Latest Tackle Purchase Thread (Bait Monkey Victim Support Group)

[NorcalBassin]

The hook up tackle's surprise two day 22% off Christmas sale made a 3 piece PB Rat too hard to pass up. Pink 2 piece was great for me this year, and allegedly the 3 piece is even better for the open deep water I generally fish.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

8 minutes ago, NorcalBassin said:

The hook up tackle's surprise two day 22% off Christmas sale made a 3 piece PB Rat too hard to pass up. Pink 2 piece was great for me this year, and allegedly the 3 piece is even better for the open deep water I generally fish.

Haha, that thing is cool.

 

Look forward to seeing you post a fish on it lol.   Thing is wild 

[BTSyndrome]

2 hours ago, Cgolf said:

So thanks to a couple of purchases this year the bait monkey had lure parts online and Barlows send me catalogs to arrive on the same day to tempt me to stock up on stuff I need and also stuff I didn’t know I need!

 

Only ever order for myself... but you know they (companies) are collaborating when the wife gets a Mud Hole catalog the same day mine arrives. lol

[Jmontgomery87]

I wasn't planning on getting another reel right now but DSG had the Shimano SLX for 60% off! It feels way smoother than my LFS and Tatula CT and it casts easier around the yard too. The best $39.98 reel ever made. Period.

[NorthernBasser]

2 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

The hook up tackle's surprise two day 22% off Christmas sale made a 3 piece PB Rat too hard to pass up. Pink 2 piece was great for me this year, and allegedly the 3 piece is even better for the open deep water I generally fish.

 

Some impressive baits, for sure. Love how they're made of resin. I got these two at the beginning of last year. For whatever reason, I only threw them a few times. Didn't get anything on them yet, but did have one monster blowup on the 3 piece, but missed it. And if you ever need to replace the tail and wanna keep that same color, Creme Lures makes some.

 

 

[softwateronly]

12 hours ago, Jrob78 said:

A few more Christmas sale items came in today. I’m hoping the 743 will be good for 1/4oz swimjigs and these small finesse jigs. This is my first non cranking Dobyns but it feels great and balances well with the Steez.
Also had to get a couple of Rozantes and Nanahans from the small jerkbait thread ?

 

You fish those firework jigs before?  Long time ago before they got picked up, I grabbed a  few from a fellow fisherman like an open air drug deal on the lakefront.  They caught for sure but are long gone to toothy fish and I forgot about them.  Just ran into them on tw and about to order a half dozen.  Hope/think they didn't change much.

 

scott

[king fisher]

Relatives came to town last night, and brought my Christmas tackle order down with them.  I set my new record for smallest order, and still be over $50 for free shipping.  Bait Monkey is happy, and looking forward to the day when a single bait will qualify for free shipping. 

 

[Jrob78]

1 hour ago, softwateronly said:

 

You fish those firework jigs before?  Long time ago before they got picked up, I grabbed a  few from a fellow fisherman like an open air drug deal on the lakefront.  They caught for sure but are long gone to toothy fish and I forgot about them.  Just ran into them on tw and about to order a half dozen.  Hope/think they didn't change much.

 

scott

No I haven't. I saw them mentioned somewhere and decided to pick some up. Apparently these are a collab with Catch Co, if you go to tightropefishing.com they have the same jigs that aren't the collaboration. I'm not sure what is different other than the weedguard and maybe some colors.

[Johnbt]

"We will see how it performs when spring comes."

 

Could you try it today, while I'm at lunch, so I can order a couple of Steez A2's while they have lefthanded ones in stock? And while my wife is out of the house? 

[Darth-Baiter]

28 minutes ago, Johnbt said:

"We will see how it performs when spring comes."

 

Could you try it today, while I'm at lunch, so I can order a couple of Steez A2's while they have lefthanded ones in stock? And while my wife is out of the house? 

quick..scan the return policy.  

 

just in case she comes at you hard.  

[NorthernBasser]

My ZOLO Dream came yesterday. Very nice build. Just gorgeous. I won't be able to get a true feel for it until spring. But I definitely will have to get used to the carbon grip. It feels 'rougher' than my friends Kistler Chromium rod, which also has carbon grips. Those feel like they have a rubberized coating over it. Hopefully the durability of these hold up. I've never had carbon grips before.

 

The rod is a 7' med/fast. It's definitely more whippy than other med/fast rods I've ever owned. Not a noodle or anything, but it definitely bends deep down into the blank. Not saying this is necessarily is a bad thing. Just wasn't expecting that.

 

Another thing that's a little surprising is it's a little tip-heavy. For a 7' M rod, and for an ALX rod (my 7'1 MH ZOLO Deputy isn't) that's a little surprising. Is a carbon handle lighter than cork/foam? I had a Curado MGL 70 on it and the balance wasn't great. I slapped a Curado 200K on it (which is heavier, obviously) and it was still pretty tip heavy. 

 

Guides are very small, so I'm curious how well connection knots will do on this. May have to go straight fluoro/copoly.

 

I know these sound like complaints, but they're really not. Just my initial observations. I'm quite excited to get it out on the water!

 

 

 

[Jrob78]

14 hours ago, NorcalBassin said:

The hook up tackle's surprise two day 22% off Christmas sale made a 3 piece PB Rat too hard to pass up. Pink 2 piece was great for me this year, and allegedly the 3 piece is even better for the open deep water I generally fish.

