BassB8Caster

I second this... Also, does TW have any sort of spring sale? As in XX% of purchases, not certain items like their last crappy sale

pick up a real prey 7" shiner and go to work. you will find the big ones.

i would have to say more specifically walking the dog with a topwater. Im much better at it from one side vs the other. I always try to fish, cast etc equally from both sides (practice makes perfect). I fish a whoppler plopper and spro rat on the top with no problem as its basically turning the reel. Jerkbaits can be a problem too. I would have to agree with the accuracy and pitching and flipping complications. Depending on how tall you are (im only 5'8 in a sit in kayak) kinda dictates the level of difficulty (In my opinion). Another thing i think makes fishing from a kayak a challenge (where you are close to the water) is on windy days and dealing with the line being blown and taken with waves. It can also be challenging to see the line really well at times. Wind blowing the kayak can be very frustrating at times. But the pros are much greater than the cons IMO. Just something about being able to stealth into thick areas and pull out a 6lber.

Savage gear 3d shine glide. Great glide for the money. Spend some time researching and on YouTube. Lots and lots of info out there. Best advice for getting into swimbaits: don't try to buy the next best bait. There is no magical bait. Research proven baits and buy a couple (9" ms slammer, 8" hudd and SG shine glide) . Fish them and them only. Learn everything you can about them. And be sure to have the proper gear for those baits. And put in time! Good luck

If that is asked to me, i have an okuma guide select a series xh with a daiwa tatula 200hd.

My plan is to buy a golden shiner gantarel, shine glide 7.25", and a real prey or Savage gear roach (10"). I like the value of the 10" sg for $20 on ebay. I am a fan of the real prey and I would consider them before a Huddleston. Rp shiner is $25 for a 7.5" and $40 for their jumbo 8.5" shiner. YouTube videos of the sg roach look fantastic. The action looks killer. Another hard bait I'll eventually pick up is a bbz-1 8" trout. Sg line thrus are nice because they allow you to rig hooks on top or bottom depending on your target zone.

Not to hijack..but how is the durability? I know they are silicone, so durability is better. I fish around pickerel and i hate to spend on these custom baits and have a pickerel bite a tail off on the first cast. Another reason i hesitate to buy a hudd.

Through cover (weed less), around cover, on the bottom etc. Fast retrieve, slow roll on bottom, wake on top, stop go twitch etc. Really all the above. Remember these big baits have bigger drawing power. So even if they don't get bit that specific time the fish will show themselves. Just buy one and go experiment with it. You will figure it out. YouTube has great videos on this.

i would look at the realprey (either 7.5 or jumbo 8.5), savage gear roach (10") or the shine glide. Seeing that you are in florida, i would go big. If the funds allow, go with a shine glide (7.25) and a 10" SG Roach. Go check out some savage gear videos. there are a few good ones of the roach. Swims awesome (like a glide and swimbait in one bait). And they are very durable, seeing that SG makes baits designed for pike. A 10" bait for $25 is a great deal. these are the 2 i plan to pick up this spring.

Im in the same boat as you. I have committed to bigger swimbaits this year. I bought an XH Okuma Guide Select rod with a cardiff 301 reel. Will be fishing 8" hudds, spro bbz-1 8", gantarel, s waver 200 and plan on picking up a 10" Savage gear line thru trout. I fish small ponds in Maine out of a kayak. My pb is 6lbs and i know there are bigger fish out there. Keepinitreelfishin is a great channel. He does a great job and is from the northeast. Dont let people tell you its a waste of time and there are not big enough fish. It takes a special mindset for big swimbaits. I would rather go hunting for the big fish rather than hoping i run into one with a spinner, crankbait, etc. Good luck.

anyone have any experience with P-Line CX premium? Im putting together a big(ger) swimbait setup (as in 2-7oz baits) and sounds like this is a good line. low stretch, sensative and user friendly. Many recommend cxx, but many complain about the userability (memmory issues). Im looking at 20 or 25lb test. Also fish out of a kayak so too much stretch may affect hook sets.

Im now seriously getting into swimbaits, esp bigger ones (over 6"). I have done tons of reading on here and other forums (check out swimbait underground). I think people tend to use the word cheap for different applications. Typically cheap does not equal quality. However, many may use the word cheap to mean not expensive. It is true, you get what you pay for. if you do your research, you can get quality stuff for great prices. and the smarter you buy (for example, buy discounted gift cards and pair them with vendor/store sales and you can get great deals). I myself grabbed an okuma guide select series a xh 8' sanother sitebait rod for $90 with free shipping. I am going to pair that with a shimano cardiff 300 reel for a great swimbait setup. Are there better out there? sure. But for the money i will be into it with (sub $200) it is a great setup. Like @BlueBasser86 said, just know what you are getting into. People tend to see the prices of some swimbaits and are scared away or think its an expensive technique. I would say...it can be. again, depends how smart you are with your money. Think about the money we all spend on various lures. A few of those $10-15 lures that werent really that great could have been a hudd or (insert quality swimbait here). I know i personally have spent quite a bit of money on $7-15 lures that i hoped would be better than they really are/were. Thankfully im just 3 years into serious bass fishing so my costs are still fairly low. Some of the best advice i came across was to save up and buy a few quality swimbaits. Maybe one for topwater/wake, a mid water column and a bottom bait. These quality baits will last for years and have been proven fish catchers (9" slammer, Hudds, mattlures, etc). Then take these and only these out and learn them. Perfect them. Then maybe add a lure here or there. I know, the baitmonkey is legit, and it sure is fun to buy new lures. But true swimbaiting is a serious committment. Like everything else in life that costs money, the smarter we are with it, the better we are and the further it goes. In case you cant tell,. im all in. My only concern is a pickerel biting off a hudd tail on the first (or 10th for that matter) cast.

