GetFishorDieTryin

I'm sorry to hear about the bad news. Things are going to be tough, but don't despair. Modern medicine is impressive and anything with the good Lords blessing is possible. Trust your body to the doctors and entrust your soul to God. You and your family will be in my prayers.

Clean and simple will always look good when its done right and Loomis has done it right for a long time. Paint and gel coats add weight. Thats why NRX is pretty much raw blank.

Really small baits work better for me. I really like Roboworms 3" alive shad

Riots minima jig Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury compact flipping jig

3/16 oz bullet (unpegged) or free rig weight 2/0 G finesse heavy cover straight shank Limited to one bait, it would be a biffle bug 15lb FC

5/8 2pc in black for any time of day. If I had to pick a second color, it would be Perch.

I had terrible experiences with Vanish line and leader material. The leader had a nick every 6' or 7' on the entire spool. IDK how it happened. There are guys who use heavy vanish like 20# and up as leader for inshore fishing in Florida and they love it.

I've heard a few guys liking them for inshore/nearshore jigging, fluke and bass mostly. These guys don't use junk.

I like using jig worm in the fall on those days when they dont want to eat anything. I use a 4" worm, bubbling shaker, hit worm, cutdown airtail wiggler or Robowom straight tail fat. I usually fish them in the last of live submergent grass and for that I favor a 1/16 owner darter head with a #1 or 1/0 hook, but ill use mushroom heads, like the blockhead and halfhead, but the weight is always light usually 1/16 or 1/32 no heavier than 3/32. I want the weight light enough, so it doesn't bury itself in the grass. Having a small lightwire hook is just enough to grab the grass, but easy to rip free with a light rod.

You need a lip, or the right balance/shape on a plug to get that kind of walk the dog action under the surface. There are things that are in the same ballpark with the closest being a bladed jig, if I understand you correctly anyway. As mentioned a tube and Bayruf head are close as well. If you insist on a skirt, you could add a spider grub skirt to a BR head, but the added drag of the skirt will almost certainly hurt the action of the bait.

You would probably like the JDM F tapers. Theyre generally slower than most of the tapers here in the US. Either way when you get to rods over 7'4 the tip section is longer, and the actions tend be softer. So long as its not a broomstick, a 7'4 or 7'6 F has a slower action compared to a shorter H F. I really liked the older MBRs for swimming a bucktail and soft plastics for inshore fish. I could see the 904MBR being good for open water jigs, especially football jigs, but personally, I like FC and prefer a little faster taper when working a jig through cover or dragging it on the bottom. Theres no shortage of 7'5 and 7'6 rods that are right up your alley, so option are many. Only you really know what you like and that's the most important facet to this. My best advice would be to get the 904 in your hands before you make a decision.

TB is a great fishing channel. They get into gear, but its not a deep dive unless its a particular rod they really like and even then, its not too in depth. Matt is very talented at breaking down techniques into simple terms that anyone can understand. Punch is really good too. Hes not afraid to give a bum review and hes on top of the latest baits and JDM gear, Ben is unique from the start in that he imports so much MB and JDM gear, he probably has a big share of that market. He admittedly has some bias, but it's very hard not to like high end JDM gear, so I get it. The only thing he said that I don't agree with, or frankly understand, is that rod balance doesn't matter, and he gets irritated when people try to find the balance point on a rod in his shop. I'm not a fan of tip heavy rods, it makes the whole experience less enjoyable. I would imagine the vast majority of gear he's using is exquisitely balanced, maybe he forgets what fishing with a tip heavy finesse rod is like lol. I don't find the Bible quotes annoying at all, I'm actually glad to see them. Its the disingenuous nature of it that gets to me. He does do a good job with reel specs such which is useful. Its just hard for me to support someone who exudes arrogance at every possible opportunity.

You could so it if you want, but you're going to blow through line like crazy using with the length of DS leaders.

I use a loop knot for bucktails and soft plastics because it lets the bait look more natural. A lot of other guys use TA clips, but they look clunky in clear water and are like magnets for vegetation. A lot of times I see guys using loop knots that are too big or aren't tied right in the case of the Rapala knot.(the loop I use) If the loop is too big, its not doing you any favors action wise. If the tag isn't pointing straight down, you went through the loop the wrong way. I use good FC leader, that will increase the strength of the knot tremendously over running line and good mono actually does the best breakage wise IME. I usually 10-20lb for light to MH gear and 20-50lb for heavy surf gear.

