softwateronly

I don't know if it's me or others, but I see the same trend on my little lake (275 acres) as @ironbjorn, bigger baits lend themselves toward bigger fish most of the time. And with the water very clear, bigger but subtle action is my starting point. 5" beast rigged swimbaits, 4-5" trailer on a swim jig, 1/2oz trimmed skirt flipping jig and full size craw trailer are my starting points unless I'm on a specific bite. 2 out of those 3 are always on deck regardless. scott

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@Mike L I don't have any weighted non-beast hooks right now, but I would think that the 5/0 keel would snake through the thickest salad, almost worm like. Sound about right? Post front, post spawn last year I spent a couple days dragging/worming/slow rolling the 7" diezel on a 3/4oz hog farmer standup swimbait head in 15-20' w/ decent success. I think if I had more time to fish that bite, it would have been even more effective. Trying to come up with ways to maximize the buoyancy to look like a bottom feeder. scott

The 2 biggest for sure, the first was 2 days after the cold front passed, and the last one and biggest got angry active when I ran into her @ 5pm the day a new cold front came through that morning. She literally hit my flashy swimmer just moments after the sun broke out for the first time that day. She also was the most aggressively feeding large fish I've ever encountered. She owned an ambush triangle between 2 docks and a brush pile, completely nuts. All the others seemed to be directly related to shad activity in the middle warm period between fronts, those went off for 2-3 hrs in one cove, making my best guess that they are still actively moving up/down in/out strictly for feeding opportunities. The biggest girls seemed to always lead the way in terms of time/temp. scott

I throw them on the back of swim jigs most frequently. Owner beast, and flashy swimmer are probably number two use closely followed by a spintrix underspin. scott

If you have clear water or limited mobility, the DS sails out there! I like the DS first because it can be fished faster. Thats all I got. scott

I would add cost effectiveness and flexibility w/ or w/out leader choice to this list. scott

Don't want to derail, but have been looking at the Feather 7'7'XH as a weedless 6" magdraft, scottsboro, etc swimbait rod w/ a double duty flip or punch. You have any experience? I use a Expride 7'3"XH now. Looking for a longer version to compliment. scott

It ended up being pretty great, Murvaul is interesting for sure. I got a PB on my first fish and then again on my last fish, a 25.25" pig. All way shallower than I had originally expected. I also got skunked half the time. scott

Language is limited, this is the price we pay for not being mind readers. Yes there is no clear definition of soft tip, but action, power, rating are inadequate at expressing the feeling. Soft tip to me is how little force it takes to get the tip active, not how far down the rod bends before the backbone. scott

I love it and really look forward to more time with it. I highly recommend as a high end, long, do everything rod. scott

The FH is perfectly balanced. Reel choice is completely up to you. Ive used a 6.3oz, 7.6oz and 7.8oz reels. All felt at home. The build is subtle and gorgeous imho. Cork on mine is practically filler-less. I have furys, champions, and one xtasy. I don't own dobyns for looks, but the xtasy is a looker. The last thing I'd call this rod is a pool cue, I'd actually say that the 755 feels like a MH. I have DC734 and DC735. The action of the DRX feels almost in-between. It's an extremely balanced, light weight rod that feels most at home with homerun hooksets. It has a lot of power buried in there. It's just so much fun when it loads up. I've only been able to connect once like this, but it was a lot of fun. Most of my fish have been on swimjigs with a sweeping hookset. On the opposite side of the equation, my last bass before ice was a tiny tick right at the canoe that i just reflexed with a quick snap up. Right in the roof of the mouth. It's an amazing moving bait rod, probably one of my favorites, need more time. Swim jigs and light A-rigs will be what I first tie on with ice out. The downside? There are other rods that feel more sensitive to me, barely, but they do. I don't own NRX, but I feel like the poison adrena 6'11M+F and the 7'2HF have a more tell tale sensitivity. The DRX is very sensitive. It just isn't a tick, it's a feel or weight. I know that makes no sense, but it's unique. However I do own a G Loomis Conquest 906 and the DRX 755 and they are very similar to me in sensitivity. It might be because they're longer rods, it might just be me, I don't know. I use braid to leader or just straight braid with this and all rods. scott

I have the 755FH. Got it in late November, probably caught less than a dozen fish with it. This spring is gonna be different. What might I be able to help with? Also, glad you're feeling better and this decision is fully supported by me and the monkey. scott I have the 755FH. Got it in late November, probably caught less than a dozen fish with it. This spring is gonna be different. What might I be able to help with? Also, glad you're feeling better and this decision is fully supported by me and the monkey. scott

