deep

Personally, I like black hooks, because they are usually cheaper. lol

Follow up: So Irene hit VA around Saturday afternoon. I went out Friday evening; I thought fishing would be excellent, and the bass would hit just about anything. Heck, I couldn't even catch five keepers! Maybe I just couldn't find the fish. I went out again on Monday morning, and it was post-frontal, bluebird skies. I did okay.. caught a bunch, including one nice fish. Just goes to show that we should go fishing whenever we can, and not wonder too much about factors we have no control over.

Well, thanks a lot for your inputs. That actually answers most of my questions. I'm going to give the Dobyns guys a call, and see if they can recommend a particular power rod. I also going to find out exactly what a jig + rage craw weighs. If the 743SF does well with **1/4oz jig with 5" double tail yamamoto grub, 5" senko with 1/8oz nail weight, 6" senko wacky rigged with size 1 owner mosquito hook**, I'm pretty sure it will do what I'm trying to do with it, but I better find out for sure. About the Savvy (703SF): The only thing I liked about it was that it was a very well-balanced rod. I bought it for fishing plastics, sort of dividing the bottom contact duties between the Powell and the Savvy. Sad to say, I couldn't feel a darned thing with that rod. Not with braid, nor with fluoro. Whether it was grass, or rock, or a bite, all I got was a mushy feeling. And to add to that, the workmanship was pretty shoddy (excess epoxy on a couple of guides) and the cork had quite a few pits. I still believe that the particular rod I got was a dud though; I read several good reviews about the Savvy line.

Excellent choice my friend. You'll be very pleased with the Citica, I suspect.

I like to use a leader, but it's not for visibility reasons alone. I keep the leader short enough so that the knot doesn't get into the reel, but long enough so that one leader lasts for two or three fishing trips (nicks, retying etc). For a 7+ ft rod - all my rods are longer than 7 ft, except my ultralight which is 6'6" - that means a leader length of 6 feet or so.

By that do you mean the Powell is of a heavier power compared to the Dobyns (as in medium-heavy to medium)? Almost all of my fishing is in open water, isolated cover (rock piles, laydowns) situations. I also like to use a lighter power and lighter line than most people would... Honestly, my Powell handles 1/4 to 3/8 oz swim jigs + RI skinny dippers trailers fine - the total weight would be probably around 3/4 oz - but that's the limit. Do you think that a 3/8 oz jig + a Rage Craw is around the sweet point for the Dobyns? That is the sort of jig + trailer I find myself using 90% of the time now-a-days. What lure weight do you think is the sweet point for the DX743SF? What's the max weight do you think it can comfortably cast? Also, did you ever put braid and leader on it? The guides are reported to be smaller than the usual Fujis. I'm sorry for the slew of questions, but I already got burned once with a 3-power Dobyns Savvy I bought on a whim; I had to return that one. Hope you don't mind. EDIT: Found a great TT style review on the DX702SF.. hopefully the action on the DX743SF is similar.. guess my questions about the "action" are answered, but not the "power". http://basschat.yuku.com/topic/50

Had an exciting and interesting day on my local lake yesterday afternoon/ evening. The forecast was for thunderstorms, but I went anyway. Took my swimbait stick, one mattlures original paddletail bluegill, a 7" osprey paddletail, and a 7" slammer. In the first hour, I had like 4 bites/ bumps on the mattlures, and I saw three of the bass: they are all less than 14". I'm like what's going on here? I haven't been swimbaiting that long, but I've never seen something like this. Those little bass were actually trying to eat that bluegill. They had the bait by it's head, and let it go when I set the hook. Finally I landed a 14". It was hooked outside the mouth.. I guess it wasn't big enough to fit the whole bait in its mouth. Then of course the thunderstorm hit, and I beached the little rowboat and took shelter. Still got soaking wet though. After the storm passed, I continued with the bluegill, and finally ran across a 14 - 15" that ate it. I landed it and found that it had half-destroyed the bait. Huh? Switched to the Osprey, and continued getting bites from those dinks, occasionally landing one. The Osprey was rigged with a treble on its belly. I grew tired of trying to get my softbaits chewed through, tied on the Slammer, caught a couple of small ones and left when it got dark.. Anyone else who throw swimbaits regularly ever had a day like this? When the dinks can't get enough of your soft plastic swimbaits. Catching dinks on the big hard swimbaits is not unusual, but soft plastic baits? P.S. Sorry if this is the wrong section.

it's rated for 3/16 oz to 5/8 oz... P.S. when I say finesse jigs, I mean small jigs that I like to finesse fish. The lakes I fish have so much junk on the bottom that a football headed finesse jig would pick up a bunch of trash.

I'm thinking about upgrading my finesse jig rod. Right now, I use a Powell Max 733 (medium, extra-fast). I was wondering if any of you guys have the Dobyns DX 743SF (champion extreme spinning, medium power, fast action). I'd like the know about the action on it, especially compared to a Powell Max extra-fast (which is midway between a fast and a true XF imo). Also, how well does it cast a 3/16 oz jig? A 3/8 oz jig? The trailer might vary from a Rage Baby Craw to a Rage Lobster, for a given jig. So it's a pretty big range. I'm specifically looking for responses from people who has/ fished the self-same Dobyns, or a comparable spinning rod in the Champion/ Champion Extreme series. The line used would be 6 lb dia braid.

That's the tournament philosophy. What you're talking about, IMO of course, is not catching a big fish, but a "kicker" fish. Unless you're fishing with a live bait, your best chance of catching a trophy fish is with the first cast. Bungle up that cast, or not get a bite, you might as well move to a different spot to try and catch another trophy fish. Big fish are intensely attuned to their environment. She knows that you bait is there. It depends on your presentation, and of course her mood, whether she'll bite it. EDIT: Fat-G pretty much nailed it.

