txchaser

The owner flipping hook change put my hookup at nearly 100% this season, and that made a big difference because this was by far the best bottom contact presentation this summer.

Yes Invisx has more stretch.

I mostly use tatsu. If I had a spool of invisx around I'd use it on cranking setups, the stretch difference is noticeable to me, and a little more give especially on smaller hooks is usually a good thing.

Change the presentation of the same lure first. Faster/slower, let that swimjig fall all the way to the bottom and sit for a bit. Look at the next deepest and shallowest stopping place, like the next dropoff on the way out, or the inside weed edge, on those nearby spots just throw the original stuff. You can probably hit this without moving the boat. Throw something really big/loud, small/quiet. Probably start with whatever matches the vibe of the bite on the swimjig - if they are smoking it hard, go big/loud to start (example - a 6" soft swimbait); if they are barely mouthing it then small/quiet.

Just a few. No biggie.

I check bassforecast regularly when I fish. It can be a good reminder of places or presentations I forgot. I figure for the price of a few lures it doesn't have to get me on too many fish every year to be worth it. The solunar data is very precise, if that's your thing. I think there's something to it, especially the 'minor' windows. Historical weather data is useful too - looking at the weather at that location for the few days prior to when I fish can help. Also, there's a pinned post around here somwhere with free lake maps, which can be very helpful in planning.

For the next person across this thread, the LMH is pretty much perfect for 3.8 Keitech fat on a 3/0 owner underspin.

Three things come to mind: 1 - in really small waters, your first cast is often your best shot at a big one. Plan and move accordingly. 2 - stop fishing and start hunting. Imagine you are hunting a single fish. The big one. There's probably a 'best' spot on the lake for that one fish. Feeding flat near deep water, or a big submerged log or bush near deep water. Best ambush point, etc. 3 - Treat larger fish like a different species. They really are different. Apex predator; they can literally eat the size fish you are catching. They've been around a while and are likely more sensitive to noise, splashes, etc... decent chance they've been caught before and didn't like it. Bonus - cloudy, windy days up your odds. Wednesdays up your odds.

High effort post. Thank you!

5/0 will work. 3/0 is a better fit though. +1 for the post above suggesting to change out the CPS spring for one size larger.

I bought an 'excellent' rod from them and it looked like 'new no tags' to me. I'd buy from them again.

Yep. A few for the list: 6th sense munch Keitech 3.3 on an underspin

Thank you @roadwarrior

Fish that same rig from the outside edge of the grass to about 10' from the grass. They'll move in and out of that grass depending on mood, sunlight etc. Punching takes a while to get the hang of but once it happens, oh boy it's hard to go back. I agree that you may need heavier weight - if your lure is making it through the grass then you don't need more though. This winter you'll be able to map out where the grass is and see if your catches correlate to structure changes. They probably will. Also I find that fishing in the deep grass is long spells of nothing and then you might pull four big fish out of a spot the size of your kayak.

Oh boy... they make that color in many of their lures. Looks dangerous.

+1 for mend-it as a bonus, IMO really beat up plastics look more natural also, upsizing your CPS spring if you are using that style hook. the default ones they come with are always one size too small

@ol'crickety those deps flat (or any of the competitive versions like geecrack) make a good gill presentation for you. You know there's at least one big fish that will only eat those.

I got to fish a high-altitude trout lake, far away from everyone. Ended up using my bass fishing skills to figure out what they wanted, which was really fun... they weren't eating the usual trout on a spinning rod stuff like a mepps.

Might try going a little deeper from where you are getting bluegill bites. Often some bass out there waiting to dash in and grab a snack, so put one in their face.

Hundreds of FG's at this point, although I don't use braid to leader much anymore. 30lb braid to 15lb leader mostly. Ring above - Great 9.00 to spend for FG knot cinching. Or the dowels others mentioned. I'll echo more wraps for slicker braid. Really hard flouro leader can require some 'popping' in the original cinchdown to get it started on the bite. I usually use 22 or 24. Also, tying the first two half hitches very very tight is important. I watched a video from japan where they put a little mushroom head on the flouro leader, and I like it, so I do that now.

Black makes a really good bluegill imitator in water like that. Craw too. So yeah, some bright white and chart stuff, but black can be the deal. Might try a fire craw or rayburn red color too. In crankbaits, I have more really big shallow fish on those colors than any others.

Thank you for making a difference!

Thanks everyone. The tug is just to make sure it's not wrapped funny, missed guide, etc. But it's like a six inch tug, not a yank or anything. It's like it just fell apart? Anyway I sent it back and they warranteed it without making a fuss or charging me xpeditor, so maybe there was some kind of issue they saw in the break. The more I think about the first time it happened I bet I had less than 1/2 of pressure on it, so it must have already been broken. Your comments about they are not known for fragile tips is very helpful, since I haven't broken any poison adrenas or kistler zbone/helium treating them the same way, I thought maybe these are fragile. I'll probably baby it anyway!

Good work!

Conquest MBR Tip snapped - Is this a known issue? Happened to me twice - pick the rod up, grab the line, tug it a bit to make sure it is clear so I can tie on, and the tip just falls off. Probably the top 6" once and the top 8" the second time. I don't leave it anywhere that part of the rod would be in contact with anything, or stepped on. 20+ rods, plenty of really nice ones, so I don't think it's abuse. It's my only loomis conquest though. Maybe this needs a different behavior from me? I really don't think I'm bending the tip 180, I'm usually really careful about going beyond 90 degrees; I've even yelled at fishing buddies about high-sticking. Thoughts?