fishwizzard

I think I found them! https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-CUSTOM-1-8TH-OZ-SMALLMOUTH-BASS-WALLEYE-FOOTBALL-GRIZZLY-BUGGER-JIGS/253977203472 This guy calls them "woodly bugger jigs".

I am starting to prefer my rods to get slower in action the more powerful they are. Most all of my Light and UltraLight rods are Fast or XFast but as they go up in power my collection gets softer. I have a small pile of MBR rods and they are about perfect, except for the cr721, which I wish was a bit faster.

https://www.americanlegacyfishing.com/daiwa-dxw-walleye-spinning-rods.html The Daiwa DXW Walleye rods have been on close out for a while now and I picked up one of the ML ones a few months ago to use for panfishing. It is very light and very fast and I have used it with pretty good success DSing small plastics with an 1/8oz weight. The sensitivity isn't mind blowing, but I can feel the weight on the bottom and tell when it is getting caught up in muck. But, the tip is so light that I can see most hits before I feel anything. At full price I think there are better options but at $50 I am very very happy with it. If the M model has the same taper as the ML I think it would make a good DS rod.

When I was starting out, more reading was what got me catching consistently. But, it happened when I started reading up on bass behaviour and habitat, not just tackle and presentations. I think I was fishing a lot of empty water and getting an idea of where the bass should be holding was huge in getting me to be able to start catching them more regularly.

I am 100% Japan has you covered on that, but it might take great money instead of just good But seriously, there are a lot more options for both shorter and softer rods from the Japanese brands.

I know! That's why I am so hot to ID them so I can try and buy/make some more of them.

At some point last year (or the year before...) I bought some small tied jigs from someone on here. They are little marabou jigs with a "trailer" of silicone stands. I bought them on impulse and forgot about them for months, but I rediscovered them, fished them a little, and now I want a hundred more. The issue is, I am not having a lot of luck finding more like them as I don't know what to google. Is there a specific name for this kind of jig?

I tried that once but to get a little spinner up under a dock for some white perch. It worked well until I came too close for comfort to shooting the hook into my hand.

Huh, I swear I got shot down trying to get an MB rod on sale last year but I hope to be proven wrong!

I do a very simple retrieve most of the time using a Cha-Cha type rhythm (crank-crank-glide-glide-glide) and find that a slower IPT reel helps me keep it nice and slow. But honestly I don't think it matters much.

I feel the same way and use a casting combo now for most of my drop shotting. On the bank I use a MB XXX Black Themis and from my yak I use an old-model mbr782 glx. I like the softer/more forgiving action from the yak. The older Loomis MBR and CR rods are the perfect kayak rods imho, they have very short handles and the mbr action is so versatile. The biggest drawback to fishing a DS on a casting combo is the potential for the weight to fly off during the cast, my thumb is not quick enough and even an sv spool will not save me. But, an overhand knot at the end of the line holds the weight on very well and still allows you to pop the weight off if it gets snagged. The biggest benefit, other then ergonomics, is not having to care much about line twist. I run 7lb Sniper on both combos and get really good line-life. To veer back on topic, while I don't just use spinning tackle, I believe I could do so if I really wanted to. I think if one was willing to deal with having to use larger and heavier spinning reels, a rod could be found for most every bass presentation. I have a 9' surf rod that I sometimes use to throw 6" paddle tails for stripers, I don't see why I couldn't do the same for freshwater bass.

Sadly I think MB is the one brand that is truly "excluded". I know I have gotten the discount on Daiwa reels from TW the last two sales.

I just saw them today at DSG. First they are charging seven bucks for 9 trickworms. Second, they are packaging said trickworms in a plastic clam shell. I kayak past enough floating plastic trash as is and it's not like worms are fragile. Good luck to them for shooting for the high-end market, but I wonder if their core audience has that much to spend.

Susquehanna Fishing Tackle is in Columbia, PA and has a great selection of high end tackle. I live maybe 3ish hours away and drive up at least once a year.

Buy a $5 luggage scale from ebay and never worry about drag strength ever again. I was shocked at how low I keep my drags set when I thought to measure it.

The 4Runner maybe? They are far taller then I want. My wife has a '17 Forrester and it is way taller and bigger than her old '04 one was as well. I am not at all into this trend where it seems like all non-compact vehicles are getting bigger. The new Outbacks are looking like the best option but I still want longer and lower.

The main thing I would look at is the seat. If it isn't 100% comfortable for a quick sit in the store it is going to murder your back after an hour or three on the water.

I back all my casting reels with 30 or 40lb braid with a bit of etape to hold it too the spool. The braid keeps the spool lighter and serves as "emergency" line if I manage to backlash my mainline to the point of a total cut-off. I can still salvage some of it for a leader and finish out the day fishing my backing.

Not that I have found. I don't really want a truck, but need a AWD vehicle for where I live. I want something long enough to fit an 8' rod, but low enough to make loading a kayak in the wind easy. I have an old RAV-4 that is about to hit 200k and I cannot find a single current production vehicle that I have any interest in. I keep hoping that I stumble across a garage-kept '02 Outback with no miles on it, but I am not feeling good about the odds on that.

I would be happy with just a deflection chart like MB provides for some of their rods;

Send a bottle of rye and a pound of coffee my way and I will get to work on it. I used to do estimating as part of my job, so I am very good at making spreadsheets that no one will ever really look at.

I don't know if herons are big enough to bother an adult bass. Ospreys can get to like a 4-5' wingspan, I have seen them ****** up a ~2' carp before so I am sure they could grab a bass that gets too shallow.

I use Megastrike from time to time and I do believe it makes fish hold lures a bit longer. In the case of panfish, I have landed several of them without them being hooked, they just grabbed the tail of a Ned Rig and refused to let go. The Zman Zlinkers get super spongy once the salt washes out and if you work the scent into the plastic it lasts a long long time. I met a guy once who swore by mixing Megastrike with Gulp juice and keeping the un-slated Zman plastics stored in it. I am sure it would work but I am also sure it would be too messy to be worth it.

I wonder if it's a matter of the bass avoiding topwater lures to keep themselves safe from predation by birds? There are an increasing number of raptors in the areas I fish and it's not uncommon to see a few of them circling over a lot of the ponds. Last year I had an S-Waver stolen by an osprey and had severely more close calls to the point where I don't fish topwater/subsurface lures if the birds are being aggressive.

First Rod: $400 per rod (1/$400) Second Rod: $250 per rod (2/$500) Third Rod: $200 per rod (3/$600) Fourth Rod: $175 per rod (4/$700) Fifth Rod: $160 per rod (5/$800) Sixth Rod: $150 per rod (6/$900) Seventh Rod: $142.85 per rod (7/$1000) So it looks like your return drops off around rod #4 if we are assuming some shipping costs. I spend about 5 min trying to write an excel formula but I took a little rye in my coffee this morning and I couldn't get it to work. EDIT: I feel like there is a better way to do the formula, but this works.