deep

Me too. Used to use the 5/16 oz size; but the 3/16 oz has been working better lately. Must be something to do with the fall rate.

My pocket is my tacklebag lol. I bought a fanny pack recently though, to carry a camera and a scale.

Good stuff Paul! Thanks to your tips, I got one last Saturday too on the hardbass. Not big enough to share, but a confidence builder nonetheless.

If I'm not wrong, Fish Chris like Tuf Line braid.. He catches plenty of big fish.

I agree with LMG. On another note, braid has lower "shock" strength compared to mono etc. A lot of braids on the market have a "break-in" period too.

Braid is good, but mono/ fluoro should be okay too. As long as you know (can feel) what the bait's doing, you should be fine, I think.

Mikey, maybe the 3/4 oz trap sinks faster? EDIT: Oops, J covered that I see.

If Bill Murphy's words are to be believed, then color makes all the difference. For big bass. For small ones, it doesn't matter; since they are more aggressive and will bite almost anything anyway...

I remember you, especially since you bought a reel from me when I needed cash real bad to pay a bill. Great to see you back!

I appreciate you guys trying to help me out. PMs have been sent, and I already got some great inputs to think about, process, and translate to my region. Thanks a bunch once again.

Thank you Sir. A (rather long) PM has been sent!

Actually I don't, haha. I've never seen the IRod from up close, let alone fish it. At one point, I seriously considered getting one, because I thought I couldn't carry a rod longer than 7'8" in my tiny sedan. It turned out that I can fit 8 feet rods too, after I make a few adjustments to the position and incline of the passenger seat, But maybe you'll get some ideas from a few of my setups and corresponding baits I favor on them: (I'm not saying you should get these particular rods, but maybe find some rods that have similar qualities. Also, I like to believe that your preference on how a rod loads up while casting, and fishing, is a very personal thing. I like baits to slightly overload the rod while casting and fishing, some people like it the other way round.) Mattlures MH (1-4 ozs): great for Matt's bluegills both hard and soft, 6" and 68 hudds, 7" and 9" slammers, 7" ospreys. Basically anything in the 1.5 to 3 oz range. It's working well with Matt's new hardbass too. I have tried throwing a Rago baby tool and a 6" wood punker on it (both are around 3.5 ozs), but either bait loads up the rod too much. I won't want to fish even a treble-hooked big hardbait on it, let alone an 8" hudd. Okuma H (1-6 ozs): This is the perfect ROF5 hudd rod in my eyes (for my budget). Loads up just enough for me to love throwing hudds on it. Works very well for baits in the 4-4.5 ish oz range. Couple of other baits I love throwing on it would be the Rago baby tool, both floating and the sinking, and the Tsunaga. I used to throw a Mattlures hard perch on it too. For baits lighter than 3 ozs or so, the rod is too powerful. It'd still cast them, but I don't enjoy it. GGR medium (no lure rating, but 4-9 ozs for a ballpark guess): This rod can chuck a hudd a mile, but the rod is almost too powerful for a hudd in my eyes and for my tastes. The three baits that get fished on this on a regular basis are the real prey trout, the CL8 possum (both around 7.5 ozs), and the Castaic wood trout (around 6 ozs I think)...

Sounds like some great fishing. I'm jealous SirSnook!

Love this attitude, and that's how I look at things in general too. Can't say that has always resulted in good things, but it was fun! Back to the topic, I agree with .RM. Or maybe I'm so challenged that I can't accomplish anything useful with my left hand, other than the basic reeling motion.

My local Walmart seemed to have some Pinnacles on clearance last week. I forget what model they were..

Does anyone here fish for stocked trouts in reservoirs (not rivers or streams) and is reasonably good at it? I have a few questions and would like to take it to PMs. Thanks,

Sounds like it's going to be a good Fall for you PR. Good luck, and good fishing!

Slow-sinker: Waking and slow-roll: Ripping and pausing and directional changes:

The two swimbaits in my signature Sorry I'm partial to Matt's baits, but I assure you there's more than one good reason (and a good number of bass) behind that. And the 8" huddleston deluxe I believe has caught more DDs than any other single bait, which is no mean feat considering jigs and plastics have been around for much much longer. Matt's ultimate bluegills and tournament series would be two other nice bite-sized soft baits. I don't know if TW has the newer soft/ hardgills though. Matt should be able to clarify. P.S. Get a Slammer. P.P.S. I'm pretty much the worst swimbaiter on this and a couple of other boards; yet I've managed to catch a few fish on the hudd, and Matt's gills. Those were/ are the only three baits I catch fish on with some semblance of regularity. My thinking is that if I can catch bass on them, then anyone can

If the Berkley Lightning casting rod I have is any indication, then the Lightning spinning rods should serve you well. I used to have a BPS Bionic Blade that I owned for quite a long time. That was a pretty decent rod too!

I use mono leader in appropriate strength. It does have less abrasion resistance (compared to fluoro), but I got used to it. IMO a leader doesn't undermine the purpose of the braided line; there are specific reasons why I don't use straight braid.

Bub Tosh seems to recommend a moderate action (NOT power) for punching. He says it seems to keep them hooked better. Just some food for thought. (I know the original post alluded to pitching/ flipping.) For what little pitching I do around sparse cover, my jig rod (Powell 753 MH/XF) works fine.

Punching works just fine from the shore, as long as you can reach your target. The only trouble is, I had to wade out a couple of times to land big(ger) bass. But I don't catch a lot of big fish anyway, so once or twice in a while is all right with me lol.

Exactly. As long as it's legal, and sporting (in your eyes), that's all that matters. I respect those who are not hypocritical about things.

Worked very well for what little punching I tried this season. I used the 1/2 and 3/4 oz weights only.