Dirtyeggroll

Curve 55’s for an upcoming tournament in the Ozarks.

I was really hoping the Simms Rain Challenger Rain Bibs in size Large would be included. Anyone know if they are on sale anywhere for any less than $199.99?

What do you know, there’s not really much if anything worth a second look.

This is pretty cool! Soon you will be able to mark bass as one color, baitfish as another, etc...

At first glance it looks like the front of that what I’m assuming is aluminum model boat in the video should sit low more like a glass boat which really peaked my interest. Upon further examination, maybe not. For an aluminum boat it sure does seem to have the curves.

Who knows...

You know they are having a 25% off sale starting tomorrow right?

Trust me, me too. Pretty humbling.

Resolution: 100% operator error! I was not letting out enough line to hang the A-rig (I was only hanging 6-10”; letting out about 2’ helped tremendously!) and the tension knob was too tight (I was afraid to loosen it fearing a giant backlash with the heavy bait). The rod is quite the A-rig launcher now that I’ve got the technique down. That damned bait monkey really wanted it to be the rod, but you all saved me!

I am glad you use quotations marks around the word science. There's actually only a very small portion of the information related to bass fishing that truly qualifies as science. Most claims about bass fishing lack the appropriate controls to be science and turn out to be a testament toward what someone else did or what worked with their gut instinct and the fact is that statistically, how someone caught fish on a certain day was determined to a high degree by chance. Because of this, even knowing all of the published information doesn't do much toward increasing your odds of catching a fish. In other words most "science" about bass fishing are simply the conclusions someone has drawn about a series of events and may or may not be the what is true. Science is the method/application, not the answer. Good science promotes/perpetuates itself. In other words, truths about bass fishing are reproducible and quickly disseminate. Such as things you have already mentioned such as fish relating to structure and cover. The most "scientific" approach you can take toward fishing is to keep a log and try to reproduce what you have done before given the conditions. As far as gear is concerned there is a lot of good science. It is extremely reproducible that you can cast further and get a crankbait down further on lighter line, if that is the only variable. Whether or not that actually improves the odds to catch a fish, on the other hand, is an entirely different question.

All based on feel . If a different rod feels better then it’s the rod, if not then it’s just the technique. A few casts can tell me if a rod feels right. If several rods don’t feel right then the rod doesn’t have much to do with it. If a similar weight doesn’t plop right down in front of me then I’ll suspect it’s a matter of drag and not weight/loading up. This is the problem with the theoretical. I should have stopped replying until I had a chance to test it. The fact is I am bored and this is an easy horse to beat.

Maybe if the 7’10 ZX Crankshaft doesn’t workout i’ll trade it in for then ZX Umbrela rig rod. I originally got the 7’10 Crankshaft to throw the plopper 130 and was hoping it could serve multiple purpose as an A-rig and big swimbait rod.

I lied, the first thing I am going to do is weigh the A-rig and throw a more aerodynamic bait of similar weight. Heres my troubleshooting plan: 1. Weigh A-rig and try similarly weighted aerodynamic weight on the current rod. If no improvement in distance with the aerodynamic bait then on to the next. 2. Adjust reel. If no improvement move on to next. 3. Try adding or taking weight away from the A-rig. If no improvement then move on to next. 4. Try throwing A-rig with a 7’5 ZX rod and with a 7’6 Skeet Reese Carolina rig rod. If no improvement with any rod then move on to next. 5. It’s not at all the rod (I am already convinced it’s not 100% the rod and there’s room for me to improve). I 100% plan to refine my technique on tossing the A-rig regardless of the results of the troubleshooting. With all of the other techniques I use, I feel like I have learned to make the rod do the work. My current setup and/or technique does not feel this way for the A-rig. Now I just need to get home so I can try all of these things and stop leaving you all in suspsense. Haha.

