PhishLI

Don't forget Morning Dawn, AJ. Killer. Everything bites it.

That may be part of the equation/challenge for some dedicated big bait guys. They only want to catch fish on those baits or nothing, even if it means getting skunked. I understand it. There's a lake I fish with my son in law where catching bass with a wacky worm is almost guaranteed. Not a bass, but 15-20, and some 5-6 LBers too. By the third trip there I refused to throw a wacky worm. It just got boring.

Red lights really help here for retying.

No need for a Tat if he has the SLX XT already. It's a good lighter bait reel. The K and XT will cover his bases nicely.

Pick up some chartreuse and pink tails. Sometimes it's a difference maker. I keep a small tool in the box to drive the toothpick out. Makes swapping tails a breeze.

In my local spots where no boats are allowed I wade with either full body or hip waders. Those lakes are a nightmare of trees and bushes right up to the water's edge. It's best to do daylight scouting with a wading staff in order to identify go and no-go zones. At my favorite spot wading is a game changer. There are so many juicy areas that are otherwise inaccessible, meaning low pressure. Those spots never see lures as other's can never hit them from the occasional cuts in the tree lines. It's a little spooky at night, but I got over it. If your lake's depth near the shoreline allows you to get out far enough safely, then you can avoid overhanging limbs on the backswing.

The Tat is a more well rounded reel, IMO, as you can throw a wider range of lures with it. The K doesn't do lighter baits well. Otherwise its a fine reel if you use it in it's wheelhouse. Throw 1/4 oz jerkbaits.

Much more success on the 7" around here. Even dinks bite it.

New delivery! Rigged n Ready to go! MegaBass Magdraft Freestyle 6" All American Trash Fish 6" Nories Spoon Tail Shad 6" Fish Arrow J-Shad 5" BassTrix Fat Minnow

Do your research. There're affordable(inexpensive) proven baits out there. If you go on the FB swimbait pages you can go down the rabbit hole quickly. Lots of "you gotta have this" and "you have to this" and "you can't do that". You can keep it simple and relatively inexpensive if you don't purchase blindly and listen to people who are obsessed. Swimbaiting is no different than "regular" bass fishing. You actually need just a few types of baits to be successful, and not 20 versions of each of them either.

We fish lots of shallow weedy lakes, so slow sink is a must. I stick with the 5" bull gill. 6" bull shad and 4x4 for when fishing those particular spots. Deeper water lakes is where the fast sink and/or larger baits are thrown. The depth of the 4x4 and Shellcracker g2 can be controlled by feel and cranking speed. I've had a grand old time with the Beast Coast Miyagi 4.75". Just a killer bait and looks nearly identical to the Jenko. I have to pick some up in the larger sizes. Which hook do you like for the 7"er?

I have to agree with you here. None of baits shown in the picture, and there are actually quite a bit more not shown as they all couldn't fit on the table, can match the Buccas so far, even with their raw, unfinished texture. The Bull Gill, 4x4, and Bull Shad are straight up killers. Several have received fancy paint jobs this past winter. It'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

The 794 or 795? Yes, big step up.

From what I can tell fishing bigger baits during the day can be a grind wherever you are in the country. It's no different in my area. I throw big baits about 20% of the time, but my brother and a few our friends are all in. It's all they want to do. Their catch rates during the day are low and spread out, dismal really, but after dark it's a different story. They catch consistently and year round. Around here all species bite bigger wakes and glides at night. Even Crappie will hit S Waver 168s , MS Slammeres, Gantarels, etc. It's not rare either. We catch tons of Walleye too while bass fishing at night with those baits. If you can swing it, try night fishing with the baits you've mentioned and see how it goes. We don't fish the spawn, so I can't say how that might go, but any other time of the season night fishing big baits can be the ticket around here.

Hey bro, take it easy. This place isn't a Usenet wild west chat group from 1999. You can have a strong opinion and be polite at the same time, especially with a member like AJ who has the highest standing here. You seem stressed out. There are exercises you can do all by yourself that'll help you relax. Google it. I really like my Daiwa reels, but I know others that hate the braking system. Same thing happens with rods. These tools become an extension of ourselves. It's a personal thing. Therefore, your experience might not be mine. If you haven't tried the Lew's with ACB, or a Quantum with ACS 4.0, then maybe you should. You might be surprised. Since you've provided little detail beyond hyperbole regarding dated reels, I'll assume you haven't. In the meantime be nice. And don't forget to try those exercises.??

You obviously didn't take the time to read anything in my previous post in this thread, or the other poster who has multiple samples and has had no issues. I'm ripe with Daiwa and Shimano. I'm well aware of the situation with offshore OEMs. None of that means brands like Doyo, Banax, and their ilk are incapable of producing something of quality. They can and do in some cases. You had a negative experience 8 years ago with a certain model. Got it. To you this means that this brand is incapable of doing anything right ever again. Got that too. Lots of people had negative experiences with G series Shimanos. Doesn't mean a thing today though. I'm impressed with this particular model in the short term, and for the time being. If it disintegrates or spontaneously combusts I'll be right back here to squawk about it. I promise.

