reel stop in the same place each time? How heavy of a lure to break/spool tension do you have your reel set at? Is this the first time using braid on one of your reels? Just trying to get some helpful info as to possibly be able to solve the problem your having.

Irvine Loop Lake has bass, I keep most of my fishing ventures in the Northern Orange County/LA County parks. You can always check out Google Earth and look around where you are for any small ponds/lakes that you can scout and check out.

Okay, how come no one as asked if you want a flexible blade or a somewhat stiffer blade. Working and making money filleting fish on the way home from fishing trips where it wasn't uncommon to fillet over 300 fish in a 5hr run in. If you want a flexible knife, look into a Dexter, they have a good blade, hold an edge well and I would suggest atleast an 8" blade. My personal preference would be a Forschner 8" curved breaking knife. Get a double sided stone and sharpen the blade only one direction with only water on the stone. I used a med course/fine stone, think it cost me $15. But I've had my fillet knives over 10yrs and one of them I have worn almost the whole blade down but it still holds an edge. Use it to fillet any and everything. Has a stiff enough blade to be able to push through the thicker bones. Look them up on Google and check them out. May run you between $30-50 but worth it and it will last you a life time as its Stainless blade. I used to leave mine in saltwater all the time. If it started to look rusty, a scotchbrite pad was all it took to bring it back with not much effort.

And just realized Mattlures posted on this topic as well. Have to give him props on his baits as well, Realism is unreal and I have no problem spending my money on quality baits backed by quality people.

If I could get Triple Trout that cheap I'd have a bunch. Try $70-90 each, and we aren't even gonna get into the Baitsmith glide baits or Roman Made. Bottom line, if you want to fish a cheap swimbait, go for it. But don't complain if it doesn't work. If you don't want to fish a "big" swimbait, don't. I fish everything, it's a tool. If you limit yourself in what you choose to learn then you will put yourself at a disadvantage one day. Over the last year, fish over 5lb on regular bass lures.....2. Fish over 5lbs on swimbaits.....6 Yes I could have better numbers, but fishing city park lakes for 5hrs while my son is in school is about my only free time. Bottom line, just beware of what you buy. If you spend $50 on cheap swimbaits and they don't work or do not preform the way you like, then you turn around and spend $50 on a quality swimbait and catch a fish, well you could of bought 2 quality baits and had a spare.

I thank you all for the replies. If some of you have not figured out my screen name I do work in the South. I know what lakes in Tx and La look like. I work there, so yes I know about the stumps, the trees, the timber. You run a bass boat down there, I run a crewboat down some bayous and river channels that I really don't believe a 170ft boat belongs in and would rather have a bass boat on the back deck to take off into some of the cuts and creeks. Lived in Okla and fished there before moving back out to S.Cal so I have fished timber and mainly everything back then was 15-20lb mono. Now would I fish 20lb in the stumps you showed, yep. Would I use it for flipping, nope. I would up grade to 30lb. If I new there were big fish, I'd throw a 10" swimbait at them and hope for the best. Yes, I would do that in the south without blinking. I'm glad I have gotten many responses. And I do enjoy full contact fishing where you go into the worse looking cover you can. Now would I flip 30lb into flooded timber at Choke Canyon or Falcon when they are at full pool and full of flooded brush, probably not. I would go up to 50lb. I do see a case for the heavy line, and like I said before, it looks as most choose to fish heavier braid for the simple reasons that they like the handling of the thicker line as well as have more confidence in it.

Okay, for those who gave me an honest answer without trying to call me out thank you. I've seen the pattern in the responses that heavier is easier for most to handle, gives them the assurance that they have the gear in case they need it, and some believe the smaller line sizes will cause problems. Great reasons and I thank you. For those who wish to try and tell me to try using 20lb or how they have broke 30lb punching. I do punch and frog fish with 30lb, use smaller frogs with 20lb, and pulled fish out of trees and bushes as well as a few yellowtail, white seabass, and countless calico's out of S. Cal coastal kelp beds, so been there done that. And I haven't broke any of my rods from user error or overloading my equipment. My swimbait rods that I fish heavy on, well they are designed for musky fishing. If I'm gonna throw a 4-6oz bait, I'm gonna fish the tackle to handle it but again even though it's 40 and 65lb braid, I fish 25lb mono and flouro. Your equipment is only as good as its weakest part....rod, reel, line, hook, and knot. The weakest point will fail whatever it is. I do believe using the lighter braid does make me have to check for frays, weak and worn points in my line, and my knots more often then if it were 50-65lb. But that's a choice I have to be willing to make to continue to be successful. So thank you all for answering and giving me your reasons on why fish so heavy.