Bluebasser86

There's some bass in here too, but mostly trout. They were small but very fun catching them on the rod that @.ghoti. built for me.

Chris and I fished Lake Shawnee Thursday. Caught fish at will the entire time, mainly trout and largemouth, but we had some smallmouth, whites, drum, and a walleye too. The trout were running very small, never had one over 2 pounds even. Did have 3 largemouth over 3 pounds so that was fun at least.

To me the bend seems to be more in the top 1/3 of the rod but they'd serve for a crankbait rod for something like squarebills to mid depth baits.

I put 10lb Rippin on my jerkbait rod and fished it a lot Thursday. It seems very thin and handles really nicely. I was fishing a jerkbait with it and it held up well and handled a lot of fish, no complaints from me.

I have a few different baitcasting combos I use for jerkbaits, but I also fish them on spinning gear. My baitcasting rods I use are 6' 2" M/XF, 6' 3" M/MF, 6' 6" M/F, and 6' 8" M/F.

I haven't used any of those you listed, but I'd highly suggest checking out either the Savage Gear line up of swimbaits, or a River2Sea S waver 168 if you're looking for an affordable option to get into swimbaits. The Savage Gear Shine Glide is one of my favorites.

The 100 and 200 series in Mistake color are a bait I don't talk about much that are really productive for me.

I usually fish a Trick worm, magnum finesse worm, or rib snake on a shakyhead. I fish about everything on a swinghead but a beaver or brush hog are my favorites.

In lakes that don't have shad, these guys are a big bass' preferred forage it seems. Obviously this one likes bluegills too

Did a new predator fish get introduced into the pond? That combined with heavy angler predation might be to blame. I seriously doubt they've all been removed though.

Ever since I first saw a Hobie at the Sports Show, I've wanted one. Lots of small lakes that I fish seemed like they'd be perfectly suited and having both hands free would make them much more efficient. I've never gotten to use one, but hopefully some day I'll have one. I think for tournaments, the amount of advantage they're going to be is going to depend on the angler, just like any piece of equipment. Doesn't matter how fast you get there, or that both hands are free to fish if the angler doesn't have the skills to put fish in the boat. I'm very new to the kayak fishing scene, with only 1 full season under my belt, but I'd still be confident in my abilities even though I have to paddle.

Agreed. If you're fishing open water, or you have the wind blowing just right down a bank you want to fish, they're great. You can't use them around obstructions and there isn't much adjusting you can do with the trolling motor with them out. I use to use them in my 2 man and aluminum boat. I still have them but haven't used them for years.

Welcome!

Welcome!

I think it depends a lot on where they're caught and what they feed on. They're related to the black drum and redfish, both popular food fish, but for some reason get a pass as table fare. I have an uncle who swears they're the best tasting fish in freshwater, but his sanity is a bit in question so take that for what it's worth.

No way I could pick just one. I have to have my wacky rig for largemouth and Ned for smallmouth.

Went and checked out a lake I haven't fished in a couple years on the way home yesterday. Had a 5' Ul with 4lb test on a 20 size Trion and a #8 Xrap. Never seen or heard of a drum from this lake, a big bass was about the only thing it could be in my mind while I was fighting it. I was pretty disappointed to say the least.

Showing compassion and concern isn't a sign of weakness @JustJames, it's a sign you're human. This has actually been pretty tame compared to some of the past threads on fishing for bedding fish. It's just one of those things that people feel very strongly about and can really bring out the emotion.

I'm not a fan of braid for moving baits like that. Bass have an easy time tossing lipless baits anyways, no reason to tear a bigger hole to make it even easier. I've not had many light strikes on a lipless bait, so sensitivity isn't an issue. Lots of guys fish them on braid though and if it's been working for you I'd stick with it. If you do decide to try something else, no need to spend the money on fluoro, mono or copolymer will work just fine.

Lots of strikes that would knock the bait into the air or miss it completely. The back hook is on the top of the bait, so the bait almost has to be engulfed when they strike the back of the bait to get the hook. I suspect most of the strikes I was getting were white bass though, which also helped to contribute to the many missed strikes I had. I've heard there's a stinger hook offered that might help to solve some of that issue though.

My line selection is based on what I'm using the reel for, not the reel itself. So what are you using them for?

I bought the wood duck color one and fished it for the first time a few weeks ago. Had a bunch of hits but only hooked one. Once I landed it I had a pretty good idea why I kept missing them.

If I'm fishing a frog, which I do a lot in the summer, there's a good chance it's a Popping Pad Crasher in the Cricket Frog color. Something about it just catches them for me.

Are you fishing a lot of grass? I fish mine on a 7' MH/F Ethos/Kastking Assassin with 15lb Big Game and I can rip it out of most grass just fine with that setup. I wouldn't want to fish one where I felt I needed braid to rip through unless you're running the edges of thick grass where you might need it to cut through if a fish eats and buries in the grass.

Caught tons of bass on the Rayburn Red traps. Haven't thrown one yet this year, might have to change that this week.