You could easily go straight braid. I fish clear water and don't think there's any such thing as line shy on moving baits. scott Yes, I definitely know it. My 200 is straight braid and hasn't changed. I know some diawa user on here is braid to leader but I can't recall who and what they use. scott

I have a Tat 200 and Tat 300, the rest are shimanos. What are we looking at to get through the sub 300 size T-wing w/ an fg knot? I haven't really experimented with the 200 enough myself. .32mm co-poly/mono/floro wrapped w/ .32mm braid? .32mm co-poly/mono/floro wrapped w/ .28mm braid? scott These are some people's preferences, definitely not absolutes. The T-wing is your limiting factor for playing to the strengths of braid to leader with the least amount of hassle. scott

I don't own it but have been eyeing a jdm version. 25g seems like it's pushing it, but at the same time I'm thinking of getting it for a M jerkbait rod which would be the same thing. So I understand your dilemma and interested to hear what others know. scott

You're living my dream, definitely something for us to work on. One day, hopefully sooner rather than later. scott

I've probably caught a dozen in my life and they were all between 3-5lbs. Every single one of them left my bait unfishable! They are definitely the most underrated fish in terms of fight. The hit so angry and dig so hard. Between the ugly, teeth, aggressiveness, and blood they're hard to forget. I've always caught them clean on a single hook and they leak like a stuck pig. Must be because of that air they can gulp down if the water is stagnant, but I have no idea. Old timers in MI call em dogfish and want them killed for some reason. scott

I think @A-Jay has the right question. I would lean toward 40# because I have mostly 150 sized reels and w/ a MH/F it seems like a good pairing. Clear water has me prioritizing casting distance. If dragging a trash fish through the salad, 65lb might cut through it better. scott

I really hope so, bait monkey wants a big red color scheme for my next gear purchases... scott

I like braid to leader and at this point it has informed all my rod decisions and preferences. casting - fg knot 65lb and 30lb PP 10, 15, 20lb mono 16lb and 30lb shock leader spinning - alberto knot 20lb PP 8lb Invizix scott

Thats a beautiful fish, congrats! They are so much fun when you're hooked up. You live in the freshwater goldilocks zone and has me and the Mrs looking around there for a winter home! My first big fish, was a 20" football in N Michigan when I was 10 or 11. My friend's dad took 5-6 of us kids out in a fish 'n ski w/ wax worms and cane poles. We were plucking perch left and right, when all of sudden my little perch got real heavy. To this day, I still think s/he attacked/ate the perch not the worm and I've maybe equaled it twice but never beat it. And a 5lb smallie on a cane pole is a trip. scott

You're going to have to show me the way. I'll be watching you..... scott Don't forget to fish them like jigs too! I was just in TX and getting skunked until I got a 4" scottsboro in smelt on a flashy swimmer and dragged and popped it across all the wood scraps I could find in 2-6' fow. scott

LM have a logic to them that allows me to think I understand most of their behavior. SM are nomadic ghosts that show up every now and then to rattle everything in my brain and try to take my rod out of my hand. scott

I'll give it a try.... Spinnerbait - 1oz MB tequila baccarac 5/8oz DC735 3/8-1/2oz PA 173MH & DC734 Buzzbait - ? Carolina rig (3/4 - 1.25 oz barrel weight) - Expride 7'7"H Texas rig - PA611M+, PA172H, Conquest 904 & DRX755 deep water Squarebill - DC 734, PA173MH, Expride 7'7"H Frog (personal favorite is original Jason Christie Cara frog rod) - Expride 7'3"XH, DC 735 Jerkbait - PA611M+, Avid 7ML spinning Flipping/pitching - 3/8 and under; PA611M+, PA172H 1/2 - 1oz - Steez 172 power pitch, Expride 7'3XH, MB Tequila Baccarac Punching - 1oz + - MB Tequila Baccarac A rig - Expride 7'7"H, DRX 755 Swimbait - almost all of them, decision based on weight, hook diameter, open hook/weedless, and open water or target casting by length. I want one more Fast long rod (7'6 - 7'9) that can handle 2oz weedless and could also punch. Shallow crank - DC706cb, DC734 Med crank -? Deep crank - light pull Expride 7'7"H, hard pull MB Onager Weightless worm/senko - Conquest 904 Bladed jig (really like veritas 7’ mh and Tharp honey badger 7’4) - PA172H, PA173MH, DC735 Topwater - DC734, PA173MH scott Ironically, my maybe favorite rod never made the list...Expride 7'6"MH