Airman4754

I used to catch a lot of numbers on bladed jigs and swim jigs with paddle tail trailers. I switched to 6" Mogambo grubs for trailers. My numbers went way down, but when I do get a bite now it's good, really good. The big grub slows down the fall rate by about half and I get about half of my bites on the fall now. If you're cool with three hundred casts for two fish it's worth a try!

I'd bet all of these independent studies threads are folks from a small company trying to do R&D.

I vote for Phenix Recon 2.

I have a 200B on my medium swimbait rod with 17lb Iron Silk, love it.

Imagine a buzz bait that floats. Imagine a spook that creates even more of a disturbance. Imagine a Torpedo, but bigger. Now put them all together. Boom; Whopper Plopper.

No particular order; 9" ABT Suicide Glide, Hudd Weedless 68, Jackall Gantarel, SPRO BBZ-1 8" slow sink, MS Slammer.

I throw the 9" all the time and SS250's and haven't ever had a problem. We don't have 12" trout here anymore. They stock three sizes now. For all lakes that get solid in the winter they release fry right before ice-on and in the spring when it melts they are about 6" so we throw 68's, 7" ABT's, and 168 S-Wavers. They plant 8"ish in trout throughout the year which is easy to match. Then finally they plant "Trophy Trout" and there isn't a bass here that it chomping one of those.

I throw way lighter line than most guys. 20lb Big Game for the mega baits, 17lb Iron Silk for Hudds, 80lb 832 (20lb diameter) for rats & slammers, and 12lb CXX for all glide baits no matter what size. I have a Calcutta 400, 200, Curado 300e, and a Lew's Super Duty wide spool and if I could only have one it would be the Lew's. It handles so well, is way lighter, has a ton of power, and has plenty of capacity for everything I use.

Palomar for braid, improved clinch for everything else.

Almost never. I only use magnetic brakes and I always leave them on 5. I adjust the brake to where the bait drops roughly two feet per second on its own. The two biggest factors to me is line diameter and rod power. If you're throwing a Senko with 20lb fluoro on a heavy rod you're going to have a much harder time than 20lb braid on a medium rod.

20lb PP Super Slick 8 on my spinning setups and weightless baitcaster. 30lb regular PP on all my other normal baitcaster setups. 65lb PP Maxcuatro on my frog rod. 50lb Spider Wire Camo on my wood/grass and punch setups. 80lb Suffix 832 on my rat rod. One size definitely doesn't fit all for me.

I would use a rod over 8' for deep cranks. For the guys that huck swim baits over 6oz I could see them wanting a longer rod.

7'3" MH/F for frogs, spooks, and small ploppers. 805 punch rod for rats, slammers, and 190 ploppers. Short handles on both, no more than 14".

I was just offered a job in Huntsville, so if I take it I will be there.

I've never had a bass run more than 10ft.

I haven't fished them for largemouth much, but it's dynamite for spots in late winter/early spring. I've had way more success on 4" grubs than paddletails as well.

Rapala SR7, DT10, DT14, 6XD, 10XD in that order.

All three. On points or on the edge of cover its a T-rig. For suspended fish it's wacky. In weeds I run a 2/0 octopus parallel into the front half of the bait. It falls like a T-rig, is weedless like a T-rig, and twitches like a wacky.

I was so into these when I was a little kid. I still laugh when I see Bob Cobb's name. Ray Scott was a great host. KVD got me into bass fishing. I would get so bored trolling for trout on lakes. Him firing that spinnerbait a million times a day looked like so much more fun.

This guy gets it.

The Gantarel is awesome. If you're getting Hudds get a 68 Weedless and a regular 8". SPRO stuff is good. The 8" slow sink is a really solid bait. I would get a rat before I would get a floater. It's a really big bait for an 8". Get one really good glide bait as well. I really like the ABT's, but there are some other good ones out there. The S-Wavers aren't bad, but they need a split ring on the front and the sides ground down so they swim way better. The 6" model isn't setup for big fish, but the 8" has serviceable hooks and split rings. I would recommend getting a couple packs of 6" Speed Shads as well. They are really cheap and have a big profile with great action.

Yep, that's what I started doing a few years ago. I started using longer rods and fight them with pressure at a distance. Let the rod do the work, not the reel. It has worked so well I can remember the four keeper size fish I've lost since then and I fish a lot.

Agree again. If the conditions are in your favor and you're fishing smartly for those conditions you're going to catch big numbers of smallies and spots pretty much all day. That won't be the case with largies.

Be patient and buy used. You can get top of the line in excellent condition for mid-level prices. After the pro circuits are over forums and eBay are flooded with stuff pros are selling because they changed sponsors, have a deal to upgrade, etc.

6th Sense lipless in Wild Lava Craw.