ChrisD46

Strike King ball & football jigheads in 1/8th oz. easy to find - a little harder to find but still very good are offerings from Gambler and Spot Remover .

Remember - you get what you pay for .

Thanks for the replies - all helpful ! ... The standard Fluke is not the easiest to rig - but it has it's niche applications worth investigating .

Smalljaw67 : Thanks for the reply - I actually have a pack of those Owner hooks you recommend (got them at WM of all places ...) I will give it a try as you stated - biggest place to be careful is coming back through the bottom of "The Fluke" as that area is sooo narrow ! ... The potential positive results though appear to be too hard to pass up on a C- Rig this Winter as it's shape / lighter body should have it darting and gliding great (perfect for a C-Rig) .

I'm not talking about the easy to rig : Zoom Super Fluke OR Super Fluke Jr. - I'm talking about the standard Zoom : "The Fluke" model ! Which side is up ? How do you rig a EWG hook on this model ? ...What appears to be the belly on : "The Fluke" comes down to such a narrow angle that I am having trouble envisioning just how to rig it with a EWG hook - your thoughts & experiences ?? ... This standard Zoom "The Fluke" looks like it would be awesome on a Carolina Rig (if I can just figure out how to rig it properly / straight) !

8lb. ~ 10lb. Berkley Big Game Mono or Sufix Elite ...It will do just fine , easily found and won't break the bank !

A fairly large diameter mono (15lb. Big Game or Sufix Elite) keeps everything riding high for poppers and chug type baits . For twitch or walk - the - dog type baits I would use the same brand monos and simply drop down to 12lb. so as not to impede the action . * One area where I believe mono / copoly lines excel is working the bait on a slack line and also in throwing the line back at the bait on the pause . Braid excels when you have cast out a great distance as the effort to work the bait is greatly reduced with braid (more efficient) . One day I will probably go with braid + mono leader (for just about everything) but for now the larger diameter 15lb. monos I listed above keep everything riding high with good action !

Surprised no one here mentioned BPS's "The Egg" , Manns -1 Minus One or the Bandit "Footloose" wake baits ...All are awesome !

What specifically is wrong with Kanzen ? ...I have some 8lb Kanzen braid on a 6.5" light action rod , a 1500 series Abu Garcia reel and use it with small lead head jig / grubs and beetle spins with a light drag setting , careful knots and it works fine ... Granted Bluegills are not peeling off line and rubbing against boulders or I would be using a FC line ...Your mileage may vary .

Thanks - I appreciate the replies ! ... I currently use 12 - 15lb. Seguar InvizX FC , Sunline Super Natural 16lb. mono and Berkley Big Game 10lb. mono as my main lines for : Jigs , T-Rigs , C-Rig , Spinner Baits (FC) , the Sunline 16lb. mono for top water and lastly the Big Game 10lb. for jerk baits .

It would appear 40lb. braid would not be a bad place to start for football jigs , T-Rigs and spinner baits ... I'd like to consider 30lb. (8lb. equiv) but concerned with handling (digging , over runs , wind knots ) compared with the slightly heavier 40lb. (10lb mono equiv.) braid line.

For those of you who use braid on a baitcast reel for techniques OTHER than frogging / heavy cover flipping , describe your setup for using 30LB. ~ 50lb. braid and the techniques / applications you apply it to ? ... Thanks in advance ! * My current baitcast setups are : 1 ) Mono for top water and 2) FC for Jigs , T-Rigs and C- Rigs ... Since I don't use a frog and no heavy cover flipping required in the open water reservoirs I fish - I'm trying to determine if I have an application for braid / braid + leader that would offer an advantage over the two current baitcast setups I listed above using straight Mono & FC ?

+1 ... As was mentioned earlier - Seaguar Red Lable for leader material is cost effective and offers very good performance .

+1 ..."Extreme Angler" with Karl Kalonka does a particularly good job power fishing with jigs and soft plastics ...

Again , I'm guessing 40 to 50 yards of braid ...I'm hoping to get three fills out of a 150 yrd. braid spool .

Lets say you have a typical 2500 series spinning reel and you want to be more precise / cost effective in using braid , so you add mono backing to the reel first : What is the most effective way to judge how much braid to add to backing line so you don't make the mistake of adding too much or too little braid to the reel (underfill / overfill) ? ...I'm sure those of you long time users of braid + mono backing on a spinning reel have a good technique for judging how much braid to mono line backing ratio is ideal (approx. 40 yrds of braid as a top coat with mono line backing ??) ... Thanks in advance for your replies - I'm sure their MUST be an easy trick to solve this issue / topic !!

Curious if anyone has experience in using the new SX1 braid in 12lb or 16lb for shakyhead , drop shot , etc. bottom applications where this braid is really supposed to shine - your thoughts ?

I appreciate the replies !

Thanks for the replies - I have yet to go down to 10lb. braid for a shaky head set up with FC (1/8th oz. jig + 5 " straight tail worm) ... * Any downside to going from say .009 inch braid down to a .007 or .006 inch braid (mainly talking PP 4 strand here - don't believe a 8 strand braid is going to be much below .009 inch in a 10lb. test) ?

For those of you who use a Braid + FC leader setup for the shakyhead application , tell us what your using and lb. test for both ? Because it is a sinking / bottom contact application (shakyhead) I am especially curious if SX1 braid may have an advantage here along with sinking FC (i.e. less bow in the line?) - or does it matter ? ...Thanks in advance for the replies !

What ever A-Mart is currently using ...

Thanks ww2farmer - I finally found a application for the 3" Pit Boss I previously viewed at DSG's !!

Regarding tip #7 - can you provide more detail - as to how long the piece of finesse worm should be ? Should it be touching the trailer ? Still trying to understand how this will set up will keep the pig from twisting ?

Mike - I would start with the new football head shape you are developing but with added swing jig eyelet on the back . Next , add a split ring and a 4/0 Owner hook in weight sizes from 3/8th oz to 3/4 oz. For colors I believe your Green Pumpkin themes , Orange / Brown and Black / Blue combos would cover the majority of useage for this bottom dragging technique.

Well ... Then straight tail worm on a shaky head it is !