Fat Ika

Those Fangs have definitely caught my eye too. Was gonna try some out to see how they fair against big brown trout/steelhead on cranks and jerkbaits. Have you used them for for any specific suspending jerkbait needs? Thanks again for the info. Appreciate it.

Don't have the most experience with casting braids...........just about 10 years for a couple casting applications, but Xplasma Asegai has been the best line management braid in my casting experience. Other braids I've used on casting: power pro, power pro slick v2, Sufi 832, Sufix 131, jbraid gold 8. Xplasma has minimized braid lashing for me significantly. 131 was a step in the right direction for me, but Xplasma Asegai has been a significant difference. IME - 30# has been used on a Curado 150 DC for grass flipping/pitching and almost all casting topwater situations. My experience with 50# has been on a Tatula 150 and Curado 200 DC for 1.5-2 OZ soft swimbaits.

Anybody try these out for vision 110s? If so, what's your experience been with sink rate vs the stock katsuage and any other hooks you've experienced with 110s? How's the strength, sharpness, fishing-pinning, etc in comparison to experiences with other specific hooks?

Appreciate the direct answer/solution to the question. I use high-end everything, including tons of high-end hooks. But for a specific couple baits I want cheap bulk hooks that will suffice. Thank you the direct answer. Appreciate it.

Trying to save money these days for a few hardbaits that I'm not picky with hooks. Anybody have good experience with a specific model of super cheap standard gauge round bend hooks? Like generic ones on eBay. That cheap.

Since you're mentioning Antares, if money isn't an issue, the 21 Antares DC is noticeably superior to the others into the wind with jerkbaits. The 22 slx jdm with idc5 brakes is ok, the new Met manages line and cast farther than the slx, but the 21 Antares DC with 4X8 brakes is better........noticeably in my personal experience. I personally used to have a mental hangup with the weight and would use a Steez 100 SV to get 2 plus ounces lighter. Rod balance/comfort with the same rod didn't seem to make a difference to me after experiencing both reels on the same rod. After switching, don't find an issue, but I'm not warm water jerkbaiting all day, so I guess my preference and utility might be different than your goals. If money, weight, form factor aren't issues, 21 Antares DC imo.

Interesting. All I know is, If I hand grab any bait with the Spears on it, I get stuck. Doesn't happen every time I pick a bait with Gammy or Duo nanos, or any Owner hook regardless of the model. No experience with Ichikawa and Ryugi trebles yet. Really enjoying the Spears on a lot of different hardbaits. Wish they made number 3s. Big gap between a size 4 and 2.

If anyone is interested in BKK Spears for Vision 110s. 3 #6 BBK Spears make a noticable slow sinking 110 in ice-out water. They are as sticky as it gets. Similar gauge to an st-36, with a slightly longer shank than an st-36. Sharper that stx-38s and gammy nanos. Definitely won't be using 3-#6s for cold water suspending 110s, but they're impressively sharp. We'll see about the strength, but the gauge and coating don't appear to be brittle. Overall, seems impressive for a standard gauge/round bend hook.

The expride 7'3" xtra heavy would be fine for 6" magdrafts and 168s. For the chad shad and explorer gill, definitely need a swimbait rod rated to 4 oz.......most of them won't handle more than 3 oz well. Repetitive casting of those baits would be risky on the expride xtra heavy blank, potentially leading to microfractures, 1day leading to the last straw breaking the rod. Once you start catching em on the chad and gill, you'll get addicted and want a dedicated glide bait rod.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Ichikawa for 110 Jrs. I'll definitely try them out. I love the duos, just as you said, a tiny bit heavier. I use them on some 110s in warmer water. There's a specific ultra clear/cold water situation for finicky northern, where they turn away if it's not suspending or sinking ultra ultra slow. Gammy nano's, 2 # 5s and 1 #6 on the back does the trick. I'll try playing around with the BKKs and revisit the Duo's too. Thanks Man.

Hi All. Looking for any alternative to Gammy Nanos for suspending vision 110s. Anyone have experience with the weight on these hooks vs Gammy Nano G-Finesse or MB's Katsuage trebles? Any experiences appreciated. Thanks.

