Bluebasser86

IMO, you're wanting to fish with one rod what you really need 3 rods for. You could get away with a 7' MH/F for frogs and buzzbaits provided you're fishing sparse cover with the frog, but I wouldn't fish frogs without braid and I hate fishing buzzbaits on braid. That rod will also be very heavy to fish a popper on very well unless you're just chugging larger sized poppers. If I absolutely had to make one rod work it would probably be a 6' 6" MH/F rod with 30-40 pound braid on my reel.

I love fishing a bladed jig around wood and catch tons of fish on them. They will snag more often with a standard open hook design but there's ways around it. When I'm in the really heavy stuff, I break out one of my bladed jigs that I use a swinging football head and Owner Twistlock XXX hook so I can T rig my trailer and it'll go anywhere a jig can while producing the strong vibration of a bladed jig. I really have little use for a swim jig because a lot of our lakes are dirtier and the fish have a difficult time locating one. I've been trying to incorporate one into my arsenal whenever possible though and have found some very specific situations when they are better than a bladed jig, which ties back into the OP's situation where, even though I much prefer one to the other, one isn't better than the other 100% of the time.

2 St. Croix LTB's from their bargain room for $115 apiece.

I imagine he's using them to change heads without having to retie everytime since it won't effect the buoyancy of the bait and he isn't trying to catch fish with it.

An Academy Ethos rod

They're an extremely effective tool that I think a lot of fishermen don't understand how to use properly. I started out trying to fish them like a spinnerbait and have very limited success. While they are a little similar and the two work in the same general areas, I use them differently and at different times than I do a spinnerbait. You catching that bass in cold water proves one of the common misconceptions wrong that they're a warm water bait only. Keep fishing them and they will continue to reward you

Pretty interesting video on the floatation of certain Zman baits. I thought they all floated all the time, apparently not.

Now how do I get my wife to understand this?

I'd make the move and take the chance at a fresh start. The weather alone would be enough to make me move.

I finally caved on a couple Savage Gear 6" line through swimbaits yesterday, might as well go to $50 and get free shipping right? Savage Gear Slide Swimmer, Evolve Soul 5 Souljerk 115 Deathdrop, Evolve Soul 5 Flatsider 75, Duo Realis jerkbait 120SP and some VMC 4X Spark Point trebles for the swimbaits. Hopefully be giving them a test run Friday

Now that is having some high hopes right there! Considering our state record is just over half way to the world record

The lake the pictures I posted is only 400 acres and they stock a minimum of 400 fish over 4 pounds a few times every spring. KS has really figured out how to make money on trout permits by stocking big trout (no natural occurring trout in KS), including a good number of fish over 10 pounds up to the new state record that was over 15 pounds caught last year.

I use a 4/0 EWG for the 4" Pit Boss. For the Pit Boss Jr I use these guys, 1/8oz or 3/16oz head with a 2/0 Owner wide gap short shank Rig N' hook. The hinged head action every time I twitch the bait makes one of the best, jerky swimming crawfish movements I've ever seen in a bait. It was a killer rig for me this year when the going got tough.

I usually go for more action because of the stained water I'm normally fishing. I have some Huddlebugs I use in clear water situations though.

It will happen if you get a kink in your line, which commonly happens during bad backlashes. Have never fished fluorocast or heard much about it, quite possibly a reason for that I imagine.

I used that exact Rage rod for smaller jigs and really liked it. Have since upgraded to the similar LTB that I continue to use for small jigs and really like it.

Agreed on the light line, ML rod, and clear water being keys to this presentation. It is nothing like fishing a jerkbait though OP, much more like swimming a grub or small paddletail grub but with a very different action. They sink like a rock first off, then on the retrieve they have a very subtle roll and the blades spin so fast it's hard to tell they're even doing anything at first. I haven't played with them a ton but I have had success with them the little bit I have fished them.

Gamakatsu wide gap finesse for most wacky rigging, VMC weedless wacky for a weedless hook, 1/0 in both.

Our local BPS has a ton of them.

I'd love to do that trip. Giant sturgeon are for sure on my bucket list.

Not a big fan of the squarebills but their jerkbaits are great and their popper, walking bait (discontinued Jimmy), and rattle bait are all my top 2 or 3 baits in their respective categories. It's not that I don't catch fish on their squarebills, just not anything special for me.

Glad it worked out for you. I've managed to pare my gear down this year to just a Cabela's Super Magnum with 12 3700 trays, 9 magnum worm binders, and a deep 3700 size box full of swimbaits. I can say with confidence that I have more in single 3700 boxes than you carry total That's one of the great things about this sport, you can make it as simple or complicated as you want.

I know I'm in the right area when I start catching grass with my lipless bait during the retrieve. As long as it isn't completely burying in them to the point you can't rip it out, you should be able to catch some fish with it.

Welcome!

I like to buy nice things, but I like finding values too. If I can buy a nice piece of equipment for less that I feel performs on a level with more expensive gear, I'm all for it. Even on higher priced stuff I have a cutoff of around $200. I just feel like the difference is very minor in rods and reels once you get above that ceiling in everything except the price.