SFL BassHunter

Was on US 27 in my small jon boat which has a deck. Had one come out from under, the head creeping up slowly next to the gunwale with its mouth wide open. I started to slowly move back as much as I could and it snapped at me then dove into the water. Scary stuff.

If the Kastking works for you stick to Kastking. When you find something that works, why fix it? Personally I found something that works great. Tatula. I have a Tatula Tactical for punching, Tatula Type R, Tatula CT and Tatula SV. Every single one of those reels has out performed all other baitcasters I have owned. I threw a whooper plopper a couple times on the Tatula Type R and pretty much unspooled the reel to the backing. As a bank fisherman myself, I was extremely impressed. The 130 is a huge lure and if you're having issues casting that then your Tatula is not set right, OR there is something wrong with it. I cast lures as light as 1/16oz on my CT and 1/32oz on the SV a very good distance and effortless. Very rarely backlash or overrun. So like I said, there might be something wrong with yours, or not set properly. Try this: Set your brakes to 0. Loosen your tension knob with your thumb on the spool until you can move the spool side to side. Tighten the tension knob slowly until the spool no longer has side to side play. Bump up your brakes to 20 and start casting. Reduce your brakes until you feel comfortable with your casts that you don't backlash, or over run and still get good distance. I personally have found that the sweet spot for my Tatula Type R and CT is brakes at 4-6. Against heavy wind 7-10 Hopefully this helps.

It's a real shame too. The Arachnid rod is fantastic. Had I known they were going to discontinue it I would have got more than just 1.

Be careful on it though, this time of the year the gators are not happy campers. They are VERY aggressive.

Nothing wrong with a 4" Senko. It will catch you all size fish. It sounds like your competition it doesn't matter what size they are though. So the 4" Senko will help you in the numbers game. What a bigger bait will do is weed out some of the smaller fish. Doesn't mean you won't catch dinks, you'll just catch less dinks. The bigger your bait the less dinks you'll catch. Another thing is small bass are sometimes more aggressive than the bigger ones, they move faster. So if you have an area with a small bass vs a bigger bass the small one might just get to that bait first and won't give the bigger bass the chance to eat it. Also smaller bass can be enticed easier than a bigger bass. If you throw a bigger bait, that small bass might ignore the bait giving the bigger bass a chance to become enticed, get to it and eat it. But like Geo G said, the 4" senko will catch all size fish if you put it on a big bass nose, it won't be able to resist. If I look back at my bigger fish catches these are the baits I used: Hollow Body Frog 1/2oz Jig 10" Ol Monster Ribbontail Worm Spinnerbait with big blades Gambler Big Ez

Great Report, thanks Geo G! Good day out there!!

Turf nice job on that kayak! Wurming that is a heck of a good fish you caught out there!

I hear you. Sunline is 6.99 though. It won't break the bank. BUT it is a smaller spool than the omniflex. You can look at Yozuri it is a strong line. It is also inexpensive. I know walmart used to sell a big spool for like 10 bucks. Big Game is not expensive. This is a strong line as well. Just not as manageable as sunline in my experience with it. BUT it will hold up. Keep some of that omniflex on the reel as backing, and then add a better quality mono as your main line. This way you are using less of the good mono, and you take advantage of the omniflex you already have.

I think that's the crap I usually walk past at the walmart? lol. Seriously wouldn't even consider using that line for anything other than backing. Do yourself a favor, take it off your reel immediately. Get yourself a better line. I would suggest Sunline Natural Mono. If you plan on sticking with mono. It is a thin diameter and it's pretty strong. It's also very manageable and should perform way better for your skipping.

Your setup should work just fine. It also depends where you are fishing though. I use 40lb braid on my bank fishing rod and reel because its an all round casting set up. MH Fast, and I use it for everything except super finesse and punching. The 40 braid works fine in most places. Now if I was going to some very heavily vegetated areas, with huge pad fields, I am taking my H Fast rod with a reel spooled with 50 or 65lb. Mono leader is not needed at all. The frog requires a strong hookset. The impact on your line between the fish hitting the frog viciously and your hookset could easily snap your line to line knot.

Booyah, like they said. Recommended color differs depending where you are. Down here in Florida I have had best results with the Cricket, Aqua, and White booyah colors.

Nice Lake and it is in a nice park. Lots of pad cover in different areas. I caught a bunch of fish on the senko out there. Also saw a few big bug eyed bass hanging out by the fishing dock. One of the really cool things about this lake is there is so much bank to fish.

