AlabamaSpothunter

Very nice, so JLS is the place I read about the other day that includes a "gift". Now the inner child in me is screaming " go with the free surprise lure" option lol

This site is becoming a Punji Pit for my bank account.....all you guys are accomplices to this! ? I just can't fence sit any more on these prices, especially when I actually need a few new reels.

Yeah I can't find any negative reviews. Doesn't seem to be a widely produced rod so I guess that's why the info kind of limited. My only concern is weight vs the IMX. I put the Zillion on that IMX yesterday at the local store and the thing felt excellent. I appreciate your feedback and original suggestion. I think for non bottom contact rods, my allegiance to G Loomis is over. If you buy $400-800 rods, you should get a lifetime warranty, not some $130 replacement charge. I'm not worried that much on a sub $300 rod warranty. Lol, I haven't felt the need to upgrade to the Jackhammer series yet as I've only been throwing these for a few months. I eyeball them every time though and that price is hard to stomach when I'm catching lots of fish on the other models. I'm sure I'll find a reason why only $15 CBs work vs $8 ones in due order with a nice new dedicated setup for them ?

Now that's a Brown Bass! It drives me mad knowing just an hour north of me these magnificent fish can be found.

Haha, I remember as a little boy having a friend spend the night so we could get up really early to catfish......we were so excited we stayed up until like 2-3am, and woke up at like 9 or 10am. Needless to say we didn't catch any cats that morning. I loathe Urban areas and do everything possible to avoid them. Suburbs aren't much better. You said it perfectly in regards to detoxification. I think this is a big reason why I like to fish by myself as well, moreover why I like to fish at night the best. To be on a lake at night by yourself is truly my happy place. Good luck, be safe, and have a blast! I'll be looking for the hawg pics in the latest catch thread

I'm Alex, and I think calling each other Alex and Katie will save us some time ?

Did you get charged sales tax through Japan Lure shop? I'm about to buy the Zillion SV TW. Digitaka has it for 33,000y, Japan Lure Shop has it for 32,000y.....but you have pay through paypal.

Thanks friend! I was ecstatic with how healthy and fat she was....no marks or sores either. These are the fish that give me great optimism one of these days I'll get a DD on my home lake. One last funny story from today and a word of caution to anglers and honeyholes...... So I see this guy fishing in terrible conditions last week in a very odd location of the lake, go to the store, come back an hour later.....the guy was still there fishing in the rain in the exact same spot. Flash forward to today, I'm fishing that part of the lake so I decide to really give that area a good screening with the sonar. Lo and behold this dude was fishing on perhaps the most sheer vertical dropoff in the lake, and on a ledge is a huge structure ball with what I can only guess was tons of Crappie holding all around it. Now if I knew a single thing about Crappie, I'd have just scored one heck of a honey hole lol. I've had other anglers approach me in the past because they saw an exposed net, and asked " See ya got the net out, how nice was she". If you hold your honeyholes near and dear, remember there is always a fellow angler trying to scoop you including myself LMAO ?

So I guess I've narrowed it down to these two.....went by the local shop and was surprised the warranty has changed, now it's $130 to replace a rod. Changing things and loyalties for sure. He said none of the rods they carry offer those old school policies, and this shop only has high end stuff. This is the Loomis G. Loomis IMX Pro Technique-Specific Casting Rods - Tackle Warehouse It's $365 locally Somebody on here the other night recommended this rod by Alpha Angler which is significantly cheaper, and has stellar reviews. Alpha Angler ChatterBound - 7'2" Medium-Heavy S-Glass Composite If I'm understanding the differences b/t the two.......the Loomis is all composite, while the Alpha Angler is a blend. Seems to me the blended rod could be used for cranks, and some other things while the composite Loomis might be a true niche rod?

I don't think you did anything wrong, however I always like to give other anglers a wide birth. Not even so much to not fish waters they are headed towards fishing, but simply because I know I like to solitude of fishing and would appreciate others giving me the same wide berth.

