AlabamaSpothunter

Generally speaking you don't want to exceed the rating as a rule of thumb, but every rod is different, some can handle it. The advice from others that are yaking like PhishLi is gonna be far more relevant than my opinion, and I'm a long ways from being an expert.

One more fish and you could have called that a practice day for the upcoming Classic ? Beautiful fish, got to love the variety and not knowing what exactly you just hooked.

I went with the Alpha Angler Wide Glide 7'9 MH X-F with a glass tip. Any length rod length can have good parabolic action if it's built with that in mind. The reason many of the Alpha Angler rods have such fantastic and unique parabolic action is because they use glass tops and stiff graphite composite bottom sections. The rods won't wow you though in terms of looks, pure tools. The reason most big swimbait rods have full length handles in because when you tuck them under your arm while retrieving a bait, it's comfortable. On the other hand if you tuck a split grip under your arm, and work a bait for hours, it becomes very uncomfortable. Another reason is it's nice to have for bombcasting baits. There really isn't a free lunch with big swimbaits/a-rigs. There isn't a finesse option per say. Coming back to the parabolic aspect, any rod length can have it, you just have to find a rod with the proper action. Your focused on the power aspect of the rod, but you also have the action aspect to a rod. XH power on that rod might make it too stiff imho.

Agree. Some might see an abomination, I see a truly magnificent fish, that would literally eat humans if it was 2-3x it's size ? That might be the ultimate compliment you could give a Bass......Orca is the alpha predator in the aquatic world. They kill Great White Sharks just for their delicious livers. Imagine catching that fish!!!!!!

Wish I could help, but Scott suggested the same thing I was going to do. Your participation and number on the forum rolls is far more valuable than the cost of 146.48mbs provided to you. I've been on tech forums for over 15 years, this is the only one I've been a member of that limits the amount of pics you can upload. I'm constantly deleting pics in my attachments, feels like everything you've posted in the past is for nothing since I post lots of pics with my replies. That said, this is great forum, I'm happy they haven't banned me thus far, and love the people on here.

Perhaps so, but since I don't own a 8 speed I can't say how much easier to wind it would be.

Does it have to be Lanier? Arguably one the greatest Spotted Bass fisherman in the world is close by, Mike Bucca. I've been wanting to fish with him for a few months, he's on my list for sure. He's who I'd go Spotted Bass fishing if I was in GA and wanted to find a guide. Lake Allatoona Fishing Guides - Triton Mike Bass Fishing - Atlanta, Georgia Fishing Guides

HVAC, and welding are another couple of very profitable trades. I went to college, had a BF that went straight into the family business of building high end staircases, he was making 80k by the time I was a sophomore eating Ramin Noodles lol. Something very noble and honest about making your living in the trades if you are good at what you do. In a world where so many people get rubber stamp jobs and receive excellent salaries for doing so with their bachelors in English Lit, it's a shame we as a society pay and view trades people less than many white collar jobs that provide far less value for our society.

The most important thing to the sport imho, Catch N Release: Ray Scott For all his faults, I'm not sure we'd be here today talking about which professional anglers are known for particular baits without Ray Scott's vision of turning Bass fishing into a professional big money sport, or his strong advocacy for Catch N Release. To this point, I'm not into the competitive aspect of the sport, and think that aspect of the sport has much more evolving to do as in doing away with live weigh ins, but without B.A.S.S., and the tourney's, I don't think Catch N Release would have caught on so quickly and as effectively as it did. I'd put Ray Scott on the Mount Rushmore of Bass fishing for sure.

I've gotten myself into more trouble with the reverse lever on spinning reels and can't recall but a few times where I actually used it. On many of the reels of yesteryear, those levers were in bad spots where you'd accidentally engage them. They are kind of like the Forward Assist on the AR-15/M-16 design. A relic of the past, that even in the past was a questionable feature to many consumers like myself. I too got a JDM Certate 3000CXH a few months back........turned me into a real lover of spinning reels again. It's magnificent in every aspect. The drag though is worth every penny they cost...pure silk.

Yeah I don't own a 8 speed, but have been using it on a 7.1 Zillion HD. I was learning last night how fast a Bass can swim......basically 4-5x faster than the fastest reel you can buy. You can't outwind a Bass. With that in mind, does the fish notice the bait traveling that much faster b/t a 7 and 8 speed reel? I watch the videos of them actually "speed cranking", and they aren't really turning the handle that fast it seems. When I try to crank that Tactical Crank as fast as I can, I'm good for about 5 casts before I'm like Nope ?

Same here brother, I took a decade + off, and only started back last year. I've had a lot of success thus far from the hours of TB I've watched, but I just can't seem to get this speed cranking thing to work. I love crankbait fishing, but I never throw these deep diving ones much until I tried this whole speed cranking deal starting about 6 weeks ago. Good thing is that your fishery is totally different than mine, so you might have a ton of success with it. I'm not going to give up, but I'm going to get a MB deep six to try instead of the R2R Tactical Crank. It's a real chore to work that Tactical Crank after awhile especially when you have no confidence in the bait since you haven't caught a fish on it yet.

I can't catch a darn thing on the Tactical Crank by R2R I bought for "Speed Cranking in the winter time" (thanks Tim and Matt?), and it's as hard to work as any other typical deep diving CB. I hear the MB ones are much are easier to retrieve, and they dive at a much steeper plane. I've turned into a huge MB fanboy over the last several months. Most of the stuff I buy from them is exceptional quality, and seemingly justifies the high price tag.

