Bluebasser86

If they use a premium ball bearing swivel a lot of the cost comes from those. Quality nickel blades and hooks are pricey too. A jig is just a weedguard that is pretty inexpensive, and a jig hook that isn't terribly expensive.

DSG actually list the 110 available in several colors on their website, I'm assuming you must have checked in store? It's $16.99 there too though. https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/river2sea-190-130-110-90-whopper-plopper-topwater-lure-15r2sur2swhpprplplur/15r2sur2swhpprplplur?camp=CSE_DSG_pg31347_mk_PLA_454&gclid=CjwKCAjwsqjKBRBtEiwAkWyN375F446pvInX5HP2WWo8DWFUK9iMoxvMF5eKLD_qanHfmEhNimTXJBoC3ssQAvD_BwE

I wish I had a side by side picture, but this is the best I can do. This is supposed to be the same color bait. I believe they went to different molds too. Like @IndianaFinesse said, the action has changed drastically too.

Bass will eat an A rig with thick wires and big snap swivels all over the place. Unless you're in super clear water and heavily pressured fish, I wouldn't worry about it. I agree you're probably just working the bait faster with your setup, whether you realize it or not.

Vertically is how I always rig my trailers like the Havoc Pitboss, Devil's Spear, or Rage Menace. It looks more like a fish swimming, and it fights against the natural action of the bait less.

I bought mine on Ebay, they're real. I didn't pay nearly that much for them though. Appears the seller I bought from is completely sold out of every color though, which isn't surprising at all I suppose.

I fish a lot of the Ethos rods from Academy, they're great for me. Also have several Lightning Rod Shocks that have been good so far. I didn't pay more than $40 for a single one of them and I use them right along side my St. Croix Avids and LTBs. Even have a couple that beat out the high dollar rods for the starting line up spots.

Same.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Going to make it a lot harder on you to try to work those walking baits with a slow tip like you'll have on a cranking rod. I prefer something in the 6-7 foot range, M/F or even M/XF.

No it kind of looks like a Keitech Easy Shiner.

I prefer to back reel because I can control the fish better. It allows me to add or remove pressure as the situation calls for it. It's not a left over habit for me, considering I wasn't even born yet until the mid 80's I taught myself to do it and will continue to do so.

I use a 6' 8" M/F, 6' 3" M/MF, and a 6' 10" MH/F for jerks depending on the situation. For poppers I use a 6' 2" M/XF. I can make a popper move better with this rod than any other I've ever used.

Zman makes a bait in a color they call Houdini as well. I use it in the Diesel MinnowZ and Razor ShadZ. The Diesel MinnowZ is a solid stand alone bait on a jighead and a single bait can easily last all day. The Scented PaddlerZ is a pretty similar profile bait to the swimming fluke and is available with several baits with gold hues or flake in them.

Green pumpkin and black and blue. Pick whatever other 3 colors you want, but you don't really need them.

I have fished both and actually preferred the STX, but the quality has taken a sharp downturn the last few years. The paint jobs are much different and look pretty bad and the hooks are horrible (although they were never really good). I lost my last good STX this spring, a week after winning a tournament at Table Rock with it as my main bait. Due to how fragile they are, and the number of zebra mussels in most of our lakes, I'm not willing to spend the money on the Megabass baits though. The middle ground that I've found is having the Predator 110 blanks custom painted by a local guy. This keeps the cost under $15 a bait and I get whatever color I want.

Wacky rigged green pumpkin stick worm, or a bluegill swimbait.

I set the hook as soon as I feel them. It takes a 15" bass no time at all to eat a bait that size. If you wait too long, you risk the chance of the bait getting balled up in their mouth and setting the hook back into the plastic.

They do that in some of the lakes here a couple times a year. It messes the fishing up for a week or so and the water quality gets really bad for a while too.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Flooded, couple 2 or 3 inches maybe.

Yes, solid white too.