Ozark_Basser

I change my routine almost every time I go out. I couldn't imagine not doing so.

As in a white bass? Like hybrid striper? Looks like a largemouth to me.

I just use fishingnotes.com's estimated water temp. It gives me a good ideaon what to expect when I go out. Depends on where your fishing though. Private ponds etc. probably won't be on there.

Excellent video, but I swore at some point he was gonna throw in a "muscley armed paperboy" lol

I hear if you know when to go you can slay some big trout on jerkbaits in Taneycomo at certain times of the year.

Although it is harder with a 6'6 rod, pitching just takes a little practice. You really have to have your timing down on how you swing the bait to get a good bit of distance. When you start, and the baits in your hand (I'm assuming your left hand is holding the bait), start the drop behind your left hip instead of right in front of you. This makes it a little easier and it's what I do when I want a little more distance out of a pitch. Once you get your timing down you can really use your rod tip to get all the distance you need and it becomes more about accuracy than distance.

Went back today and caught a keeper sized fish in the same pocket where I seen the other two yesterday. He was buried up in a patch of water willow that had a thick mat of floating stalks of water willow in the middle. I have a feeling a good bit of fish stay buried up in these sorts of spots all year round on this little lake. I toned down my bait a little today as well. A 6 in roboworm on a shakey head was the only way I got bit today with the water temp still holding at 43 degrees. I find it hard to not want to burn a spinnerbait through or pitch a big jig into some grass patches when I see them though. I'm a power fisherman at heart, and I think that's why the colder months have always been harder for me. I feel this way too except in the spring when bass set up prespawn in areas close to where the HAVE to spawn so they are pretty predictable, feeding heavily, and often follow a textbook seasonal pattern. Same with spawn. Post spawn is a little trickier for me, but I still do pretty well most of the time.

Sure I used uneven pressure from both sides of the line which doesn't make the test completely viable, but I could do the same experiment 100 times and get the same result. Do you not agree? Or do you think I just got lucky the first time? This gives a great deal of accuracy to the test. There is no "magical difference." Do you really think the correlation of the total amount of force needed to break each line due to abrasion is going to change that much if you slowly drag each against a rock with your rod till they break or if you rub each against a wet rock with your hands? You shouldn't. The only thing affecting the correlation of the total amount of forces between the two systems (i.e. 1. wet rock - 2. wet rock underwater) is the fact that they are underwater in one and not the other. In fact out on the water, Abrazx stands even less of a chance compared to the wet rock test because it has a faster sink rate than braid which only allows more of a chance to get scuffed up and cause a break off, and not to mention less friction force needed to supply the total amount of force needed to cause the break which may be a minute factor in this case, but still. So whether you are dragging a jig slowly over a jagged rock or rubbing it rapidly over the same rock out of water with your hands, there is a total amount of fricton force or abrasion force needed to fray and break the lines which defines abrasion resistance. Is this not how you define abrasion resistance? Your post about you not breaking off as much in zebra muscles with fluoro as opposed to braid suggests you do. Either way, I'm done arguing in this thread, and I bet my boots you'll post a video this spring. Of course you'll post a video in the spring. I just know it. Give me a break. I'm not trying to make a general statement that all braid is more abrasion resistant than fluorocarbon. Stop implying that. Smackdown and FX2 most certainly are more abrasion resistant than any other I have used including Sunline Shooter, period.

And there wasn't even enough time to generate THAT much heat really. It snapped pretty quick with not even that much pressure which would also affect heat dissipation.

I agree completely, but those braids aren't smackdown or FX2. I've tried fireline and spiderwire, and yes, the abrasion resistance is garbage compared to fluoro, but it's a whole different ballgame with the two I'm defending.

If I took a 3 second break between pulls it wouldn't matter. I'd still get the same result. I've tried it. Heat plays a small role I'd say, but it's not even a noticeable difference.

Hokay pal. What do you want me to do? Do the exact same thing underwater? It would make no difference. It would also make no difference if I did the same thing much slower to try and emulate your version of "real world fishing applications." Like there's some kind of magical difference between forces applied on your line when your fishing or not. Both the line and the rock were wet, and if I tried to mimic how a rod would be pulling each line over the rock, it would just take longer, but it would still yield the same result. What this simple test does show is which line is tougher (i.e. abrasion resistant), and Smackdown is definitely tougher. As far as people punching with fluoro vs. braid. There probably are people doing it I'd say. my mistake. I wouldn't do it just because fluoro sucks for knot strength compared to braid. Fluoro's too hard and it digs into itself on knots. You're putting more pressure on a fish when you catch one punching than anything else....and did I mention fluoro's not gonna hold up to the abuse like braid. Not all braids though. Just FX2 and Smackdown. I can't help but notice you keep trying to put me down for making that comment. Sounds just like someone trying to recover from getting proven wrong. That's petty, but whatever bro. Why don't you post a video showing how Smackdown is not as abrasion resistant as Abrazx, and then you'll have some actual proof to support that mouth of yours. If you have nothing that shows an inkling of proof besides your greasy little fingertips typing away at your keyboard or phone or whatever, then I'm done arguing with you. Btw that was the first take. It wasn't that difficult of a point to make, thus not that difficult of a video to record. I like how once again you try to put me down for making the video in the first place which is also pretty petty.

