Airman4754

They molt every moon phase so they are constantly changing in color. That's why brown, green, purple, black, blue, red, and orange all work everywhere.

I use Sandman Custom 1/2oz tungsten footballs and a matching KVD chunk trailer.

I bought four rods over Christmas, about to get two more, and loaded up on plastics for Tackle Warehouse's 25 day sale.

I have an 806, it's my punch rod. That's way too much rod for XD8's & 10's and it wouldn't load up right for casting A-Rigs. I ended up with an Enigma 7'11" MH crank rod, the Marten's line for the big cranks and I throw A-rigs on it too. There are a million rods that would throw the big cranks well but I don't think you would like the 806 for it. Great punch rod though.

I used to be in your same spot with 15lb Floro for the medium to large cranks I run 10lb CX now and it's so much nicer.

PP Maxcuarto. It's freaking awesome and casts like a dream with its small diameter.

That second fish looks HUGE! What a bucket on that toad!

6lb CXX

The first half of my 25 day sale came today. The second half comes tomorrow!

I'm mixed. Reaction strike rods like for spinnerbaits, swim jigs, lipless cranks, etc. I just want a 7' MH with a 14" handle. I could care less about the brand or price. Whatever was on sale was fine and it has always worked. Everything else is pretty specific and that gets spendy. I have no regard for spinning reel quality. They all cast the same so I could care less about them. Baitcasters need to be the gear ratio I want and not junk. Other than reaction strike and heavy swim bait gear most of my rods cost way more than the reel. From my experience you will get way more mileage out of a $300 rod and a $100 reel than a $100 rod and $300 reel.

I used to pay attention to the weather, but it rarely works out the way it's supposed to. I've had bad days before a front and great days after one. Never have I been able to consistently perform according to weather. Now I'm way more interested in water color, water temperature, light penetration into the water, water current, chop on the water, and water level. Fish are in said water, we are above it. It's just kind of gee whiz what's going on where they actually are will play a much larger factor than where I am. My consistency is much better now. I catch about what I expect now instead of the crap shoot before.

I was mainly always a power fisherman, didn't fish deep all that much, didn't change baits often and was more into covering water than picking key spots. 2015 I started finess fishing a lot more, started fishing deep, used baits tailor to the scenario, and got more into "milk runs" as opposed to covering every inch of water. My overall size of fish went up considerably. In 2016 I'd like to become a better drop shot, swim jig, and punch fisherman. Shakey Heads have been so productive I kind of neglect the drop shot and I don't throw a swim jig nearly enough.

I didn't catch a ton of largemouth this year, but as far as size this was my best year ever. I caught my new PB and at least fifteen in the 4-6lb range.

LMB.

But the spots were on fire! XD8's and Shakey Heads were the ticket.

I bought the grey & white one when they first came out, threw it out into some open water just to kind of check it out on the first cast and caught about 3 pounder. It was an accident really. I don't fish it often, but I haven't gotten anything on it since. I can see the appeal, it has drawing power because it's huge like a big swimbait, you can use it as a wake bait, you can kind of walk it, etc. It's very well made, big wire rings, very good quality treble hooks, and the action is like the videos right out of the box. The big one is a serious bait. You need a swimbait rod of you're going to seriously fish it.

No matter what rod company it is they will have some rods you like and some you don't regardless of price or model. The way you fish makes a huge difference too. Like for instance the way I fish a spinnerbait only a rod with a 14" handle is comfortable to me. You could give me a Loomis NRX with a 16" handle for spinnerbait and I'd hate it. Fish as much as you can and you'll know what you need after awhile. The brand won't matter. The price might matter, but the brand won't.

I got it to 76 gps on Clearlake fully loaded with two adults in it and zero wind.

Football jigs have a much lighter wire hook than a pitching or casting jig. You don't need as much power to bury the hook.

I use a Lamiglas Pro-X 735 for football heads and I love it. The tip has a lot of flex for casting and keep the fish pinned while having plenty of backbone to pull them up. If I were placed in the "you can only have one rod" scenario that's the one I would pick.

17lb Floro on a 7' MH.

2005 Triton TR-21x Bass Master Classic model. 225hp Opti-max with a 27" Tempest prop.

The Hudd 68 ROF12 and S-Waver 168 are a good pair to start with. You can cover most of the water column. Step two go buy Bill Semental's BBZ book and read it cover to cover before you make your first cast. That dude has caught more 10lb class fish than most of us have caught 3 pounders. It's just a wealth of really great knowledge and keeps you confident in what you are doing. Big bait fishing is slow on the best days. On the overpriced thing. A 6" S-Waver 168 is $18. An 8" S-Waver 200 is $45. Once someone knows big bass fisherman love their product inflation sky rockets.

Same. Have yet to find anything that competes with them punching. They don't hang up at all falling through the weeds or pads and have a ton of action under the canopy. Tackle Warehouse just had them for half price which is almost free. I ordered a bunch.

If I'm fishing shallow I'm throwing a spinner bait 99% of the time. They will bite them at any time. In the middle of summer they are great in shaded areas during the middle of the day. In the spring I catch more spawners with a spinnerbait than everything else combined. If the water is clear I'm throwing white with silver willow blades and a single tail chart trailer. If it's stained or muddy I'm throwing black/blue with a gold Colorado blade and a double tail black trailer. It's noise, it's action, and it's intrigue. Here is my experience with trailer hooks. I never used them, never felt like I needed to. A buddy finally talked me into using them. The first time out using one I hook the fish in my avatar picture, my PB. Get it to the boat and sure enough, the trailer hook was right in the dead middle of the inside of its bottom lip. That means he hit it, bumped it, or whatever before it took a bite at it and the spinnerbait was upside down when he actually hit it. Whenever I would miss one before that I'd always just thought it hit the blades, no big deal, can't win them all. Since then I can't remember another fish being hooker by the trailer, but there is zero chance I'd ever throw one without it now.