GetFishorDieTryin

Too many people overestimate the length of their casts, but 8-10" is a clear indication that something is very wrong. Even if the line was wrapped around the blank between eyes or going through a guide frame or 2 I would expect it to cast farther than 10". You should be able to cast that 3'16 much farther than you could throw it. I would suggest checking that line is going through all the guides correctly and wound tightly on the spool.

Gulp Alive is the same formula as regular gulp. The only distinction is the FW/SW formula. You can dump old Gulp baits into the jar and recharge them, but unlike the older fishmeal formula, once the new ones dry out, they will not regain the correct texture/size when saturated. Elaztech and elaztech like baits will actually absorb some of that liquid into the material. It washes out fast in comparison to the gulp plastic formula.

IMO one of the best follow up baits is a senko, You can throw them anywhere, rig them a bunch of different ways and they will cover th entire water column even when they are weightless. I do use small swimbaits, ned rigs, shakey heads and T/ rigs often to pick apart structure after fishing it with a swim jig, bladed jig, crank, or whatever.

A bladed jig has accounted for 3 of my 5 biggest fish and IMO the spring is the best time to fish them. When the water is in the low 40s i fish them just like a jig and speed up as the mood of the fish changes.

1/0 should do nicely.

The DJ casting jig has a lighter wire hook and thinner guard so you can set it at distance. Greenfish has the Tackle Badger Greenfish makes a HD version too. Bigger hook and recessed line tie. Picasso old school rubber dock rocket. Theyre expensive, but quality is great. Beast Coast Double wide if you want to throw into heavy cover. For whatever reason they're discontinuing them and there aren't too many around, limited colors. BC makes the some of the best skirts on the market, handtied with tinsel.

If youre throwing Braid you don't need a ton of capacity. A buddy of mine uses a Coastal 200 for FW swimbaits, SW plugs and jigging. I love the handle and grips on it. It has a ton of capacity, so you can run FC and or braid with backing. He also has a 200 Tranx I just saw a Curado 200m for the first time today and they're really nice. Its about the size of the 200 tranx, but palms a little better IMO. The Curado M is like a 200k and !50 MGL put together, very nice feeling. I saw the new SVs too and really liked them. I don't know if they have more distance then the older ones or not. The JDM has a Zillion HD that might be worth checking out. Never seen or handled 1, but I sure someone on here can fill you in.

I think it depends on what kind of crank you want to use. I use a 7'1 M F for shallow running cranks and traps up 1/2oz. Once you get to cranks that dive over 5' and weigh over 1/2oz. a M power can start to feel under gunned. They usually top out at 5/8 anyway. Of course, there is no industry standard for action and power can vary too, Glass rods are heavy, but the newer comp rods are roughly the same weight as graphite. If you throw a lot of cranks or just really like to fish cranks its worth getting one IMO.

The 20 MetB? USDM is 150 JDM is 100 No, youre right according to I was always told it was 100, by a few different people. I stand corrected, my apologies.

No, it a 100.

Thats a tough one because you want a lower ratio for the bigger swimbaits in a 150 size, but you want some speed for throwing frogs. What kind of line are you using?

You can go cheaper on FC if you're using it for casting gear and want lower lb test #12 or under. I find that once you get to #15 you run into memory and management issues, especially if you fish in cold water. For me InvizX #15 24$(but I buy it on sale) is a go to, do it all line for MH gear. Red Label will work, but there's a noticeable difference in management and memory. Im sure there are great lines out there. I know a couple guys that I really trust, and they say P Line Tactical @25$ish is excellent. Another guy I know who makes a living guiding and fishing tourneys, swears that $ for $ Spro Gouken is the best value on the market @20$ and outperforms line double its price.

Im a big fan of Daiwas 7'1 ML F Tatula. The length action and power make it super versatile. DS, Neds, small JB, 1/16/,3/32 head, finesse swimbait, pretty much anything a light finesse rod needs to do. Not the lightest rod, but the balance and ergonomics are great, so it feels really good in hand. The 7" M F Tatula or 7'1 Tatula Elite is more equal in power to Shimano's ML. While you can fish nekos and light shakey heads on the ML the M would be a better option. It can still throw just about anything the ML can. The really small swimbaits 3" or less with a 1/16 might not cast as well as the ML, but it will still do it and handle slightly heavier heads and bigger baits.