 

12 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

 

Some impressive baits, for sure. Love how they're made of resin. I got these two at the beginning of last year. For whatever reason, I only threw them a few times. Didn't get anything on them yet, but did have one monster blowup on the 3 piece, but missed it. And if you ever need to replace the tail and wanna keep that same color, Creme Lures makes some.

 

 

You guys are killing me. Just ordered a 2 piece. 

[NorthernBasser]

13 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

 

You guys are killing me. Just ordered a 2 piece. 

Hey, that's what friends are for! 

[gim]

16 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

Just ordered a 2 piece.

Hopefully it shows up in only 2 pieces too.

[Jrob78]

24 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Hopefully it shows up in only 2 pieces too.

What do you mean? Do they have breakage issues?

[gim]

2 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

What do you mean? Do they have breakage issues?

Buyer beware.

[NorthernBasser]

10 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

What do you mean? Do they have breakage issues?

I certainly can't speak on it since I have used mine much, but I have never heard of any issues. They're built like a tank. Unless people have issues with the hinges/hardware or something?

[gim]

14 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

What do you mean? Do they have breakage issues?

I'm sure it will show up as you expected it to.

[Jrob78]

I'm not finding anything negative with a quick google search, I guess we'll find out. ?‍♂️

[FishTank]

8 hours ago, Johnbt said:

"We will see how it performs when spring comes."

 

Could you try it today, while I'm at lunch, so I can order a couple of Steez A2's while they have lefthanded ones in stock? And while my wife is out of the house? 

 

It's been 50+ degrees the past few days and the lakes by me are still 75% covered in ice. I am hoping to try it out on Sunday.  The water temps will probably be in the upper 30's but at least I will be able to cast a lure with it. 

[Dangerfield]

Bait Monkey Season is in full effect!

 

My main focus this year was to outfit my vessel, Wilderness Systems Recon 120 HD to be more tournament ready. I debated adding a Newport Sports NK-180 motor but I wasn't ready to spend the dough when I had other areas to address first, like a Blackpak Pro, better rudder, more rod holders and some other creature comforts.

 

Part #1: Garmin Echomap 95sv with GT54 transducer. Picked that up Christmas night $750 off at Cabela's. Still debating which battery and mount to get. The unit should arrive later next week, goal is to win a tournament this year and add a 75sv and LiveScope. Thinking a 12v 18-25ah will be in order.

 

Part #2: My order from PTBO Pro Tackle here in Ontario arrived earlier today. The focus was more combos and to round out my arsenal after selling/swap gear at the beginning of this season. I picked up x3 2022 Daiwa Tatula XT rods, which are much lighter than I anticipated and lookers. Think of the last gen Shimano Zodias but with black/carbon accents.

 

I grabbed a 7' 3" Med Fast Spinning + 2500 Fuego LT for bottom contact duty, ned rig, SMH rig and neko. Canadian fishing legend Bob Izumi praised long spinning rods for fighting brown bass and letting the parabolic bend to do most of the work. Gonna need some 10lb braid and an extra SLP spool.

 

I sorely missed a dedicated cranking rod this past season, especially for dual duty as a topwater and smaller glides or chatterbaits. Insert a 7' Med Regular Glass Daiwa Tatula XT casting + 6.3.1 Fuego CT. Getting 10 or 12lb Seaguar Invisx.

 

My MHMF jig rod wasn't cutting it for frogging or flipping tactics, insert a 7' 3" Hvy Fast Daiwa Tatula XT + an existing 7.3.1 Daiwa 100 off my Topwater rod which is getting a new 6.3.1 Fuego CT (I prefer the slower retrieve for my fav two baits: MB Dog-X & EG 125 Showerblows) With the Hvy rod, I can finally start using an A-Rig, Frog and 6" Magdraft without moving a reel around.

 

Also grabbed 1/2oz & 1oz Dark Sleepers in Donko (goby), Haze (perch) and Clear Pink for smallies. A 3600 Plano one compartment for my big swimbaits, wakes and topwaters and scored a Daiwa Needle nose pliers for blowing too much dough.

 

Next up is more gear from Yak Hobby and Yak Attack to finish outfitting my rig.

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Dangerfield
Space/spelling

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, Dangerfield said:

Thinking a 12v 18-25ah will be in order.

If you're looking to add another sonar later - go with the 25ah.

[T-Billy]

And the monkey wins again. 

The beating was rather severe this morning, and there are two Zillion HD's and two Ark Invoker 7'9" HF on the way. 

[Scott804]

I really thought I had escaped the clutches of the bait monkey for the rest of December. But The Hook Up Tackle's sale got me good. 

 

Got the Evergreen Combat Stick Jackhammer rod. 7'3 Heavy Glass, Mod-slow. The finish on this series of rods is ridiculous, they look so much nicer than their price at 200$. I was never a huge fan of the camo grips online, but in person they look pretty cool. The range on this rod is 1/2-2oz and you really can feel that, a 1/2oz jackhammer with trailer feels like when you throw a 1/4oz spinnerbait on a 1/4-1oz medium heavy rod. I have a couple of plans to use this for, but main duty will most likely be jackhammers & magnum crankbaits. KVD 4.0 & 8.0 are the current plan, but I have not explored the oversized crank world too much yet. I expect a Big Blade chatterbait to feel at home on this thing too, which will be nice because I was pushing my cranking rod throwing it on that rod. I might mess around with some lighter swimbaits on this, but I am not sure yet. I do know I will try putting braid on and throwing big topwaters like the SB125, Ima Big Stick, big spooks.  

[BTSyndrome]

It's not tackle per say, 

but this will make my tackle perform even better I hope.