T-Billy

Not to fear, I have a dream catcher made of Sufix 832 and Trilene XT.

2021 saw me go to straight 30 and 40 pound 832 for the vast majority of my LM fishing, including open water structure fishing. I had my best year ever. LM just don't seem to care. Same for smallies in current. Open water lake smallies, I seem to do better with 4#-8# mono, but it could just be a confidence thing with me. I'm still on the fence there. I for sure lose less of those acrobats with straight mono though. That stretch helps keep 'em pinned. No flouro for me. I'm done with phantom break offs. Edit to add: The increased catch rate with 4#-8# mono may well be due to the baits I'm throwing on it. Mostly TRD Bug, grubs and finesse worms and swimmers. I prefer straight mono for all these. I think they have a more natural movement on mono and stretch is a good thing here with the small hooks involved.

Sounds like my kinda place. I'd start by pitching a T rig to wood along the edges of that creek channel. Wood choked with weeds is even better. Good luck. Let us know how you do.

Easy now... Let 'em enjoy their once per decade win. ??

Ran across this pic while looking for something else. 13.5# on a TRD Bug and 6# XT. Took about 35 minutes to land, and the fight ended about 300yds from where it started.

Sounds good to me. Big stick, braid, snelled flippin hook and your favorite beaver style bait. Pitch it into the nastiest tangles you can find. Shallow wood with deeper water close by is best.

Caught this 6 pounder on one of these Sweet Craws T-rigged and pitched into a pine tree top a few weeks ago. 40 degree surface temp. Pitchin shallow wood can be productive anytime the water isn't hard. Fairly calm sunny afternoons are best when it's cold.

I'm happy with XT on all my mono rigs both spinning and casting. Handles great on both, abrasion resistant, and low stretch. I only use 8# and under on spinning though.

So does Chuck!!! ?

That's what ticked me off. They discovered my card was compromised on 11/29, and didn't notify me until 12/27. My card holder gets an A+ though.

I find my 7'6" M BPS carbonlight a bit unwieldy. The only thing I use it for is launching grubs and finesse swimmers across flats when the smallies are on 'em. Other than that I prefer 6'6" - 7' for spinning rods.

No. He stays busy. Most of us locals shop there regularly. His prices are good for the most part. He often gives discounts to regulars on big purchases. I generally get 10% off on rods and reels I buy there. The owner told me recently there are things that have been on backorder for several months. It's better than it was in 2020 but he still can't place an order and expect to receive all of it.

I have a nice little tackle store in my town and shop there regularly, but inventory ain't what it used to be. Supply chain mess. Owner orders what he needs and takes what he gets these days.

I feel much the same. The amount of time that passed from the time they discovered my card was compromised until they notified me is unacceptable. If I can purchase something for a similar price elsewhere, I will from here on out.

Just got an e-mail from TW's security company IDX notifying me of the breach and that my card was possibly affected. Kinda late. They determined my card was compromised on 11/6 but just now notified me. They did notify my card company immediately though. Card company sent me a new card without me requesting it, so I called them and the person I talked to told me they issued it because of available security upgrades. At any rate, my card company was great. Nothing fraudulent got charged to my card, they sent me a new upgraded card immediately so I wasn't without a card for a day, monitored my old card until the new one was activated by me, and provided fast friendly service when I called.

Tackle Warehouse has the ARK Lancer Pro's on sale right now for $69.97. For that you get a blank that I like better than a Dobyns Champ, with decent quality aluminum oxide guides, and a good eva grip, and reel seat that's similar to the popular fuji that many companies use. That's a steal for a rod this light and sensitive. I'd recommend the 7'6" Heavy. I prefer 7-6 over the longer rods for general fippin and pitchin. I reserve the 7'11" for moving them out of heavy grass for the most part. 7-6 is less fatiguing over the course of a day. I'm a fan of the $99 Lew's LFS Speed Spool. Really solid performing, durable reel at that price point. This would get you a combo that performs well above it's price tag for only $20 over what you're looking to spend.

Ark Tharp "Money Maker", Invoker Pro, or Essence 7'3" Mag MH. Whichever trips your trigger. Same great 40T Torray blank with different guides, seats, and handles, priced from $129 to $179.

Keitech or GOAT covers it for me anymore. GOAT is awesome on a chatterbait as well.

I'll be out all day Tuesday. Might be the last trip this winter. We'll see what mother nature brings. I'm gonna spend some time fishing a T-rigged Fat Impact through treetops. Never done it before, but after catching that 6# suspended in a pine top a couple weeks ago, it's seems like it could be a good tactic. Musky love wood this time of year. It could get crazy.

You weren't dragging a worm on an A-Jay Fishing SkunkStick were ya?

@FryDog62 is a bad influence/enabler. ? I always have a TRD Bug on a 1/8 football head tied on. I've been fishing it on a ML spinning, but have been wanting a casting rig for it. The Feather L sounds like just the ticket. I just ordered one direct from Phenix. I couldn't find one anywhere else. It'll get paired with my Curado BFS spooled with 6# XT. I've been very happy with the 40T Torray ARK blanks, if true to it's description this Phenix should fit perfectly into the lineup. Thanks for the tip/review here FryDog.

My choice to cover all the techniques you mentioned. My Dobyns Kaden and Sierra flippin sticks have been collecting dust since I got it. I'll take one of these over a champ too. Add a $99 Lew's LFS Speed Spool and you have an outstanding combo for right at $230 @ full retail price.

I ignored beaver style baits for years because they looked stupid in the water to me. I favored craws and creatures with flapping appendages. I had no idea what I was missing until this year when I started T rigging Yomommas and shortly after the Sweet Craw. They have a natural looking glide falling on a tight line, and an erratic spiraling fall on slack, and they flat out catch fish, big and small, all year long.

I like 'em in cold water especially. Dunno about the Yama's but the skirts I use are made with floating plasic and have great secondary action. Those tentacles wave with the slightest motion and continue to for awhile after the bait stops. You can attach the skirts to any bait you like with a hot knife.

XT has far less stretch, is more sensitive and abrasion resistant. Since it was reformulated years ago it has less memory than BG but more than XL. It handles great on baitcasters. Handles great on spinning too if you don't go over about 10#. It's my favorite mono hands down.