WRB

Irod IRD 783SB is a good choice for all the lures you referenced; $150 Tom

You can network Lowrance TD’s so the location should accommodate the largest Side Scan TD at the stern, down scan on the TM. I would put the larger screen at the bow on a adjustable mount and use split screen to view both. Both TD’s are not live it’s a history of what you passed over. Tom

Rods cast lures reels hold line is the old tried and true phrase. Aerodynamics is easy to understand think of 1/2 oz lures 1 a buzz bait with a big blade the other a jig. The blade on the buzz bait spins in wind slowing down during the cast, the has little wind resistance to slow it down. Everything being equal the jig will travel 2X distance then the buzz bait. A moderate action rod with more parabolic bend will lunch lures of the weight further then fast or extra fast action rod of the same length. So many factors come into play as we select rods, reels and line to perform our presentations with ease. Tom

Where 10 degree water temp drop in 24 hours is the limit for NLMB to survive the same 10 degree water temp drop drop is fatal FLMB that must find warmer water. Air temps don’t impact core water temps fast unless accompanied with wind to mix up the deeper water. Florida being mostly shallow water the FLMB reacts to cold water temps by becoming very inactive. Tom

Been using the Rap ice jigs about 40 years in our deep rock structure lakes. Suggest flattening out the nose & tail hook barbs and going up 1 size treble hook. Use care removing the treble hook as the hanger can break. Bass tend to get the lure sideways in thier mouth, that is way to flatten the bards. Practice working the ice jigs with the rod tip so it swims in a circle where you can see it. This takes easy rod tip work and the action you want. Tom

PM email and will send you photo’s and how to make pork rind for jig trailers. Out of the country at the moment it will a few days to respond. Tom

Both spinnerbaits and Chatterbaits have heavy wire big hooks so use a MHF casting rod of choice. Spinnerbaits have more wind resistance loosing some casting distance vs moderate action rod but hook setting is better with the Fast action rod. Tom

Fishing has been in my life since an infant and a way of life so it’s hard to separate from what defines me. My family mon, dad, brothers all gone now were very competitive and that shape me. Racing boat, cars completing in sports from water skiing to gymnastics shape me both physically and mentally. Career in aerospace from the Mercury program, military aircraft and weapon systems to last Shuttle flight was 50 years covering a lot of changes in a short time period and shaped me a great deal. Outliving our only son is a grief no parent should ever experience that too many go through and can’t say it’s character building. Tom

What separates one line from another factors into line choices. I look for casting performance on the reels being used. For example line with high memory like FC tends to spring off the spool. Line with lower memory tends to be poor abrasion and impact strength along with weak knot strength. Diameter is important I prefer smaller diameter line per lb test with all the good properties. Very difficult to find and Armilo combined all the performance properties and hope another mono/ copolymer line comes around. Tom

All I use is my Viper head 7/16 oz (actual weight w/ hook)jig since 1971 with tri colors buck tail hair and pork rind trailer. Every one of those 5 PB’s listed were caught on that jig. Tom

Been using Maxima Ultra Green since it came out about the 1980’s. UG is excellent copolymer line with 1 down side is high memory in cold weather. 5 lb UG has been my go to finesse line 45 years now! 5 lb was hard to find for awhile now available again. Changed to 10 & 12 lb Big Game for my crank bait fishing around 1990 for better low temp performance and price to change line often. Sunline Armilo was ideal line using 11 lb for bait casting crank baits and 25lb for all my swim baits wish they didn’t take it off the market. Dieter Shooter Nylon can still be found and very good line. Tom

Big swim baits work for a few reasons their size makes them highly visible and detectable from a greater distance than small lures. Bass don’t know their size so they can only get close to determine if the prey can be eaten and make mistakes sometimes trying to eat something they can’t swallow. The bigger lures drawing power can’t be over looked. The fact a big swim bait can be cast a long distance takes advantage of its drawing power. Just because it’s big doesn’t guarantee the big bass will strike it. The bass may be curious and follow the swim bait. In musky fishing this follow is called raising a fish revealing it’s location, bass are no different they also reveal this location. I have caught DD size bass using big swim baits but no giant bass over 15lbs. The giant bass I did catch were using hair jigs with pork trailers because that was the lure I choose 90% of the time. jig doesn’t cover a lot of water unless you make very long casts and harder for a bass to detect, must be within their strike window lowering the odds. When a big bass does locate the jig they usually strike it more often than a bigger lure. No panacea using any particular lure just lots of time on the water grinding it out. Tom

No on a hair jig with pork trailer. I learned my hook set technique using a falling twin spin spinnerbait. Tom

I credit my skill in detecting and getting solid hook set after making a long cast over 40 yards using twin spin spinner baits. Why…the old twin spin was a vertical helicopter falling lure that required keeping in touch with the line vibration from the blades. When the blades stopped before hitting bottom a bass had it. I couldn’t move enough line to get a hook using the rod and developed the reel set cranking the line tight then firm rod sweep to complete the hook set. I adopted my horizontal jig presentation from the twin spin strike detection feeling live movements and hook set. Without that experience would have missed all my giant bass catches. Tom

There’s is always the exception to the rule! Most PB big bass are broken off by angler error.The big bass get hooked and comes towards the boat before it knows what’s going on, see’s the boat and panics about the same time the anger see’s bass and panics! The combination of confusions ends up loosing the bass! My practiced reaction is tell myself to slow down pull on the line to check the drag and remind me this could be the fish. At this point it has taken a life time to hook this bass and everything goes into slow motion no mistakes, the only thing that matters is put the bass into the boat…follow the fish keep in control I put a lot of giant bass in boat following this advice. Tom