T-Billy

Green Pumpkin. I used to throw black&blue at night but GP works just as well. I feel for ya brother. You could try running some green LED's. They allow you to see pretty well, don't attract bugs, and don't spook fish, in fact they attract schools of minnows.

Hit my favorite lake last thurs night and did pretty well on a chatterbait on outside weedlines. Then, being the genius that I am, when that stretch slowed, instead of hitting another of several weedy flats that have been productive in the past, I decided to go Trig deep wood instead. That produced a couple dinks. LOL. I'm not a smart man. ? I'm going back tonight seeking redemption. Had the lake completely to myself last week. Night Time is the Right Time in the summer. @Catt I gotta tell ya brother, I'm finding it hard to put my XF rods down these days. I bought an Ark Tharp Hammer awhile back (7' MH XF) for skipping and liked it well enough that I bought the same blank in the Invoker series. I keep finding more uses for 'em. They're more versatile than I expected. I ran across a very lightly used St Croix Avid X 6'8" M XF at ALF today. It's on it's way. I'll pair it with a 70 series Curado. I expect it's gonna see lots of action too.

That's the kind of thing an unseen tree limb or wacky senko that flies off will do.

super fluke, senko, keitech, swim jig, frog.... Lots of good options for the conditions you describe.

Haven't tried smackdown as I've been so happy with 832. It's by far the most abrasion resistant braid I've used. I fish alot of rock and 832 handles all my bottom contact braid duty exceptionally well. I think that Gore fiber lives up to the Sufix hype, and contributes to the great handling and abrasion resistance. I've tried a few cheap chinese braids for baits that get fished up in the water column, and they've all been good. KastKing Super Power, Angry Fish 8 carrier, and Hercules are all smooth, strong, and cheap. The Angry Fish is my favorite of those.

I just wear my foil hat when on the interweb. So far, so good.

TRD bug for smallmouth.

Sad but true.

I've never done well with bass on Flicker Shads but the eyes love 'em. I've had a few I couldn't tune as well.

I use braid and a snelled straight shank for nearly all my Trig fishin. Easy to tie, fantastic hooking and landing percentage, comes through cover better than other hooks,and your trig lands upright everytime. I use the snell Tharp shows here. Easy to tie with just a little practice, and it's never once failed me.

Tatula for the win. Very nice rods. Mojo didn't impress me at all for it's price.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I was talking about the HD's.

Thanks for the tip on the SK braid. I only use 832 for bottom contact as it's the most abrasion resistant braid I've found and it handles great, but cheap chinese stuff has worked well for me for moving baits. I've been using Angry Fish in lo vis gray for chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. It's been great. Smooth, durable, and holds it's color really well, but it's only available in 8 strand in 40# and up. I just ordered a spool of SK 30# in grey. 547yds for $20. Looking forward to trying it out next weekend on my new spinnerbait stick.

I checked 'em out on Falcons website. Look like moving bait rods to me as all but one casting model is either a mod or mod-fast blank.

I've never fished a Lowrider, but I've checked 'em out in my local shop. They're the only rods I've found at that price point that compare to the Ark Tharps. Very nice rods.

I agree. I just picked up a HMG 7' MH F. It's main job will be spinnerbaits, and it has that just right feel for that. On the slow side of fast with good backbone. Very comfy reel seat, full cork handle and tangle free zirconium guides. Exactly what I went shopping for. I expect I'll be very happy with it.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!

Mono leaders... All pros, no cons. Sensitivity and sink rate are the only things flouro has over mono IMO. Visibility difference is WAAYYY overblown. Braid to leader negates both of those, unless using a really long leader.

Thanks. Bout $90 down the drain. I've been making plastics for a long time, and have a bunch of molds. These are the first I couldn't get to shoot. Apologies to the OP for the hijack. I've got a screwlock jig mold very similar to the poison tail. I think I'll pour a handfull this week and drag an Ol Monster around on em next friday night.

Balance matters more to me than weight. I prefer rods in the 7' - 7'6" range for most things, and add weight to the butt so they balance on my middle finger while palming them. It gives me better feel and makes them less fatiguing to fish. I've found those rubber furniture feet work great. I buy them in the appropriate size to slip on the rod butt tightly, and pour the needed amount of lead in them from my lee pot to balance the rod. Call it right, wrong, or otherwise, I don't care. It works for me.

Epic Fail. Molds are crap. Can't get the tails to fill out. Ran the plastic up to 360, heated the molds to 200ish, nope. Opened up the venting at the tail tips with a dremmel cut off wheel. Nope. 3hrs of messing with 'em, I'm done. My Senko and Ripper ES molds shoot great. The ribbon tail molds are worthless other than their weight in scrap. Boo!!! I had high hopes for this one. Epic Fail. Molds are crap. Can't get the tails to fill out. Ran the plastic up to 360, heated the molds to 200ish, nope. Opened up the venting at the tail tips with a dremmel cut off wheel. Nope. 3hrs of messing with 'em, I'm done. My Senko and Ripper ES molds shoot great. The ribbon tail molds are worthless other than their weight in scrap. Boo!!! I had high hopes for this one.

It'll be next weekend before I get to fish 'em, but I'll post an update after I do. I hear ya on the tail. Do-It uses that as a selling point for this mold. Per Do-It: A staple of Bass Fishing for many years the Ribbon Worm delivers an excellent swimming action thanks to its specially designed tail. Wider at its base, this prevents it from wrapping around grass and stick ups, keeping you and the bait free to make a few more casts.

Good to hear. I just bought a couple Do-It essential series 7" ribbontail worm molds. It's very similar to the Fat Max. It's meaty for its length with a wide ribbontail. Should hold a flippin hook well, and fit nicely between the original 7" Culprit and the Ol Monster. Gonna make several dozen this afternoon.

This is the #1 reason I feel like the CB's I make are better than any commercial bait I've ever tried. I use the turbo blades from Barlows and they're connected direct to the eye of the jig. They start instantly with a slow half turn of the handle. Crawling them slowly around the rocks at night is one of my favorite ways to catch 'em. It gets big bites, and produced my PB smallie. They rarely hang, and when they do, they'll usually pop free. I lose very few. I don't know of another bait that comes through rock as well. A football jig doesn't even come close. I also like my blades powder coated. To get back on topic, I've been doing really well as of late with the Zman Slingblade in both tandem and double willow. The Goat Grub rigged flat is a freakin awesome trailer.

3.5" Sweet Craw (beaver) Trigged 7" Culprit worm Trigged 3.8 Keitech Fat Weighted scewlock hook 5" Senko Wacky Weedless Berkley Fusion wacky hook TDR Bug on a 1/8 football head Goat Toad