RDB

Yes

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IMO, you are better off just learning to cast from both sides. If you are getting tired, there should be some good deals on gym memberships after the new year…or just have your wife reel ?.

I use braid to fluoro leader on all spinning rods (FG knot), rarely use braid to leader with baitcasters (occasionally topwater), and use straight braid for heavy vegetation (the rougher the better). Otherwise, I much prefer fluoro for everything baitcasting with the exception of topwater. Once I nail down my Big Game sponsorship like many on this site, my opinion may change ?. As far as braid noise, that is a worry that I don’t have.

Don’t listen to anyone who says LMB are absolutely not line shy…they have no way of knowing. THERE ARE NO ABSOLUTES IN BASS FISHING. I can’t tell you whether some bass may be line shy in certain situations and nobody else can tell you either. Personally, I think some bass are line shy in certain conditions but the only evidence I have is anecdotal.

This doesn’t apply to the lake he is catching his toads from. O.H. Ivie produced 7 13’s and 6 14’s in the ShareLunker program last year (only 2 ranges I looked at). Do some reverse math and see how many fish need to be caught to produce those 2 numbers. IMO, odds are so lake, region, and angler specific as to make this type of chart useless except for bragging purposes for people who live in DD producing states. Edit: for clarity, I’m not saying anything about your comment or posting @A-Jay. This is more about the posting from Josh.

If they had to be a co-angler, I would give it a shot. I would redefine what front-ending looks like.

Let’s get back to the OP ‘s question. This isn’t about @Deleted account or me. I disagreed with the statement that no history equals donations to the locals and milk runs are a requirement for tournament success. People can decide for themselves what constitutes history. I smoked a J at a fraternity party in college but I don’t feel like that means I have a history of drug use.

Lol…I think most anglers know what is meant by having history on a lake. When someone says they have history on a body of water, they usually don’t mean that history was 2 days ago. I don’t think you will find many tournament anglers who say a day of pre fishing constitutes “having history” the way the term is used. And that kind of history doesn’t typically lead to milk runs and honey holes. Also, most don’t just show up to fish. There is plenty of homework you can do without being on the water.

Most anglers typically don’t have a lot of history (at least recent) on the regional trails. History is typically not the determining factor. IME, the anglers who have the biggest advantage are those who have the time to pre fish tournaments. I have done well in many tournaments where I had limited to no history with the lake.

Can’t speak specifically to smallmouth but it’s hard to make milk runs or fish honey holes if you are fishing regional tournaments at lakes with little history. I would keep moving until you get bit, pay close attention to where you are getting bit, and try to run similar areas in other locations. If you find you are getting bit on wood on 45 degree banks or docks in backs of creeks or the backside of main lake points, etc., look for other areas with similar features. Find the higher potential areas and spend your time there.

This made me belly laugh.

Really good A-rigs. If you have watched any of the Josh Jones videos, you likely heard him talk about them.

I think maybe you missed my point. I understand CCS just fine…it was rhetorical. I’m not the one who said there is a manufacturer who has a line of XF ultralights with 24 different AA’s ratings, you did. Your second sentence above WAS my point. There is a reason CCS has never taken root for the masses. It may have some value for rod builders but as a measure for off-the-shelf rod ratings for most anglers, it is overkill. Edit: Allow me to add 1 word to help clarify what I was suggesting as it wasn’t a question I was asking. It would be fun to see some of the forum questions though LIKE I have a rod with an AA of 59 and another with an AA of 62. What is the best application for each? It was an example of the new flood of questions we would likely get on these boards.

I don’t really feel like I need to explain…I didn’t come up with the standards that are used today. The reality is the standards for rod ratings are printed on the side of every rod. They were never meant to be exact, one size fits all…anglers have a hard enough time understanding power and action without introducing mathematical formulas. My point is just because one XF rod is slightly different than another does not mean the manufacturer is somehow being dishonest. The rod ratings (standards) that are generally accepted today were never meant to be exact, there is plenty of information to make informed decisions. There is a reason CCS remains obscure. For bass fishing, that level of precision is unnecessary to anglers and seeks to solve a problem that doesn’t exist for the vast majority. It would be fun to see some of the forum questions though. I have a rod with an AA of 59 and another with an AA of 62. What is the best application for each? Edit: Here is the CCS Rosetta Stone chart for comparisons. You would have to be stoned to try to distinguish the applications for each measure.