Off the too of my head i was thinking it was listed at 4.5". I liked the action (per video on their website) of the gill. Kinda prefer the trout for here in maine and trout in most of our ponds and lakes

I would say absolutely no arguing with the success of the MS Slammer. This is on the top of my list for baits to buy. My question would be: how many wake type baits does one need (or should have)? I have a spro rat that can be fished slow or a good wake, even down 6" to a foot. On my list is also a g2 shellcracker and the ms slammer. THere are a lot of great baits in this category. Is an ms slammer that much of an improvement over a 50 bbz rat? I guess the real question is how do we narrow it down and avoid the bait monkey telling us to buy one of everything?

I did a quick search and didnt see anything regarding these baits within the last couple years. Im upping my swimbait game this winter and came across this company. the dying trout and dying gil look like interesting baits. Anyone have any experience with these? Are they worth the $40 price tag? Looks like they could be deadly over grass, on flats and humps etc where there is good clear water. Should def get fishes attention. Appreciate any input. TIA

Thats pretty much my thoughts. Just servicing the reel and upgrading the bearings and washers puts me close to new without adding in shipping and any parts. For what im going to do a new cardiff will work fine

Thanks Tom. So i would be good fishing a new cardiff out of the box for a year or so then consider sending it in for service / upgrades. I also dont fish every week (unfortunately) so i wont be wearing her out fast. Thanks again

Good to know. I would think the xh will still handle those no problem. Okuma says lure size 2 to 10 oz. I agree with your statement above re new vs used. I talked to mike at dvt and im going to be close to a new price once i add everything up (give or take not knowing exactly what the reel may need). I have seen people bring up washers when talking about the cardiff. Are they something i could do down the road or should they really be done once i got the reel? Im in Maine so im not hunting dd bass, although i may find one. I would assume warranty goes out the window once i open the reel up. So is it a good reel out of the box? Thanks again everyone!

I know there is no one perfect rod to realistically throw 2 to 8 oz baits. But just getting into bigger swimbaits i felt this was the perfect rod to get into swimbaits. I have been throwing 5.8 keitechs, 6" SG line thru trout, and my bbz40 rat just fine on my mh rods. My only real concern will be those baits that are 2 to 3oz as the rod may be a little stiff to cast those accurately. My strategy now (i wish i would have done this before spending money on iffy swimbaits) is to pick up a 68 special and 8" hudds as well as a gantarel/sg/mattlures gill and eventually a 9" slammer and learn those. Kinda why i created this thread. If i can grab a used reel and fix/service it for less than a new one, that $ can go towards one of those baits.

Xh. I took the rod out of the tube to check it over when it came in and i am very impressed. Feels really nice. I dont have any high(er) end rods to compare as my other 2 set ups are cheap abu and lews combos. Is yours h or xh? @delawarevalleytackle....email coming your way!

Hey guys. Im in the market for a swimbait reel and have decided on a shimano cardiff 300. Im pairing it to an okuma guide select a series swimbait rod. Ill be throwing baits up to around 5oz (basically 8" hudds/savage gear etc). My question is, can a cardiff be rebuilt to a better than new condition? At what point is buying new a better decision? I came across an ad on another forum where a member is selling a cardiff 300 for 45. Says it could use new bearings, good condition. So would i be better off buying that and sending it in to get serviced (add/upgrade break washers etc) or look for a new one around $100. Im not sure how much used would end up costing. Possibly under $100 fully serviced. What are your opinions? Thanks in advance.

I agree with 5lbs. 22" is more at 6lbs. Nice fish either way!

I would say a lot of it depends on the sensitivity of the rod and how we handle them. No doubt lmb shake their heads and we will all feel this at some point. I have had some that litterally give up and just get reeled in, dragged across the surface. And im not horsing them in either. I was amazed however at the amount of head shakes they do without us even noticing. I was fishing a lipless crank with rattles (from a kayak so im close to the water) and had a 2 to 2.5lber on. I had it reeled in close to me, just under the kayak. All i could hear was rattle rattle rattle. That fish was constantly shaking its head. But i felt nothing through my mh rod. It was so cool.

siebert outdoors. members on here

Good info right there! I will keep this in mind.