It's possible, but I'd exclude The Reel Test. He's a Shimano fanboy and a bit of a jerk, but not a shill. He's put the GH100 at the top of the list for el cheapo bfs Ali reels as far as actual casting capability goes.

Talk about a fart in an elevator. Yeesh. Should I just bypass the misery and take a sledgehammer to my new Quantum?

Project Z Weedless. I've always been hesitant to throw my Jackhammers close to pad fields at 16 bux a pop. The pads are just breaking the surface and haven't yet filled in, so it's primetime. I'll be braver with these. Got em Buy 3 get 1 free from DSG.

Here you go: https://www.amazon.com/Daiwa-Aird-X-Braiding-X-Casting-Rod/dp/B01N42JE9V

I'm going to have to agree with you completely, and go further. Between my brother, myself, and our closest fishing buddy we have about 60 new production reels. Mostly Shimano and Daiwa, but a few samples from Lew's and others. The only Quantums in the mix are several Monster 300s that we all use for swimbait reels. Regardless of the shade that's thrown at this reel online it's actually very nice, casts a mile, never seems to backlash, and is pretty smooth and tight. We have Tranx models up to the 400, so we're used to the good stuff. The fact that I use, or have fished with, all these reels doesn't make me an expert, but simply, perhaps, an informed end user. I won't spend lots of time here posting a review about the Tour S3, but here's a taste. This reel is outstanding. I value most of my reels for some of the specific capabilities they have. If you pay attention, there are many nuances from reel to reel and how they perform differently when paired favorably on different rod/line mixes. I haven't had the time to rotate this reel onto all of the rods I expect to pair it with, but in the short term here's what I've observed: The braking system is progressive, which means there's a window of adjustment before disaster. Some reels seem/feel like they're in safe zone, but you're actually one click away from disaster. That one click down on the dial and braking falls off a cliiff. Not so with this braking system. When your're close to the redline, especially on hard bomb casts, you'll get some mild fluffing at the apex of the cast, but it recovers consistently. The only other reel I have that mirrors this particular aspect nearly identically is the Daiwa Catalina, which is a Zillion variant and a freak long caster. It's not a BFS reel as it has a 14 gram spool, but with standard bass lures from an actual 3/8oz and up it performs very well and predictably. Where this reel truly shines is in it's long casting ability. It's truly a monster in this regard. It's a spectacular long distance caster. In the engineering world you'll find many examples of machinery from different manufacturers that are built to do identical jobs. Occasionally certain samples within a given group stand out because they exhibit something truly special. In the course of industrial design sometimes a specific iteration, or just an aspect of a design, hits upon a "golden ratio". I don't know if Quantum set out to achieve this, or it happened accidentally, but it happened. In the engineering world I've witnessed first hand when the "latest" version of a design loses the magic of it's previous version. It's not unusual unfortunately. Hopefully they understand the "why" of how they found this mix and don't lose it when they're forced by market pressure or their own marketing department into releasing the S4. If you're on the fence about grabbing one of these, or even a Smoke S3, while the 50% sale is in effect until tomorrow, don't be. There's lots more to say about this reel, and it's mostly very good. One more thing; I inquired about this reel once on this forum some time ago, but didn't get responses that inferred that it was out of the ordinary or special. I have a mind of my own and could've taken the plunge, but I didn't. What I'll say now that I have is that if I'd gotten this reel back then I'd have lots more of these now, even at full price, and alot less of the others. I realized this on the very first cast. Just like that.

Lot's of choices out there. Browse rods labelled crankbait or moderate with a lure rating that'll work with the baits you intend to throw. I'll mention the Defy Black Crankbait rods again because I use them, as does my brother, and they've stood up well to trips through the woods occasionally snagging trees, swatting branches when casting, and outsized lures. Plus I like full cork handles. I've had zero problems with 13 rods breaking or anything else. None, and I have quite a few. Take a look at Dobyn's as they're an approved brand, at least on this forum. There's a good sale going on right now, I believe, at sportsmens outfitters.

That's a key element right there. I never really noticed I was doing it until someone I was showing how to skip pointed it out.

That rod is quite stiff and built for driving very heavy wire hooks, so while it's weight rating is good for the baits you're talking about, sans the Rat 50, it's nowhere near ideal for their hooks and keeping fish on. If you're set on it, or something with a similar power and action, you could compensate to a degree with lighter mono for extra stretch. Without that you're likely to have more fish shake off. There's also the higher likelihood of yanking out the hooks on the set without some sort of compensation like line stretch and lighter drag. I've thrown all sorts of baits on rods that aren't best suited for them due to the fact that I'm limited to what I can carry while wading. I've failed and then found ways to compensate in a pinch. But you're talking about throwing one specific bait type here, so in this case you should consider rods with a far more moderate action than the XT, IMO.

6TH Sense Divine swim jigs in several bluegill styles. 3/8 and 1/2 oz with Eco Pro swing shads or Berkley chigger craws. Tons of pads where I fish so 50lb braid minimum.