Angry John

I just started using the strike king 1/2 oz tungsten. I like that I can change the hook. A 4/0 ewg seems to be good so far. Drug around the sk rage craw mostly by plan on trying out some other baits. Figure Matt Allen did all the work already so I will rock his top picks before I go crazy. Might roll a keitech 4.4 just for kicks.

Building on that Phoenix x13 blank. TT did a review and it got great reviews, but who wants to crank a 10xd with a 9.5 inch handle. That would become a wrist breaker in very few casts. Handle length for two handed casting and bracing the rod while deep cranking is critical to me, and even an 11" handle is not enough. There are not a ton of options that will be rated for the 10xd and a lit of rods say they will but are not rated to do so. The rain shadow blanks were ones that made me scratch my head. Rated to 1.5 but 10 xd????

Only time I get those now is when I cast off a bait like a wacky worm. Does a pro job every time.

I have broken a few and for all the wrong reasons. 1. Pfluger president spinning rod trying to wip a lure out of a tree. Rookie mistake only fishing for 6 months at that point. 2. Fenwick elite smallmouth mh high sticked a 5lb bass next to the yak. Rookie mistake fishing for 1.5 years at that point. 3. Lamiglas excel 702 spinning rod crushed by my yak while on the road to go fishing. Rookie mistake fishing 3 years at that point. 4. Busted guide on dobyns 702 same reason as #3 then I finally learned the lesson. Fishing 3 years 2 months. Those are all of my damages now at about 9 years fishing and I hope to be done learning these lessons.

I like the 105 spool requires no backing and holds just the right amount of 12 lb flourocarbon I get some used gear and look for great Ebay deals. Got a nib steez for 350 which really reduced the cost of my setup. TW is my primary store but when I do I buy big during the sales. LABOR DAY was 15% off.

My jig rod is a st croix legend 70mhf with a steez 100. If you pay retail that's a grand. If I wanted a different rod I would get one. Works wonderful

Are we talking MSRP or what we paid. Huge difference

6" Huddleston and 168 can be fished on a flipping stick. Bigger is a no go. Mattlures makes a lot of baits that are lighter draw good bites and are high quality. The hard gills and strong shad are money.

First setup fenwick hmg 7' m or MH spinning rod 25 series pfluger president and some 8 lb yozuri hybrid.

I store all of my terminal tackle in a coffin 3700. I have a second for jigs. Plastics are in bins with latch tops sorted by creature. Worms have the largest bin and I keep ds in it's own bin.

Reels all daiwa, sv103 and steez with a few alphas. Rods mostly st croix with a steez or two.

I love my hlc minus the nose piece that always looks ragged.

I can pitch and that took tons of practice. Range is a lot less than standing. I have never truly flipped and have never seen it in person. Be interesting to see a fellow yacker doing it.

XF i feel is good for larger single hook baits. When you need immediate power to drive a hook home thats where XF shines. Small hooks like dropshot can be ok depending on the power of the rod. The line type will be a big factor on how it fishes. I dont prefer braid on an XF as a little stretch in the formula seems good. I never fish XF and trebles but there are people who like it. When i tried it the fish seemed to throw the hook most of the time as there was no give, the opposite of a glass rod that a lot like for crankbaits. Your style plays a part so you may have to play with the system and see what you like. One tip that has helped me is when fishing XF and dropshot is to use a bigger hook. I like # 1 or2 on a mlf but on my mlxf i like 1/0 dropshot hooks.

My son fishes the mxf avid x spinning rod and its very powerful. I dont see which model you chose but i have yet to get a chance to fish the mlxf. I love that speed for weightless plastic but others prefer a fast. My current 610mlxf fenwick elite bass is a great rod and i cant seem to boot it out of the rotation to get a different one.

Spend a ton of time on the water but not near the years a lot of guys here have. My main issue is i move all the time and the colors that are good change a lot. Here in TN the green pumpkin and black blue work just as good as anything. In washington state it was watermelon red and that was a hot color in Connecticut. How many bags of plastics did it take me to figure out the right color, more than it should have based on the big box of plastics in the garage. Currently my colors of choice are, california 420, PBJ, and black blue. If i could trade everything for those plastics colors i would be set. Then again when i move back to georgia in a year what is the right color there???? Thank GOD i have realized that colors are not critical and i don't need them all despite what they try and sell me. One tip if your hung up on color is to get some dip, and add color that way to a few basic colors.

I have gone with using a 4 carrier and lower lb test braid as i think it cuts a lot better. I like 832 a lot but in thick pads when frogging and punching i have gone down to 4 carrier pp in 50. It seems to cut a lot better so far, and that extra noise through the guides is the price to pay for that sawing action. In wood it seems to work against you, but were not talking wood right now.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-DAIWAROD.html?from=basres 610xf

I upgrade my hooks when the originals are wasted or if the initial quality is just not there. If you start crankbait fishing a lot, hooks will become one of the bigger expenses you have. Lot of good advice above talking about not changing the weight to much. A lot of pro anglers upsize one on their cranks and most baits are not negatively affected by this. Be cautious when upsizing and upgrading. Going bigger then increasing to a 2x hook is a double-up on increasing weight. Time of year will also effect what hook you want. During the warmer season you may want a stronger hook because the bass have more strength for the same size than during the winter. If you run a faster rod you may want to go stronger because you have the power to set while if you run a more moderate rod you may want a thinner hook for better penetration. I love the owner st 41 for most baits but there not cheap and i dont upsize.

Chargers have settings on some and self detect on others for what type of battery you have. The charging profile has a big impact on how long, and how good of charge you get. If it were me i would have one onboard for the TM batteries and one regular not mounted for your cranking battery. This can also be used for your cars and other batteries around the house. Be very careful in which you choose for the onboard as once you pick the one, you should verify what batteries it is compatible with when and if you change the TM batteries later. Lead acid and AGM have different charging profiles to maximise the life of the battery and how well it maximises the charge. The homework will pay big dividends in your wallet and time on the water.

Keeping it real fishing on youtube is strait out of new jersey. His struggle seems like exactly what your talking about and i really enjoy his show. The G2 shell cracker is what he caught his pb on, which was a heavy 7. Big baits is how he has dedicated his last few years and he is going big on everything to include jigs and worms. I think most of your questions will be answered by his show and there are plenty of cast to catch video supporting his claims of what is working for him. The HUDD is a classic lure that i dont favor but a lot of people do. Hope this helps you on your big fish quest.

I know that the listed gear is a sponsor but why are we still presenting things in a rookie style. How is listing gear ratio the way when we as a group know that the inches per turn is a much more usable number, which is easy to compare to other products. Why is that higher gear ratio better for me who normally uses a 6.3 zillion. The difference between a car salesman and a great car salesmen is they let you know all the ways that the new car is better than the old one your using. With all the stats floating around that are not as factual as most of us would like. (This is my attempt to be critical of the information and sales pitch and is not a stab at anyone person including but not limited to Glenn)

This..... Always a right tool for the job, and some preference mixed in. The first heavy duty low profile i remember was the revo toro which the musky crowd latched onto. Before that big baits were all done on round reels. I love my luna and ryoga for larger baits and the Ryoga makes one heck of a deep cranking reel. I only own 3 round reels but i love them for heavy stuff and dont plan on letting them go any time soon.

Wow we were getting them right at 200 then. Now you can still go as low as 180 or so.

I dont understand this at all. Gap is important to thickness of the bait. Length would change nothing. Rigging the bait on the thin end would make more sense to me. Am I missing something?