I like a 10 inch ol monster ribbontail with a big weight when I am trying to find bigger fish. Dragging along the bottom has caught me a few of my bigger fish. 1/2oz and 3/4oz jigs with a chunky trailer have also caught me a few bigger fish. I am a big fan of dragging big baits to find bigger fish. Sure a 10 inch worm can still get some smaller fish to bite, but it will weed out a lot of dinks. One of the hardest parts for me when fishing for bigger fish with bigger baits is you just won't get as many bites. So you have to have more patience and stay the course.

Glad you like it! I am loving mine as well.

With the frog you want the faster retrieve to turn their head and get em up. Winching them through the pads works just fine with a faster gear ratio. For me its all about the rod at that point. The tatulas have very good cranking power even at higher ratios. If your fish is in the middle of pads and some thick stuff you get that rod up high and make the fish come up. A 7:3 or 8:1 will both work for frogs. I use a 7:3 for my frog bank fishing since it is my all round reel. Tatula CT. If frogs is going to be your main focus then the 8:1 is the better choice. If it isn't then I would go 7:3 for a more all around type of use.

I have giant hands. But I do keep all my fingers in front of the trigger except my pinky. My pinky was bruised and in pain after a day of catching a good amount of fish. It have recovered since because I stopped using the rod.

I have an Aetos and I was very disappointed. I am happy that I got it on sale when they were getting rid of the previous model to stock their new one otherwise it would be an even bigger disappointment. THe previous model is a good blank. A bit stiffer than I would have liked though. But I got used to it. What I can't get used to is the trigger on the under the reel seat. It is a short little nub of a trigger. Setting the hook on fish actually hurts your fingers if you keep the trigger between any of them. I have tried holding the rod many different ways and I always end up with the same problem. It's aggravating and I got to the point where I was done with it. Bought me a Cabela's Arachnid to replace it. Love the Arachnid.

I'm really liking my Tatula's, especially the SV. The tatula just casts so effortlessly. I've thrown a Yum Dropshot worm on a 1/16oz bullet weight with it and it was just effortless casting. Other reels may be able to get the bait out more distance but I am sure I could have to if I put more effort into the cast. I don't normally fish that light anyways, I was just testing the reel. I haven't tried the Curado 70 so I have no way of comparing.

I don't set the hook in the normal sense of setting the hook. I side sweep my rod like I would with a crank bait. But yeah don't wait long to sweep. No need for it.

I misread your initial post and after reading Franco's I understand what you are trying to do. A longer rod makes sense in your situation as long as you don't have trees to contend with. I agree that you should up the size of the line. 40 should suit you just fine. I have several tatulas I have found the best adjustment for me all depends on the lure of course. But what I do is loosen the spool tension knob while I have the brake set to 0. I loosen till the spook wobbles a little. Then I tighten the knob slowly until the spool just stops the side to side play. Then I set my brakes. I usually keep my brakes between 2-8 depending on wind. I have had to go up to 10 a couple times but it is rare. 6 is the magic setting for me and my casting style. This is what works for me.

Spooks don't come with good hooks. I've bent their hooks on fish that weren't that big. The hooks I am going to recommend aren't cheap, but they are excellent! I haven't lost a fish since I switched my spooks and some cranks to the Mustad Ultrapoint KVD Triple Grip hooks. They also have them in a short shank style which I like too. Most decent priced cranks and lures these days have pretty good hooks. The spooks don't. Even the saltwater spooks have crappy hooks.

I personally would not use a rod that long for bank fishing. The longest rod I use for bank is 7'3 7 I think is the perfect size for bank fishing. I agree with Rolo. Heavier lures or lighter line. Braid will also get you some better distance.

Numbers = U-Vibe (Black, or Black and Blue) Larger Bass = Bitters Mega Vibe, 10" or 12" Zoom ol monsters Mix of Numbers and Larger Bass = Rage Menace Time = Before sun sets till around 10:30PM (I fish at a public park. Park Closes at 10:30PM) Water Temp = Doesn't matter to me here in Florida.

I am particular about my frog rods. I like a MH to H power, and I like a Fast tip. My best hooksets using a frog are on my dobyns savvy 734. Rod loads up real nice and I don't have to kill myself on hooksets. Drives the hooks real good into the fish. I use a Tatula Frog rod that is really nice for heavier cover as it is a heavier power than the savvy. Hooksets are good on it, but my ratio still isn't as high as on the 734. I had a Carbonlite prior to the Tatula that I couldn't manage to get a hook into a fish if my life depended on it. If I am not mistaken that was a Heavy XF. Didn't load up at all, it just felt like I was pulling the frog out of their mouths every hookset.

I have a Dobyns Savvy 734 that I throw 3/8 to 1/2 oz jigs on. Works great. I think a Fury 734 would do the trick for you. In fact it is my all round rod. I throw everything from T-Rigs, to Jigs, to Frogs(light cover) on it.