iabass8

i am not a fan of an XF tip for swim jigs but if i had to pick one of the two it would be the longer st. croix

while i'm mostly standing in the boat, i do use beavers outside of the traditional pitching or flipping in grass/cover/weeds w/e. these things flat out produce when dragged or hopped through underwater wood/trees/rock.

magic craw green pumpkin/red

brush jig everything that doesn't contain rock. then it's his football.

morning

6'6mf

the champion is n slouch in sensitivity but the DX just flat out shines for bottom contact baits. For what you are intending to use it for, the DX744 would be a great choice. the 743 is more of a senko or very light trig rod. the 744 is the "do it all" rod ( i use it for trigs) and the 745 is THE jig rod in the series. Unless your local tackle shop is offering you a discount, wait until the black friday sales where you can get the DX line for around 250.00. The 4 power doesn't effect the sensitivity or lack it compared to a 3 power. the whole line is great. The 50 size is smaller than the 200 series. I have 50 series shimanos on most of my Dobyn's rods. I just prefer them. If you want 7:1 in a shimano 50 size, you will have to get the core or a set of core gears for the chronarch. more specifically, i use a chronarch 51e on my dx744 /w 16# fluoro. I use the same size reels but different series (curado, chronarch, chronarchmg) on my champ 733,dx 743, both dx744s and dx745.The tournament pro is much closef in size to a 50 size shimano than the 200. I just took the lews plunge and am waiting on my TP to get here. it will be going on another 733. you will be happy with either the champ 734 or dx744.

nope. sunline sniper/seaguar tatsu. never looked back.

find some current, find the current breaks, find the shad. that's all you need to do this time of year. once you find a school the fishing can be lights out this time of year. topwaters, squarebills, swim jigs, spinnerbaits and jigs underneath the schools of shad are great baits on the river. hopefully the grass isn't too bad running down river from up north this weekend. there's a cold front that just came through on sunday but it looks like it will be more than steady for the next week with temps dropping very minimally. should be great fishing.

x2. super strong knot and the tag end is very minimal when you get the hang it tying it correctly.

nice catch sir!

FC allegedly loses 20% of it's rated breaking point when initially tying a knot. (I say allegedly because anybody who has tied a fresh knot /w 16-20# fluoro, snagged an immovable object on the first cast and tried to pull it free knows that the line is ridiculously strong and will saw through your hands-I do believe it does lose some of it's rated strength but i personally don't know exactly how much). the knot doesn't weaken 20% each day, just at the initial knot tie. there are other variables to take into account for knot weakening later after the first tie such the cover you brought it through, if you pulled a snag free, etc just leaving a knot sit won't weaken it 20% each day. it only weakens on the initial first knot. I have the utmost confidence in my choice of fluorocarbon lines. I will tie everything I'm using up during the morning period before launch of a tournament. If i'm just fun fishing, I do it the night before.

chinese food. i love chinese food.

I like shimanos 6:2-6:4 gear ratios for both swim jigs and spinnerbaits. the 7:0+ feels like a chore working a spinnerbait. swim jigs can really go either way. I normally fish 1/4oz swim jigs and I very rarely burn swim jigs as i'm fishing them through pads or bumping into wood cover so the burner gear's aren't necessary. there are times where bumping into say an isolated log, a fish seems to follow the bait and then take it and keep running at you. that's where the burner gear really helps to keep up. more times than not though, the 26(ish) IPT is ideal.

My LTB 68mxf is my jerkbait rod. Perfect tip for working jerkbaits. I use 10# fluoro though. It has a mighty fast tip that I would be hesitant to use braid in fear of overworking and ripping hooks. After using the XF tip /w fluoro for jerkbaits and topwaters, I don't want to go back to anything slower. On the other spectrum of things, I have used braid /w a crankbait rod for jerkbaits and it also worked but i hate braid.

in shallow water around 5-6ft i throw 3/8. deeper than that it's 1/2. however, if it's dead calm /w no wind 3/8 can be easily worked in 15ft of water. if it's even a light breeze you can still use 3/8.

i personally don't like the newer ltb gribs. i much prefered the older split gribs /w a cork above the reel stem. They aren't too bad to get used to but i still prefer the older ones.

I'm taking the plunge. Is there any real significant difference in the tournament speed spool and the tournament pro speed spool? I'm lefty so my options are limited until the new ones come out. How is the size of the frame in comparison to 50 and 200 size shimanos.Of the 13 rods/reels that see regular rotation, 10 are 50 size curados/chronarchs/chmgs. i love the 50s and i just really don't enjoy the 200 size frame anymore as i'm down to 3 200s and looking at only keeping 1 for frogs. this reel will be put on a dobyns 733 /w 14# fluoro or 30# braid depending on the time of year. 1/4oz swim jigs and 1/2 +/- spinnerbaits will be the only baits this reel sees. i'm already certain the retrieve will be smooth and effortless so that isn't really a concern. casting distance is the utmost importance. for reference (or those that know what i mean) a 200 size curado /w 30# braid and only one brake engaged will absolutely bomb a 1/4 oz swim jig if tuned right and i would like something of the same caliber. i know the bb1 is a great casting reel for sheer distance but (i'm assuming here i've never held one) the frame looks to be the size of a 200 shimano. I'm looking at the 6:4 reel. is the braking system used in these reels similar to the shimano vbs?

x2. the 4 power dobyns in each series is the most universal rod they make.

The sunline specific vendors are given the option to participate if they want to. they don't have to participate in the buy one get one promotion. as for major retailers like cabelas, the one in my area supports it in store. i don't know if they advertised it or not.

one of my tournament partners has been a marshal twice. he loved it. some of the pros obviously aren't going to be as lively as others. some will hardly talk. my buddy was lucky enough to be partnered with two of the more well known elites and learned more from just watching them for 7-8 hours than he could have imagined. they were pretty engaging in conversation throughout the day and didn't mind answering questions. jump at the opportunity. i'm not sure if it's first come first serve but get it when you can.

the st. croix XF blanks are a thing of beauty for working the bait /w a DS.

site sponsor DVT does it. otherwise there are countless indepth articles via google that can give you a specific step by step on how to do it. I do change out some reels bearings and polish certain reels I use. not all reels need it but it never hurts.

when initially spooling the line on to the reel, you tie a knot to the spool and then begin winding the line in. this first instance where the line starts meeting the spool is where most cases of lop sided spools occur. back your line all the way off to the point where only the initial knot is on the spool. starting winding slowly and make sure the knot is either dead center on the spool and the line is following the correct direction from the line guide to the spool and not criss cross. you will probably also notice that the line isn't laying perfectly at first and the line is wanting to lay on one side of the spool at first more than the other. just use your finger or a small tool to push the line over a little to correct it. once it's corrected, the line will begin to lay perfectly on the spool. Make sure the line is pretty snug when spooling. if you are using backing to the line, use this same process after connecting the two lines. often times the knot will interfere with how the line lays as well.after you get past this the line should lay correctly as long as it's on the spool snug.

find current seams or areas of slack water behind riffle areas river bends. work them slow through there. it is very easy to over work casting a DS bait in a river. the smallest amount of current will do most of the work for you. moving the bait along the bottom and barely twitching it in place is all that is needed. you just need to find active fish and they will bite it. it is a "dink" magnet though from what i've found in rivers but can still catch some nice ones. a twelve inch leader is a good starting place.