Master Bait'r

I have been absolutely obsessed with finesse jigging heavy cover this year. It was previously one of my favorite ways to fish but after I got a Destroyer Kirasame Kameyama Special and started using it for that, the technique exploded for me. My go-to lake has an insane amount of tangled lay downs, timber and stumps and that rod has given me so much more power to pull the fish out of the structure it’s been a game changer. The bait monkey has a death grip on me for these little finesse jigs now! Someone help!! ??

I gave in and picked up a bunch of cover scats and bull flats. I have a friend who last year absolutely CLOBBERED ‘em on the scat, it was basically his tourney winner consistently so I’m giving them a whirl. The bull flat I’m just taking a chance on, as it seems to fit my game perfectly- chunky and erratic and perfect for flipping into cover or working near structure. I grabbed the 4.8s and am definitely looking forward to seeing if they’re as good for my style as I think they’ll be.

The hibernation stoke is so real this time of year! ? What size Tranx are those? I had a 301 and loved it- wish I kept it to put on my big boy rod! I regret selling it as a package with my Tequila Baccarac which was not an ideal pairing.

It showed up today. Packed into a sort of janky triangular long box but fortunately was fully padded with beefy bubble wrap and was in perfect shape. All the eyes were straight and no blank damage. I’m relieved, I was a bit stressed after I read your post!

Yeah fingers crossed, it was being sold by a 3rd party retailer that stocked them and not an Amazon warehouse so I’m hoping it doesn’t show up in pieces.

Well I didn’t NEED another rod but I was looking for a slower taper casting rod that could handle my jerks/cranks/other moving treble hook baits as well as having a higher weight rating to throw my smaller glides up to 1.5… Yesterday I saw an Evergreen Combat Stick 7’1M/regular (3/8-2oz) on Amazon for $145 and I had a $20 gift card in my balance so she came home for $125. I already had the 7’8” wakebait rod in that line and have been super impressed with it especially for a $200 rod, there was no way I could turn down one for $125! Now I just have to figure out if I like a Exsence DC or PXL-R better on it. ?

I got mine off FleaBay, shipping was fast and the price was very reasonable. The reel is almost too light lol with the short butt section of that rod it’s inherently tip heavy and that reel doesn’t help balance it very much. Thankfully I’m usually a “pinky behind the reel seat, everything else in front” gripper so right in the sweet spot.

I fish primarily from a kayak so I only bring 4 combos with me at any time. This is my main 4 for this season so far. Megabass P5 Destroyer Kirasame Kameyama Special stinger tip w/ Exsence Ci4 3000 Loomis NRX 852c w/ Shimano Aldebaran 51 Shimano Zodias MH w/ Daiwa PXL type R Megabass Perfect Pitch w/ Shimano Exsence DC XG. I also swap out the Perfect Pitch a lot for my Evergreen Combat Stick Wakebait rod if heavy cover isn’t a thing where I’m headed and I want to throw bigger swimbaits instead of frogs and jigs. Might eventually swap out that Zodias for something else but it’s hard to find a 3/8-1ozish rod that has so much sensitivity and good taper for moving baits so it’s staying for now.

My Exsence Ci4 finally came in yesterday so I spooled it up with 20# X8 grand and popped it on the Kameyama. Going to be hard to put this combo down this summer, it feels as good as it looks! Hope I have enough time to put the cork knob on it after I put my son to bed tonight I think that’ll be the icing on the cake ? I am really excited to get back out on the water this summer. It’s been a few years since I’ve been able to get after it like I used to but now my son is old enough to teach the joys of fishing. My combos are pretty dialed and I’ll be fixing up the flotilla so we can make the most of the warm months!

Wow, somebody has been fishing next to the buffet line, those girls are PLUS SIZED haha

Oh man I REALLY like that smokin silver!!

Dang wish I knew, that’s two packs of dingers haha

https://www.the-house.com/smlmmbp585zz-smith-sunglasses Smith Longfin sunglasses with polarized chromapop lenses- available in both brown and copper lens for $60 which is crazy cheap considering they’re usually like $180 and worth it even at full price. I picked up a pair in polarized chromapop brown, my absolute favorite lens.

I had high hopes for the gilly but I straight up hate it lol never again

I also have other JWR rods but I have found that I really like the physics and positioning of a spinning rod in bottom contact baits when I’m finesse jigging for a long time, for me it is very intuitive and natural. Also this tip seems absolutely perfect for my bigger bento minnow drop shotting desires. I would love to see those instructions lol, mine did not come with that!

most of my glides are narrow and 1.5oz or less like gan craft 148s, 128s, limberlambers, tiny bullshooters, esflats etc so significantly skinnier than even the 145 or 178 slide swimmers.

Could you try to fit some glide baits in there and see if the lid will close for me at some point? I have a bunch and they sort of evade a good way to store them effectively and I’ve always wondered if they’d fit in one of those.

4” is a perfect size My absolute favorite color is the watermelon orange fleck. For whatever reason they just crush it and I’ve tried a ton of them. Even just an unweighted t-rig is somehow one of the highest producing baits in my arsenal.

Been a while since I posted here but I’m still out there collecting stuff. Just picked up a new rod I’m WICKED stoked on- the new P5 Kirasame Kameyama Special with the stinger tip. Planning to use it for bottom contact soft plastics and small jigs and I can’t wait to put an exsence on it and go to town. The taper on this rod is absolutely unreal- the stinger tip gives so much more versatility than it could have otherwise- combining small bait sensitivity and flex in the tip with big boy backbone just beyond it. It feels like it should handle everything from Neds to 5” senkos with EWG heads and I’m stoked to find out.

Well, I finally did it. I’m pulling the trigger on a custom rod. I’m going to have a heck of a time holding back on details. The builder is a longtime friend and greatest-guy-ever old timer that wants to make me a special gift for my years of service to our mountain community. I seriously can’t wait to see this masterpiece in my hands, I’ve already spec’d a lot of the parts and she’s going to be UNREAL

Megabass marine gang 140 Megabass Megadog 220 Also some big albeit less sexy 8” tsunami tuna poppers and a bunch of these awesome glow diamond jigs These megadogs are dangerous though, a guy could catch his wallet on a cast and send it right out into the watah!

Talk about a delicious problem! That’s awesome!!

Except in this case there’s no settling for #2 haha

My newest combo: Megabass Destroyer P5 Tequila Baccarac F7-70X with a Shimano Tranx 301HG. Just got the reel today and it balances & palms INCREDIBLY! Way more palmable than I had thought. Planning to use it for big swimbaits and jigs (maybe frogs if it’ll cast and walk them)for LMB but more importantly this will be my everything-but-chunking rig for stripers in the salt. Big topwaters and big jigs are the name of the game there which the TB should have the backbone for, and the tranx has the line cap/retrieve speed to work a big fish in big water down with drag. I’ve been utilizing the Orochi Perfect Pitch/Exsence for this slot and while it’s an amazing combo it’s just a bit underpowered/low capacity for the bigger baits I like and fish above schoolie sized.

GET A ROOM MITSU BROS ;D