T-Billy

Ark Lancer Pro or Cobb series and a Lew's LFS. The rod gives up nothing to a champ in the sensitivity dept., if anything it's more sensitive, and the reel is a smooth, and durable. Very tough combo to beat in it's price range.

Good points made there Boomstick. Abu's tend to run heavy in my experience. I have a ML Veritas, 6'9" I believe, and it's as stout as some other mediums I have. I really like my two 7' SLX ML's and my Ark Tharp 6'10" Meterman Special which are both true ML's IMO and great rods for neds and dropshotting.

You definitely want a 6 power for punching, or pitching heavy cover of any kind IMO. They do a much better job of moving fish out of cover than a 5. You won't be disappointed with a Lew's Super Duty.

Awesome rod for punching while still having enough tip to pitch 3/8 very well. Great A rig rod as well. $129 and on par with a lot of rods costing much more. Edit to add: The Tharp King Cobra, and Guntersville are equivalent in power to a 6 power Dobyns Flip. The Okeechobee is stouter.

Nonsense. 7' ML SLX and 6# XT was enough for this guy. And this. And this. And a of bunch of other bass, musky, carp, cats... ML and 6# will get it done in open water, and EVERYTHING will eat a TRD Bug.

Thanks. It's been a struggle this spring. Only a handfull over 3 and no 4+ yet. Grass is finally coming on and the night bite is heating up though. Hopefully I'll stick a piggy soon. That helps for sure. The Sweet Craw is substantially thicker though, and it makes a difference, especially when rigged on a flippin hook. It just comes through the thick stuff better. It does however require braid and a stout rod to drive a 4/0 flippin hook home through the added plastic everytime. My Sierra 766 Flip and Tharp, King Cobra, and Guntersville, Git'r done. My 765 Kaden Flip and Tharp Money Maker are a bit lacking sometimes with this bait. That's fine with me though, as I find those rods a bit lacking when it comes to moving fish out of the jungle no matter the bait. Here's a couple pics of the 3.5 Sweet Craw compared to the 3.5 Yo Mamma. I call the color GI Joe, as it reminds me of those little plastic army men us old guys played with as kids. I just add a little black to my green punkin. Looks natural in clear water, silhouettes dang near as well as black in the mud. It's the only color I make 'em in.

Roger that. I could get by quite happily with a Trig, a toad, and a chatterbait at night.

I don't think it catches more fish than a beaver would. They're interchanchable in that sense. This bait has a thicker body than a beaver though, has no hook slot, and holds the point of a flippin hook way better, allowing me to fish it through the thickest, nastiest of cover without hanging up. So I feel it's much better in that sense. Ya gotta make 'em yourself though. The molds are available at Ultra Molds. I've burned through six dozen already this year. Just made another batch the other day.

Especially about 3am when you're literally out on your feet, barely functioning, fishing by feel alone and POW!!! the rod nearly gets taken out of your hands. NOW YOU'RE AWAKE!!! Then there's those territorial beavers that like to sneak up behind you and slap their tails a foot from the boat, or the herons that like to wait until you're directly under their roosting tree before they take off screaching into the night. Neither has actually made me pee my pants, but both have come close!!! ? Man, I love night fishin. All your senses are heightened.

I don't always start with it, but I often do. Sometimes it's all I throw all day. The Sweet Craw has been good to me. Heavy cover, open water structure, this thing on a Trig flat puts fish in the boat from ice out till ice over.

Gonna be scorchin hot the next three days in OH. Water is finally in the 70's. I'm expecting some hot action Thursday night. I've found that green lights are the way to fly on dark nights. They allow me to see much further than red without messing up my night vision, don't spook fish, in fact they attract baitfish, and they don't attract bugs. A couple cheap waterproof LED strips stuck to the side of a small 12v battery allow me to pitch cover very effectively at night. I used to fish just black baits at night, but over time discovered exactly what Catt suggested. No need. Just fish the same baits you would during the day. Fish have no problem finding them.

