Fishin Dad

I am not trying to hijack here, but have always wondered about buying from Japan. Quick question: What does someone gain from buying there? Better/ different products, cheaper prices, newer releases, etc? Thanks.

I bought the bass mafia box, and wouldn’t pay that much again either. Really a nice, heavy duty box, but not that amazing. I saw that Academy box too and thought, dang, I got robbed by the mafia (pun intended).

Not sure how you fish or if you fish tournaments, but the Rapala touch screen tournament scale is the bees knees. It weighs your fish, culls your limit in handy little little bins that are very easy to change (even for a tech idiot like me), very accurate. Heck, it even displays the temperature for you. This is a piece of equipment I wouldn’t live without. It’s like $50. I would pay way more to replace it if I had to.

My buddies and I all have the Rapala touch screen tournament scales. I do the same thing as you a lot of times. I will catch, weigh, and release fish and keep track of my Best 5 fish weight. Often times, my buddies and I will each take our own boats and have quick individual catch, weigh, release tourneys for a little practice and ?. They are really accurate too. When we are culling our tournament fish (the scale is AWESOME for that), our scale weight is always really close to our tournament weight on their scale. It is a tool I would never be without now.

I would start with a 4” or 5” soft stick bait (Senko) rigged weightless either Texas on 3/0 ewg or wacky on a 1/0 Neko hook, and a creature or craw bait in that 4” range with a 3/8 tungsten bullet weight and 4/0 ewg. For colors I would pick green pumpkin for clearer water and black/blue for dirty water. Good luck.

I have the Okuma TCS 7’3” H and find it a versatile rod. I tried it for frogging when I first got it, and no way. Not good for frogging. I have enjoyed buzzbaits, whopper ploppers, jigs, and others and it performed well. I do own a couple Tatula’s (regular, not XT version) that I like, but have not used them how you are looking to. I don’t think I would ever go over an once on what I have.

I ordered suffix 832 in both neon lime and hi vis yellow in 10 and 15 lb. for some spinning rods. As I get older, it is harder to see line. I really hope this helps seeing bites. I was hoping to see more people in this thread using this line. I usually like an 8 carrier braid (use a lot of 832 on many reels from 8-50 lb.) unless on a frog rod or maybe a Flippin rod where a 4 carrier cuts weeds a little better. I am more hoping the bright line doesn’t fade in the first two weeks and I can’t see squat again!

Has anyone fished or heard anything first hand reports on these rods? They get great reviews on TW. Seem more parabolic and people are comparing the sensitivity to $300+ rods on multiple reviews.

Darn it, I was hoping you weren’t going to say that. Is there anything else similar that is available to us laymen that can’t make our own?

Hey Bluebasser86, would you be willing to share your favorite head and hook combo? I fish a lot of areas similar with weeds, rock, and logs. Thanks.

I am just assuming living up in that beautiful area, the water has good visibility. We fish chatters in stained water and weeds often. We do fish a few tournaments in northern Minnesota every year with clear water and they do catch them well up there also, but they are fertile lakes with plenty of weed growth. Your area sounds amazing!

It’s so interesting when I read that my confidence baits don’t work at all for some people. I am sure it is the same for them, when I can’t catch on theirs. I actually do remember reading your post on that thread, and I think at least a couple more that mentioned the chatter bait. The Senko was also mentioned. My two absolute confidence baits. I really wish I could bring people up to my waters here and let them have fun with those baits. Conversely, I would love to head to others lakes with their confidence baits to build MY confidence in those.

For me, buying a Daiwa Tatula SV reel helped me in the beginning and I continue to use them now. I would actually much rather skip with a bait caster now than a spinning rod. I did start with a spinning rod though. Use a bait that is heavy enough but not too heavy. 5/16, 3/8 are good starting points. Don’t try to throw it hard. It is about your angle of approach. It is crazy what you can do when you get the angle correct. Hold your right bicep (if you are right handed) close to your side and roll cast with your wrist and forearm. Once you get the release point correct, it is really not difficult with that SV spool as your thumb doesn’t have to be so exact to control the spool. I now skip weightless Senkos when I am putting them in places where a spinning rod struggles. I usually do use a jig in that 1/4-1/2 oz. range as my skipping baits. Anything heavier and you have to throw it harder to keep it going I feel. Once you get it, skipping frogs under docks as well as chatterbaits get bit hard. It has advantages for sure. Good luck. It is really possible for anyone with the correct equipment, time, and some confidence. Good luck!

