Choporoz

I have no sharp shells and very few sharp rocks. However, I do throw a LOT into submerged wood and heavy brush. 3/8+ jigs on both 15# fluoro and 40# braid, often with 15# leader. Less than 3/8 jigs/trig get 30# braid, often with 12# leader.

Absolutely.

I throw them on my bottom contact setups; braid and fluoro. IMO, these fish lighter than their weights. (But that just may be in my head - usually I am evaluating weight of a jig....or a worm weight...and not thinking about the added weight of skirt, trailer, hook, etc.) Keep in mind that you need to be more careful in wood than you might assume at first. They handle grass and pads fine, but I am always surprised at how much I get these hung up in any wood.

Palomar is the only terminal knot I use with braid

Do pro tournament fish have ro be caught in the mouth? I don't watch much pro fishing, but I DVR'd a couple MLF and Elite tournament shows recently and was surprised that competitors in both weighed or kept kish that didn't have any hooks in the mouth. Jerkbaits and cranks were snagged around the mouth. And it is easy to believe that the bass probably ate or intended to eat those lures. But when landed, there were no hooks in the mouth. I assumed they wouldn't count, but apparently they do. Just surprised me a bit.

I have realized that I frequently say to myself, "Set the hook hard this time, dumazz!"

While I feel the same way, I recall a conversation I had some 9 years ago with my father, a diehard fisherman for over 70 years. When I told him about my new 4 inch Lowrance, he was pretty scornful and said it was cheating...lol

I didn't know of anything other than some hooks with his name on it.....but now that I think about it, I have caught a lot of walleye on a Lazy Ike. Bet they would catch bass, too

Well....they are different than me

Just watched that tournament show this weekend. Seemed unreal. Unlike any fishing I've ever seen before. I am not at all familiar with the last couple years electronics and had no idea that was possible. He would cast a jerkbait past a specific fish probably 15 yards out, watch his lure as he worked it to the fish and then stop it right in front of that fish. Doesn't seem right somehow. I've sat above and drop shot into brushpiles that appear to have fish, but this is something else entirely.

Let us know how that YZ does for you. For less than great reasons, I have exactly zero confidence in any Yo Zuri lure with a lip.

Was thinking the same thing. But sometimes I get really wild and go with his brothers' colors. Black Flake GP, and Red Flake GP

Hopefully, they will let you handle the rods with a reel attached. I suggest that you look at rods that have one of these designations written on the rod: Medium Heavy - Fast (MHF) Medium Heavy - Extra Fast (MHXF) Medium Fast (MF) Medium Extra Fast (MXF) Sounds like a wide range, but there are no real standards and any rod marked with those above could be called something different by another manufacturer. -The designated lure weight can be confusing, too. I suggest you look at rods where the low end is no higher than 1/4 oz ....no hard and fast rule there, but a suggestion. Handle a couple or few rods with a reel attached and get the one in your budget that feels best. Cool thing about buying first few baitcast rods is that the Bait Monkey is close on your tail and you don't have to worry if this isn't the perfect rod....you'll be shopping for more soon....even if it is perfect for you

I have one suggestion: Tell us more ....about your budget...about the waters you fish...about the weights you want to use....about what you have used up to now and what you like or don't like about other rods...about whether you have a store close where you can handle different rids, or if you will be ordering online, sight unseen....and anything else that might allow us to be more helpful

Little zip ties work. Or, get some 24 gauge copper wire from Home Depot and wrap yourself. I'm not the least bit dexterous, but I can wire tie well enough. PM your email, and I will gladly forward a tutorial that @cadmansent me years ago.

Clear, stained, cloudy, muddy..... ....spinnerbait blade, head, skirt color is probably the last thing that I care about. If I have adjusted speed, depth, location, blade shape, weight....and they still aren't biting my spinnerbait, then I am throwing something else. Too many other variables that I think are more important.

I have tried this, but without an @A-Jay commitment to getting a routine. It always seemed a bit of a PITA. And then I ran into brittle and/or sticky bands. (I keep my a good deal of my lures in the truck year-round, though, so mine are subjected to temp extremes....a lot.) Maybe I should revisit with better bands and a better mindset. I don't care about hook rash, but the tangled mess can certainly be frustrating

Looks a lot like a ZMan FattyZ. For whatever reason, FattyZ has been ....I don't know...different. On a couple occasions, it was lights out....but most of the time it gets completely ignored.

I've never really followed any professional fishing, but I have been watching the MLF Championship series of shows from Minnesota. I must say that I have been very impressed by all of them. Not just their fishing skills, but their attitudes and mindsets, too. I only recall two moments when a guy got off his game. I'd be thrilled to have the opportunity to fish with any of them.

Silver in clear water and silver in dirty water. Anything else unnecessarily complicates it.

@billmac, maybe @Glennwill let you change your BR name to Chuck N Wind.

No inflatables to compare it to, but I have, and really like Mustang MIT 100. Incredibly comfortable, but like you, I'd prefer it if it had a pocket. I wore it through hours long downpours without it activating.

No love for Cut-R? I would list Rage Bug as my favorite, but Cut-R isn't far behind. It can be a Senko and a swimbait....on the same cast. I always have one of those two tied on.

That was first thing came to my mind, too. Not sure I can claim to have given them a truly fair go, but I have thrown them more than a few times. I was front of the line to ridicule them for years. Somehow I came into a Livetarget Smelt jerkbait. And now I have to admit, those things will outfish Pointers and Visions many days. I busted my buzzbait cherry this year, but I have yet to catch anything on any sort of wake bait.