gobig

I have my reels set up for differently for different things. Almost all of my bait casters have dual braking. Secondly the right size reel for the right application is important. Like mentioned, I run my spool tensioner as loose as possible. But if you have the magnets all engaged or the dial turned all the way up and you are still experiencing over runs the spool tensioner is to loose. For instance if your reel was set on a day where there was no wind, say from a previous trip and now you are throwing into a 20mph wind, you have to make an adjustment. All of this really depends on the weight of a bait, the action of the rod and the conditions. If the over run happens early in the cast adjust the tension knob. If it is later in the cast adjust the magnetic brake. You have to play around to find the sweet spot.

Looks like Matt beat me to it. I got side tracked in the middle of my post.

I use swimbaits alot and you are going to have a hard time trying to throw cranks on a swimbait rod. They are two different worlds. As for the Okuma rods they are great swimbait rods. I have found them to be as good as many of the much higher priced rods. Their warranty is excellent and a pain free process. If for some reason you break a rod(had one get bit by a rod locker) They will replace it for the cost of shipping, no questions asked. I was throwing my 6in baits on a phenix Ultra Swimbait 7'11''MH but I recently switched to a Lamiglas Excel XL 735-C. I really like the way this rod casts and I have had no problems with hooking up on fish. This is also a good frog rod. It has a lower price point around $100. I have this rod paired with a Curado 300.

For some reason its not letting me add links at the moment but if you put "bend" in the search catt has a thread there call "so yall want to lean toleto bend" you can read through that and get some great stuff that can be applied anywhere.

In the search tab enter "main point vs secondary?" read that thread. It should shed some light on points. It can be some what confusing based on region but this should give you some insight.

The bottom of the lake is structure. The other elements such as weeds, trees, stumps etc... are cover. Maps and electronics help for sure but you do not need them. With out a map or a depth finder this is how I would start. 1) I would ask people at local tackle shops and at the ramp, how are they are catching fish? and at what depth? Unless there is an up coming tournament you should get some strait answers and you may narrow things down. 2) I would start out on main lake points. These are the easiest places to identify with out electronics and should hold fish year round. I would start positioned in shallower water than you intend to fish and work your baits up hill from deeper water back to the boat. Move out on the point until you locate the fish. 3) I would have at least three different baits tied on. One that covers the top,one that covers the middle and one that covers the bottom of the water column. Make alternating casts. This works even better with a partner. If you count down as the baits fall you can determine depth.

Hmmm I thought a hula grub was the only thing that fit on a football head.

Really depends on the source of the info. I fish a few area's where the mainstream fishermen think that it sucks or that it is seasonal and the reality is there are a few of us that know what is up. For instance I had a day last year at one place in particular where I had three fish that went just over 28lbs and when people asked how the fishing was... I down played it big time. I made it sound like it's not worth the time and energy. Not to mention I made it a point to complain about the weeds. The very place the fish came out of. The problem is...if the word got out, it would be like fishing salmon on the American River, elbow to elbow. There would be big beautiful fish in 5gal buckets headed to the fryer

As catt mentioned each fish is different. I am curious what hook you are using? When you do land a fish are they skin hooked or are you getting into the meat. In many cases with some slight modifications to the rig or the hook you can get good solid hook ups. How deep are you fishing? I know out west here, with our extremely clear water using light line can increase the number of strikes. The more line you have out though the more stretch you have when you set the hook. You may want to consider 20lb braid with your 6lb floro as a top shot. Are you using a snap hook set or are you reel setting? I have found that reel setting has increased the amount of fish I land when it can be applied. Here is a quote from an article written by Bill Siemantle and Mike jones called Reel Force, The Right Stuff. "For example, with a 4.7:1 gear ratio, the Calcutta 400 takes up approximately 20 1/4 of inches line with each revolution. At a distance of 80 feet, this delivers 11 to 13 pounds-per-square-inch (psi) of force on a combination rod/reel-set (with five full revolutions). A normal hookset (sweeping the rod only) creates between 5 and 5 1/2 psi. It doesn't take a math major to see that a reel-set is a better deal."

I have been catching a lot of good quality fish (3-6lb) this year but no real toads till Sunday. She took a roboworm in witches *** on a flipshot. Almost didn't get her in she kept burying in to the tully burms. She was a lot of fish to try and control in the thick stuff. By the time we got her in the hook just fell out.

