txchaser

Irod's A-rig rod is pretty good, and it'd work just fine for punching too. I use it from time to time on 6" soft swimbaits (more like the whale or daingerous than a boom boom). 1.25oz chatterbaits, big spoons, etc. Fill the other spot with a H rod you like for frogs if you fish them much.

Sitting dockside has a decent amount of conversation about prey and bass behavior - mostly biologists.

Kistler and Daiwa have both exceeded my expectations.

More time I spend on the electronics the more fish I end up catching, to a point. Sidescan in particular - you find stuff that very few other people know is there. Those fish get beat on less. Now that I have FFS they are kinda the same - fishing and on the electronics. Although in less than 8FOW I'm mostly using it for "yep there's stuff here in this area" vs targeting specific fish. It is very efficient.

This last two winters (and a bassU class) taught me that there are fish that will absolutely smash fast stuff when it's cold. Not all of them.. but what used to be an outside grass edge with a rattletrap really is a thing. bladed jig fished a little bit faster than a blade bait, kind of like a swinghead can work too. Warming trend probably helps here, as does a sunny day. In fairness it doesn't really ever freeze over here though.

I hope they did a little something nice for you.

One of your best "this is the juice" videos, especially for when the fish are all over the place in volatile weather. Worth watching/reading twice - transition edges by the stacked up lines, and your spot on the spot comment ...

I'd say middle of the fairway is a 1/8 oz head with a 3-4 inch skinny bait. 10-12 ft deep right now. Kinda early to tell though. How's casting distance with that setup?

PSA, but maybe I'm last to the party. Dicks has some interesting 6th sense baits not listed on the 6th sense website or on TW. I have no connection to 6th sense or dicks, but I do like 6th sense baits for where/how I fish. Some of these are interesting. edit: looks like they are at academy too Fiction Shad https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-fiction-shad-softbait-246thufctn43lvgzzlur/246thufctn43lvgzzlur?color=Ghost Pro Shiner Strobe Minnow https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-strobe-minnow-softbait-246thustrbmnw32ghlur/246thustrbmnw32ghlur?color=Ghost Pro Shiner Strobe shaker https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-strobe-shaker-minnow-swimbait-246thustrbshkr33glur/246thustrbshkr33glur?color=Log Perch Panorama swimbait https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-panorama-soft-bait-236thupnrm35ghstmlur/236thupnrm35ghstmlur?color=4K Shad Rigged Panorama https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/6th-sense-rigged-panorama-swimbait-246thupnrgdswmbt3lur/246thupnrgdswmbt3lur?color=4K Shad

You will see structure and cover that is not obvious from above the water, and that will get you more prime spots, less pressured fish, and maybe bigger ones too.

Bait choice makes a big difference here. I mostly prefer the divine in 3.8 - it's not a very big bait compared to most and has a tighter wiggle. Lighter too. Jackall is my active fish choice - bit softer and more wiggle. IMO Keitech Fat Impacts are big huge wag, they just dont feel quite right to me. I'm sure there's a time and a place for them. I definitely agree with the comment above about no blades sometimes @softwateronly - If I had to do last weekend over again I should have seen it. They were gobbling a damiki/hover but wouldn't eat the a-rig, and I think the blades were the issue. Reel the rig slower than you think you should - they have a lot of lift.

Zako is my default. Rage bug horizontal for one specific color choice. Looks a little more craw like anyway. Going to try the blade minnow in it's stead because I like to fish deeper on this specific falcon craw in the spring, low and slow presentation. And I just bought a pack of the new geecrack bladed jig trailer that AJ co-designed. A friend had a pack and I liked them - tail looks good, and the head is much stiffer plastic so should last longer than a zako, especially burying it in the weeds. Hoping for the best of both worlds.

I'm leaning in pretty hard to the FFS, it's tons of fun. But that also means mid-stroll/hover stroll is a pretty key part of those days. The plain'ol 7' spinning rod I have is working fine, but if I'm going to be locked on this as a presentation I should (can? want to?) get a specialized rod. I'm seeing a bunch of stuff about solid tips being better because (whatever reason, maybe the shake?). Are they? I'm thinking about a little longer than 7', trying to stand off from the fish some and can't see how I could do a 80' presentation the way this is set up. But accuracy matters a lot here. Anyway, assume I'm fine spending a bit of money, but I'm not trying to buy a conquest either. Just want to buy once/cry once. But does it really matter on this presentation? Is there a bfs deal to be done, or just hush and get another spinning rod? Rod monkey is gonna win, so please help me push him in the right direction.

First 13+ in Texas for the year is usually caught in the first few days of Jan. IMO big fish prespawn starts mid-feb at the latest. But the weather is comically volatile week to week. 4746 Strike King Elite 01/03/2025 Brandon Burks Stephenville TX 11.37 24.00 J. B. Thomas Brandon Burks's fish 4727 Legacy #670 01/02/2025 Brady Stanford Millersview TX 13.13 27.00 O. H. Ivie Brady Stanford's fish 4726 Strike King Elite 01/02/2025 Steve Eldred Yantis TX 10.08 24.75 Lake Fork Steve Eldred's fish 4722 Bass Pro Shops Lunker 01/01/2025 Max Nwanebu Fairview TX 9.63 24.50 Lake Fork

IMO this is a great moving bait rod. Does fine with senkos, etc. If I could have just one action on a baitcaster (and a single rod) it'd be this unless I was getting up in Nitranium or Loomis MBR territory.