softwateronly

I bought them on BF but still haven't used them, hoping they would be a good punch bait or free rig/weightless on a deep weedline. Where/what have they done best for you? Their maximus worm and now the minnobi have been good to me. scott

Yet another reason for a renewal of the Pike Committee... scott

@bowhunter63 there's a lot of give in your set up. Do you have a MH/F rig or the option of adding braid to the current set up? scott edit - Or is there room for improvement on the hookset? Have you reeled down on them and swept to the side while still reeling?

My frog rod is sometimes a magdraft freestyle combo. I find a 7 speed more versatile and still good for frogging and jigs. That's my pick. I really like that bantam model, it's slightly heavy but it feels like a forever reel. scott

I don't use 832 yet I don't think it's the brand of braid with how many people like it. The 30lb diameter probably has the most to do with it from what I read above. I have pp v2 30lb on 2 different 71hg mgl's, one behaves perfectly and the other digs often, the one I swim jig with and tighten down the most. scott

@Pat Brown That Teckel shark is an open water gem. It walks so easily you can dance it in place, preferably right over their head. Don't sleep on it. scott

The dipsey swivels will beat up the nose of your bait because the eyelet is larger. Bobber stop above the knot and a small bead help mitigate. scott

There are no solutions, only tradeoffs. I like throwing 5-7" fluke style baits and a lot of them have varying densities and depth required for a proper hook gap exposure, like the difference between a spunk shad and super fluke magnum. I love beast hooks for swimbaits but find they can over keel the erratic action of a fluke and I also prefer a lighter wire hook and a lighter setup. Adding weights to various hooks I already like lets me dial in what I hope will work for that situation. scott

I grabbed some of these so I can stay with the hooks I prefer. Haven't used them yet though... scott https://thehookuptackle.com/products/ds-14-custom-sinker?variant=42751459164327

Nothing more true has ever been written... scott

Warm water period is also peak time for food options, presentations might need to be more refined to fit the energy in/energy out equation. And I also think night time gives bass peak hunting efficiency. Actively gorge all night, more toward opportunistic only during the day. I think this equation flips in cold water and now fish faster in the winter because bass aren't used to much trying to get away successfully. scott ps - Summer nights and swim jigs usually means my net gets a workout. I can't land any of these ornery 17" ers without one. They are in peak fighting condition.

@A-Jay Beautiful audio and video...Thank you! I just relived my pb brown, not as big as this one, shore fishing lake michigan 12-15yrs ago. Bill Lewis rattle trap got annihilated in front of the Shedd Aquarium and nearly spooled me twice. If it wasn't for some friendly polish kids with a long handle net I might still be there. scott

I think my main problem is that I absolutely fall in love with types of bites. I look forward to certain times of year when certain baits really shine and I get to indulge in unique types of hits that are addicting. This became apparent when I didn't get a whiff on a jig from september thru march and then wasn't able to get on the water till late may. 8 months is too long for no jig fish and I felt it every day . scott

Anyone throwing these yet? I know they're newish, but unsure how new. Man, 6th sense can get me on colorways alone, these look the part to me. scott

That Brown is darn near obese! Hopefully it was cold enough water for some of that famous drag peeling sound...Nice fish even if it was their fault. scott

The hags tornado is an exaggerated straight tail version that has really produced for me. scott

Worth a shot, small and big flutter spoons gave me a lot of additional bites/fish the last year and a half as I've been learning it. This is probably obvious, but they've done best for me when bass seem to be corralling and eating shad in open water and won't come all the way up for topwater. scott

Drum. Mostly because they're too new to me so it takes me forever to realize I don't have a large smallie on the other end. scott

Heckuva fish, congrats! Looks like you might be in the canoe, wondering if you have the waypoint data for how far she pulled you around the lake? scott

@bp_fowler I've had straight braid slip at the knot before. Double palomar and double SDJ solved that problem for me. scott

While I'm sure your drag was a contributing factor, you should rarely if ever break at your connection knot. Most braid is 2x the breaking strength of the leader and a locked down drag should more often than not break at the line tie. If you go back to braid to leader maybe double check your connection knots for technique improvement. Most of my connection knot issues stem from line twist in the braid right above the fg knot, making the braid strands separate and fray, or the nub of leader getting worked over the guides repeatedly and causing an unraveling. I used to slay with an unweight zoom fluke jr on spinning tackle and got destroyed by wind knots after too many days of popping/twitching w/out a swivel. Lesson learned for sure. scott

I like your style. I traded credit card points today for my latest one, but then had to buy some more varivas pe, horizon heads, deathadders, and a little diawa spoon. It's such a great reel for M-ML applications and love the current price at digitaka. I recently followed @bulldog1935's advice and did a zillion bearing upgrade and roro x27 spool for a zillion and got an abu garcia Kurodai 7'3ML for true 2-3g bfs fishing. I need to be done for awhile, till the points rack back up or I blow thru all my line learning how to handle a high speed spool. scott @AlabamaSpothunter and @OHBuckets I was being slightly tongue in cheek, they're not terrible, but I certainly can't call them durable. Maybe it was just the aggression level of the fish I was catching, on those days I sometimes switch to cheaper/easier baits to source when they really like it, my last couple times I just rode out the bite going thru most of what I have. Cps does seem to help but you can also backslide rig if the nose is toast but intact. scott

Prepare to be 1/3rd as disappointed.... scott

Yeah, I want them too. The 7" sakamata's/6th sense flush/spunk shads are also great on a free rig in those situations when they're closer to the bottom. From last month, top free rig, bottom jighead minnow.... scott

I got to looking if you hadn't seen it... https://www.tackledirect.com/strike-king-kvd-mcs7-magnum-caffeine-shad-lure.html scott