MassYak85

It's been a couple of months since I bought any tackle...am I sick?

I'm not sure how you can call it a scam, certain fisheries would be wiped clean and ecosystems would collapse if unrestricted harvesting was allowed. That being said many fisheries can see benefits from selective harvesting so it can be a good practice. I'll eat bass occasionally, I think they taste good, but it's usually smaller ones around 2lbs, or ones that I know aren't going to make it.

Can I also ask what rod you are trying to put this reel on?

Fished Whitehall today. There was a little activity in the morning but it was really slow all day. Only got two fish, like 5 hours apart. 2nd fish was about a 2lber on the slammer. I still can't believe for such a large lure it gets the most subtle bites I have ever seen for a topwater. I landed it next to a downed tree and just did half-turns of the reel to subtly walk it away from the tree. While doing that I see what looks like a very slight wake right behind it but I could barely distinguish it from the ripples the bait was making. Next thing I know the lure just slips below the surface tail first. The bass just grabbed the tail and pulled it under. I doubt I would have even known I got a bite had I not watched the whole thing unfold and set the hook right away.

Are you using this for swimbaits, I can't imagine the 400 would perform well with lighter lures. I use the 300 size Lexa for my soft swimbaits.

Always awesome to see Eagles! I saw one last week at East Brimfield.

I use a pair of Eye Surrenders. They're reasonably priced and have made a world of difference. I've never owned more expensive brands like Costas so I can't compare them.

I bought one this summer and it's still going strong. Not a crisp of a cut as when I got it but still plenty usable. I've been pretty fed up with other cutters that even if it only lasts a year I'd tolerate it.

Yea I'm surprised how many bass that can't even fit the whole lure in their mouth will go after a slammer. It sucks too because I put ST-36's on my 9" and those things are d**n sharp. So usually I'll hook up with those 1lbers with the front hook and the back treble will stab them in the back or something. Did anyone get out Sunday before the storm started? If there were ever "pre-frontal" conditions that was it. I thought Saturday might have been good because of that but Sunday seemed great too before the rain came in, too bad I couldn't get out again. I'm not sure I've ever seen the pressure drop as quick as that...

Grinded out an 11 hour day (6am-5pm) fishing some swimbaits at Brimfield and eventually Quabog saturday. Managed to avoid the skunking with a 1-2lber in the final hour of the day on the slammer. I think I kind of needed that day. Up until now I've dedicated a few hours here and there to swimbaits but rarely a whole trip, and never an entire day. And even before catching that final fish I realized something, I wasn't dissapointed or regretful I hadn't caught anything. I think that was a big mental hurdle I needed to get over if I wanted to seriously continue with swimbaits. Up until now I would always find myself picking up a jig or something to avoid the skunking.

I have the 7'11" Okuma Guide Select and use it for the weight range of treble hooked baits you mentioned. I like it, it loads up nice but I would not use it for 8" hudds. You probably could in a pinch, which kind of sounds like your situation, but IMO the rod kind of maxes out around the 4oz mark, not the 6 it's rated for. Plus it's got a pretty moderate action to it which I don't like for jig hook baits. If you plan on mostly throwing trebles though it should suit your needs well.

This is a good tip. I do this a lot around cover. If I cast and it lands right next to lily pad edge/pocket or right next to a tree I let it soak for a good 10-15 seconds and usually It will get crushed the instant you put tension back into the line.

