Fishin Dad

Thanks Bud. Hope you get some hogs on it soon.

PhishLI, You read my mind Bud!!! I have that rod in my shopping cart right now with a couple other things. I thought for $70 I could try it and if it is not what I want for Chatterbaits, I could use it for some other moving bait rod. Thanks for the review. My worry was that it might be too crisp for my liking for Chatters. I may just buy it and the new Lew's (which I have heard good things about. Lighter and better than the Quantum model) and see if one of them works. Deephaven, I totally understand your feelings about it. It is a personal preference. For some reason I really like the very parabolic characteristics for chatterbaits and would use it if I felt it would handle heavier chatters. If the Lew's rods are lighter in weight with the same parabolic attitude, but able to handle heavier weights, I am totally in. Thanks!

Thanks Bud!!!

Thanks Fishtank. I like the IMX series rods. That is something I might look into. I really do like the mushy feel of softer composite rods, but it is just overpowered by 1/2 bladed jigs with a trailer on it. I have heard suspicious noises on a few casts where I didn’t lob it and feather it enough.

T-Billy, have you had a chance to use the Ark B-Hittay for Chatters yet? I still have to grab a new chatter rod. Thanks

Just traded off my boat with a 140 hp Suzuki. Absolutely flawless motor. 8 years of pretty hard use, zero issues. Quiet, fuel efficient, reliable. Have the Mercury Pro XS on the new boat. I hope I won’t miss a Suzuki.

I hope this is still going. I am super excited, this looks like so much fun!!! I checked Outdoor Channel and they just say "Major League Fishing Cups", which is their usual Saturday prodcast.

Well darn it. I hope I can at least throw these the couple times per year I might use them. I wasn’t expecting any refinement at all. I have reels for that, but I hope I can make these functional. Thanks 12poundbass, I appreciate the update Bud!!

Can you elaborate on the Silver Max? I just bought 3 for $29/each. I thought i might just put them on rods I don't really use much. I have too many reels anyway and plenty of $300 reels. I am not expecting anything special at all, just something functional if I might use that rod a couple times per season for short periods. Thanks

There is one lake down here where there are a lot of big bass, but it is full of northerns since a couple years ago. They must have had an amazing spawn a few years ago. It is out of control. I don't think I lost a lure on any other lakes I fished.

That is if you even get the lure back. I donated WAAAAAAY too many lures, hooks, weights, etc. last year. It actually got ridiculous.

Wow!! I thought the Middle of May was horrible!! I might go crazy if I had to wait until the end of June. Canada has such good fishing though, it might be worth it.

Ok Rich, now that you let the cat out of the bag(Lol), I agree 100%. I have spent waaaaaay too much there the past couple years. I am always checking and finding more I want. I really like their business model and shipping is stupid fast.

AJ, I have stopped into this shop a couple times. I have a buddy whose family buys so much from there that they get an insane discount on everything. The shop is smaller but stocked with quality gear. Of course it is surrounded by lakes everywhere, so a solid location. Glad they could help you out.

For me, a Ned head is light wire and meant to be swam in the water column maybe touching bottom but not sitting there with the line tie at 90*. The shaky head is a medium wire hook with a head design that sits the bait upright and on the bottom and a 30 or 60 * line tie. This bait is to stay on the bottom. A Texas rig is a heavier wire hook with a larger variety of weight sizes and typically a casting rod. This is meant to be more hopped off the bottom. I use them differently and in different cover with different movements.

I use my shaky heads as more of a finesse technique on a spinning rod fishing it very slowly. I like that a shaky head will stand up a little better than a t-rig. That is a difference I see. I most often fish them with a floating finesse worm. I do have some heavier shaky heads jigs with EWG hooks that I throw on casting gear. I mostly use a texas rig with heavier hook, line, rod, and cover.

Great info in that one! Cook is solid.

I am looking into the same thing for this coming season. I really like the fact that some plastics have some buoyancy and will float the claws a little bit. I am going to try to pause my jig and trailer a little more this year and with the floating claws, my theory is it will have more action sitting there and illicit strikes. I am not sure it is going to make a great deal of difference to the fish, but I hope it works for me. I grabbed some Xzone during the TW sale and have some Zman that I like, but only seem to like it without having to texpose the hook in the plastic. I like it for jigs or jig worm fishing where the hook is exposed. It just feels weird and doesn't expose the hook like I would like it to. Lol Hook2Jaw! That makes some sense. I have also read that studies show that craws without pinchers get attacked more as well. Maybe these fish are actually smarter than we are!!!

There are too many “Influencers” who are paid or trying to get paid to “review” a product. I always try to read through this trash. It is funny when you read the review and it is like reading the marketing brochure they received from the company. I still read reviews, but I put a ton more credibility on Bass Resource members as well as other places and then make my own decision. I still don’t always make the right choice, but at least I can just call myself an idiot and not feel like I was just taken advantage of. I did my research.

That’s good to know gimruis, I am still going to try to learn how to do this myself, but I like having something I can drive to and get this done appropriately. Thanks.

I also just wire tie them myself right when I get them and never have a problem. It takes maybe 30 seconds and about $3.00 for a life time supply of wire.

I was just commenting that there IS a USA Daiwa with a shallow spool.

The Tatula offers a shallow spool in the 3000 size. I bought one last year. It is the reason I did buy it. It is a great reel. Smooth, great drag.

I absolutely pay attention to gear ratios. It matters for sure.

I am convinced scent works, to what degree I am not sure. A couple examples. My tourney partner went fishing on St. Clair with another buddy who guides there. They used a scent for smallmouth. He said it was undeniable. We fished Mille Lacs together a few weeks later and he had bought some. He didn’t start out using it, but put it on and immediately caught fish. I was convinced. Another crazy story I saw first hand. We have a small lake by my house. Our local community puts on a kid fishing contest every year. Brings in about 75 kids. I also brought my daughters and their friends and helped them out, grilled, had fun. One friend had her brother fishing and went over to him and he sprayed “walleye spray” (I ended up checking it out later) on a bare hook with about a 6 inch tag of line and 12 pound test. She threw that in and caught the largest sunfish of the tourney and won money. I just can’t discount some of the stuff I have seen. I am not very consistent using scent, but I will use it much of the time. I have seen it work at times.