J.Vincent

Zoom 4.5 Finesse Worm or the Zoom Mag Finesse Worm on a #1 or 1/0 VMC Neko hook with a Do It Molds nose weight 👍

For a shallow water angler targeting Largemouth, I’m looking first at water temp and the time of year. I think post winter leading into early spring is the most productive time of the year to target shallow rock (from my experience predominantly in northern fisheries). I’m sure there are exceptions and others will have their own strengths and experiences and opinions, based on where they fish; but I believe Shallow chunk rock or isolated chunk rock in general is best when water temps are between 45 and 55 degrees. Above those water temps, there is a greater amount of vegetation forming in most waters and the biological urge for bass to spawn and the more comfortable overall water temperatures will change how every Bass relates with available structure and cover. Sorry for the novel, but in a nutshell in shallower largemouth fisheries , rock in 2 to 8 feet is usually most productive before the Bass spawn and again during Shad spawns and again in mid to late fall as water temps begin to fall below 64 degrees again. I have far less experience fishing deep rock structure, but I do think the way largemouth relate to rock in deep water is less dependent on temperature and probably more dependent on current, water clarity and actual presence of a preferred forage.

Very nice ? fish ! By native minnows are you referring to live Golden Shiners ?

I think some anglers (not necessarily you) assume Florida is just filled with Ten pound bass in every puddle of water...but in my experience that hasn’t been the case, because I have 200+ hours fishing Florida waters, including Lake Tarpon, Lake Seminole, Kissimmee Lake, Lake Toho East, Lake Toho West, Farm Pond 13, Lake Harris, Lake Eustis, Tamiami Canals and various off the map ponds, lakes and roadside canals…and I still have NOT caught a Ten pounder in that state. Obviously they live there and other anglers catch them but it’s not a guaranteed thing.

Those look like a very good replacement for the Go-B-Gone, in fact they even have a very comparable color to the Goby Latte, but do they make a bigger size then the one available on Tackle Warehouse ?

Yesterdays tournament was far from stellar but in the final 45 minutes I was able to salvage the day after switching to this Go-B-Gone on my drop shot rig. It’s a much larger Goby profile bait and I want to get a few more bags, but they are “Out of Production”. Does anyone have old stock or a recommendation for something similar ?

Probably a Storm Spybait or Do-It Freestyle Jig with a Zoom Tiny Fluke or Yum Sonar Minnow.

I haven’t found any exceptions written in the Regulations book; so it looks like the Outdoor Card and Sports License is the way to go for a 5 Fish Tournament. And Thank You

This is the information I was trying to obtain. Thank You

So it’s been almost 15 years since I’ve fished in Canadian waters; and I notice there are two Non-Resident licenses available. (1) Sport Fishing License and (2) Conservation Fishing License. What exactly are the differences and can a Tournament angler just choose the Conservation license if they are going to catch, weigh at the shore and then release live back into the lake ? Any info on this would be appreciated because the website Ontario.CA wasn’t completely clear about what license would be required for this specific situation.

Thank you for sharing this video clip, I’ve settled on 15lb Braid as kind of a happy middle ground, but I may just consider 10lb, if I’m not able to improve casting distance by changing to the longer spinning rod.

Thank you for this very good explanation and the detailed information! Based on this info my General finesse 6-9 spinning rods (Berkley E-Motion) have 4 reduction guides graduating up to 4 equally sized runners plus 1 equally sized tip top guide. The first Stripper guide appears to be about half the size of the spools diameter; and everything looks good to me and this has helped me rule out the rods design as a problem. I really just think a 7-0 or 7-3 Medium Light with backbone could perform better with these 1/8oz to 3/16oz jigs. But do you think switching from a 6-9 Medium to a 7-3 Medium Light will offer another 8 to 10 yards of casting distance ?

Would the reduction guide be the first and closest line guide to the Spinning reel ?

After stepping down to 15 pound test Braid with 6 or 8 pound test leader, my casting distance with this spinning combo has slightly improved. I’m probably going to consider a 7ft to 7ft3 Medium Light spinning rod to replace my 6ft9 in the future, hopefully I can add another 10 to 15 yards with the longer stick. and Thank you everyone who offered their input ?

Never thrown an actual Keitech brand paddle tail swimmer ; but I throw the Yum Pulse Shad’s, Gambler EZ Vibes and one other generic. The smaller Yum Pulse Shad is subtle and finesse and the Gambler EZ vibe provides an aggressive thump with a meatier tail for more water movement.

I don’t have casting distance issues with my 6-9 , 7-0, 7-2 and 7-6 Baitcasting Rods that are equipped with Micro Guides. So maybe you are right, maybe it’s not the actual micro guides creating the problem. Maybe 20 pound 4 carrier Braid is just to coarse or I just forgot how to cast a spinning rod ?

I 100% agree with you, and I even examined my own casting mechanics for 60 minutes today; just casting this combo in very light rain and zero wind. I was trying to determine how well the rod was loading on the back cast. From what I can tell, the rod is loading properly with the 1/4 ounce flick shake and does throw its own energy into the cast. Line flows off the spool in almost perfectly even coils but I think the front micro guide is just so much smaller than the coils flying off the spool, that it’s hindering the distance. But I’m going to try a different rod that loads up better tomorrow, before I can 100% confirm the culprit.

So does an 8 carrier 16.7 pound braid GREATLY improve casting distance over say a 4 carrier 20 pound braid ?

I actually like them on my Topwater/Jerkbait Bait-casting rods but starting to wish I would have avoided micros on my spinning rods. After reading a few replies here, it just sort of confirms my gut instinct about the micro guides as the main problem.

Something is definitely not matching up well with this combo, because my distance is only about 50 to 60 feet with 4 carrier 20lb test No Fade Braid (casting 1/4 ounce Flick shake).

I’m not the best with spinning gear in general, but I use it for obvious finesse stuff like drop shot, Ned rigs, flick shake, Neko rigs, tube jigs, etc…but recently I’ve been trying to really perfect my finesse approach and I’m still having a heck of a time getting good casting distance. I keep thinking it could be my line or maybe the micro guides on my Spinning rods. What kind of distance should I expect to achieve with an an All purpose 6ft9 Medium Fast Spinning rod with micro guides and a 2500 series Shimano Sedona spooled with 20 pound Braid and rigged with a 1/4 ounce lure ?

In Michigan, when waters reach about 55 to 60 degrees, fish can be caught with some consistency on BuzzBaits, Ploppers and Propbaits. However, other variables can cause Bass to commit to a Topwater or Wakebait lure earlier than usual.

I have enough tackle for about 10 or more years without ever needing to replenish; and I have enough money for about 24 hours ?

Zoom Chunk or Yum Craw Chunk or even the Zoom Super Hog (trim upper appendages and flappers and leave the lower claw section, it’s very slimline and subtle)

Sneaky details, possibly inspired by many hours of watching Bob Ross ?