mnbassman23

I have a few rods I will use. They are between 7'-7'6" and all are MHF. If I'm around weeds I'll usually throw braid 50-60lb and if it's more open I go with 17lb fluoro.

Nice fish!

Congrats on the PB!

Nice Bronzeback!

I thought bass had to be a minimum of 8lbs to hit a swimbait.. Good to know I can put down the drop shot and start thorwing my swimbaits again

Couldn't agree more Matt I'm glad you posted this. I have noticed the location location location answers on a lot of threads lately. I do agree it does play a huge factor but the baits your using are almost equally as important to be consistent in catching those big fish. You cannot catch what isn't there, but in most cases there are much bigger fish swimming around then most people think. 3 years ago when I converted from a spinnerbait, crankbait, senko guy to a jig fisherman it was night and day for size of fish caught. This year I'm about 50% jigs, 40% swimbaits and 10% punching/t-rigs. The average size of fish caught is better than ever. I've fished with a lot of people this year who throw all conventional gear while I stick to swimbaits. The fish that show themselves or commit to a swimbait have made the other people in the boat about crap themselves. I've even experimented by throwing senkos and t-rigs in the front of my boat when the guy in the back is throwing jigs just to see. I probably will catch more, but 99times out of 100 the guy with the jig sticks the biggest fish. I've had more then enough eye opening experiences with swimbaits and even jigs to know that they make a difference when targeting big fish. Yes you can catch big fish on just about any lure but just because I accidently catch a 45" muskie on a 2" crappie jig doesn't mean I'm hitting up my prime locations targeting muskies with crappie jigs. Lure choice matters.

High percentage areas when the fish are active/feeding up. May seem like a "no brainer" type of answer but that's the bottom line. Dawn/dusk are always good topwater times but I've had big fish eat topwater baits mid day many times. It is a bigger bait so be patient and keep grinding. You'll be rewarded for your efforts. It helps if you know the area holds big fish, but 2lbers will have no problem smashing that bait.

I've used 12lb and 17lb as a main line for the past 2 years. No issues at all and memory is not bad even without line conditioner imo.

Thanks guys! MIbassin it's the perch pattern. Got it off TW if you want to see a close up of it.

1st day fishing the Gan Craft 178 yields a 6lb MN bass. Here is the cast to catch video. Enjoy watching me freak out like a little school girl. Disclaimer- there is a cuss word in there, excuse my potty mouth.

Thanks guys! Mark I'm using a Powell max 7'10" 5 power rod. I was thinking about grabbing a dobyns 766 or 795 (still am) but am on the fence between that or a better swimbait rod. I should probably get both lol.

Here is a video I shot from a few days ago on punching mats. These were smaller isolated mats around overhanging trees. For those of you new to punching I also did a short segment on tying up a punch rig. Not the best video on tying since it was outside and "in the moment" but I hope it helps out some.

Red label has less stretch out of the 2 from what I can notice. I have a few rods with fluoro on them and they are all red label. If your punching grass mats I would stick to braid. Rocks, docks, wood, and light to moderate amounts of grass fluoro is fine but for the thick stuff you would be better off with braid IMO.

Heck of a day A-Jay! Thanks for sharing

Nice fish Mark! thanks for the update

Yes TW is faster and BTD can be a bit pokey on shipping. I've never had an issue with them though and they seem like good guys when i've called. Inventory is a bit lower for most things, but the sales are great if they have what you want. I laugh when people are willing to wait for the sales to come around, but have no patients once they push the order button.

Boat keys. Good thing it was only a 10 minute drive back to the house.

I bought the original ltx model about 3-4 years ago. I broke 3 of them within 6 months and had grooving problems with the guides. Also had issues getting replacement rods sent to me. Not sure if they've gotten better in recent years, but I stay far far away from that company. I will say my last replacement they upgraded me to the gold series (after sending them a not so friendly email) and that rod has held up well to this day, but still with all the issues I wouldn't give them my money. Do a google search and you will find plenty of people complaining about breakage issues.

Either walk-the-dog or hop it along. Both work well.

Doesn't matter for me. All the guys I fish with got into bass fishing by tagging along with me. So when it comes time to pick spots, pattern fish, running the boat/trolling motor, etc it's 100% on me. I pretty much guide for free all summer long

PIIIIG dude!

Beast

Great looking baits!

Proud to be #ShimmyApproved That last sentence made for a good chuckle but you speak a lot of truth in this post.

Nice fish shimmy. Way to get on that board.