Didn't pick up any 20 lb but 17 lb wil show you everything you need to know. Another thing to also consider about this video is that the Abrazx is brand new bought yesterday and has never seen any water besides the cup. The Smackdown is three months old and has been spooled on and off three different baitcast reels and has been put through utter hell. I also had to really bear down to break the Smackdown. Didn't take much effort at all to break the Abrazx. I'm sure a naysayer is going to try and dog this video somehow, but if you can't see which one is more abrasion resistant for some strange reason then try it for yourself.

I don't need to do any reading. I actually use both quite often. I just went out in my shop and tested 17 lb Abrazx against 50 lb smackdown on a dull hatchet locked in a bench vice. Not even a comparison. I'll go buy some 20 lb Abrazx here in a bit and make a video this afternoon. Apparently this will be quite informative for everyone. So you just keep on posting stuff telling me I don't know what I'm talking about. Ummkay?

Depends on jig weight and but anything 1/2 oz or less gets a MH anything above gets a heavy or mag heavy

I look at the weights of baits that you're throwing to decide what power rod I want to use. Any bottom bait (jigs, trigs, shakey heads) over 1/2 ounce gets a heavy. 1/2 oz - 3/8 oz gets a MH. 1/4 oz gets a medium. In moderately heavy cover I fish 3/8 oz jigs a lot and a medium heavy helps pull fish out just fine. I wouldn't want it for real thick stuff though. For treble hook baits I generally just step everything down a notch. Anything over 1/2 oz gets a MH etc. For real big baits like 6xd's and 10 xd's you want a heavy though. You're probably in the ball park for a medium heavy. St Croix Premier 7' MH will fit in your car. You don't have to buy a two piece. I fit mine in cars all the time.

The Bull's got a lot less timber than the Rock or Beaver, but I feel like it's a better bet for a real big one. There's a lot less boat traffic on the Bull too, which I always liked. I can understand why your wife makes you go to the Rock though. It's the prettiest lake between the three. I've yet to throw the scatter rap, but I really like the DT series. That bait does look like a great option for fall fishing the WRC though.

Lol. Yeah rocky is an understatement. If those lakes didn't have rocks they wouldn't have anything. I went to college over in Fayetteville which is just a skip hop away from Siloam. That's where me and my buddies would go to gamble lol.

Same goes for the Bull and Beaver both.

The White River chain of lakes is absolutely covered with rock. I just recently got to fish grass for the first time when I moved down to Little Rock.

I hear ya man. However, it's a little aggravating when you try to make a point and people will try and tell you you're wrong when they don't even have any experience with what I'm talking about. It really puts good resources like this forum to shame when people come blabbing about something they have never even used. Typical internet bs. I will make a video of this tomorrow testing 17 lb Seaguar Abrazx vs. 50 lb Seaguar Smackdown. Sorry I don't have any 20 lb fluoro, but it still would be no match. You'll be able to tell by the video. I'll use the same knife I use everyday to cut the tag ends from each one. Then I'll test it on a rock or whatever even though it won't matter.

Those are all flat braids that are not near the quality of Smackdown or FX2. If you've fished with either, you know they are not even in the same ball league. Maybe you should read my past posts as well.

So you haven't tried them. Thanks for your input based on experience.

Do some testing? Can you read? I figured I made my experience with them both quite clear in my second to last post. If I go outside right now and stretch out both types of line in my hands and rub them on a tree, I will have some fluoro that will be torn all to hell, and some braid that I could probably reuse if I wanted to. If fluoro was so abrasion resistant than why isn't everybody throwing it on punching rigs and flipping super heavy cover? I have personally had fish break me off in not even that heavy of cover with fluoro. I can honestly say it has never happened with braid. However, I have only used the cheaper flatter braids one time and didn't like the way it fished so now I only buy 8 strand round braids like Sunline FX2 and Seaguar Smackdown. I do not think this is the case with Seaguar Smackdown and FX2. Have you fished with both of these in comparison? It is very difficult to get either of these lines knicked up at all. I had a frog wrapped up in a tree branch and seriously broke the not so small tree branch off of a tree with absolutely no damage to the 65 lb FX2 I was using. Can you say any fluoro on the market can do that?

I just like a jerk pause jerk jerk pause retrieve with longer pauses in colder water.