softwateronly

I hope everyone feels free not to buy it or use, because it doesn't work. scott

That'd be amazing, but don't put yourself out, I'm probably a week or two from ordering the rod. These harbor seawalls drop straight into 12-25 fow with some current, and finding the rock transitions seem to find me the fish, hence the heavier weights.

I do agree with you. There are times I split my gear up between my place in the city and the lake house. This could help. Also, most of my jigs are run on a 7'6" MH expride, 734 and the 735 Dobyns Champion, this would allow a different assortment rigged up at one time because I junk fish swimbaits and jigs in almost all of my location choices. I also only keep a jerkbait tied on a few weeks in the Spring and Fall, maybe this rod would change that. The 1/2oz keitech with a zman trd craw is a smallie smasher in the harbors. It fishes really light to me but has the tungsten contact to read the bottom. I know not ideal, but seems doable and probably even likeable? I've been running braid to shock leader or mono. One of the reasons I like braid because I can dial in the stretch with the leader and length, so to speak. Thank you all for your responses and insights, much appreciated. scott

Saturday I got 4 smallies, the best was 4lb, in the 31st harbor, all females. My memory is seeing bed fish in the harbors as early as the first week in May. scott

I have a hole in my rod selection, I don't really have a jerkbait rod. I don't throw them that often so I'm interested in a high end rod (to me) that can pull multiple duties. 3/8 and 1/2 oz keitech finesse jigs - real small trailers, not much additional weight 1/4 and 3/8 T rigged worms of all kinds 3-4.5" underspins or Texsposed swimbaits jerkbaits spooks This is probably an accurate order of what baits will be tied on most frequently. I have and love Dobyns Champion, Megabass P5 Destroyer, and Exprides. I keep finding myself reaching for the Exprides though. Any other suggestions are welcome, but I'm really looking for a "very sensitive" bottom contact rod that can pull double duty on a jerkbait at less than 7'3" in length. scott

Large soft swimbaits or glides over deep breaks. Jigs or Trigs tracing that break as well. scott

Neko rig, Tokyo rig, Jika rig? It'll keep the line tie elevated a touch to keep the slime off. also drop shot... scott

Most of my swinghead fishing is done in a grassy lake so this might not apply, but I like speeding up my reeling on the mushy feeling. It seems that the feel will change telling me it's a fish not a weed and then I'm half way home to the side sweep hookset, just be ready for it and commit. scott

Got some smalls...a 4lb and a 3.6 thanks to friendly fishing neighbor's scale

It's been super effective for me this spring................................at catching pike. Three of them have completely exploded out of the water crushing it, heart stopping but wrong species. So far, 7 northerns and 2 bass. I still have the bait and it still floats, so I guess I can say it's well made. scott

The cold snap has slowed down my fish as well. Riding a 7" Scottsborough swimbait on a jig head worked real slow over the break from 12' to 18' (the line between visible bottom and not) gave me a 17ish lb bag yesterday. Best day since the cold came back. All the fish came after the sun broke through the cloud cover. This time of year I have better success upsizing instead of downsizing, could be luck or it could be something... scott

Agreed, the reel stopping head shakes are the only giveaway I know of.

Epic fish and even more epic first post!!

This is my normal way, but I think I caught a Randy Blaukat tip video where he puts a small slit/slice for better hook penetration. Also theres a version where you can put a dipsy sinker in the tube and have the hook go through the eyelet. Will probably give these a shot at some point. scott

Yeah, I fish a lake off US 12 just West of 131, can't be more than 45mins from Portage. Got a spot open for you if/when we can make the schedules work. PM me if you're down. scott

Yes this is prespawn. Bucks start cruising the shallows in the mid to high 50's, and actual spawn seems to start @ 58 - 62. This is when I personally do my best. What works for me is identifying the spawning flats, last years knowledge of the spawn is the best, but it should be relatively shallow and protected water. I then triangulate the nearest deep water 25+ with nearest feeding breaklines in the 8-15' depths. At your water temps, you should be able to find staging and feeding bass in this zone, from dirt shallow to hugging the bottom in 20+ft. Spend your time in this concentrated area and it should produce, and drag the bottom more often, you'll find fresh bright green weeds which might indicate to spend more time there. Also if a continued wind beats on a bank for a day or two, I would definitely target it. The gathering of all the warmer surface water in one area seems to set the whole food chain off. I also target colorlines where the dirty water meets the clear water. For these 2 instances, I fish baitfish imitating baits and move them quickly and erratically. Others are far better and more experienced but this has worked for me. scott

Fair enough, my pros comment was geared more towards the other sports you mentioned, but you are correct in pointing out that pro fishing is unique. Also agree that they're all excellent anglers. scott

Exactly! Except it doesn't even need to be the greats. Any Pro has proven they have it. In fishing, my contention is that the skill is all between the ears. scott

I'm not at all versed in any of the pro aspect of this sport, but it has to be the same formula for all of us except for the time/weight calculation... productive water>presentation>lure choice The only "style" I see is how one reads and interprets conditions to make the above decisions. I somewhat believe that the casual angler can get swept up in the style stuff and miss the true skill. I also believe that all the pro's physical skill sets fall in a range that doesn't effect the outcome. scott

Chatterbaits have always worked better for me with erratic retrieves. stop/go, hopping, and the best one is ripping off of the grass with a reel turn or two and killing it. Straight retrieve is the last one I try every time I throw it. scott

Haven't thought of it that way, seems like a contributing factor for sure. I always assumed some of it was related to bait positioning for crushing and eating. scott

Congrats!!! She's a giant! scott

Confirms my guesses if I ever pony up to try the 9". Appreciated scott

The JDM Met 20 is a fantastic reel. Now that Ive put time into mine, I'm starting to dislike my curado and curado dc in comparison. The JDM bantam mgl 18 is also a fantastic reel but they don't seem to be in stock anywhere for the mid $200's. At $290 shipped, the Met is a steal imho. As far as line capacity, I just keep my mono backing as limited as possible. scott

Do you burn the 9" with success? or at the size is a less frantic stop and go produce? scott