I've been very happy with mine. Smooth and easy to dial in. I bought it used from a fellow BR member and it also came with a Ray's Studio bfs spool. With that spool it's awesome for throwing light Trig's and weightless senkos on 20# braid. I like it enough I just ordered a 2nd one, plus a bfs spool and 105mm handle from HPR bearings.

I'm a big fan of Sufix 832 braid because it handles so well and is very abrasion resistant, but I thought Randalls take on this was interesting. I use the snell he shows here and it's never once failed me.

7' MH XF casting. 20# Sufix 832 braid. Berkley fusion 1/0 wacky hook.

Not specific enough for a detailed answer IMO. I think if you're new enough to the sport to be asking this question, I recommend keeping it simple. 40# Sufix 832 for heavy cover and 6# to 15# Trilene Big Game for everything else. BG is cheap enough for you to experiment and find what works for YOU without breaking the bank, and it's good strong mono that handles pretty well and won't let you down.

I've been doing well rolling a 3/8 Zman Slingblade tandem (colorado/willow) in chartreuse/white along laydowns and over grass lately. Using a white goat grub as a trailer. Awesome trailer for fishing high in the water column. It's bouyant and rigged flat it adds lift. No trailer hook required or wanted fishing it in cover. Even the dinks have been choking it.

Yep, and sometimes when what's been working stops, I go digging around and an old favorite becomes a new favorite again, leaving me wondering why I ever stopped throwing it. Two days ago, it was slick calm and sunny on the back side of a front. I was getting a few on the Sweet Craw, but it was a tough bite. Went digging around and found an old bag of Culprit worms in junebug that hadn't seen the light of day for a long time. Trigged one on a 1/8 sinker and proceeded to wear out the dinks. No big fish, but I went from struggling to a steady bite. I used to always have a Culprit rigged. Dunno why I stopped, but they'll be back in the regular rotation again for awhile. Round and round we go.

I'm always ready. I worked about 200 days last year. Fished about 100. Lakes were iced over for 60 or so. I feel like I didn't get out enough. Too busy fertilizing the yard so you can mow it more often? ?

Absolutely. I fish a TRD bug on a 1/8 football head in rock often, on 6# XT. Check your line often and retie as needed.

Was just on the Lew's website. Looks like they've discontinued the original G and are offering a Gen2. Looks like pretty much same specs with added P2 and a Flippin Switch on all gear ratios. Still mag braked.

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't know that. Shame, they're outstanding. Oddly enough, I find them easier to skip with than the SLP that was designed for skipping. Go figure.

True. I've had issues with breakoffs with every flouro I've tried. Just happened to be Invisx on when I stuck those two piggies. Spent a few years with flouro then went back to mono after Invisx let me down the second time. Most of my rods are spooled with braid these days though. LM and river SM don't seem to care a bit about seeing braid. I think lake smallies do though when fishing slow moving baits. XT and BG in low vis green disapear well in my local waters and work well for me when chasing open water brownies and saugeye.

20# Trilene XT. It's low stretch, abrasion resistant, and has excellent knot strength. That said, Last year I went to 40# Sufix 832 for fishing in cover and I've been VERY happy with it. I won't be going back to mono for many applications. I'm using straight braid for pitching, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, lipless cranks, and some top waters. Still using mono for finesse stuff, poppers, and billed cranks. I love the way 832 handles. I seldom need to retie, it has no memory, and I can put my bait into the nastiest tangles and be confident I can winch the fish out. I no longer feel like braid is a specialty line like many view it. It works well in a wide range of applications.

Straight into the heart of it with my pitchin rig. 7'6" - 7'11" HF rod, 40# 832, tungsten weight (usually 3/8), 4/0 flippin hook, and a beaver style bait.

Pitching heavy cover is my favorite way to catch 'em, so I gotta go with my Lew's Super Duty's. They get a steady diet of big hooksets with straight braid, on stout rods, and they take that lickin and keep on tickin. The oldest is on it's 5th season, and it's still smooth and reliable.