The older Terminator quick change grommeted skirts I have are similar to Picassos skirts. Picassos also uses a grommet and I tink the skirt material is better. War eagle skirts use gromets too, but i dont have as much experience with them as I do the picassos.

Robowoms are good quality for the price. They have a great buoyancy for DSing, close to neutral. I really like the Fat straight tails, but the Alive Shad are probably my favorite. They are one of the most successful DS baits I use. The only issue with them is you almost have to nose hook them. I use a #2 Trokar helix or #1 Gami DS. For T rigging worms there are plenty of options. I use Cover Shots, Hayabusa straight shanks and BKK Basilisk offset round bend. The size can be from 1 to 3/0 depending on the size of the bait and company that makes the hook. Im a fan of the rebarb, the hook is great, but the keepers always fall apart and I have to tie a new 1. I use all of those hooks because I have them already. Downshots are probably the way to go for T riggin a DS, with the bend of the eye and shank, but they are pretty much limited to DSing. I dont know the name of the knot i tie for DS, but its not a palomar or uni. Its like a dropper loop, without the loop. The line knots around the shank at the base of the eye, which causes the bait to stand straight out and has a good presentation with standard straight shanks.

I've seen some his content, and Reel test gets on my nerves, he's arrogant and hypocritical. Some of his casting battles aren't even because he might use different rods or line. When someone politely points that out in the comments, the guy who quotes the bible in his videos replies with these heinous remarks about the commenters mother or family. Tackle Advisors had great content and was open about his bias if he had any. I trust his reviews. I don't know I've bought anything outright just because of his recommendations, but I take them into consideration. I've run into him a few times over the years during the fall run and he's pretty cool, he likes to talk.

MH M and MFs can really vary in power, so its hard to know until you get it in your hand, I would bet it would be good for yo yoing a lipless and other crankbaits. at the very least.

I like darker colors around grass. For soft plastics I like junebug or a junebug laminate. Beast Coast has some of the best stock skirts around, i love the tinsel. Hard to go wrong with bruised, or green pumpkin black. Elite craw, stealth craw and neon melon are great too. All the stealth skirts have a mixture of skirt materials which gives the skirt a different action than most.

Yeah, the hookup is the only place i know that ever carries them. They must have gotten more in, because they didnt have any midnight black or Ivory Halo a couple months ago. Sucks all the duo products went up 3$, thats a big difference when youre buying a half dozen of them. I bought one of the new Realis USA Raz JBs. It doesnt seem bad for 10$ but the quality isnt like the other 1s IMO. When the water thaws ill see how it runs.

I have some of the smaller ones, 85s and 100s. Thinking about grabbing a 110 or 130 for stripers but I don't think they're through wired and the occasional big blue will do some damage. They would do fine for smaller bass, but the I have my doubts about them with 20lb+ bass in heavy water. I know they used to make 65s and they would be blast on light tackle, but they aren't easy to find.

I really like the duo pencils. Whats ur fav size?

Just the price of jig heads has gone up to crazy levels. A decent jighead for crappie is running more than 1$ now. With the proliferation of FFS, strolling a finesse plastic in front of spotlighted fish has become the norm and the demand just drives the $ even more. Really the prices started to go up as soon as ned rigging really caught on and its never stopped. I can see paying decent $ for a skirted jig. You need a solid hook with good paint or finish, premium skirting with flashibou or tinsel is ideal and well installed effective brushguard. With typing cost it all adds up. Ill replace a few jigs for 6$ if I need too, but the bulk will be bought when they are discounted. Some good jigs around for good price still. Molix has some great jigs for 4$, everything is high quality on them.

The first 10ft of line often takes the most damage. It makes no sense to run heavy line throught the entire spool when you don't need it. Furthermore, braid is very strong. Most people dont realize how much pressure it takes to break uncompromised 10 or 15lb braid. 5lb may not seem like much, but the difference in casting and handling is very noticeable.

Ive been using the #6 1x round bend gamis on shad raps for years and they aren't much, if any better than the 110 jr hooks. Ive got more 110 jrs than standards and ive never had a burr or dull point ever. The hooks keep their point really well. Any 1x hook is going to bend or gets stressed under heavy load. The softer hooks will flex where the harder hook like g finesse wont, but instead of bending that harder metal breaks. The only issues ive had with the split rings is corrosion after using them in SW. Thats when I swap them out. I have a harder time with balancing Duo JBs. I have more issues balancing rozantes than 110s. Sometimes theyre a real pita.