I'd be as concerned with the rod's parabolic action as I would be its rating and length based on those baits, and my own experience using very similar baits. Those are still moving treble hooked baits, and if you just try to slot in a stiff shorter rod, you're going to be losing some fish most likely. The length really helps with distance, are you going to be bombcasting these baits across structure, or do you intend to pinpoint cast them closer to cover? I don't throw many soft big swimbaits with large single hooks, but if you do than perhaps a shorter H action could work better vs. hard big swimbaits with trebles. I decided to just buy a dedicated "heavy bait" setup.....1.5-2oz 5" BD Shads/168 S Wavers/Gantarels.....to 2.5oz ARigs......to potentially down the line 3-4oz 8-10" cover Glides. Thus far the biggest reason why I'm glad I did is because of the rod itself, and again its parabolic nature. I lucked into this because nobody talks much about how important this aspect is to big moving hard swimbaits with trebles.

I have an ongoing battle with Beavers, there is no way I'd get close enough to unhook one lol. Being a Night Basser, these things will ruin whole sections of the lake trying to scare you away with tail slaps, not to mention it startles you. Birds, sure.....turtles, okay......Beaver/Snake/Gator CUT THE LINE NOW ?

H20 Express lures, or Academy Sports in house brand IIrc. eta: Yeah @Bluebasser86 confirms it in this thread. He knows way more than me.

I just googled to see where it was at and was dumbfounded.......you should have qualified, and fished off your dock ?

@A-Jay This has your name written all over it for a variety of reasons ?

I can see that, MB or any high quality JDM bait would make great collectables, surprised I haven't already learned about a robust collector's market for lures........I think there is one for big Swimbaits. I essentially collected JDM baits until started back fishing again and said what the heck, might as well try these things out......then I saw why they cost what they do, specifically the MB 110 series.

I went over to the forum last night to see when the last time Bob Lusk posted, and it seems he doesn't participate that much on the forum as of recent. If you have a specific question or two, send them to my inbox, and I'll ask him during the next live session. The man is a wealth of incredible knowledge, and you are in the awesome and unique position to benefit from it. Lots of work and money for a high-quality pond, but I'd rather have that then a Ferrari or 911 that would cost similar money. Playing creator in your backyard is a pretty cool hobby. The Pond Boss was talking about La Palma in Texas, and how the guy has spent millions of dollars trying to grow the next WR LGM, and today he's as far from that reality as when he started albeit still producing amazing fish. Mankind's hand has nothing on God's or Nature's

Considering I never heard of Whopper Plopper until your pics in the Latest Catch thread, and then had to go out and buy one....yeah, you're the Whopper Plopper Queen....imagine calling a woman that under any other context ?

Bob, do you follow the Pond Boss? He does live Facebook Q&As, he's already answered a bunch of questions of mine during these. I think you would love his information.

They make way too many colors as is. I mean if you can't find what you like in their current offerings, you might want to go the custom bait route. Costco did a famous study of presenting buyers with 3 options vs 20+ options......what they found is people were way more likely to buy the product when only offered in 3 varieties vs. 20+. Their conclusion was the customer became overloaded by choice and just moved on. That said, GG Threadfin all the things ?

Putting in that work every moment the lake will allow me, increasing the length of sessions to 6.5hrs, maxing out both batteries, I can see nothing in my universe outside of my White Whale, weather fronts, and 150+ acres of water. 11 fish, all but 1 fish were 2-3lb+ fish........absolutely spectacular aerial show today from both fighting LGMs, and watching wolf packs of largely Spots tossing dozens of threadfins/gizzards into the air. Last day before rains tom. AM/cold front for two days, then back to this pattern hopefully. These fish are all so fat compared to a few months ago, I see why people think this is the best time to get the PB. Katie, I thought about you when I discovered two new retrieves for my new favorite bait, the 110jr. +1, first way is a burn............stop.....burn..........stop....burn retrieve, and incredibly trolling this thing at 2mph and sweeping the rod forward every 10-15secs produced two fantastic 2.5-3lb fish but since I was trolling I didn't get it on film. Next time out I plan to really experiment with the trolling aspect of this. I find these baits like the Flashback Mini w Armor Shad, and now this 110jr.+1, and they have such unique natural action, the different ways to retrieve them are seemingly endless. Some lures just have that magic in them. Caught them on the 110jr. +1, the LuckyCraft StaySee 90SP, the A-Rig, and the magic lure flashback mini. I rarely tie on a new bait after I leave the dock, so catching fish on 4 baits is pretty rare for me. That LuckyCraft proved pretty quickly it has some unique specs that should make it a great producer hopefully. Runs a bit deeper than a Jr. +1 by 2-3ft but is the same basic size as the Jr models. Has a great rattle to it as well which is key for me to scatter Shad and present a better unobstructed view of the bait for the Bass. Lastly on the videos, I do it primarily for selfish reasons, many/most of the videos I post in this thread are unlisted.....and get like 4 views, If I was doing it for other folks I'd be failing bigly lol. They are basically just a much better form of my fishing pic scrapbook. If you find yourself making videos for other people imho it's not worth the hassle of adding another level of complexity to your personal pursuit within the Bass fishing universe. I love to share the videos here, but even my own family has no idea these videos exist, they are very personal, a record of pure joy and excitement that sometimes I have to draw back on for inspiration or escape.....not every day can be spent on the water, or at the range in my other filming deal. The education value is extremely high as well, as I've said before I truly get lost in the excitment and moment of it all on the water.