Pretty sure this is in regard to post SW use or mid-season cleaning. If I cleaned every reel like that after every time, I fished I would spend more time cleaning than fishing. I clean my reels the same way, under a faucet, with cool water under low pressure. Ill use a hose, but I make sure to mist the reel, if its too much pressure it can just blasts the salt and sand deeper into the reel. Not a good idea to dunk the whole reel, unless you plan on complete disassembly, purge grease/oil, dry out, then re grease/oil and reassemble.

The Dobyns I suggested is actually 340$ sorry. Daiwa makes a 7'5 Tatula AGS that you try to get your hands on. Usually their tapers are faster, but @7'5 and being purpose built for FB jigs it should be great. There is a catch the guides are super light and sensitive, but they arent as durable as SS. As long as you don't abuse he rod and sock it when its transport or stored with a bunch of other rods you shouldn't have issues. I got a couple of their SW AGS rods last year. I wasn't sure about the AGS guides, but after a good season of fishing them with the on beach and jetty they held up really well. I don't know if they actually increase sensitivity or its just the lighter tip that gives the illusion of that, but so far, I was impressed enough to buy another.

I use a 7'1 M F for my keitech, picasso and Beast Coast footbals, but I dont go over 3/8. Maybe a Dobyns Champ 7'4 Heavy F or Brailist. I like Dobyns H blanks, they feel like a MH to me, but are balanced really well so they feel great in hand. The actions are bit slower than most, so the F has some tip to it especially when you get 7'3 or 7'4. Its just a matter of figuring out if you want the 1/4-3/4 H or the 1/4-1oz H. Water is really shallow around here, I dont use 1/2 often, so Im not positive on which one to go with. The Brailist is a purpose-built jig rod, but its got more of Japanese taper so its a slower action than most jig rods, they call it Med F. People either love them or hate them, so I suggest finding one and getting it in your hand before you commit.

The biggest game changer in FW bass fishing I've personally witnessed is undoubtedly the senko. They catch fish now, but when they were just hitting the scene, it was like cheating. The only other gamechanger that comes close in my mind is the introduction of Gulp in the NE SW game.

Other then a rod I got form Japan, ALF has had the best packing job. TW used to do real well, but lately theyre just taping the plastic wrap of the rod to the outside of the tube and covering the tip. The most recent rod I got from TW was loose in the tube because the plastic rod cover had holes at both ends, like WTH TW. I had to send the previous rod back because it had a huge gash in the reel seat, which I could see getting by the guys at TW, but Phenix should have never tried to sell it.

I think Daiwa makes a great reel, but IMO Shimano has better feeling bail, in terms of crisp articulation.

I got a bad spool of #15 a couple years ago. It never broke in midair, but it would break at half the pressure it normally takes to break #15 Inviz.

Most of the bottoms of the lakes around here are too soft to grind a cranks, as soon as you touch it the bait fowls with algae, but there are some sections of gravel that can grind a crank on. I like to bounce them off laydown and wood, but my favorite place to run a crankbait are lily fields before the pads grow in completely. The roots make for great structure to bounce a crank off of. If im fishing straight grass. If I'm throwing a crank in grass, I like to use one with a round bill. I think he round bill comes through grass better, but if its sparse a SB will work fine IMO.

Around here the yo yoing bite is the best in late winter to mid march because the shallow water warms so fast. There are so many different shapes, rattles, ROF and sizes that you can generally find one to fit the conditions. When the water is still in the low 40s I like a slower falling trap. As the water warms Ill use traps that sink faster. One I've found that really does well is Duos Nitro Vibe. Its not super thin like the Apex or G fix. The nitro is wider and much better to fish slow, but you can still burn it and whack em too. I like the TN 60 over the LV500. They both sink fast, but the TN sits nose down and works well when fished like a jig in the winter. I want to check out the LV and RTO 150, but its on a gigantic list of baits that I want to try.

Prespawn for me is broken up into at least 3 periods, early, mid and late prespawn/early spawn. The baits and way I fish them changes dramatically after mid prespawn when the grass really starts to come in and the bite windows get much larger. Early spawn jerkbait/trap/bladed jig combination In midspawn squarebills/trap/spinner/bladed jig and pitching starts to payoff In late pre/early spawn it starts to get hard to fish trebles in some places, so a swimjig starts to take the place of a squarebill around pads, the bladed jig almost replaces the trap and T/Free rigs get heavy use. On the finesse side of things small swimbaits, shakey heads and neds will be mixed in all year.

To me fazlite is as serviceable as alconite as a material, but alconites cost a little more so they are a little more desirable to most. Yes, the whoa son! is from RM lol.

5" senko T rigged Frog/Toad buzzbait swimjig spinnerbait