CCS is the system (Common Cents System). The numbers for action and power are AA and ERN, not CCS and AA. Very few anglers are going to go to that minute of detail when purchasing a rod.

The problem people make is to assume action refers to the amount of bend in the tip when it really refers to where the bend occurs…the further toward the tip, the faster the action. In that regard, actions are relatively consistent from rod to rod and why percentages are used as a rule of thumb for defining rod actions. Just because one fast action rod flexes more in the tip than another doesn’t mean that there is some inconsistency in the manufacturers ratings.

Not a doofus. An XF rod does flex more at the tip relative to the rest of the rod. In very basic terms, action refers to where (flex) and power refers to how much (pressure). Action - how quickly you get to the backbone. Power - how much backbone you have when you get there. I don’t know your rod but as a general rule, XF rods should excel when quicker hook sets are needed and usually provide improved sensitivity (other things influence as well). I would assume it would likely excel with bottom contact and vertical presentations within it’s lure ratings. My favorite bottom contact spinning rod is the NRX 852 (probably the most popular Loomis spinning rod) and it Is also a med/XF rod.

You win…you can’t gain any control of a bass through a hook set. A hook sticking into the flesh of a bass is necessary to detect a strike. The reason most bass are hooked in (or near) the lips is because that is where they hold a bait after engulfing and not because that’s where most get stuck on the set. You never detect a strike when a bass inhales and spits out a lure but only when they engulf and the hook somehow penetrates. You never need to delay your sets with things like swim jigs and the blade on a chatterbait can never blow the mouth of a bass open when using too strong of a rod or hook set. There is no way to know whether trailer hooks on spinnerbaits would be helpful because short strikes are undetectable. No bass we’re ever caught in the days before sticky sharp hooks and my (and many others) experiences with practicing with no hook lures and somehow detecting strikes is just a figment of our imaginations. Edit: And once again with the extremes to try to make a point. How did we all of a sudden get out to 40 yards? Most lures fished at 40 yards are treble hooked or moving baits which changes the dynamics. Even with things like Carolina rigs that are fished at long distances, most of the strikes are detected without having a hook in the fish.

Not true…in practice, I, as do many pro’s will often remove hooks to make it easy to shake off. Having a hook is not a requirement for strike detection. Also, when a bass picks up a jig, they rarely have a good hook in them until the set.

People are going to stick to their guns come hell or high water. To those wanting to learn, apply some logic and decide for yourself. There is plenty of underwater footage and thousands of pro testimonials to help you decide. Also, Hackney was talking about shaking fish off during practice…another case of using an example that doesn’t apply to try to disprove others views. He has spoken about that experience a lot as have many pro’s on numerous occasions. If you think you can’t gain some control on a fish by getting their head turned and coming toward you, I don’t know what to say. P.S. I never said hook point wasn’t critical. If you go back to my first post, I agreed with you and added control as an additional reason. And why are we now reverting to defining what words mean to make points. I think we are all pretty much on the same page when discussing what big hook sets look like.

We can carry on about hook sharpness but that is not the only reason for hard hook sets. It’s also about gaining control of the fish in heavy cover. I would suggest gaining a degree of control is the primary reason, not hook penetration.

Fair enough…I could see how it could look arrogant but I think my point was the opposite of closed minded. I think you will rarely see me speak in absolutes when discussing bass fishing because IMO, there are very few. I have also had my fair share of arguments here, most of which are with people clutching to closed minded views. It does bother me when I see people speaking in absolutes and discounting alternate view points. Considering this site is full of people looking to learn, I think it does a disservice to the community. Edit: Can you honestly read through some of these posts and say you didn’t get a chuckle or that there are some doozies? I’m not going to point out any posters but look at some of the extremes people use to try to make a point.

That’s the difference between people who actually make a living fishing and those who think they could. There is so much to gain with a little open mindedness but that is not natural for fishermen. I do get a chuckle out of many of the responses on this site…there are some doozies.

I use a zip tie as well…I just have a swivel clip between the short anchor line and the clothes line.