The chatter bait was magic for me. The first day out I caught 34 bass and I thought I had the tiger by the tail. I brought my very young daughters out, tied a chatter on two spinning rods, and they were hammering them. It is still a confidence and favorite bait. I throw a chatter A LOT and will follow up often with a jig and/or Senko. Every once in a while the chatter can get me in trouble with have too much confidence it. Hard time not beating it to death just knowing it will work and wasting too much time with too few fish to show for it. The other problem is it catches big fish for me. Probably 7 out of my 10 biggest fish came on a chatter. That helps the cause. I always wonder though, had I NOT had that great first day, would it have sat in the bottom of the bag and been benched!?!?!

I do have baits that I had to work at to start to enjoy fishing them (absolutely love to fish top water), and when they work, it’s awesome. I just know that with certain baits I tried and didn’t have success, try again and nothing, then went on to something else. I just wonder if I had initial success with those, would they have “proven themselves” and been in the rotation of confidence. I also agree with the correct time and place and sometimes the stars just aligned at the time I happened to be fishing that certain bait.

Thanks! I suppose it is almost like a pegged Texas rig that can’t slip up the line. I always thought the hook was kind of a hybrid between an offset worm and EWG hook. Do you swim it, work the bottom?

I had some crazy success on one of the first times using a Ned with a buddy. We both caught a ton of fish. I tried it again shortly after, didn’t catch much, and kind of gave up on it. It is a goal to put it to work this year. I read too much about its success to not try it again. I just have a hard time putting down my Senko. What made it work well for you? What advice did Team9nine and Bluebasser86 give? Thanks.

Thanks cgolf. I think I have a couple packs of these I picked up on sale a while back. I wasn’t sure how to use them. I assumed they were good in weeds with the shape. I was just not sure what the benefit was over a Texas rig. Using a snap would make sense there. I may figure out a way to try them this season.

I had a similar experience with a jig. Reading about it, seeing it on tv, and luckily my fishing partner encouraging got the jig going for me. ALWAYS have 1 and often 2 tied on now. One finesse and and ***/8 or 1/2. That’s a great story. I have ridiculous confidence in it as well.

These spiders heads interest me. Why so much love?

I was pondering my favorite or confidence lures (chatterbaits, Senko; jig took a little longer) and got to thinking. Do I like these because I caught fish on them when I first tried them? I know it seems obvious, but many of my favorites have come from fishing them while I have had success early on. What I mean by that is, had I picked a different bait to try for the first time and had good success,would that have become my favorite or confidence bait? Did you have success the first time you tried some of your confidence baits?

3/8 oz. Flippin jig (Seiberts Dredge dock rocker or ***) 1/2 oz. chatterbait Soft stickbait (stick-o, Senko) Stanley Top Toad 1/2 oz. spinnerbait (War Eagle, Booyah) Texas rig worm

Oh no A-Jay, I hope that isn’t today!?!? That looks worse than in Minnesota here. Hope it warms up soon so you can get that V8 rolling again!!!

Love buzzbaits! Have one tied on always. I like them because I can still fish them with some vegetation present. Trebles are a no go in many of my bass lakes. I also like that you can bump them into cover. I have been throwing the War a Eagle Buzztoad the most lately, but also throw Cavitron, Strike King, etc. I have them from 1/8 up to 1/2 oz., all depends on conditions. Nothing better than the sun coming up on a beautiful summer morning and all of a sudden..............you are changing your underwear!!

Jasie, You are going to get a plethora of different answers no matter what you say, however, if you can provide just a little information, it will go a long way to eliminating ideas that are way out range. The members here are very knowledgeable and will be able to give you appropriate “opinions” to help narrow your search. Some things that would be helpful are: price range $_____- $_____, your intended use (drop shot, shaky head, wacky worms, etc., weight used (1/16, 1/8), how big of fish you are catching. Good luck in your search. Fishin Dad