J Francho

A few things can work: 1. Pretreat your line with KVD Line & Lure. You have to let it fry for it to work it's best. 2. Go back to straight braid. There's nothing wrong with this setup. I go straight braid in weeds. 3. Braid with a fluoro leader. This very popular, just make sure you use a good connection knot. I use an Alberto knot. It was invented by Crazy Alberto, a famous striper fisherman. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for bass.

A Teckel Honker will probably go furthest.

They float, after the salt has dissolved from the head of the worm. The tail always floats.

I've heard good things about that blank.

I know these are out of your range... All but one of my DS rods are SCIII/SCIII in MLXF and MLX. I prefer shorter, so I use the 6-2 length. They also come in 6-8. I'd save up my scoots, and get a higher level blank, if I was going custom.

Straight 6# fluoro, Seaguar Finesse 7.2, Tatsu 6, or Invisx 6. I don't run into twist until around 5-6 hours of continuous use. I personally bring around 4-5 rigs for it. Maybe you can bring two rigs. If you want to use a swivel, I highly recommend Raven micro swivels. If the deep bite is on, and you're on fish, your confidence will kick in very quick. I've brought many a new angler out and introduced them to fishing by drop shotting in 20-40 FOW, and they caught many, many fish.

I have a bunch of Dying Flutters. They work.

They're catching dinks.

^ Exactly why I thought lever would be a good starting point. Thanks for that write up, Rhino!

I know just what you're describing. My Xpress did that. My Bullet, not so much. It's a battle, but you get tuned in, and making the adjustments start to become automatic. It's a lot of work though!

I get the feeling this won't hamper Ott one bit. I think the impression will always be it was the boat. If they all had the same type of boat, there's less controversy. Seems like it's more about limiting the controversy rather than adding parity.

I kind of doubt that, unless it was really light line, and really worn.

Here's a brown from a few years ago, caught around this time of year.

You might want to check the local laws on keeping local fauna. In some places it's against the law, and if you're caught, you lose your fishing license. Seems kind of dumb, but just want to let you know.

You should be fine. They are slaying the four year olds in the lake, and the adults are in the tribs.

Not usually, but Roboworm has a reputation of producing some very productive colors. Their laminates rival many custom hand pours.

You can get it direct from Seaguar, or do a google on it. Cabela's is where I got the crimping tools. There's tons of videos on YouTube that show how to do it.

Yep.

Yep, comes in 15. If you ever do target pike, their new musky leader is the stuff. I like better than wire for jerk/rip baits. https://seaguar.com/shop-direct/shop_seaguar/blue-label-fc.html

Well, yeah. Vanish isn't really meant for bass fishing. It was designed for walleye fishing. I think you'll find the Seaguar leader tough as nails. I use it in 4 to 12# size, and it holds up well to the zebes up here.

If it's northern pike, and bent on using fluoro, then you need to use 100 lb. fluoro leader, and get used to crimping the connections. Otherwise, you can try something Cortland Toothy Critter, which is a tie-able, coated steel. If it isn't pike, then practice tying and test your knot strength.

The abrasion factor is the main reason I use fluoro. The zebes and quagga mussels are brutal up here.

Get that thing rigged up and report back!

If you are going to use fluoro as a leader, use LEADER, not reel fill. The difference is incomparable. Otherwise, it probably doesn't matter much. In general, I avoid leaders when I can. Mostly because I don't like passing knots through the guides, and I'm lazy. I'm fine with all the knots, and not worried about stretch, knot failure, etc. If the knots on my salmon/steelhead float rigs (there's 4-5 knots) hold up, then they're fine for bass. As far as good mono goes, I've really taken a liking to Seaguar Rippin'. Previously, I liked the Suffix lines and Siglon F.