Jig Man

I use 15# with various leaders.

Nope

I fish it a lot. Right now smallmouth are from 2-6’ deep where I fish so I am rigging light (1/16 and 3/32). I carry 1/16, 3/32, 1/8, 5/32, 3/16, and 1/4. Slight changes can really make a difference if you are attuned. Wind can really affect what I use.

In my boat I have around 20 with multiple rods for each application. When I am a guest I have to limit to 6; top water, C rig, 2 jig, shaky and swim bait/Ned rig.

I use willow leaf blades instead of dummy baits, more flash.

I’ve tried about every color and combination you could think of, even making the bottom wire longer. I’ve seen no difference. I now only use white baits which I make, flukes and paddle tail swim baits.

I believe that you are overthinking this one. I make my own and have used hooks from 1/0 to 4/0 depending the target species. Where I fish I have to keep the bait in the upper part of the water column because of all the hang ups. In order to do this I like 1/16 oz heads on 90° hooks. I use the heaviest of my rods with 50# braid.

Ebay has used ones all the yime.

I do a lot of shaky fishing. I tried several of my rods of various manufacturers and wasn’t really satisfied. I was dow at Ark Rods spring sale and picked up a rod to try. It turned out to be better than the ones I was using. I had a local rod builder repair a rod and talked to him about this. He had me bring the rod to his shop along with the reel that I used. He gave it a thorough look and said he could make me a better one. He did. It is extremely sensitive. I liked it so well that I had another one made with the same components. Maybe it is sensitivity or confidence. I don’t know but I am not going to change.

You might look at Dirty Jigs guppy head. I’ve used them some.

You seemed to be referencing hooks so I only mentioned them. I can put any weight that I want from 1/16 to 1/2 depending on which mold cavity I use.

If I were going to be fishing with 2 young kids I would want a boat with fairly high sides so that I didn’t have to worried about them falling out. I would never recommend a bass boat to a first time boat owner. That would be a major learning curve.

I use the Gamakatsu #114 in 2/0 and 3/0 for that size swim bait.

I have at least 15 Shimano bait casters. I’ve been using Shimano for more than 20 years. This is the only one that has ever had a problem any where like this. I fish 7 different weights of shaky on this setup. Exact adjustment is critical.

I’ve never run across that but many times daily I notice people using then when it should be than and there for their. Maybe elementary school should be 12-14 years.

I went back and took the bushing out of the knob side and put the thickest copper bushing that I have. I wonder if I should order a new spool?

I was changing baits on a Curado X70 XG. I was setting the tension and it wouldn’t work. I took the bushings out from behind both spool bearings and turned them over. That didn’t work. I change the spool and nothing happened. I can’t tighten it up any farther. I am guessing it must be connected to the bearings. I want to use it tomorrow. Any ideas?

No I have not tried them. I make my own. I fish shaky a lot. I keep my rod tip from 10-12 o’clock. When I feel a bite I drop my rod tip and watch the line where it enters the water. If it moves I set the hook. If it is just tapping I figure it is a dink and won’t take the bait.

Thanks. I looked around my workbench and found one that is a little thicker and put it on. The knob is a lot tighter than it was. Next trip I’ll see if it holds up.

Will the different types of Curados have different sizes of O rings? I’m trying to figure out how to get one.

One of my Curados has a tension knob that works loose as it is used. Any ideas on how to fix this?

I can not properly work a spook using fluorocarbon line. I use a lot of fluorocarbon but is for bottom contact baits.

I think it may depend on the brand. I had Lowrance in my previous boat and it would read at any speed. It was also in this boat when I bought it. It would also read at any speed. When I switched to Humminbird it would only read to about 30 mph. I had the Lowrance ducer taken out and the bird put in its exact location. Now it will read to 40 but no faster. But like stated you really aren’t going to see much unless you are idling remembering that what you see on 2d is history not current.

What is happening is the wind moves algae and zooplankton move to feed on the algae. Fish that feed on zooplankton move in then predator fish like bass move in. That can probably happen rather quickly on a small lake. On lakes the size we have it may take as many as 3 days to set up the food chain. Our wind is changing every day so it has been tough around here.

I use Power Pro 8/1 and 5/1 when I can get it.