Dypsis

I got wife approval to grab a nice pair of Costas. Need some input on those that have them. Thoughts on glass vs plastic? Lense color - I fish mostly rivers that are on the dirty side clarity wise. Potomac, Chick, Upper Bay, etc. I was leaning to Green Mirror or Silver Mirror. Best place to buy them from? I am going to go with the 580 either way. Thanks.

Exactly!!!! Well done indeed.

I have a bunch of Mikes jigs, unfortunately for @Siebert Outdoors I rarely seem to lose his! I always like to see what else is out there, although Mike does make a great jig and love that I can customize the skirt to my needs.

Anyone pick one up, huge fan of Owner hooks, wanted to give it a try. They are expensive little turds though. Thoughts?

Thanks all, I'll check a few of these out. @Siebert Outdoors awesome you started making your own.

I've pretty much done zero punching, but I do love jig fishing (getting better every year). When punching grass do you find the hook, while it does have the weed guard, gets cluttered with grass or is it not too much of any issue.

I am looking to add, when appropriate, punching to my arsenal next year. I have looked around alot and there are many different skirts available for punching. Many with reviews saying the hub breaks a lot - is more a faulty product or just a part of punching. I mean pitching a 1.5oz weight around for hours could certainly take its toll on a setup. Any skirts you have found work or stay together better than others. Thanks.

When you do find it better to use a skirt as compared to just a weight and the plastic?

I'm already toying with a few ideas!!!

Thanks Dwight, its funny the first thing he said when he opened it was 'I always wanted a Penn State rod".

Yes, although TW has had his Zebco on backorder since Thanksgiving. But it's frozen here anyway, it doesn't stop him from asking where his reel is almost daily.

So I have a good friend that I fish with quite regularly that builds rods mostly for himself and our fishing club members, fixes guides etc and I was talking to him about how it would be cool to build a rod for my son (5yrs old). He was like why don't you, I said cause I have NO idea how first and second I don't have any of the tools or supplies. He was like I'll help you build it and you can use my supplies. So it just kind of happened. I found a kit I liked (recommended by another friend) - http://www.mudhole.com/MHX-Shooter-Pistol-Grip-Casting-Rod-Kit-MHXCK-100. I wanted something that he can use for years to come (thats a hefty price for a 5 year old boy, considering his current rod and reel combined cost $25). So let me say this I have a new found respect for rod builders and their quality. Not only is wrapping the guides hard as all get out, but holy heck are they hard to see and those wraps - forget about it. Then you have to figure out guide spacing... Then after that you have to magically line up all the guides so they are straight. Anyway, most of you know how to build a rod, so thats all I will say about that. But again, props to you guys. Here are a few pictures of the finished product. Now I know this rod will meant more to me Christmas day than it did him and it certainly could very well be broken in the first few trips, but here to hoping he has it a LONG time and maybe, just maybe, can hand it down to his son.

Yes, I do it a lot with senkos and flick shakes.

That as a co-angler I used to take that for granted. Alot of times my boater will let me go upfront while they re-tie, eat or whatever and man thats not as easy as it looks. Keeping the boat not too close or too far away from where we are fishing takes effort! It's not easy to position the boat, especially since I fish alot of tidal water, which can make things even harder at times (or help). I certainly appreciate the days its windy ALL day and all I have to worry about is fixing my backlashes!!!

Well I literally started reading Spoonplugging last night and bought The Comprehensive Guide to Largemouth Bass Patterns & Lunkers off Amazon just now. At least it's winter so I have some time.

Thanks Blue

First, one of the best threads on here or any forum for that matter. But can we further dive into this sentence from George? I fish mostly tidal rivers - Potomac, Upper Bay, Chickahominy/James. I will first say I am on the newer side to both fishing and tidal waters, but there have been days where the tide dictates everything. I will never forget my 2nd or 3rd time out on the Potomac (early April) I went with a member of the club I just joined and we fished this ~200yd stretch (with 3 giant fallen trees over those 200yds) at least 3 times that day. No bites at all, then we went back maybe an hour or so before getting off the water and BAM we each hooked at least a half dozen bass each in that hour time. I told him that when I saw us coming back here for a 4th time that this was a waste and he said I knew they were here just had to get them when they were feeding - now was it the tide that changed I don't know, but that is my thinking. Then I was taken back to the same exact spot that Fall by another club member and we whacked fish again. I told him about the previous time I had been there and he said he showed him that spot. He also told me that many others fish here but don't know why it holds fish. I asked why he said look at the depth finder we were sitting in 8 FOW then he said keep watching and I saw it climb up to maybe 3-4', which was exactly where we always turned around and went back the other way to those 3 trees. So that day I learned how important not only watching your depth finder is but also about structure and what is happening below the water surface. But back to my question and specifically about 'water flow in itself can emulate structure'. This one creek we fish alot is known to be a low tide creek - the reasoning I'm told is that when the water pulls out the grass lines or breakline the bait fish have to pull out making them easy prey. You can still catch them along the grass lines at high tide, but your bites are fewer and farther between. I'm not sure if I really asked my question in there at all, but I am hoping someone can comment on how tides play into all of this. It would seem the structure part of it would remain the same (where the bass are) but the tide factors in on when they will actually feed? Thoughts?

Any know the dive depth of the pre rap wee warts? Thanks.

Glad I found this thread, I was going to post a similar question myself today. I've seen it mentioned in here a few times that for punching most(?) prefer a mod fast rod - is that simply to help alleviate ripping the hook out of the fish's mouth?

Nice, Justin, way to step up your game the last year or so!

Good information, thanks for sharing. Especially the part about "if you are fishing a bait with an exposed hook point, you do better with a needle point because it has more strength and since there isn't any plastic in the way it penetrates easily without cutting a large hole in the mouth of the fish."

Small sticker or label on the bottom somewhere. I have an Excel spreadsheet of all my combos that say line and lb test on it. I pretty much know what's on each one throughout the season it's just over the winter I'll forget 1 or 2.

Wow you weren't kidding about the price tag on those bad boys. Agreed I am defiantly looking for a light or medium wire jig head for this set up.

I'm definitely going to try 3 & 4" and go from there. My thoughts are especially when fishing in the summer to down size and pick off a few fish on a 'bad' tide or slack tide. For sure!

Yes just 3 & 4" paddle tails really. Im used to throwing the 4.8 keitech on belly weighted hooks.