Ozark_Basser

I've been fishing a small lake here in central Arkansas since the end of summer. The same thing occurs here as well. On the north and south ends of the lake, there are grass beds that create points. The northern end is where I've caught all of my quality fish and on the south end I've never even had a bite. All I've been able to boil it down to is wind. Where I live the wind generally comes from the south, and in the fall the wind tends to blow a lot harder and it always seems to be blowing. It's hard to say what lies beyond each point though.

Catch some crawfish in the creek and see what color they are. Find some soft plastics that mimic the crawfish in the same range of color or better yet get a sane and catch some of your own to use as bait. Jackal I shad's in green pumpkin rigged on a shakey head reeled slowly on the bottom work really well in the creeks where I used to live also. When the waters warm, I always did really well pumping smaller swimjigs with a twin tail trailer attached. If you have casting gear, a Rebel F30S in Gold/Black rules in the summer in NW Arkansas on the Buffalo National River and Crooked Creek.

Just stay within the lure weight rating and use the slower tapered (more flexible - rated moderate or moderate-fast) rods for treble hooked baits like crankbaits, jerkbaits and topwaters. Use the faster tapered (stiffer - rated fast or ex-fast) rods for single hook or jig hook baits like worms, jigs, and other bottom baits. If all of those rods are rated as fast action rods, use the ducket micro magic for treble hook baits as it has a bit more give than a lot of other fast action rods. For fast moving baits with a single jig hook like spinnerbaits, swimjigs, even swimbaits, I like a softer tip which the duckett has as well.

I do just fine fishing football jigs with rods that have a softer tip than a 734c. I actually land more fish and cast a little bit farther too. I use braid with a fluoro leader so hooksets from way out or way down aren't a problem.

Right on. Good suggestion on the 764.

Just curious, but how would you find the 734c to be overpowered but not the DX784? It seems like the extra length would only allow a 3/4 oz jig to overpower the rod even more being that they are both 4 power rods. Does the DX784 have more backbone?

Good point. Do you own this rod? I had a 734c and found it to be a bit stiff at the tip. I bet the extra 5 inches would give it a little softer tip.

If that fish was sixteen inches or so, then I can definitely say that scale is wrong.

Spinnerbaits definitely can have more drawing power when fish are really aggressive in clear and stained water. I feel like spinnerbaits are a bit more weedless too. Also, spinnerbaits are probably your better bet in stained up water. I like to burn a spinnerbait until I reach my target then quickly give it some slack causing it to drop straight down making the skirt really flare up and the blades clank together. No other bait can cause this much visual and audible disturbance almost instantaneously. Swimjigs can be better on pressured or finicky fish. They don't have a big wire which suggests they could be better for really clear water. They double pretty good as a flipping jig. They cast better. You don't have to worry about tuning them up like spinnerbaits because they won't run sideways. You can use swimjigs to fish the same stuff as spinnerbaits, so if you're not getting a bite on a spinnerbait you can switch up to a swimjig and you'll probably get bit. You'd think a spinnerbait would be better when bass are feeding on shad close to the surface. I've found that they both are about equally effective. If you're trying to run a bait right through a school though, spinnerbaits seem to scare the schools a lot more. You can usually run a swimjig right over them. Also what smallieking mentioned is a great point.

I agree with WI guide. That's what your drag is for. The first few six pounders I ever caught were on 8# or 10# test. Granted it was mono which has better knot strength than fluorocarbon. Either way if your drag is set right, you shouldn't have to worry about it too much. With 10# the main thing you have to worry about is cover.

Don't really wanna spend over $300. In your opinion what is the best rod for fishing 3/4 oz football jigs in deep water?

Haha. Yea maybe I shouldn't say definitely a 2 lber, but I feel it's bigger than 1.5.

Show off. To the OP, that is how ya do it. After you've shown a few bass pics to your buddies, family, or whoever and they try to disagree with how big it is, you'll start carrying a scale and a ruler along with your camera lol. I have had my grandpa actually drive to the place where I was fishing and measure a fish after I told him on the phone how big it was.

Well of course that will work

16-16.5 inches and chunky. Definitely a 2 llber. You can't really compare the fish to his hand because you don't know how big his hand is and the angle at which the pictures are taken will make the hands look a tad bigger than they really are. I take pictures like this all the time. To the OP, the best way to take a picture of a fish to tell how big it is is to take a picture of one from straight above while it lays next to your rod and reel as a comparison. If you look at my gallery I have a good example.

Abrazx is more abrasion resistant, but like previously mentioned doesn't seem to handle as well. Abrazx and Invizx have a thinner diameter per lb test though if you care a lot about that. I usually just go with Seaguar. It's hard to really say which is better. You just have to try them out.

People in the midwest where I fish do the same, but that's for smaller finesse type baits. For your cliche structure power fishing baits like heavier football jigs and carolina rigs, it's always been kind of a standard here to use something around 15#. You boys out west definitely know a thing or two about structure fishing with lighter line, especially with your highly pressured waters, but do you downgrade your line that much with bigger jigs or carolina rigs? I can see where you could get away with 12# on 3/4 oz jigs and 10# on 1/2 oz but you'd have to check your line and retie pretty often so you don't huck one in the woods or across the lake lol.

Do you notice a real big difference between say 14# test and 10# or 12 # test in number of bites? Or were you comparing the lighter lines to something like 17# and above? Where I fish I started out using 12# a lot for jigs in the 3/8oz - 1/2 oz range. I started throwing 14# or 15# and never seemed to notice a difference. My experience comes from Table Rock and Bull Shoals mostly.

Size 2's but you can get away with 1's with short shanks.

I don't like using braid for anything with treble hooks mostly because I don't like having change out and buy beefy treble hooks. It depends on what kind of rod you use to throw cranks with. If you use glass then braid would probably work fine. I use graphite for cranks so I stick with fluoro or mono. Preferably fluoro.

I love St. Croix's rods, but even the Tournament is pretty tip heavy. You can't beat that taper though. I've never fished with the other one.

I've used braid with a fluoro leader a lot the past few years. I don't skimp on braid. In my experience braid can be virtually indestructible out on the water or it can be your worst enemy. I will only buy Sunline FX2 or Seaguar Smackdown. They are both 8 strand round braids that are a real pleasure to fish with. I only tie an albright knot for leader knots. I've tried a handful, and I find it to be the best. The braid coats the knot. As far as leader length, I'll use a leader as long as my rod pretty much. I don't really like the leader knot to run into my spool but sometimes I'll do it anyway. As far as fluorocarbon, sometimes I'll skimp on it, but I prefer a brand that has really hard abrasion resistant line. You don't have to worry about manageability so much because it's on a leader so you can use the hardest fluoro you can find. I love Toray's Superhard high grade, but it's pricy. Seaguar Abrazx will do fine though. If I'm strapped for cash I'll go with red label as well. Red Label is probably the best cheap fluoro out there. Leader to bait knot is always a palomar with fluoro.

I definitely agree as long as we're talking about throwing bigger heavier baits like football jigs, carolina rigs, etc. That's probably what they had in mind when they made this line.

The lower lb tests of technique specific lines are probably just reserved for their finesse line.

Rods: My favorite as of now are TFO's lineup for the taper and not to mention the value. My all time favorite rod was a Loomis though Reels: I usually just stick with the Revo's, but I love zillions. Just don't love paying for them. Line: Switches back and forth all the time. Right now I'm on a Seaguar kick, but I've never been more impressed with a line like I was with Sunline FX2. Jigs: Dirty Jigs Spinnerbaits: War Eagle Crankbaits: Storm/Rapala Softplastics: Yamamoto