T-Billy

Yeah....... Not in the waters I fish. I had a muskie get my chatterbait and 8" leader the other night. No point buying an expensive finely tuned swimbait that's just going to get mangled or bit off.

No need with modern carbon disks IMO. I don't even bother in the off season, and I've never had an issue.

I'm with A-Jay on this one. Heavy Moderate or Mod Fast is the way to go for chatterbaits. I like the Ark Invoker Pro 7'4" H MF so well I bought four of them. After fishing chatterbaits on at least a dozen different rods over several years, this one stood out as the clear winner.

Fur lined plaid, and white mesh with a big orange T are the only colors required. Kinda like black worms and green punkin beavers. No need to overcomplicate things. ?

This, and perch too if you have them. I always run into big schools of perch around the remaining weeds close to the break into deep water in the fall. The bays are an early/mid fall deal for me. Once the turnover happens, it's all about the main lake basins.

Very vice. Congrats brother. Good to see you getting some time to get out and decompress a bit.

We came close to doubling up, and it was with the mid 30's fish we both lost. She had one hit on the 8 just as I had made a cast. As I was burning my bait back in so I could man the net, hers came off. So, I burned mine back in and got hammered in the first turn of the 8 by a different fish. Similar size, but different color. It came unbuttoned too. How sweet would that have been if we coulda put them both in the net? Wouldn't have been a lot of fun dealing with the aftermath though!!! Those 30 something's are the worst to deal with. High strung and just big and strong enough to hurt ya.

Once in awhile...

So... The wife and I had an enjoyable morning. ? Didn't have enough room to fit all the pics, but we caught 6 between 33" and 37", a 29" , and the 46" kicker in the bottom photo, plus we each lost a mid 30's at boatside. All in just over four hours!!! Only a couple lazy followers. They were chewin!!!

Blame me all you want, I don't mind. Good luck brother. You'll have all fall to heal up.

No rap, no bro country. I'm good with about everything else. It just depends on my mood. Last week I happened across 40's junction on XM. Now I get where my grandpa was coming from. Some good stuff from that era. My work day starts out listening to Pastor Jack Hibbs on my ride to my first well, then I'll bounce between Dwight Yoakam's channel, Willie's roadhouse, outlaw country, 50's gold, 60's gold, classic rewind, classic vinyl, Ozzy's boneyard....

Go get'm tiger!!! Make sure you share those pics with us too.

Been a minute since I checked in here but, y'all are in my prayers every day. Good to see Lynn is on the mend. I hope you get to see your son soon.

Nice fish A-jay!!! Congrats!!! I did the exact opposite!!! LOL. First I got my newly built mag blade chatterbait bit off, along with my 8" wire leader, then I lost a mid 30's that hit my .22 Short on the 8. It came off while I was trying to wrangle the net. That was my morning, had to bail early and go see the optometrist for some new specs. The good news is that big chatterbait got SMOKED from behind, knocking several feet of slack in my line. I think it's gonna be a winner. I had a 4.8 Keitech Fat with the paddle cut off on it for a trailer. It's not big enough. I just ordered a 6" Do-It ripper mold. I'm a big fan of the 3.5 Ripper on my bass chatterbaits. Hopefully the 6 works as well on the muskie baits. It should be a winner on the center wire of my A-Rigs this fall for sure. Now that I know that big blade will work, I'm off to the garage to build some more.

I generally start shallow and move out from there if needed. Early spring being the main exception.

4/0 VMC flippin hook. Not the HD, the lighter wire ones. Snelled on 20# or 30# braid.

So.....uh......hmm..... Nevermind. Nice smalljaws, congrats!!! ?

Pfft... A mere drop in the bucket. Go ask @A-Jay about jackhammers. After you financially recover from that, ask @AlabamaSpothunter about swimbaits, then inquire about rods and reels. This place has more monkeys than the Amazon. I'm just glad I'm not one of them. ?

Absolutely fish it in the summer. I don't fish Dbombs, but the Sweet Craw I make and fish is similar, with thick claws that don't flap, but give the bait a gliding action. I rig it on a flipping rig with a snelled straight shank, and peg the sinker tight so that it keeps the hook cammed over. The bait glides and spirals similar to a tube on the fall and always lands upright. Deadly from iceout till iceover. 3/8 is my favorite weight as well and only deviate from it when depth, cover, or the fish require it. Once in awhile in warm water a faster fall rate gets bit better, but 3/8 is the standard.

I had to go look it up. I'd never heard of it. Looks like a great bait for pitching deep grass on a flippin rig. I bet it has a great glide with a pegged 3/8 or 1/2oz.

I'm with ya on that. My Lexa 300 HD is 7.4:1 and I like it fine for double 8's, but I don't want any part of pulling 2x10 cowgirls around with it. @WafflesAreGud, I'd recommend a Mod Fast rod rated something like 1/2 - 2oz, in the length of your choice, and a Lew's $99 LFS to get you started. It's a combo you can do alot with, and even when/if you expand your Esox tackle lineup, there will always be a place for this rig.

Yep... Usually it's their fluorocarbon. ?

Well... That would certainly be something to see. I'm kinda hoping they both get skunked next time out now!!!

Perfect IMO. It's just a bit faster than the 7'6" H Flippin stick, which makes it feel more responsive. I can roll cast and skip a 3/8 jig or Trig with it just fine.

Very nice @Darth-Baiter. Congrats. I've actually gotten to the point where I kinda enjoy when someone cuts me off on a bank or encroaches on me. I normally come out on top in those situations.