I’m sure there is at least some learning I need to do to cast an A-rig well independent of the rod... but since I have a few other rods that are powered differently (and since I’m stubborn) I am going to try a few other rods first since it’s pretty easy, I have the right controls and I will know immediately if it helps. I’d rather hone my technique after I rule out the rod since I have the opportunity. I’m sure I could learn how to Happy Gilmore the A-rig with about any rod, but I don’t feel that’s the most efficient (although Happy was quite the ringer). I’ve already mentioned this but it just reminds me of trying to throw 1.5 squarebills on a MH Veritas which was not working well. I did practice and practice with the MH Veritas rod and figured how to cast them better (but not good) with that rod. As soon as I switched to lower power rod I could cast those 1.5’s like I’d expect too, about 1.5-2x as far and much more accurately.

Half of me hopes it is operator error because then I won’t be better suited with a different rod and that’s cheap to fix but takes some time and the other half of me hopes it isn’t operator so I can just pair up the right rod and be ready to go without having have to learn a new way to cast.

Not an insult at all. This is one of the questions I was trying to answer, something along the lines of: “Does throwing an A-rig require a different technique than other baits?” Or can it be overcome with the right rod? I’ve thrown big ploppers (on a different rod, 7’ H Daiwa Aird) without having to change my casting technique, and boy can they be launched, which is one of the reasons I was thinking it might be the rod. When I get home later this evening I’ve got a whole list of suggestions to try. I’m gonna start by weighing the A-rig. Thank you all! Will report back my results.

Line is not crossed or wrapped in the guides. It actually feels a lot like trying to toss a 1.5 crankbait with my MH Veritas 2.0. I can throw a 1.5 sidearm with the Veritas but if I try to cast overhead it plops almost right in front of me. I’m not quite talented enough to throw the A-rig sidearm with any power. I am kind of hoping someone else has tried this rod and can confirm I just need practice or that the rod is not suited haha. I won’t get to play with it anymore until tomorrow. So maybe just a touch heavier than my A-rig setup with 1/8 oz heads.

Tried “the lob” yesterday and it seemed to help but it seemed like the bait just wanted to slam down in front of me, which now that I think about it, is the description of throwing a light bait on a rod that’s too stiff. Despite this, it seemed like the a-rig was putting a lot of bend in the rod when held out parallel. So I am not 100% convinced (and the fact that I don’t want to mess with exchanging this rod or getting another. I definitely want to be 100% certain before I mess with all of that).

Whopper plopper 130 and up. Heavy punch rigs

The coupon applies to virtually all sellers. It’s not limited to ALF. https://m.ebay.com/itm/Daiwa-TATULA-SV-TW-103XS-8-1-1-Right-Hand-Baitcasting-Reel/202253960176?epid=688972212&hash=item2f174683f0:g:dzUAAOSwV2Naoc3a

I have had a Veritas 2.0 6’9 MH/F with micro guides since June with no problems. It’s taken a lot of beating in and out of the back of my truck and getting tossed around in my little boat.

Thanks for the suggestion. Not necessarily looking for a “dedicated” A-rig rod and that one is a bit out of my price range. Surely there are several rods that are good (necessarily fantastic) at throwing A-rigs. Could be. I haven’t thrown any thing else with it but the A-rig.

I’ll try to take a video later. Not new to baitcasting and I have played with the tension knob, cast control and centrifugal brakes (I might be a little hesitant to whip it since it seems to heavy). I also have the 7’5” ZX Crankshaft in medium heavy. I might try it on that to test if the bait lighter than the rating for the 7’10 rod. 7’10 rod is rated 5/8-2 1/4 so my understanding is that the ideal weight should be about 1.4 ounces ((5/8+2 1/4)/2) I will also try throwing a 130 plopper to compare.

Not familiar with this?

My bait monkey is maturing fast. 6 months ago I thought I was overequipped with a couple Veritas rods with PQ reels... now I have a full lineup of of Curados and Tatula SVs on Dobyns Champion and Tatula Elite Rods... and now I swear I keep hearing something whisper Steez and Destroyer.