This is a very effective rig. I use senkos and zoom swamp crawlers for the most part. The smaller tungsten weights seem to work best. For the swamp crawlers I use a straw cut down that functions like an O'ring.

That bait looks amazing. I would love to see a video of it in action.

The same colors you use in the stained water.

I never let either one of my nephews use a spin cast, both of them started with a spinning reel. They are now 9yrs old and both of them can use a spinning reel or a bait caster. I set both of them up with a dropshot in the beginning and they have caught quit a few fish. They have now moved on to other baits as well. My one nephew is in to the show river monsters and all he wants to throw now is floating swimbaits because he wants to catch a giant.

I got away from the EWG hooks. Im now using a strait shank made by gamakatsu for paycheck baits. I really think I keep more fish pinned with these hooks. Plus I like the welded eye and I use a snell knot. My link

Contact Mattlures they will take care of it. They have great customer service. I had the same problem with an ultimate gill and they replaced it. As far as baits ripping, its going to happen with soft baits, nothing a little mendit wont solve most of the time. You should be checking the bait for tears before use and in between fish.

This is where the phrase I have personally adopted from the BBZ mindset comes into play "everything matters yet nothing matters" On the days where everything matters those people swimming could be the difference in not getting bit. When nothing matters you could have a guy on a jet ski doing doughnuts 30ft away and its not going to matter, in fact it may make the fish turn on. If I am not mistaken one of the classics was won when a party barge split between the angler and the bank stirring things up, a pattern was created. This concept forces an open mind, the exploration of all avenues.

Personally I do not think you need to use braid on a finesse jig. There are a couple of things that could be going on here. The first thing is poor mechanics in fighting the fish. The faster the rod tip is the less forgiving it is. The more parabolic bend (looks like a C, a more continuous bend in the the rod) that a rod has the greater the margin for error. It shouldn't take a whole lot to get a good hook up with a light wire hook. In fact I throw finesse jigs on a medium spinning rod with very few problems. The other thing I would look at is the jig that you are using. If its got a crap hook that could pose a problem also. With a finesse jig they should almost hook them selves.

I use them on a dropshot.

1. Bill Siemantle 2. Mike Long 3. Butch Brown All of these guys catch monster fish and are known for throwing swimbaits but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Bill & Mike are both excellent tournament fishermen and are masters at merging the trophy world into the tournament world. I think I would just want observe letting them doing their thing and ask questions as they fish.

J is spot on. Anyone that thinks you can't fish a senko in deep water has not explored enough with it. This type of thinking is one dimensional. There are a ton of ways to rig a senko. What is being missed here is the technique. The bait does not define the technique. The technique defines the bait. I give you an example... dragging is a technique. Now how many different set ups can you use for this? Jig, splitshot, texas rig, dropshot ect... the list goes on and on. The variables determine the selection of what rig to use. Are you fishing rocky structure? over weed beds? through trees? are the fish suspended 3ft off the bottom? are they holding tight to structure and cover do to weather? The question that needs to be asked is what bait is best suited to accomplish a the given technique based on the real time variables which are in constant change. As far as senko vs dropshot my question would be who was catching larger fish at the time? I am assuming the senko was fished weightless. There is a huge gap in info here and the answer to your question can change by the hour.

Most likely bed fish. Try downsizing to a 3in tube or something along those lines. Also don't wait so long to set the hook as mentioned.

Chris, I use braid with a leader on my split shot rigs. I have found that crimping the split shot to the braid works fine. One word of caution though, if you are tying your leader direct to the braid use a bobber stop between the spilt shot and the knot. It will protect the knot if the weight slides down. I had a few heart breaks when I first started with this set up.

Dwight's on a roll. Seventy two percent is going to be hard to beat. I don't want to say game over, but he's making it pretty tough. I just calculated 73 percent of the Missouri largemouth (13 lb 14 oz)and smallmouth (7 lbs 2 oz) records and I need to catch a 10 lb 2 oz largemouth or a 5 lb 2 oz smallmouth to pass him. Try having to hit 15 1/2 lbs for a 73 percent score. Caught an 8.2 the other day and it wouldn't have even put me over 40 percent.

I had the same problem when I first started punching. If the mat is real thick you can actually tear their mouth trying to pull them through the mat. In this case you have to go in after them by reaching through the grass and lipping them.