NOVA Angler

I just spooled one of my jig rods with 50lb Fireline Braid and it is night and day difference from Power Pro. It casts like a dream! Thanks everyone for the recommendation. I still have Power Pro on my flipping stick so I probably wont' change it since I haven't had any issues with it for that purpose. However Power Pro will never see another one of my reels that actually requires casting. Fireline braid = great stuff

I flip the Lake Fork Craw Tube a lot and use 5/0 Owner Wide Gap Plus. The the hook point sits above the eye and I think it has improved hookups for me compared to the Gamakatsu EWG 5/0. I've also heard that tying a snell knot can help increase hookups. I haven't tried it yet, but probably will next time I'm out for fun. Check them out: http://www.ownerhooks.com/pages/products/hooks/basshooks.htm

I have the Shimano Crucial 7'11" and like it a lot.

I fish the Potomac River pretty often. I fish anything from heavy hydrilla mats to moderate milfoil beds and everything in between. I use both 65# braid and 20# Flourocarbon on my flipping sticks. For the moderate to moderately heavy cover I prefer the Flourocarbon. For whaterver reason I just seem to hook up better and I've never had a problem breaking off fish. For the heavy hydrilla mats I use the 65# Power Pro. I find that I still lose fish from time to time, not because of line breaking, but because when it is very thick I sometimes can't get them out of the slop fast enough. I wonder sometimes if I'm actually ripping the hook out of their mouth due to the added drag and weight of the grass. I use the braid because, like others have said, it supposed cut through the grass better than flouro. With that said, sometimes the hydrilla is just so thick that it doesn't matter. You'll break your rod before you get the fish out. It litterally feels like you are hung up on something that just isn't moving. Sometimes the fish works itself free, but often they come off. I'm not sure how much benefit the braid provides, but I imagine it is definetly better than flouro in this situation (strictly for its abilitiy to cut through the grass).

I'm starting to get into swim jigs and wanted to see what setup others recommend for throwing them. I planned to use a Loomis MBR844C and Curado 200DHSV with 50lb Power Pro but wasn't sure if the rod is too heavy for this application. I will be fishing in and around moderate to heavy milfoil and hydrilla. I've read that some of the pros recommend a 7' medium-heavy rod for this application. I'll be using mostly 1/4 and 3/8 ounce jigs with a 5" Kalins grub as the trailer. Let me know your take.

This is my go to flipping bait. I'd say I'm using it 6 out of 8 hours during a tournament. I would say I average 3-4 fish per bait, sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm gonna try some Mend It on them to see if that helps prolong the life. My favorite colors are monkey turd (Green Pumpkin) and Junebug (before they made it way too purple).

Nice fish guys! That is one fat bass. I can't wait to get out tomorrow and Friday!

1. They're fine. 2. They're fine. 3. You'll know. Relax bro, fishing is supposed to be fun!

XCalibur XR50

x2

The last fish I caught was 5lbs even and this one looks bigger to me. I may be way off but I'm gonna go with 6.0lbs.

How do you fish them? Jig trailer or Texas rigged? I have a couple packs, just haven't fished them much.

I was born in Virginia Beach and grew up in Chesapeake, VA. When I was 14 my family owned a house on a 3-4 acre retention pond in a subdivision. I remember when I first started throwing soft plastics. Occasionaly it would feel like I had a bite but a little different. I would set the hook and nothing would be there. When I reeled in my rig, half my worm would be gone, cut clean in half. I soon learned that our pond had blue crabs. It always made soft plastic fishing a challenge. One of my neighbors who lived on the pond actually put a crab pot behind his house to catch them.

The warranty far outweighs the added benefits of a custom rod IMO. I can cast as far as I need to and I wouldn't know how to determine if I've lost fish due to improper guide spacing. Too many variables. Every hobby has it's "philes" (like audiophiles) who strive for perfection in their equipment. That's cool, but just not me.

Green Pumpkin Lake Fork Craw Tube. I'll give it all day.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm 30 years old and my problems with my back started about 9 years ago. I played a lot of golf in college and that when I first noticed it. When I got out of college I started working out. I lost over 30lbs and the back problems disappeared. I stopped working out about a year and a half ago and the problems soon reappeared. I've gained back about 10lbs but I'm still pretty thin. My back felt much better throughout my fishing tournament on Sunday. I mostly fish team tournaments out of my buddies boat so he runs the trolling motor and uses the leaning post. We both fish out of the front of the boat since I flip most of the time. I stretched the night before and the morning of the tournament. I took an Aleve two hours into the tournament. I still had a little soreness at the end of the day, but nothing like the pain I had in the previous tournament. I agree that I need to seek the advice of a doctor. I guess I've just put it off since it doesn't bother me on a daily basis. As for the tournament, we finished in tenth place out of 62 teams with 17.57 lbs. I caught a 5 lb. fish flipping with 30 minutes left that put us in the money. There's nothing like setting the hook on a good flipping fish and just holding on. It's quite the rush. I'm the tall guy in the attached picture.

7 Total 2 Flipping Sticks 2 Crankbait Rods 1 Texas Rig/Jig Rod 1 Frog Rod 1 Spinning Rod

When I spend 4+ hours on the water, my lower back starts to hurt. I'm standing almost the entire time since I usually flip grass. Eight hour tournaments really do a number on my back. During the last tournament, I sat down to retie and almost couldn't stand up because it hurt so bad. I'm a pretty young guy to be having these kind of problems. I'm just curious if any of you have lower back problems and if you have found some sort of back brace that can help on long days out on the water? I have a tournament tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to the potential pain. Thanks for your help.

I have also bent the standard wire Gamakatsu EWG hooks with a Medium Light spinning rod and 30lb Power Pro. It's not that hard to do. The Superline hook was very unexpected, but it sounds like others have had it happen too. Braid makes a huge difference.

I highly recommend the Lake Fork Craw Tubes. It has been my number one producer the last couple years. It's sort of a mix between a creature bait and a tube. The action on the fall is subtle but deadly. Give them a try!

THERE IS NO WAY MAN! You may have gotten a bad pack or something. I use them with 65lb braid and a telephone pole for a rod with no issues! I flip NASTY, HEAVY FL slop and set the hook HARD on big bass. 8lb+ sometimes, and bully them out with no problems! I have used the Superlines for a long time flipping and never had it happen before my last outing. I was suprised when I went to rig the next bait and the hook was bent slightly outwards (enough so that I couldn't skin hook the bait). I estimate that I caught 50 or so fish flipping with that same hook this year before it happened. Maybe I just wore it out. If it happens again, I'll post a pic.

Bring it! Captain Caos

The last time I was flipping grass, I bent a Gamakatsu 5/0 EWG Superline hook. It didn't straighten but I couldn't use the hook anymore. I was using 65lb braid and the fish was better than 5lbs. That was the first time that has ever happened to me with the Superlines. I haven't tried the Owners but will probably give them a shot this weekend.

I'm sure someone will pick them up. It seems heavy guage straight shank flipping hooks are hard to come by these days.

I've edited the photograph with a line to show how much the point is above the eye on this hook compared to the Gamakatsu EWG 5/0. I'm fairly certain this isn't a Gamakatsu EWG. If they made an Extra Extra Wide Gap, we might be on to something.