vikingbear8

I am in the market for a big stick worm (12" and up) but I am unaware of any out there, can anyone point me in the right direction? If there isn't one out there i can always mold it and pour it myself i won't be pouring plastics for a while though and want to try some before that

I would say depending on what you are going for if it has a decently hefty price tag why wouldnt you wait for a sale?. Personally even though I can get a 10% discount at anytime I want on the unit I am getting (Lowrance Elite 7) to me it is well worth it to wait for the black friday sale which is 20%.

I would also suggest using owner beasts with the mission instead of the gammys that come with them.

I got two a while back before I bought my boat, and they did honor the online price for me on both of them. I had to run through talking to all of the managers but they were all really cool about it they just all wanted to check with the guy above them before they gave me stuff for $100 cheaper a piece

If there is water in your lower unit I would take it to a mechanic

I used a 765flip for my first swimbait rod that I still use and works great for anything up to 3 ounces. Then I got a 795, that I honestly use for about the same range anything up to 3.5 maybe 4 ounces. Then finally I got the 806. If you are really going to get into swimbait fishing then I would definitely say go ahead with the 806. But if you are unsure about it go with the 795

Yeah the 805 flip will work just fine as a swimbait rod if that is what you want. It doesn't have to say "swimbait" on it haha. One of my swimbait rods is a big flipping stick and I use it as much as the 795 and 806. As far as how light you can go, my buddy throws half ounce swim jigs a mile on his 807, we put swimbaits on as trailers though which usually puts them at an ounce for our smallest ones and he has no problem with that. The 806 is a bit softer than the 807 so you could definitely get down to an ounce with it no problem. The 806 is really suited towards trebled baits on the large ende but has no problem sinking the smaller jig hooks

You know Dobyns does make an 805 right? That being said I have a 795 and an 806 I love both of them you should be happy with either of them.

I dont use them anymore but when I did I always ran two teasers with three hooks. The teasers on top and a little shorter and a little smaller. I like the fat keitechs, big grubs, and pretty much any decent 5" soft swimmer for hooked ones the teasers I used the little shadelicous. As far as line I used 65lb braid with a 17-20lb leader

Tom you bring up another great point in the confusing of swimbaits the fact that there are so many different types of action, there are walk the dogs types, wakers, divers, swimmers, boot tail, paddle tail, and many more including the ever popular glide style swimbaits. I tend to agree with you that things like the punkers are not swimbaits but the great majority of the swimbait community disagrees with me on that so I have given up that fight. As far as my roman made no it is not a mother, it is a negotiator which is the little brother to the mother, identical in everyway except it is only 7 inches instead of 12

I know some people disagree with me, but I find that the most general consensus is something that, basically looks and swims like a fish. Here is a picture of some of my stuff that I dont think anyone would argue that something here is not a swim bait, maybe with the exception of the mouse. They don't have to be 17 inches and weight 2 lbs (obviously exaggerating making fun of some of the guys that get caught up on size), there is some pretty small stuff in this picture but generally they do tend to be on the larger size

I use a Dobyns 765 but I throw a much heavier swim jig than you, I never go under 1/2 weight and throw 6-9 inch swimbait trailer my lightest ones go about 1.2 onces. That rod can definitely handle lighter stuff though too

This is the best advice there is for catching big fish. My fishing parter and I are both trophy hunters, we only target bass over 5+lbs which in NC is respectable, of course we are going after bigger but we can catch a lot of fish that size. He understand big bass behavior better than I do, when fishing the same lures (big swim baits) on the same water, he consistently out fishes me, by fish size anyway. There have been days where I caught a ton of 2.5-3lbers but he has been sticking all the fat girls. It should be noted that he is my co-angler so he has the "dreaded" back of the boat, a lot of it has to do with the book mentioned. He has read the book a ton of times, and knows where the big girls should be hiding. So in summery if you want to catch big fish, start targeting them. It is quite different than regular bass fishing as their behavior is different. If you have the time, patience, and budget slowly get into swimbaiting, read that book, and read as much as you can thats written by other trophy anglers like Mike Long, and Butch Brown

Thats a good one, I have a couple BBZs sitting at the bottom of my box maybe I should throw them more often

I wouldnt throw big swimbaits exclusively if getting skunked bothered me, its all part of the game

^^^ Agree with the 50. I put 50 on even my lightest baitcasting set ups, I also use leaders though, and only drop down for spinning rigs. I find that if i go below 50 dig ins become way more frequent then I am willing to deal with when I can use 50 and never have one

What kind of leader are you using? I have had this happen but it has only happened to certain leaders. Also I always strip off the the color of a foot or so of the braid where I tie the leader on that may help

that one seriously sucks, what happened cast off?

Hey man, I lived in Fayetteville for a couple years, then Lillington, and I just moved to Apex, which are all really close to FV, NC. My favorite spots are some of the managed ponds on Bragg, they are really good from the bank or kayak. Then the bigger lakes, Jordan, Harris and Wheeler are all really good, probably rough from the bank but I know some guys that tear them up from kayaks. Just let me know any questions you have about the area, oh yeah I stayed here after leaving the army to so i feel ya haha

I mostly stick to a MS Slammer at night

If you are looking for line throughs osprey and 3:16 are the way to go in my opinion

I know I would be happy if when i get around to switching from soft to hard plastic, that my first paint jobs look that good. Good job man.

Oh sorry I really misread your post. A buddy of mine was having the same issue. His was due to him backlashing quite a bit and the line would eventually cut itself deeper into his spool and he would eventually make a long cast and there would go his lure flying with 50 feet of line attached. If you dont often backlash, I would also check your reel to see if there is anywhere it is scrapping the line there. I only use fluoro as leader to braid because i have seen so many people have problems like this, and its cheaper

What knot are you using?

I use at least 6ft of FC, as far as size, i use 50 braid for my 12-15 FC and 65 braid for my 17+ FC