Beetlebz

Huh.... that honestly didnt occur to me. I couldn't find a part number in the parts explosion but I can always call. Thanks.

I have been running a bg2000 all season. It was originally spooled with a little 15lb braid I had leftover (maybe 2/3 full) but a couple weeks ago I spooled fully with brand new 15lb Jbraid x8 and 15lb mono as a backer, now the line is bunched up at the top with a gap at the bottom. To be honest it was probably like that before but I was running the spool so light that it didnt matter. I need to shim the spool but I just checked, there aren't any in the box. Is there a place I can buy new shims? Is material and specific size that big of a deal or can I just kinda find shims from another reel that fit?

My a-ha moment came from confidence fishing. If everyone tells me bait X should catch fish but it doesnt work for me, I'm going to go out and throw nothing else until I figure out how to make it work. I'm limited by a normally fairly short season before the late summer stringy grass blows up in most of my still waters here, it makes fishing a jig almost impossible. But back last year I wanted to force it.... I went out with a heavy rod and pitched a jig until my arm was about to fall off. Once I got the first bite I got 3 more fish in rapid succession and no more until I found another honey hole a little while later. I'm far from an expert but I have a much better understanding of when to throw a jig and how.

To be clear these baits are dramatically stiffer than even regular power baits. Maybe stiffer isn't the right word, less pliable perhaps.

So I got out with the new original powerbait generals today. The bite was horrible for whatever reason but I spent some time throwing around the new baits. I have to say I'm not super impressed. I caught one fish on them all day and the worm got thrown from the hook before I lipped the fish. They dont seem to be any more durable than the maxscent. They feel stiff and rubbery like the maxscent too. The bonus they are still cheaper ? An interesting observation that I need to explore more. Senkos and maxscent generals, when weightless Texas rigged tend to sink nose first with the bait at about a 45 degree pitch and the tail waggling.... these fall much flatter and of course, slower. They act very similar to the strike king shim e stick. Not the worst thing in the world, but the shim e stick is a bit cheaper. The jury is still out.

Gorgeous combos and gorgeous fish bro. I can't wait for the day when I finally have a boat and can upgrade to higher end rods. I refuse now because they get beat up on the kayak. I love my jeep, but I still drool when I pull up next to a Ferrari ?

That's the primary reason that I was excited for the new baits. I dont mind paying big money for plastics, but not for plastics that fly off everytime I catch a fish. I'm excited to try them, maybe in the morning I'll have time. I'm interested to see if they're 1) more durable than the maxscent, 2) of a similar sink rate and 3) if they're more consistent of a performer.

That's exactly what I'm saying. It's a good day my friend.

Those silly rebel micros were a ton of fun and certainly caught fish.... man that takes me back. I might need to go order some

The higher the concentration of salt in the bait, the heavier it is in relation to the water. A salt free or low salt bait will be more cooperative as it's far less dense.

For those unaware, tackle warehouse has started shipping the new ORIGINAL powerbait Generals. I've been waiting on these with baited breath since the max scent version came out. I haven't had a chance to get out on the water with them yet but they look and feel fantastic, just like the original power worm. They smell the same also. Some folks were relieved that the max scent didn't smell, but I love that powerbait odor ? My hopes are that they will be a little more durable than the max scent worms and a little more productive. I found the max scent worms to fall faster than senkos which was nice but it was rare to get more than a couple bass in the boat before I lost the worm. I also found the bite to be more polarized, which is interesting. I would not get a single bite, but then change from June bug to green pumpkin and get walloped. I found with original senkos (and power worms for that matter) you might get a better bite with one color over another but it was never full on or full off. These worms have the traditional powerbait translucent composition so I'm curious to see how it plays out. I'll get back to you guys once ive had them on the water.

Honestly Its the one thing I can always count on. I used to swear by dead-sticking a Carolina rig on the dog days, but this year I had a Texas rig tied on instead. Pumpkin seed 8" power worm, pumpkin seed rib snake or watermelon red rib snake. They produced all year with very few exceptions.

I was pretty sure I read on here that Cabela's rods are all being discontinued as a brand now that bass pro has acquired them. How much are you looking to spend? You don't mention a budget, but at about $130 bucks I throw mine on a Favorite USA Sick Stick 7'2" MH/F or a Favorite USA Defender 7'5" MH/F. In that price range I would also try a Dobyns Fury without question, though I haven't used them personally. Below that in price range there isn't much imagination huge fan of that I'm willing to recommend. The Dobyns colt is well regarded as is the Berkely lightning rod shock. But unless you are rarely throwing anything that heavy, I would beef up to a MH/F for a spinnerbait personally.

@A-Jay I just looked into the Sunline Shooter Defier Armilo Nylon Line... man that stuff is thin by comparison. How is the stretch compared to the thicker monos? I downsized the YZH on my moving bait rig this season from 15lb YZH to 10 because of the high breaking strength but the stretch is pretty significantly increased. I dont want to replace my big game with a rubber band! ? On topic, I've used 15lb big game for 85% of my fishing for 2 seasons now on a baitcaster. Zero regrets. I will say I used KVD L&L for the first few trips to help it get settled in but once I got a couple trips in on it I needed no more.