I miss that rod. Used to have that Feather ML as my dedicated 100-115 size jerkbait rod with the Alde 31

These are still available. Megabass Destroyer P5 BMG 7'5" Heavy Casting Rod 2017 Steez A

Let me know if you’re interested in these. BMG P5 - Bought in April. Barely used. Cosmetics 9/10 - Function mint. Love it. Don’t like to use it unless out with just this single rod. $425 shipped or picked up locally in Northern IL for $400 Steez A - Bought new 3 years ago. Left-handed 6:3:1 - Cosmetics 8/10. Used approximately 20 hours max on a secondary bladed jig rod. $250 shipped. $230 local N. IL pickup

Agreed. Need significant water level increases and fishy weather patterns. I brought this up to someone who immediately disagreed and was stearn on opinion it was solely related to water temp, not water level/other variables. I said, it's a factor and mostly affecting the topwater bite close to the bank, due to poor fish positioning or lack of fish positioning. My opinion is all the other seasonal variables that animals sense plays a larger role than water temp. Still my opinion and wasting my time with the discussion. I should've just send him a pic of a dry bush in the middle the desert.

I've experienced bites with the hover rig when other finesse was not working. Various drop shots, free rigs, finesse t-rig rigs (weighted/unweighted), & and wacky rig......produced no bites on a tough day, This was on a highly pressured/gin clear lake. Used from a boat and from the bank. From the bank pull-up and fall cadence is all I've experienced. Similar to a weighted wacky rig/flick shake techniques. From the bank, I did use the hover rig to cleanup a spot after power fishing/slow fishing with larger finesse. Smaller fish, but it was significant when changing to the hover rig. Fish triggered by the unique spiral fall, similar to a tube, yet obviously a slower fall with a light hover rig.

Thanks again for the Owner snap recommendation. Stupid easy to put on the mini max.

Bull flat and dolive gills work great with the free rig. I'll lift or pump/stroke 1-multiple times for the free rig separation/fall. These gill baits get hammered on the fall with the free rig. 4.8 bull flats seem to weed out the small ones. IME, Big glides still catch little ones for me, but the 4.8 bull flat seems to attract 3+ pound class fish.

That's the worst isn't it?! At least your football head isn't hanging up. I've had to resort to free rigs, t-rigs in a deep glacial lake I fish. Can't even drag a football head to finesse them. Have you found a football-shaped shakey head/ned head that won't get hung up?

Agreed. 5 powered Dobyns usually stating a 1.5 oz rating, wouldn't throw anything more than 1.2 oz max. If going with Dobyns, go with 6 power for sure. I use a Dobyns Champ 736 for bigger frogs, heaviest cover flipping t-rigs/jig, and up to 1.5 oz single hook swimbaits/weedless swimbaits.

April 23rd Blade bait

Yamatanuki played cleanup yesterday. I see little bass playing/nipping the tail, but all the 1+ pounders grab and don't let go. Use the Ryugi Infini 4/0 for Yamatanuki, which is what I use for Cover Scats, some Fat Ika days depending on mood/always experimenting with Ika hooks (Gammy Deep & Ryugi Pierce w/ replaced Owner centering pins), also use Ryugi infini 3/0 or 4/0 with the Issei Shizumi Mushi 3.2. Yesterday was bluebird skies, cloudy water in spawning bays due to (wind blown banks, stirred slimed, premature/new weed growth not developed enough to filter water), 5-7 mph winds. 3/8 oz swim jig/3.8 Keitech, jackhammer, lipless, min max.....not producing bites. 3/16 oz Uoze swim jig generating 1-3 pounder bites. Yamatanuki cleaning up a few 2 pounders in same areas, followed by hover rig just catching baby 1-2 year old bass. After running this area thoroughly with the Uoze swimmer, the Yamatanuki landed this fish. Estimated 20 3/4" fish.

@ol'crickety Just a rod estimate. 19.5"-20"

This past Sunday was the end of a low pressure trend with 10-15 SE - E wind shift. Swim jigs, jackhammer, glide bait all generating bites. After landing some swim jig/jackhammer fish and then being short struck by a few other swim jig and Jackhammer/5.5 Spunk Shad fish, decided to try out the Gilly on a Jackhammer. Landed 3 bass and a pike in 20 min before the Gilly was unusable and didn't have more Gillys on hand. Even from the human perspective, seeing the Gilly buzzing throwing the water looked pretty annoying!

Yes. First, stay and cleanup. For instance, was short struck on a swim jig twice and a jackhammer once by the same fish. Was a low pressure, great swim jig/chatterbait bite that day, so had a large profile cleanup bait for the day. 4.8 Deps Bull Flat free rigged. First pitch at that bass, turned out to be the biggest bass of the day.