georgeyew

I just purchased the Spro Rat (1oz). I love the way it looks in the water. No bass yet on the lure though. I am heading down to FL next week and I am expecting to catch some giants on it.

That's great. I am heading down there next weekend.

Congratulations on your win. And good luck in August.

I like the neon green!

I agree with the above. Just using the electric tape would be faster and easier than connecting the braided line to mono.

I fished my 40 sized rat on Saturday morning. After a couple of casts, I had a 3 lb (approximately) bass attack my lure. It had my rod bent a for a few seconds before jumping out of the water and shaking off the lure. To say the least, I was pretty disappointed. I am usually pretty good about pointing the rod low to keep the bass from jumping. But I was on the bank above the water so that was not possible. I love the action of the lure and I am sure that I will get more chances with bigger bass, but I don't like the idea that the bass can throw a 1 oz lure so easily. I suppose that is just the price to pay for using heavy lures.

The only rig that I know of that comes through relatively clean in algae is the pegged texas rig. I hate algae. If there is some clean water on top of the algae, you could try floating a weightless plastic on top of the algae to get a strike.

For me when the lure is chucked way out, I expect to get less feedback from the lure than when close in. I don't lose all feeling of the lure, but I do have less sensitivity. But with a spinnerbait, as long as I am doing a constant retrieve with a tight line, if a fish hits it I will feel a thump...there is no doubting there. It might be harder to detect with a non-moving bait like a shakey head.

Check Dicks. They have the Shimano Sojourn for about $30.

Nice fishes. I have not had any luck on the lipless yet. I keep throwing them but no bites yet. Your success encourages me!

I have a fishing buddy that laughs at me for using Mepps and Bluefox inline spinners. He thinks that they are too easy and I need to work harder for my bass. Also he does not believe any respectable large bass (5 lb +) would ever hit an inline spinner. I am dead set on proving him wrong. It's also ironic that he does that consider the senko a beginner lure considering it's effectiveness. I think that he is just out to give me crap.

There is a BPS Browning backpack that is on sale for $30. Looks like it is pretty heavy duty and can store a lot of tackle. I don't see it online, but it is in the sales flyer that was mailed to me.

I have a heavy power spinning Shimano Sojourn. It might be a bit heavy for what you need. They also have a MH power that should handle up to 1 oz. The best part is they are only around $35 from Walmart. You can order them both online have them shipped to the store, then see which one you like better and return the other one.

Chatterbaits work well in muddy waters. Give it a shot.

I have a 6'6 Samurai combo that I keep in my car. Aside from it being a little soft it has worked well for me. And it is pretty durable rod. You might want to get the 7' MH to get a bit more stiffness. But I think the 7' rod is quite a bit heavier.

What line are you using? If you are using braid, there won't be much of an issue setting the hook with the 7'3 MMF.

I can reel pretty proficiently with both hands, but I cannot set the hook or work the bait with my non-dominant (left) hand.

You got issues dude You are going to go broke while saving money!

3 pros that I can think of are: - easy release of fish - easy to remove if you hook yourself - easier to set the hook 1 main con is: - could lose the fish if you have too much line slack

Braid has no stretch. If you happen to get a backlash during the cast, the heavy weight of the swimbait and the no stretch will snap the braid.

Oh duh....I checked out as a guest. I did not sign up for an account. Oh well, good deal nonetheless.

I ordered but could not get the free shipping.

The way that I hook my wacky worm is with the hook inline to the worm. I don't have a problem with hooking the fish.

There was a 16 lb bass caught in CA earlier this year.

Darn it. I was planning on heading over to Royal tomorrow morning. Guess there is no need since the population is now way down.