FishTank

Well I might as well give up one of my dumb tricks. It's not much of a secret as I have seen other guys do it. Here is my spring jig set up with a senko trailer. It's hot one minute and cold the next but it can bring the fish in. This particular version is a Berkley flipping jig in Amber Craw. I get the green pumpkin senko made with an orange tip.

I use the All-Terain Grass jigs as a heavy swim jig during the summer and fall. They use to come up to 1oz in size. It's a good compact size as well.

OSP Hunt jig in pretty much any color.

Zillion would be my choice.

Black in the morning, chartreuse in stained water, and white anytime.

I saw this rod at the Indy Boat Sport and Travel Show. Nice rod. It felt similar to the NRX+ 802 but with a softer tip. I'm not quite sure I would call it a BFS rod, if you are wanting to throw 2.0 or 3.0 gram lures. It seemed more like the other Shimano offerings, like the Curado BFS in terms of power.

OSP Buzzin Crank, Megabass ORC, and the Lucky Craft 1.0 SSR.

Senkos and jigs for skipping. Magdrafts or big cranks to call them out. Regular sized crankbaits and BFS stuff around the edges.

I've tried multiple rods for jerkbaits and like each for different reasons. To me, it has to have a soft tip that rebounds quickly, a stiff middle, and a powerful butt section. Here's what I use..... Megabass P5 Six Eleven - smaller BFS baits MB Levante Jerkbait Special - 110's and up G Loomis 783 GLX MBR - Oldest rod used for everything MB P5 Z-Crank - 110jr's and 110's. Perfect rod for me. Snaps back quickly, great sensitivity, and powerful enough to keep fish pinned. St. Croix 6'8'' M Fast Legend Elite - great all around rod. Probably my second favorite for jerkbaits.

Shimano SLX. Easy to use and probably the best bang for the buck.

5in Senko Black Blue Flake Megabass 110 Pro Blue Deps Evoke 2.0 Black Back Shad Bassday Mononofu Tennessee Shad Megabass Pop-x PM Hot Gill

For a full day of fishing with just one, I have one rod that will throw a 5in Senko up to 6in Magdraft and can also throw a 1/2 oz deep diving crankbait.... the Megabass P5 Super Destroyer. It's like the Swiss Army Knife of rods.

My only gripe with these rods was the handle. I didn't like the kind of hour glass shape and the overall feel but otherwise it is a really nice rod.

If it was me trying to build a rod, I wouldn't take an ordinary reel and add an after market spool to it. For starters, the weight would be off, most BFS reels are lighter. Next, with that type of spool you might limit yourself to braid. Also, for me, the more specialized the reel is the more specialized the rod needs to be. I would look at a popular BFS reel like the Shimano SLX BFS or one of the KastKing offerings. This would give you a better base line to start from. The reel and the line, to me, seem to change the characteristics of the rod more so with BFS.

My Cadillac reel is a Shimano Conquest 101. But if that's a Cadillac, then this my Ferrari. My dream reel would be a custom Megabass Monoblock. Not the ones they made short runs of. I'm talking about a specially made one off. I have only heard rumors of there existence (might be a fairytale).

I took it out today for a test run and it's pretty amazing. Casting is effortless and its smoother than the regular Steez SV TW. The coolest thing is the shallow spool. It's just different but in a good way, just can't explain it yet. Only downside, I got skunked so no fish on it yet. I have it paired with an NRX+ 894C JWR and 40lb YGK OLLTOLOS braid.

That's the face I made when I opened the box. I had no idea it had metallic flake paint. My wife saw it and said, "Well that one's pretty. ". Here is the odds and ends of my order. I had to try the Drift Fry. The YGK OLLTOLOS braid is a new one to me. It might have been a mistake. It's so slick, knots might be an issue.

I was going to get the new Steez SV TW or the Metanium Shallow Spool but even at the JDM price the Steez was pretty steep and I just ordered a Metanium 100. So for $50 less than the new Steez SV, I got the 21 shallow spool Steez Limited. I got the best of both reels and then some. It's crazy buttery smooth, like an Anteras but its probably half the weight.

It depends on how minimal you want to be. I just started taking both of these when bank fishing. They will fit in cargo shorts or pants. They hold everything I need as far as terminal tackle goes. Both are from Ryugi. There is a knock off version of the box on Amazon.

Sounds like a plan. I've never weighed the VMC hooks. Good to know. I always considered the ST-36 to be the heaviest, probably because I've never bent one out. I have a couple of Lightning Pointers and they are different from the regular version but I never considered that they might suspend differently. They just feel like a cheaper bait to me. I never really got why Lucky Craft went this direction.

The LC Pointer has probably the best suspend rate out any jerkbait, including the Megabass 110. If your water is still cold, let's say around 55 degrees, that bait will rise. Once the water warms all the way up, that bait might slowly sink. There are things that can help besides adding lead strips. Number one would be line, 8-10lb Fluorocarbon. Next, don't fish it on slack line. Pull it to you a fuzz. You can use a bigger oval split ring and Owner ST-36 hooks but these are not my jerkbait hook of choice. I like the Ryugi Pierce. Another option is to wrap thin wire around the shank of the hook.

It was no big deal. I wanted to hit my local pond anyway. I hope you enjoy your new rod.

After digging deeper, I see what you are saying. If you are looking for an alternative, check out Picasso. I can't remember why kind of keepers they have but I don't recall having any issues. You can go down a deep rabbit hole with all of what they offer.