J Francho

I haven't heard any issues save for one obnoxiously loud YouTuber that wails on is gear. I have a new one, and I can't see how anyone could break the seat. I fish northern pike infested waters, so it's not unusual to have pike bycatches weighing in the teens when fishing a spinnerbait. No issues on mine whatsoever.

Kittehs!

What is Dave whining about these days?

You could do a scan under a dock by slowly sweeping you SI with the trolling motor. It isn't live, but you could tell if something was under there.

Exactly this ^^ I think we're both using the same brush, lol

All of my boats have a sacrificial skid plate in the keel. I've never wore through one, but they're replaceable.

I used to use it. It's good stuff.

I don't bother cleaning the brush. It's just going into the same grease next time.

You should see the bottom of a couple of my boats, lol.

I use a trimmed brush to apply. It's a fairly stiff bristle, 1/4" wide, and trimmed to about 1/8" long.

The closest I use to live bait anymore are egg sacks for trout. Even then, a bead may fish just as well.

Panfish could be one direction. Esox would be the opposite. Both are fairly logical leaps from bass. I live near world class trout fishing, so I do that too.

I don't have any words for this ... other than I'm so sorry.

Ragetail is just much better bait, designed by a fisherman. Look around here for @BIG O or on social for Steve Parks. I swear by Rage Craws on a T-rig with a 3/8 oz. sinker. It's a go to all summer long. 'Bama Craw is really the color I like around here, but they all work at times.

It's one louder, isn't it.

The only accent I add to to my white spinnerbaits is a trailer hook.

One of my favorite moments was watching a "local stick" give a lecture at the Bass Pro Shops fish tank explaining why braid to leader was better because of sensitivity. He was casting a drop shot rig (hook point cut off), and the bait was getting absolutely murdered on the drop by several huge steelhead. Once the bait settled he started describing what the sinker was going over, and was actually quite accurate but he totally missed the other bites due to the bow in the braid and lack of sensitivity in the setup. It got pretty comical as it went on like this cast after cast. I already knew about this from my own experience flipping a jig into weed pockets as drifted along. A bass totally attacked that jig and the only indicator was me seeing it happen and some very slight movement of the line at the surface. I'm not going to say braid with a leader is wrong - I even have a couple of spinning rigs setup like this for certain situations, but you really have to pay attention.

I've had the same experience, though I first did it using Powerbait. So, I do think scent contribute to painting a picture of what triggers a bass to bite. That flapping ribbon tail cant hurt either.

I know the feeling. Trust of the wire wears out though. That bait look fine, though.

Yes. Seriously, it's really more about getting the running depth where they are. I only really throw white and chartreuse from 3/8 up to an ounce. Whatever blade/weight gets it in front of them is what to throw.

Spinnerbait smallies are epic. Been throwing them for smallmouth for years.

The only thing I see inherently wrong is not having someone in the boat. Also, the invoice for the batteries above is a fake, circulated to generate political fanfare. As such, we're done here too. This is a FISHING forum.

It's a fake made up to fuel political drama. Move on.

Just PM Siebert and he'll get you a bulk price.