Bluebasser86

A lot of stiffer monos like your examples are better suited for moving baits like spinnerbaits, bladed jigs, or cranks imo.

10lb is the highest I'd go.

I do a little bit in DT training at work, but then when someone who really knows what they're doing gets paired with me, I'm reminded that I've learned enough to go with the average Joe on the street. One of my LTs has sparred and trained with Royce Gracie quite a bit, sparred with former Chief's DE Tamba Hali, and the guy is probably 5' 7" maybe 175lbs? I had the misfortune of being paired against him in training once, 0/10 would not recommend. I've had to hold my own against much bigger guys than myself in a real world situation, but when they have no technique I'm alright. Trying to get ahold of that guy and keep him from twisting me into a shape I'm not to be in was impossible.

My wife had one and said it was right up there with childbirth. She was able to pass hers thankfully. Have people at work that get them and swear they're dying if they've never had them before.

I use a 7' M/MF Falcon Bucco SR with 8lb mono.

I don't like braid with leaders at all on casting gear. If you're fishing bottom contact baits in rocky areas, straight flouro would be my choice.

The last kayak tournament I fished was on Truman in Missouri which is a fairly narrow reservoir in a lot of areas and it gets choked down even more by standing timber all over the place. I was moving locations in practice and saw the rooster tail coming around the bend a couple miles away, plenty of time to pedal across the channel I though. Not sure how big that motor was on the back of that boat, but when he hit the turn coming around the corner on the backside of the island I was pedaling towards, I was real glad I'd decided to cut through the shallow, backside of the island instead of taking the shorter route. Even still, it was a bumpy ride for a minute when he flew past the back of my kayak no more than 20 yards away at WOT.

Welcome!

I swap almost all my treble hooks right out of the box, so I save those and have a bunch of brand new hooks set aside to put on the baits I find at the end of the year. Usually end up selling them for around $1 apiece, so I make a couple dollars and someone gets a whole bunch of baits for cheap.

They went pretty detailed with that too. Great tool to use for anyone thinking of trying out one of the Victory rods. Funny to look at it and see that I use mine for basically everything they marked it for ?

The Daiwa Revros is my go to multi-purpose affordable spinning reel option.

I tried for about a month, and then it hit me that if I happened to lose a giant while I was trying to learn to reel with a different hand when I had no issues doing it like I already was, I'd be mad about it for the rest of my life.

I like copper also, as well as gold, purple, orange, and blue.

For some reason, these work so much better for winter bass than a standard skirted jig does.

I need to get all my finds cleaned up. It's about time for them to go to the market.

1/16oz, I'd guess the hook size is maybe a 1/0?

For water temps that cold, I'd stick with natural colors and tubes in the 2.5-3.5 inch range. The Strike King Bitsy and Coffee tubes are 2 of my favorites.

Looks great! That yellow "Edge" part is a sticker that is easy to remove so you can see all your baits.

You're only really limited to your imagination here. A whole brush hog or 7" stick worm can work great on the back of a jig. Sometimes, they'd rather have a 4" beaver or 3.5" craw. I've done really well with a 5" stick worm with about 3/4" trimmed off the top on the back of a finesse jig. Options are limitless.

I've been wanting to get out and fish for big catfish all summer, but between tournaments and not having my kayak set up like I wanted to, and not having bait, I've never made it out. Well I got the heavy duty rod holder and backing plates for Christmas, tournament season is over, and I had some shad in the freezer from last weekend, so I gave it a shot. The spot I was really wanting to fish wasn't productive, not even any little ones chewing on my bait. There is a inflow that I parked next to that was about 3 degrees warmer than the rest of the river and the tiny fish were playing muscial fishing poles, just jiggling one rod tip after the other but never enough to get hooked. I brought a rod to cast a grub with, just for something to do, and I was surprised to catch 2 drum, 2 white bass, and a wiper. Not what I expected, but catching fish when you're doing something different always feels good.

I use a 6' 9" MH/MF for jerkbaits, I like it way better than all the medium powered rods I tried for them.

I bought a used Ranger for 5k when I was 16. Next was a used Cajun for 2k at 17 that I traded for a brand new Lowe Roughneck for 12k at 17. It wasn't an ideal bass boat for big lakes or tournaments, but I caught thousands of fish out of that boat, more than a lot of bass boats did I promise that.

The 300 is one of my go to jerkbaits, especially for big green fish. It's more of a subtle bait than a lot of the other baits that have erratic darting, and cutting actions, which I think is a good thing in colder water or for pressured fish. When they eat the bait like this, there's nothing wrong with the action