I.rar

I only fish from the bank. I keep everything to a minimum and usually only bring one rod. Being a light tackle fan, all of my baits are under 5/16 oz unless I bring a heavier setup. Flukes, stick baits, straight tails and shad shape worms like alive shads are it for plastics. Zara puppy, pins minnow and shad raps are about it for hard baits. I do try new baits here and there but those are always with me and have caught me fish everywhere. The plastics can all be rigged weedless as well as a ton of other ways from shaky heads, c rigs, drop shot, wacky etc. It took some time to find what baits I have the most success with but when I did, I've become confident that if I don't get bit, they aren't there. It cuts down on restocking costs and weight. The steep drop offs that are cut into the coral and limestone down here do eat up drop shot rigs, jigs and deep diving cranks like candy,lol. Heres what I usually carry. Or if I bring heavier stuff

Ewg here too. I keep things to a minimum and use them from size 1 for 4" roboworms and alive shads and up to 4/0 for 5" senkos and flukes. Never had a problem with missed fish and find them easier to remove if/when gut hooked. I do have some 3/0 offsets for the 6" straight tails but that's it.

Even a small split shot a few inches in front of the bait will gain some depth I used to do that alot for crappie when I was in NC.

Just recently repaired a bunch of baits from senkos and flukes to robo worms and keitech baits with mend it. Throw them in a bag, add megastrike and I'm catching fish on baits that were once mangled. Very rarely I'll get to repair the same bait twice because it's too far gone. Usually by that point I feel I got my money's worth and trash em.

I like custom model. Wanted the regular at $200 but wife said no.

Had a supreme and xt and neither felt as refined as the fj or ci4 I had. Never owned a Daiwa spinner though...

Regarding the 1000 fj and fk frame being graphite, is there a comparable reel made of metal in that size?

Iirc, cradle of filth has some serious screams.

I should have my 1001xt today or Monday. Bought from a Japan seller on eBay for $150. I'd say that's a good price of you're a fan of the series. Otherwise the new I series is about the same price or cheaper.

I also know the smell. I love fishing roboworms but have mixed feelings once they develop that smell. They still work but whatever they end up smelling like after sitting for a while is strong. Oddly, I noticed only the straight tails get that way but the alive shads don't. Or maybe I go through the shads quicker than the others. Either way, I add megastrike.

Spook Jr, 10lb cxx leader, 40lb power pro mainline, curado 51 and a Fenwick smallmouth m/f. I first thought I snagged a gator the way it just peeled line off the reel. Once I started to put more tension on him, it was epic. Huge jumps and head shakes till the end. The fight lasted a few minutes but was mostly me trying to get him away from the trees and sunken boat that he was chillin behind when we hooked up. Crazy strong fish. I love the lake fork baby shads. It's like candy to the peas.

Found the pic of the arrowana... Everyone likes pictures... some other exotics..

Is one thicker than the other? I wouldn't be doing the entire handle, just behind the reel.

I probably don't stay out as long as other members but I rock a waist pack slung over my shoulder or a Plano crappie soft bag with the shoulder strap. Either will carry more than I could use in a couple of hours and keeps unnecessary stuff out. I usually only bring one rod but sometimes two will make it out.

Yeah that's the main thing I'm concerned about. I don't want a ton of sticky crap left on my Eva handle when I go to take it off.

I'm all about downsized/finesse fishing and just recently got the bfs bug. Actually, all of my largest fish have come from baits weighing at or under 1/4oz including the 12+lb arrowana lol. But it did take alot of sifting through dinks to get them. But after seeing a near double digit bass try to inhale a dink I just released right at my feet, I just had to give these swimbaits a try but don't really want a bag full of them. I'll have the keitech easy shiner, impact fat and roboworm ez shad soon and will be picking up a pack of those gamblers to start with. ... Then I saw some budget friendly jointed baits like the sebile magic swimmer and lucky craft pointer smasher and the bait monkey almost broke out of his cage. What's everyone preference for jigs to pair with these? My few lakes are 20+ ft deep with bottoms that are covered in weeds so I opted for screw lock swimbait hooks.

Considering beefing up the grip on my recon and see different options from Winn grips, rod wrap, Bps and even generic tennis racket tape. Is one better than the other? I have Winn grips knobs on my curado that are really nice.... but I'm just going for the area directly behind the reel.

Unfortunately I fish my local neighborhood lakes and the bite must be different than what you guys experience at okee or lox, lol. I have plenty of days without a single bite.

I'll definitely look into those gamblers. They seem to be everyone's go to down here. Thanks guys!

Curious if anyone throws swimbaits here in South Florida with success. I have a MH rod on the way along with some 5" keitech paddle tails but am looking for some more options under 1 ounce.

From my research, the prep work is just as important as what paint you choose. I've read of people using auto paints on their reels with good results.

I always fish by myself so I'm usually quiet. Unless I backlash, catch a low branch or something equally aggravating, then some f-bombs are dropped.

That Okuma looks nice and has positive reviews. I'll definitely look into it. As much as I used to not care, I would kind of like the rod to go with the red color of the scorpion at least a little bit. I do keep coming back to the the phenix recon (love my 682) , m1 series and even the Croix avid if I can convince myself to spend the extra. This will be my first year really getting into hollow bodies and jigs and would like to have the rod fish both comfortably.

There is a ton of 9mm ballistic gel tests on YouTube and practically all around the Internet and most of the big name rounds did very well. I'm confident in it.

I'm looking for some suggestions for a casting rod around the $150 mark that that will mainly be for 5" hollow body swim baits but also 5" senkos, flukes and jigs. I'd prefer around 7' and will be paired with a scorpion 1001xt.