CarolinaBoy4Life

Under that weight you will more than likely be looking at soft plastic style swimbaits. BB kicker by big bite baits on a swim jig head, Gambler big ez on a weight jig head as well or a belly weighted swimbait hook.

I use round reels but thats just choice for big swimbaits. A lot of guy's use Lexa's and Revo's low profile

Rage Craw, Gambler flappy daddy, Gambler Mega daddy

Seems strange that they wouldn't invest in the bass fishing in the state known for big bass. I'm sure the state draws $$$ from the thousands of anglers fishing for trophy sized bass.

It's always sad to hear that the golden days are gone. Is it because of fishing pressure? What caused a lake or waters that were that great at producing to die off? Do you ever think those days will come back? Seems doubtful due to the # of people fishing and the damages done I have always wondered why other states do not adopt a share lunker style program. Now the weight qualifications would obviously be different for the states but in NC its not uncommon to hook bass 8lbs and up. We have a couple lakes in the top 100 (as of my last check) and there are a ton of bass clubs in the state and ton's of bass fisherman as well. I'm sure it would be a hit and would bring $$ in as the Texas program does for conservation and wildlife programs.Guess its just wishful thinking

The H20 mettle is the only cheaper casting reel I would recommend. If you can save some $$ and go to the $100 range and you will really not have to upgrade unless you just WANT to. BPS Carbonlite rod with PQ reel can be had on sale for around $150.

D&M hands down for me.

Hudd and S-Waver are found in pretty much 90% of swimbait fisher mans aresenal. I'd also recommend an ABT suicide glide

Awesome fish congratulations on the PB!

1. Jig/craw 2. Spinnerbait 3. DD crank bait 4. Texas rigged worm 5. BB kicker on swimbait jig head fished slowly back on deep points and creek channels. (HOLD ON!)

I got a buddy who uses them about 70% of the time he is fishing. My buddy wears em out. Like hootie said you don't have to have the highest end equipment to fish. Remember back in the day the pro's were using rod's we now consider junk and were wearing them out.

I'm very OCD about my rod and reels and maintenance and preventative measures. When I am a back seater I use rod gloves, and TW reel covers and a rod strap to keep them all together. I usually only take 4 rods up to 5 at most. I see some guy's just throwing their rod's in the boat with no rod covers or reel covers and I cringe. Don't take too many because then you'll be a nuisance to the boater. 6 at most is my limit

Nice frog fish man. Getting warmer here time to pull the frog out and head for the pads

They were just on sale earlier this spring for $79. They go on sale pretty often just gotta keep your eyes open and jump on it when they do. I scooped up two during that sale.

To be honest my first baitcasting setup was a BPS Carbonlite rod with a Pro qualifier reel. Many here recommend this as a "beginners" setup for the value and performance it brings. I have some higher end stuff I use and while its great it honestly does not blow the doors off that exact same setup I started with. Like DVT said $100 and up on the reel and the field is loaded with great options. That beginning setup has now become a setup I can throw anywhere pretty accurately and has stayed reliable the entire time I learned the art of bait casting

A slight altering or improvement can make all the difference in action and presentation. Not to say keitech has any issues with their bait but we all know ragetail is and has always been quality and action not seen in other baits. The only complaint I've ever heard about ragetail baits is the softness and not lasting quite as long as other baits fish per fish wise. Now to be honest thats not an issue with me. I have always caught way more fish on ragetail than any other plastic. Would I rather have a bait that is extremely versatile and a fish catching machine that sacrifices just a bit in durability for the unique action it brings or would I rather have a durable as all get out bait that does not have the action nor the fish drawing/catching power? Obvious answer for me. I use ragetail along with gambler, d&m baits, and reaction innovations for one reason, design, and performance. I have no doubt the rage swimmers will give me the same confidence and gain my loyalty

I use a Dotline Molded seamless net with rubber netting. Its a great net. The netting also helps from harming the fish and from lures getting stuck

Thats' a heck of a find. Clean and great price. Nice boat man

I have both old and new versions of the crankin stick and love them. I have always had good experiences with the BPS brand rods. I have used the crank stick line and the carbonlite line. If you see my other posts the carbonlite is my favorite rod. It's hard to beat for the price. The crankin stick is the same way for me

A bass is a predatory species. In certain cases a specific pattern may be better but they aren't going to look at a trout colored bait and say "Wait a minute, I've never seen this fish before I better not eat it." I throw a Hudd in trout pattern here in NC in the triad area and catch fish all the way up to 9lbs on it being the biggest and all the way down to 2.5lbs being the smallest. That tells me the size and the pattern does not stop them from being a predator by instinct and nature.

That's a stud of a fish. Long arm or not you earned the right to with that catch

Thanks for the feedback guys

Oh really? On the site it said 14-22 business days

I've seen on honey hole all outdoors the host wear em out on sticko's. My buddy got some and loves em. They are a little tougher than GY Senkos and are a lot cheaper. I ordered me some haven't had the chance to fish em yet

Just got this unit for my bow mounted system. I am going to order the trolling motor mounted transducer. I was looking at the exchange thing they have but it would just take too long to get back. I did some research and it seems the one I need for the Helix 7 SI/GPS is 710160-1. Can anyone confirm this that has knowledge of the unit and the correct transducer? Thank's guy's