OkobojiEagle

Caffeine Shad... it has a good balance of sturdiness to last several fish, and enough softness to have a great wiggle/wobble when I let it drop through the water column. Short answer: it works for me. oe

Berkley Sensation...

No secret, Lucky Craft Pointers oe

What I'm understanding the OP to be asking is, what terminal knot to use when the angler wants that knot to fail before the leader connection knot (his Alberto). I'd suggest a 3 wrap uni-knot as the terminal and keep the leader diameter pretty thin. oe

I'd start at about 8" and bite off 3/4" until I started to get bit... oe

It's interesting to me that common thought says a chewed up bait may be a better producer... why not the thought that a better producer becomes chewed up? Perhaps that particular bait just has that little something right out of the box that the next bait off the production line doesn't have. A slightly different action or running depth perhaps... The chewed surface might mean nothing more than a marker to the angler which bait has produced bites in the past. oe

You will be adding weight to your bait... oe

Thank you, I appreciate you believing so. If you could convince other bass & walleye anglers of your opinion, I'll be quiet about their effectiveness. oe

Yes, you probably will... oe So that I can accurately understand your thoughts and intentions... how much less could you care about what the pro's or anyone else chooses to call it?

After thinking about this question for a short while I've come to my conclusion that rod weight is about 5th in order of important characteristics in a rod. Balance with reel is #1, tip action that will properly load the intended weight range is #2, #3 is proper mid-section stiffness to easily set the anticipated hooks with all of the techniques and baits intended, #4 is price... bass fishing is a hobby for me and I try to keep that in mind when I spend money for fishing gear. Then WEIGHT gets rolled into "over-all comfort" when fishing with this rod at #5. oe

Brewer Spider head with 3/0 hook works well jig worming... exposed hook point when possible, point tucked when not possible. oe

I don't have a clue how "In Pursuit of Giant Bass" rigging differs from Texas rigging... oe

Don't fish through rocks, fish over rocks. I fish 8lb & 10lb original Fireline with 6lb & 10lb nylon leaders around rocks; have for years. oe

Patience, cottonwood season lasts only a couple weeks. oe

Wear them and enjoy the comfort they do bring... even when they seep some water, they insulate you from the lake/stream water temp AND they protect you from the leaches that are guaranteed when wet wading. There are many greater problems in life than seeping waders. oe

My preference... cut the leading hook from an in-line treble, so unless the premium up-grade was an in-line treble, no I wouldn't want to pay more for a premium hook up-grade. oe

In Charlie's day, the shorter rods were lighter and more comfortable to fish... thus easier to identify the light bite typical of slider fishing. Tonight I brought 3 largemouth to hand slinging a Brewer Spider head with a 7' 6" ml Fenwich Techna AV. oe

And the choir sang "AMEN"... oe

Good for Randy... the bass won't mind either way. oe

Various leader diameters will help change/control drop speed and bait running depth. oe

I believe that was Liberace... oe

I re-tie when my tag end shortens to 1/8"... oe

...no leaders when fishing spinnerbaits. oe

Trilene has been my knot of choice for tying nylon & fluoro monofilament lines. In my opinion, many anglers clip their knot's tag end too short. I leave 1/2"+ of tag with this knot. oe

Caffeine Shad! oe