I've paid down as low as $56 for a shimano sahara... a fuego CT for $54... I'm not sure I see a point in no-name gear. I paid in the 20s once for a last king mela 2.... replaced it once. Both the original and the replacement bent the spool shaft the first time out.

I've been experimenting with braid brand and diameter on my spinning reels this season. I had some 30# sufix 832 I threw on a 2500 sized shimano and it's one of my favorites. I use straight braid for topwater and add an 8# yozuri hybrid leader when I'm fishing sub-surface. Its paired with a 7' M/F rod. It just works... the heavier diameter braid is super overkill but line management is a breeze. My other favorite pairing I've used was 15lb X8 on a 2000 sized reel with 6lb leader on a ML/F rod. When I ran them with YZH and mono both I used 8lb and 6lb respectively. If you were going to be using the 3000 sized reel for Texas rigs and dragging bottom and/or brush piles I'd not hesitate to go to 10lb.

Oh, I didn't realize you were just trying to make an example out of someone. https://www.sportfishingmag.com/comparing-4-and-8-carrier-braided-fishing-lines

@WRB I'm going to PM you a link, hopefully I wont get banned for it lol it's an article that I've referenced a few times when I have had questions. Basically an end or a carrier (different names for the same thing) is a bunch of strands of the fiber (think of a girls hair) Those ends or carriers are bunched together then woven into a line (like braids). Theres a few different types of machines that make different types of weaves for different applications.

The only primary difference is the size of the weave. 8 carrier achieves the same tensile strength as 4 carrier using twice as many fibers that are half as strong. Same strength but a smoother weave. The only difference beyond that is a couple variations in the actual weave itself which doesnt account for much to us regular bass guys. The only curveball that's coming out now is 5 and 9 carrier braid which is 4 and 8 carrier braid respectively woven around a core of spectra. The only real difference on the user end will be the smoothness of an 8 carrier braid with an increased strength to diameter ratio thanks to the spectra core and it should stay rounder thanks to the circular structure.

Line diameter doesnt have a ton to do with it. If everything a smaller diameter braid helps. When you are going down in size it becomes more and more important to make your loops extremely tight as you tie it. When I used to use the fg knot sometimes I'd have one or two loose loops in it that weren't perfect and it slipped right apart. Once it's good it's good and very strong, but I switched to the Alberto and never looked back. I can tie it in my kayak in a fraction of the time and it's not picky.

@BaitFinesse said it was geary. I'm hoping that the SLX is what we can expect from the next generation casitas though. I'm curious to get my hands on one to see how it represents for myself.

The SLX seems like it's going to be hopefully a new direction for shimano. I've read a few different places now that the SLX is noticeably smoother than the casitas. With that said the casitas has more adjustable brakes and was never a *bad* reel. Someone mentioned it was geary, mine was 100% not at all geary. I loved the one I had, I sold it to make room for a tatula because I prefer the brakes. I sold it to a forum member here, I'm sure it's still going strong. The SLX might be a slightly more refined reel but it's certainly not a more feature-rich reel. Casting comparisons on YouTube are leaning the same way. Just because the new civic looks neat doesnt mean it's a better car than last year's accord.

That one isn't even listed on TUF's website. They make a few interesting looking braids I'm curious to try. To be honest I might come back to TUF and try the domin8 on my spinning reels when those braids get looking worse for wear. I liked the line when I wasn't having bizarre snarls. The supercast braid looks neat too but they dont say what its coated with. I'll report back when I see how the original 65lb PP works. Maybe it's just me, who knows. If it works I'll return to the hunt for a new quieter braid that doesnt zip against my thumb. I have a couple in mind to try.

I spent the day throwing a 110 plopper in some chop today on the 50lb Domin8. Even with the heavy easy-casting plopper had some issues with the braid. I could make 10 casts with no issues and then on cast 11 with no slop at all on the spool I launched the plopper.. it almost seems like the spool accelerates faster than the line is coming off (which I think is from the line sticking/digging in). With my lure in mid air the line on the spool got tangled in the loose wraps, stopped dead and whipped directly back at me. I cut off the rest of the spool (there wasn't much left after my last trip out) and managed to scrounge up some 65lb standard power pro I had leftover, itll have to do until I find something smoother.

I run a deeper pro plus. It's certainly not cheap, but I have found it to be very handy. The contour maps and how it compiles them is little clunky but effective. I dont always bring it with me, but I will if I'm fishing new waters or if there's been a significant change in weather patterns or foliage growth. Helps figure out where the fish have gone sometimes. The best part for me is scanning somewhere I've fished before, then looking at the map I made and realizing that there was a feature that I never noticed. I use it with the clamp on my kayak usually but being able to cast it comes in handy before the boat launch is thawed. I can walk around and scan the pockets of open water and see what's down there. If you just want to get a quick look and see what the temp is, the regular deeper is a perfectly fine unit. I enjoy the pro plus model though for the mapping. I'll attach a pic of the map from my last trip to the reservoir. Sadly the map data has some holes in it from when i got my new phone last week but you get the idea. You can see a steep bluff wall that looks like it forms a channel of some sort in the top left. Neat stuff.