A-Jay

Been some seriously tough sledding for this guy the past few trips. And it doesn't look like it's going to change much right away either. This entire first HALF of OCTOBER, the weather has or is forecast to be, TOO NICE TO FISH. Never though I be putting that one out there. Could a brother get a little cloud cover and some seasonable daytime Coolness ? 🥴 A-Jay

Hate it for both of us, but I am right there with ya ~ Last two trips on two different lake Menderchucks. I went Sunrise to Sunset, (Plus the drive) which is a marathon for this OG. #toast Got No Bass - so you did better than me. Worst part for me is, I'm clueless as to when the smallies are and perhaps more importantly, where the heck they might show up next. Expect better results here in Oct and it's Not the way I want to wrap up any season. But I'll keep fishing when I can and we'll see what happens. Might have to breakout the Old Town Canoe and play some small ball. Help me . . . . 😎 A-Jay

And just to finish this one off ~ I've run my Leash equip rig around Lake Menderchuch a couple of times now since the initial install. As always put her through the paces. Bottom line, Boat still runs like a raped ape. And like I said before, pretty much forgot it was even back there. Stay Safe A-Jay

Workout Day 5 today. Always feels good getting through each one of these five training cycles. Looking forward to my off day tomorrow. Might even take an extra one if the fishing's decent. Either way, I'll be ready for the next one. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

Looks like a most excellent time was had by all. Plenty of Fat brown bass too. Congrats A-Jay

@T-Billy beat me to it ! Yes. In my mind nothing else displays the same 'little vunerable school of bait' better than the rig. I also do not discount the magic of all the vibration made by 5 smimbaits, not to mention the visual appeal. I would use four 3.3 inch dummies and a 3.8 or 4.2 inch Hooked bait in the middle. Finally, I fish SEVERAL DIFFERENT BAITS for brown bass. The A-Rig Is The ONLY bait the bigger bass will follow All The way to my boat and often still eat it. So there must be something to it's hypnotic power. YMMV A-Jay

I can fish 5 hooked baits here but the middle and bottom 2 baits are the only ones they ever eat. So to lighten the load, I use dummies with no hook at the top two, and 1/8 oz heads on the bottom two and the middle. Rig ends up far easier to fish all day and still gets bass. Especially for an old and feeble gent such as myself. A-Jay

How many home runs have you hit with one at bat ? A-Jay

I am an A-Rig fan. Late summer and into fall it gets me some big brown bass bites. The strike is like a lightning bolt up the line making it easy to get addicted to. Like any technique, there's a learning curve and you'll get out of it pretty much what you put into it. One thing's for sure, it's not like fishing a ned rig. Got this freak on it in August. Good Luck A'Jay

Funny you should ask. A while back (OK 11 years ago) I went all in on the Stitching Thing. And I do mean all in. Never could make it work for me and eventually abandoned the technique all together. One reason might be that I was fishing in predominantly Brown bass water. Just did 't know it at the time. Either way, here's some light reading regarding my personal experience with it. A-Jay

Far be it from me to ever question The Zen Master. But maybe blade selection can serve a specific purpose. I have a bit of success burning a spinnerbait just under the surface for smallmouth bass. A double willow set up seems to be pretty decent for this application. Normally I'd add a picture or even a video showing what I've described above. Including a freaky large brown bass. But ain't nobody got time for that. A-Jay

Adult Beverages along with a healthy serving of Bragging Rights, just taste better. Nice job and Congrats to you both. A-Jay

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Workout Day 4 today. Completed 3 working sets of the 4 movements scheduled. Showing the last 2 sets of each here. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

@Bucks Bass and Bourbon I've gone an entire lifetime without FFS and I still get a few. If you'd said that you went a season without Bourbon, now then I'd be impressed. A-Jay

Yup ! @Tackleholic A-Jay

I use lead in these soft bottom scenarios with this rig because it's less dense for it's size. Seems even small (light) tungsten weights will bury themselves up in that bottom goop. Where I just have far better results with good old fashion lead bullet weights. Lead just needs to be heavy enough to get the bait to the bottom in whatever wind I might be fishing in. And when I say bottom, I prefer the rig to sit on top of the first weed cover and not sink through it. If I'm using an 'action' type trailer, like a rage craw or a rage bug, the bait will have 'action' when I move it, but doesn't necessarily need that same action as if falls to the bottom. At times, that sort of "still glide' to the bottom is the deal. A-Jay

Cool ~ @BrianMDTX The name isn't really important. But those kind of results sure are. Nicely Done. I almost always do better in places with a soft bottom and light to medium cover, with a 'lighter' weight. 3/16 LEAD is my Go To ! Depending on the trailer, the rigs glides to the bottom and then rather than plunging through the muck and out of sight, it's sort of 'sits' on top of it. Which give the pass a shot at eating a motionless bait. My wife dead sticks it with a Rage Craw and just cleans up. Congrats A-Jay

Trout, walleye and bluegill are all eligible for my fillet it program. But I just don't have it in me to take a knife to a big bass. btw, the waters I do take a few eaters from, are pretty clean. A-Jay

After fishing that first one, I bait monkeyed 3 more. Super smooth, powerful and just sweet to fish reel. Now I just need to rehome the reels they replaced. At a DEEP discount of course. A-Jay

I think I have some bass fishing intuition ~ Some times I listen to it, sometimes I don't. You see, I'm also as stubborn as all get out. So it's an a bit of a mental tug-o-war every trip out. Admittedly, I have said right out loud on many occasions, "I should go over there" or I should tie on this or that bait. And it's paid off a few times, enough that when it pops into my little pea brain, I'll consider it, sometimes even acting on it. However, head down, sticking with the plan and putting in the work, has out produced any 'intuition' I might think I have TEN TIMES OVER; especially for plus size fish. YMMV A-Jay

Workout Day 3 today. Ran out of time and had to skip the core work. I'll get over it. #borninfiftynineor A-Jay ninfiftynine

Yes ~ Like anything for our boats I believe this product too is wildly over priced for what it is. But the quality of everything seems solid. It fits like a glove. And I'd expect it to perform if & when I need it to, just as advertised. Keep the motor out of my lap. In short order, I'm betting I'll completely forget it's even back there. A-Jay

Completed the install today ~ A-Jay

Initially planned on doing an Install Video, but it really wasn't necessary. So I took a few quick pics instead. There isn't a whole lot to it. 4 nuts and bolts, added some protective film or tape to the motor to protect the paint, and I was done. Entire deal took about 30 minutes. I did chose to use a better quality Clear tape than what was provided in the Leash Install kit. This one is a couple of mils thicker. Once buttoned up and completed, the unit seems to move freely with the tilt/trim. Hope I never need it. A-Jay

Yes, EVERYTHING. Including topwater baits and anything with a trailer. It makes every bait it's applied to 'slippery'. This, IMO, is a good thing. Especially with soft plastics. When a plus size bass clamps down on a bait, it's crushes are designed to kill it or at the very least immobilize the prey. In this case my lure. If you've ever had a bass on for a bit, then she throws the bait back in your face, you're experienced this. A slippery bait could allow that split second needed to over come that tight hold, and get a decent hook into her. Either way, I've caught so many big bass using it, there is no way I could go back now. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. This spring a 7 lb smallie ate a jerkbait that was coated in Megastrike. A-Jay