MassYak85

If I knew for a fact there were no fish over 16" I would probably stick with lures under 5". But the spook you are using is fine and should get bit.

I have a few of them, they're good, especially for the price and very durable. The line through design is nice too. The only thing is you won't be able to crawl them on the bottom as slow as say a Hudd. They have more of an S-action and at extremely slow speeds they will straighten out. But you will quickly find out what speed you need to reel it to keep the action, and once you find that, any speed will work. You can absolutely burn them and they won't turn over.

Looks kind of skinny for it's length. It's really hard to judge but I would say 3.5lb

Considering I probably have around 100 in reserves.... They're no good Just kidding, they work fine for me. Rigged weightless they wiggle on the fall, and they most certainly are not as soft as senkos but I have had no issue with fishing holding on to them. I have found zero reason to make the switch to more expensive stickbaits yet.

If I'm taking out a friend who rarely fishes or never has before (or has just done bobber fishing for bluegills), I always give them some sort of cast and retrieve lure where you really can't reel it wrong. I feel even a senko, while extremely effective, requires some knowledge of how to work it unless they are hitting absolutely anything on that given day. Plus if they aren't able to immediately "feel" bites then they could end up gut hooking fish when they finally realize one is on. I usually give them either a small soft plastic swimbait on a 3/0 hook (like something similar to a 3.8 kietech).or a small spinnerbait. That way even if the fishing is slow they still have something to cast and retrieve.

This is an issue, but if you still choose to go straight braid you can use some electrical tape after a few handle turns so it doesn't slip and has something to dig into a little.

I went from shore for a couple hours at a few places this morning with the swimbait, no takers accept some pickeral slapping at the boot tail. I went to one pond and soon realized the swimbait wouldn't be happening since the weeds were so grown in. But I walked the shoreline and saw a bunch of 2lbers on beds still. It was funny to see a bass bed 10 feet away from a bluegill bed with only some weeds separating them. I went out in my kayak and intended to continue my swimbait fishing but decided to just have some fun for a couple hours catching stuff on a little 3.5" paddle tail. A bunch of pickeral, some good sized ones too, and a few bass. You weren't kidding about the bass fighting like smallies either, the ones I caught weren't huge but they were jumping, charging my kayak and being really lively.

I use to keep some but now I only eat them if i don't think they will survive, like a really bad gut or gill hook. Then I'll filet them just so they don't go to waste because I feel bad letting them go knowing they will die anyways.

The only problem would be with your wallet, but if you are fine with that than you should be fine. I've spooled 100% braid many times with no issues. Only recently started to use backing to extend how many respools I can get out of my braid.

Haha, I'd love to have another combo but I can't really justify buying another rod and reel just to switch line types. I most likely would not be switching out the spool during a trip. Probably the night before, since some of the places I fish are so choked with weeds in the summer, you almost have no choice but to fish braid. Whereas others are beautiful clear lakes with 15+ feet of visibility and I feel the fluoro helps when not fishing in heavy cover. Thanks for the replies so far guys.

How many of you buy multiple spools for some reels, and keep them rigged up with different line to swap out depending on the conditions? The reason I ask is I made the switch from braid to fluoro this year for my T-rigs and Jig rod but I still miss the braid in some situations, so I was thinking of getting another spool for the reel and putting 40lb braid on it to just switch out quickly if the conditions call for the braid (like heavy vegetation, fluoro vs thick lilypads is a nightmare).

WOW, great job. Yea I hear you on not having stuff on the floor.

If the day is wrapping up and I haven't gotten a bite I'll rig up either a super small dropshot (I'm talking like a trout hook and 1/2 inch piece of soft plastic worm) or a really small ned rig and just lay into some complete dink bass, crappie, perch etc for an hour before going home.

It could be bass but the bass are going to be chasing something if they are making splashes. The carp on the other hand will splash like hell while spawning or if they get themselves stuck too shallow.

The 130 size won't spin in the water like the 90 size tends to do at higher speeds. I really like them since they are basically a buzzbait that can be paused. Only thing is they are not as effective fishing in heavier cover like a buzzbait can do. Best used on the edge of cover for drawing stuff out. Not a gimmick though, very effective when used right.

I always bring the scale with me over anything else (besides a rod/reel obviously). Even if I'm only going to be fishing for 10 minutes from shore. The funny thing is, I seem to always catch a big one when I forget it, and of course....I have to give the fish the old eyeball test instead of getting an actual weight, which annoys me. Luckily I haven't caught a potential PB without having it. I also carry 2 sets of replacement batteries for it just in case.

If it's really shallow it's probably carp. But I've also been fooled by beavers that thought I was too close. Turned around to see a massive splash multiple times until I saw the beaver just sitting there on the surface and he slapped his tail.

It's not to say you can't pull out a swimbait for an hour every trip and catch the occasional pig. But the people who are really successful with the baits are the ones who dedicate time to them and fish them in the right conditions. Of course you can say that about all lures and techniques though. But with swimbaits you are now singling out a very specific class of fish that quite simply, you might not run into that often, of course this also depends on your knowledge of where big fish hang out under certain conditions.

You could try removing the bottom treble (as long as it it doesn't throw off the balance of the bait). This might make it look a little more natural plus you will be able to fish it through thicker stuff, where the fish may be hiding. Just something to try. If you fish those enough I don't see why they wouldn't get bit unless the bite is just off.

d**n dude, I wish I knew places to catch 20 4lbers Anyways, I went to a local pond and got a few 1.5's but no signs of anything big. I hadn't been to this pond before so I was mostly just exploring. It was a lot shallower than I expected and muddy pretty much everywhere. There's probably a few big girls in there but I didn't see much reason to go back there vs my other usual places. All fish came on a wacky worm. Seemed like the males were still up shallow gaurding beds.

As long as you are willing to put in the time commitment definitely go for it. But you have to be willing to commit to fish-less trips. If you haven't caught any in a few hours and are tempted into switching over to a senko to smack some 2-3 pounders then it might not be for you.

I'm going to head to a small local pond in my kayak today. Never fished it before but they recently dredged it since it was completely choked with weeds in the summer.

The only thing I can really think of is I took a friend out last summer during a sunny day so I thought he could have some fun with some spinner baits so we both used virtually the same bait. Now sure I have vastly more fishing experience than they did but we were basically just casting over some grass. I wasn't exactly putting much of what I know into play. But I ended up catching over a dozen and he managed one pickeral. The only difference was I had a fluoro leader on from the last time I went out and he was using straight braid (I gave him one of my other rods to use). The water was clear so I guess it could have made some difference but it still baffles me that that could have been the only factor. I took another friend out later that summer and the exact same thing happened. Short of the spinnerbait I gave them being cursed I have to point at the leader.

I'm as guilty as anyone of bringing "too much" with me when I fish. Even in a 10ft kayak I still have 5 plano boxes sitting behind me. Could I go with 3 bags of plastics, some hooks and weights and catch fish most times? Absolutely. But I change things up while there and I hate when I know what I should be using and realize I didn't bring it simply because I wanted to downsize my tackle for the day. If I have the space and means to bring it, I do. Unless I know for certain I won't be needing something. Ice out? Obviously I'm leaving the frog rod at home. A pond with thick weeds growing to the surface everywhere? Well cranks are pretty much out of the equation so those can be left at home. It all depends. I subscribe to the "better to have and not need than to need and not have" ideology.

I can't speak for the shimano reel but I would recommend the speed spool to anyone.