Chris at Tech

Hey guys, Another trip to Hilton Head in the books this week! Fishing was a bit tougher than I thought it would be. For some reason, the golf course pond largemouth were not in much of a biting mood but it's a good thing the BIG redfish were! The weather was a bit dicey and I was getting a little bit concerned when it became clear the wind and tide would not allow us to sit on our initial spot but my guide had a plan B just as he always does. We found a nice slick on top of some sandbars just outside the sound that was calmer and we let the cut mullet do its work. Before long, the bull reds were giving us a workout, and man let me tell you how much fun it is to tussle with those bad boys on 5k size spinning reels! After all was said and done, 8-9 bull reds came to hand all between 17 and 23 lbs so it was nice to set a new redfish PB. For those of you who PM or ask about guide recommendations in HHI -- this is why I recommend this guy to everyone!

Kedren and Horton are very close to you as well.

Just curious but is there something you feel the spinning gear is not doing well?

So lemme get this straight...You take ONE cast and hook that monster? Looks like I need to move!

Yes - I respooled my 4000 Stradic with 2 lb test so I have enough line capacity to wrestle one in

Yessir, count me in on the salty dogs. See my avatar! for starters Got a trip to HHI next week and my guide is on the bull reds so should be fun!

My guess -- either Raider or bigbill

The likely suspect is Ian Shields, aka e_bassfisher. I've not had any reel work done by him but he's got a cult-like following on that other enthusiast website so by all accounts his work is top-notch.

The good news is that he hopefully got a lot of frequent flier mileage on his credit card

No issues with landing %? I've seen these same hook recommendations in several places but when I rig my 3.8s with a 2/0, i just cannot convince myself that there's enough bite for a good hookset.

That works until I put the Plano box vertically in my storage bag, so naturally the bait folds over on itself and I end up with a crooked tail. I can boil the tail at home to straighten but that doesn't help me when I'm on the water. I've contemplated trying to cut the Keitech packages into individual clamshells but I have my doubts I can do that well. Anyone got any contacts at a plastics molding company? Individual clamshells may be the ticket!

I think these would be one of those baits to keep in the clam-shell packages to preserve the shape and action -- especially at the price per bait. What i hate is when I put them on a swimijg as a trailer, but then cut the swimjig off to put on a different bait. I glue the bait on the jig so there's no real way to take it off and put it back in the package. Any of you geniuses have any suggestions on a storage solution for that?

By now, I really should know better than to open your posts, RR

I don't have any Savvys but your comment seems to echo the consensus opinion. I've got a half-dozen or so Champions and I've heard others comment that they feel the Champions aren't very sensitive at their pricepoint. Honestly, I've never felt them lacking in sensitivity so I think you'll be more than fine. My 735 so far has only been used for chucking paddletails, but I think it'll get heavier jig duty this year too.

I'm relatively new to these baits but thus far I've only thrown them on an exposed hook like QUAKEnSHAKE's pic. I've played around a bit with screwlock hooks to rig them weedlessly and it seems to be you need to use a bigger hook than you'd think to use so you have enough gap to get a good hookset. Even for the 3.8's, I'd personally thrown them with a 5/0 if I was rigging weedlessly

yeah, yeah, yeah...

But they kinda did beat you guys, right?

Whatever is the cheapest for me. I am particular about many things in my fishing arsenal but this is not one of them.

OK, that helps and I think I have a few suggestions... I can neither confirm nor deny that there is a dock right adjacent to the walkway in Harbor Town which I know definitely holds trout in the fall, so I would assume it would hold in the spring as well. Your issue will be being able to fish such a visible area without security asking you to move. There are a few good sandbars right off the tip of South Beach, right where the river dumps into Calibogue sound If you take the road heading from the plantation entrance back to Salty Dog, as you're getting close to SD you'll pass a pond on the left with a storm drain/culvert. Fish that pond when tide is high, and when water is feeding into the pond from the storm drain. I think it's called Sprunt Pond. In the backwaters by Salty Dog, follow the creek around to the end. There's a riprap wall leading into another storm drain. Same thing, fish when there's water movement through the pipe Serious comment though, watch out for gators. They are very very unlikely to give you any issues, but be aware that they're there, and just be aware when you're at water's edge -- especially when fighting, grabbing or releasing a fish

I am not an expert in throwing baits that big, but I wouldn't associate heavy jigs and big crankbaits with the same rod.

You say that until you try fishing a wacky-rigged banana!

I've only fished Fork once but from what I saw, fishing the Ned rig there may be setting yourself up for heartbreak unless you pick your areas very carefully. I'm sure you'll have no problem getting bites, but I'd be sweating bullets that my light rod, light line and light wire hook held up especially if one of the big Fork gals pulled you into the stumps.

This is a family site, you animals.

Where are you staying? That may help me recommend some more specific areas. In general, target the mouths of creeks an hour before dead low tide.

Hmmm...if it's one rod you're looking for, I'd argue that a Dobyns 4 power is more versatile than the 735.