Extremely dynamic weather the last week.....like going from 30.10 to 29.73 over a 24hr period, and back up, and back down. I'm having lots of difficulty finding numbers of fish, but I continue to get lucky with the quality fish. Fished for 3 hours today, from 330-630pm. Very overcast day that ended with a pretty sunset and moderate cloud cover. Still quite hot, but my lake's avg. temp seems to have fallen about 4-5 degrees in the last week. Caught 6 including an exceptionally healthy 5lb 14oz fish. Super feisty for a LGM this time of year as well. So close to being a 6lber. Next nicest was b/t 1-2lbs. The 4 others were small Spots. The 7" Black Grape Roboworm on a 1/8th Tungsten/ Gama EWG 3/0 T-Rig took the big girl along with the other LGM, and two of the Spots. Another Spot came on a Chatterbait, and one came on a Scrounger Head with Magic Shad being trolled in-between spots. Oh yeah, check out the huge Gizzard Shad I found that was about to die.....looks like a bird or something got it. This lake doesn't have lots of Gizzards, and this is easily the biggest one I've ever seen. I imagine a big Bass would hammer it. It was about 8" for reference. Last pic is a threadfin pod holding right above the main lake channel that almost filled my 9" screen......I mean if I were a Bass I'd never eat anything but those things. Oddly it seems I only catch 1-2lb fish around these huge bait balls.

So you say they were biting ehhh? Dang nice Spot!

I think you're confusing a jig for catching hawgs ? Catching fish that size on my Steez setup makes me smile ear to ear for about an hour or two.

"6 Pound Bass's team" ?

Somebody woke up with the new division lead after being 10.5 back and trailed all season. Imagine what it must feel like to be a Met fan ?

Wow Lynn has amazing strength, more than I could ever imagine possessing. Both of you guys do, and keep up the fight! Thanks for the update, and better news as well.

I watched the last Duckling get sucked down by a monster Bass one morning.....I was in shock lol

Trying to catch dinner I assume? ?

People that know more than me on here have recently answered this question.....you want one of the models with an H in it for heavy baits like that. The AI vs Brass gear thing seems to be way overblown by many, that wouldn't be my concern for not selecting the SV TW vs the TW HD. Again, I've read here the HD is the better option for heavier baits like you throw.

Given this is your setup, I'd be throwing 6" Roboworms You can't throw many of the baits I'd recommend well or at all with a spinning setup like that. You need at least one baitcaster setup with something like a 6.3:1 ratio, and a good MH 6'6" and above rod, and need to be using at min. 12lb test on it. 14-15lb would be ideal to cover a wider range of techniques and lures. Sounds like you are just getting started out, if so just enjoy the process. Everybody's lakes are different, but if you keep fishing yours long enough, you'll improve without question. Time on water is all that ever matters in fishing.

They stock them monthly below the Smith Lake Dam, and it supports a year round 1/4mile stream for rainbows to live in. Magical place. As you noted, the best time to go is when they stock them, further out you get, the more the "meat hunters" have come in a fished them out. Bumping power bait on the bottom, or using night crawlers up top on a bobber. Also little spinners, all the things you mentioned. Perhaps the best tasting freshwater fish imho.

I seemed to make a number of people quite emotional over my reply, I'm a crazy coming out of the woodwork, I'm a PETA type, don't know how to cook, etc. All things I've never posted. I'm not alone in the fact I don't enjoy eating Bass. I also get some like them. Some people eat Carp too. I do take "all your crappy ponds" you fish as a true insult, but I'll take the highroad. I live within an hour drive in every direction of a major reservoir known for world class Bass fishing. Find a better trophy Bass fishery than Lake Guntersville? Find a better Trophy Smallmouth fishery than Lake Pickwick, and the rest of the TVA waters? Find a better trophy Spotted Bass fishery than the Coosa, and Lay Lake? I don't fish crappy little ponds, I fish well known lakes with proud Bass fishing histories. Most importantly my home lake which is private is the furthest thing from a crappy little pond than you could imagine. It's electric only, zero industry surrounds it, little to no fishing pressure. Pristine, clean, deep, hundreds of acres, and is able to maintain a fantastic population of Alabama Bass which is exceptionally rare for a lake of this size.

Buying Loomis is a big deal because my local store is one of Loomis's biggest dealers and has a no questions asked warranty policy. Gives me great security when I lay down good money for a rod. That said I need to go in and ask about other rods they may offer similar warranties on. Knock on wood I don't break them often, but breaking a $300-700 rods and eating it is a tough pill to swallow

HAHA, imagine a rod with a built IR laser tip. I think I'd have to go with a dual/binoc setup, like two PVS14s on a lightweight bump or skateboarding helmet. That's like a $10k setup lol

I'm was still at 85 degree water the last time out as well, but I think that's rapidily coming to an end with all the rain that's fell this last week, plus what's coming starting tom. Highs are going to be in the mid 80s over the next 5 days IIrc. I'm pumped, the number of bigger fish I've been catching hasn't been reduced, but the numbers certainly have over the last 4-6 weeks. I caught my biggest of the year on 8/4, but since then outside of a 6lb, and several 5lb fish, the fishing has been slow. My guess it's about to heat up big time for our latitude. I saw that same stunningly beautiful sunset this afternoon as well. It's already raining though again.