Team9nine

Way too many posts for me to quote from the above conversation, but let me be the dissenter and say don’t put too much stock into the theories of, ‘if you can see them/game over.’ I’m north of 1100 bass for the year already, and you’d probably be surprised by how many of those were sight fished, whether cruisers, bedders, wolf packs, scared off the bank individuals, etc. Literally hundreds of “shot called” catches when I can see them and watch how they react. If you can see them, they can see you. The real question to ask is, “do they care?” You’ll be surprised how many times that answer is “No.”

I'd say you'll give up just a little bit of sensitivity and abrasion resistance by going with XL, and probably a little bit of strength, but you'd probably gain in better handling and better visibility with XL. I'd opt for your idea of trying the XL first and see how it goes. If it doesn't seem to be working, then switch out to UG and retry.

In the big scheme of things, not much depending on the finesse technique in question IMHO. Things like dropshotting seem to have a somewhat equal split between xf and moderate action prescribers; Ned isn't a feel technique the way Ned fishes it, so no biggie there, and sliders have historically been thrown on more moderate action rods. You give up a little feel, but in many cases get better hookup/landing percentages with the small hooks often in play, which also rarely require the stiffer action you get with a fast/x-fast rod for hooksets.

There's your problem. Do a search on the site to find many others like myself who will never own another spool of that stuff. Never many issues with their other line types.

I would disagree (to a degree - lol) and counter with the argument that you need to go back to the first uses of the term in specific bass fishing context to derive at least what was originally meant/definition, and when you do that, it becomes clear that “finesse” was originally derived as a term for the technique of using light line and small/light baits (...and on the west coast where the term coevolved, in deep water). Has that definition evolved and morphed over time more to your point above - yes, to some degree.

Now totally sold on 6'6" ML Clarus rod (spinning) with 2000-2500 sized reel, YGK 10-14# yellow sinking braid, 8# mono leader for all my finesse applications including wacky.

Not similar at all IMO. Ned for shallower open water or the edges of cover, often “nothing looking” banks, and frequently retrieved off bottom. Shaky for more cover prone areas, especially wood and to greater depths and often more bottom oriented.

Yep ^^ Look at the edges of the tail fin - ringed bright red from bleeding.

They were a favorite of mine back in the day. Still have a couple packs laying around. Pretty sure Mann’s also imprinted their name into all their worms in some fashion - I’ll have to look. Segments don’t look right either for a Mann’s.

Augertail knockoff. Mann’s Augertail had the same basic end shape as their Jellyworm, not that defined, pointed “spear”

Of the nearly 40 outfits I have sitting in the boat/garage, the number that are spooled with monofilament (nylon), both spinning and casting, is exactly ZERO. Nada. Zilch. None. I’m a nearly even split between braid (spinning primarily) and fluorocarbon (casting primarily). Sure hope I can somehow manage to still catch a few bass this year with my overpriced line choices ? jk.

Yep, to the above ^^ Retired first week of March expecting to have the lakes to myself through the week, but instead found continuously overcrowded parking lots. Lakes have been packed; weather has been crappy; so I’ve been disappointed by the whole thing. That said, things have lightened up considerably the past 2-3 weeks as we have started reopening here, and I shifted my attention to retention ponds more to avoid the headaches on larger waters. Fished pretty much everyday, and have had a good year catching so far, so things could be worse.

Neither - I’d typically run 6-10 lb. leader in your example.

1 rod, and whatever tackle I can fit into my shirt/pants pockets - that’s it.

Great fish. In the walleye world, 30” is the standard mark of a trophy class fish, similar to the 20” mark for smallmouth guys or 50” for muskie. Why greenies go in pounds (10lb.) is a mystery.

In your example, given what you are using these outfits for, unless you have some special reason to do so (zeebs, etc.), just use traditional mainline for leaders. You’ll be fine. Pick whatever connecting knot you can consistently tie best.

I'll never forget this little snippet of wisdom on the subject: "The consumer generally wants the spinnerbait to last longer than he does. And he's willing to sacrifice some strikes with a spinnerbait that lasts. That's a little foolish. "To me, if a spinnerbait catches 10 or 15 fish, that's more than most lures ever catch for you. So why not go ahead and use a new one. Don't take a chance on it breaking when a fish hits it. If the bait does its job - catches fish - don't complain about how it looks." Rick Clunn; April 1987

Bingo - I like the above answer ^^ and have always subscribed to the more moderate action rod for jig fishing (not plastics). It's why I still have and use 'old school' All Star SJ rods in my arsenal.

Upped my pond PB again this year with this fish going a little over 6 lbs. today, Midwest finesse style.

That would be because it isn’t, at least not in the way he explained it ? Agreed - Also not sure how other companies (Lowrance, etc.) account (or don’t) for this. I run a pair of ‘Birds and keep contour mode off 90% of the time...but I was also always good at math ?

The distance an object is shown on the screen is the distance from the transducer, the hypotenuse of a triangle. The depth is the vertical leg of the right triangle. Solve for the missing length, the actual distance to the side of the boat. The greater the depth, the greater the discrepancy in what is real and what is shown (always actually shorter/closer). Technological Angler

Neither - they should be about 15 feet to the side of the boat in that example.

Braid on a baitcaster for all-around fishing: my advice - don’t do it. Now go do what you want ? lol

I don’t use any braid over 20# where I would need a leader, but use a ton of 3-14 lb. braid with 4-8 lb leaders, and primarily use FG with them these days. Never had an issue that wasn’t my fault to begin with, and those have been few and far between.

Is there even one single pro that uses braid for most every rod/reel combination? A lot do for spinning, along with specialized baitcast applications (frog, punching, etc.), but I'm not certain I've ever read about a high level pro that was primarily an 'across the board' braid guy. As for equipment, I bet most run stock equipment these days (rods/reels/line). I'm sure there are a few that do some fine-tuning to suit their personalities, but it's probably not near as many as some think.