Read Bill Siemantel's "The Big Bass Zone". It's all about the psyche. And no, big baits doesn't always equal a big fish. Read Bill Murphy's book too (I forget what it's called). He talks about "stitching worms", and basically a ton of other things. In the west coast, people like Bob Crupi would soak crawdads to catch lunkers (he caught a 23+ once, IIRC). Fish Chris catches them with nightcrawlers I believe. Dottie was caught the last time on a jig, that was while bed-fishing though. Even if you don't want to throw 12" baits, try and read the two books. Trophy fishing is a totally different pursuit from the sort of bass articles you (and I and everyone else) usually read, almost all of which are geared towards tournament anglers (which isn't a bad thing of course).

yeah, a hudd is a huddleston deluxe. It's a trout profile soft plastic swimbait. The conventional size is 8". Now there's a 6" version, including a weedless 6". Anyway, my point was to throw something big, and weed out some of the smaller bass. Bigger baits also have a larger drawing power. People throw 1 oz spinnerbaits and think the bait is moving a lot of water. Sure it does. But how much more water does a big paddletail swimbait move? 10 times? Maybe 20 times? Also, remember that the biggest bass gets to choose the best location. If you're catching a ton of dinks, it's probably better to change locations. Since you've access to the whole pond, you can cover all of the water. That's great. Now all you got to do is put something in front of that lunker, and present it so that she eats it. Good luck!

I have this little lake near my apartment that's around 60 acres or so. I fish it pretty extensively, mostly from shore, and lately from a little row-boat (no electronics). The average length of bass in there is around 10 inches, and it's a lot of work to catch a keeper (12") there, without electronics anyway. All summer long, I've been trying to get a limit in the 3/4 hour fishing trips I have there. Last Friday, I caught a 2.8, and two more 2+ and had a 8 lbs 14 ozs limit. I was stoked. And yeah, if I manage to do that again, I'd be equally stoked.

huh? ever seen a 6" bass try and eat a 5" rapala? I have, and I'm sure others have too. Throw the biggest, baddest-looking bait you have. I'd certainly have tried jigs with big trailers if I were you, and probably a weedless hudd or something. 6" or 7" senkos would be an excellent choice too. Texas rigged thumpers as well. Just throw something big, and work it real slow. Do you have access to all of the pond?

M.S. Slammer if you are looking to cover water. Otherwise, I'd say jigs with big trailers fished slooooow.

Hey Randall, just a newbie swimbaiter here. I noticed you were retrieving at a pretty brisk pace, and every once in a while, you'd speed the retrieve up a little more for a while. Would you tell me when you'd speed the retrieve up? I mean, did you feel the bait hit something, and made a directional change (a speed change really), or was it a random thing you include in the retrieve? Also, were you trying to keep the bait in the middle/ top-middle water column? That's what I gleaned from your generally fast retrieve. Will be glad if you could clarify that. Thanks.

Fishing related: Powell Max rods (best $150 rod I've ever fished. period.) Spro BBZ and BBZ Jr (I know how it's a copy of the Rago Tool and everything, but it flat out catches fish for a cheap mass-made bait) 6" weedless hudd (it's weedless, laydown-less, rock-less.. never managed to snag and lose one) GY senko (if there's a magic bait, it's this)

If you guys are talking about spinning reels, then there are (at least) two ways to fight a fish.. One (and the more common) is to turn that anti-reverse thing on, and adjust the drag to one-thirds of line breaking tension or whatever, so that if the fish runs, it does so against the drag. The other way is to turn the anti-reverse off, so that the reel handle turns either way, and tighten the drag all the way up. When the fish wants to run, you let him take line by backreeling (reeling in the other direction), keeping a constant tension with the rod. Hope that didn't sound too confusing.

Way to go.. better to have an overpowered set-up than an underpowered one. Braid with leader is pretty interesting. I know that Matt Allen recommends it. I'm just too scared of casting off 20$ baits on backlashes, or losing a bait while setting the hook with a bit of slack in the line. God knows I've lost some jigs and plastics while doing that (hookset with slack in the line) on my finesse spinning setup which has braid + leader. I ought to give that a try soon.. I've been losing quite a few bass on hudds/ single hook baits lately, and since I don't get bit more than twice or so a trip, it sort of hurts. Keep catching them!

For $100, try to find one of the older close-out Compres. Not the lightest or prettiest rod, but it's quite sensitive, and will hold up to a bunch of abuse.

Nice fish dude! Would you mind sharing the set-up you were using for that hudd?

Not keeping enough pressure on the bass (fish throws the hook).. Keeping too much pressure on the bass (fish jumps and throws the hook).. Playing that little 2 lb bass for ever (just land the darned fish and try to catch the next one).. Oh, and my number one: beating the banks all season long.

If I were you, I'd spend a little more on the rod, and get a Shimano Crucial or a Powell (Max or Endurance). I tried the Dobyns Savvy too, but found that I like extra-fast action for bottom contact baits. I don't know anything about the Flooger, I guess it's a good reel. But if you're on a tight budget, spend more on the rod and skimp on the reel. All you need is a good drag system, and a fast IPT. Most rods would balance better with a heavier reel too. Consider using braid with a leader for added sensitivity. I'm not too fond of fluoro (too much stretch), but plenty of folks are. Good luck!

I'm guessing your new rod is more "sensitive", and you're reacting to a bite too fast? Btw, are you getting (detecting) more bites now?

1/4 oz jig + rage craw. So versatile, and catches fish of all sizes