That is one thing you need to do good research on when dealing with swimbait rods. Some have extremely parabolic bends to them that are going to suit you better when fishing treble hook lures like the BBZ and the Gantarel. Then you will have some that are true fast actions designed more for jig hook style baits like the Hudds. Now as far as the specifics of the two I own... Fast Action Rod A true fast action rod. I would not recommend throwing any treble hook lures on this type of rod. It just doesn't load up enough to absorb head shakes when fish jump. It does a good job at getting jig hooks to stick. Okuma Guide Select This rod is more parabolic, it says it's rated Mod-fast but I feel it's more of a moderate. It is rated 1-6 oz but I would not go above 4 oz on it. I use it for my treble hook lures and I feel it hits it's sweet spot in that 2-3oz range. I like it for my 9" Slammer and S-Waver 200. The grip is a split grip and normal length for a swimbait rod. I find it slightly too long when fishing out of my kayak, especially if I am trying to walk or twitch a bait like a slammer. No matter what rod you get, consider that you are fishing in a kayak. Swimbaits are designed to catch big fish. If you set the hook on a 5, 8, 10 lber there's a chance you are going to be going to the fish more so than the fish going to you. You become part of the "give" in your line + rod system. This could potentially cause issues with hook sets if you don't accommodate. If you have a line with a lot of stretch, a parabolic rod, and a light kayak and you fish jig hook baits...I can almost gaurantee you you will run into problems. You say you want to use braid. This might help counter the give from the kayak and give you good hooksets. If you go with braid I'd look for a rod that's more moderate. The rod will be able to stay loaded with treble hook baits, and the braid will still allow you to set the hook with jig hook baits. If you are worried about casting off baits you can try a longer mono leader. I have the cardiff 300. It is a nice size reel and has been a solid performed. Th only thing I am not thrilled with is the drag. It does not have much room for fine adjustments, which is not necessarily a problem if you plan on locking down your drag anyways. TL;DR: If I was you I'd go with the Cardiff 300 and some type of moderate action rod if you want to go with braid.

I fish the 130 95% of the time, and occasionally give the 90 a go if the water is dead calm and they don't want the 130. But for me with my 130 (perch color) I've had my best day fishing wind...I'm talking whitecaps. It's one of the reasons I like the 130 over the smaller sizes, it can stay afloat in rough water and still casts a mile into wind. I've had good luck fishing around weed edges, lily pad edges, around wood, around drop offs, rock piles, points...random open water. Just throw it anywhere you think there are fish and you will get bit eventually. Strangely I've had most of my luck fishing it during the day but I have got some at night too. I do best with a steady retrieve, I rarely do stop and go but that can probably work well if you are trying to trigger bites. The bites I get are usually pretty aggressive on the straight retrieve. A lot of times I think it just annoys them more than anything. Sometimes I'll also get strikes when it lands if I get it right next to something or into a pocket in vegetation.

I usually use a 16/0 circle hook and drift with them

The cardiff is a good reel. I have a 300 size for smaller swimbaits (1-3oz). My only complaint is the drag. It doesn't take much to go from "well that's not even enough to set the hook" to locked down. That can be good and bad. Quick adjust if you need it but if you bump it at all unknowingly it could be bad news.

Decided to give Whitehall a shot in the later part of the afternoon. It was slow again, water temps in the low sixties. I fished the slammer for 95% of the time. No interest other than one bite...I casted next to a downed tree. Let it sit there for about 5 seconds. Twitched it a couple times, let it sit for another 5 seconds and then *SLURP*. Set the hook and immediately it was obvious this was a big fish. The rod bent over and I started grinding on the reel to keep it out of the tree but it was pulling back and I didn't make much progress once it was clear of the tree. After about 10 seconds of tug-of-war it was just off, no head shake, no jump, just gone. My best guess is that it was never hooked that well, likely hooked outside of the mouth and the hook just pulled free. From the weight alone I can't imagine it was any less than 5lbs. The 3.1 I caught yesterday didn't even have a chance to fight with the rod I was using and this thing today was doing whatever it wanted. It was both heartbreaking and very encouraging. I'm definitely getting more confident in the slammer, I'm glad I got the 9" over the 7". It's interesting how they attack it, none of the fish so far have really blown up it, they just kind of come up and pull it under. ...I think my heart is still beating a little fast haha. Hopefully I can stick at least one big one on it before the season ends.

I was out yesterday at Webster. Got a couple fish on the slammer (nothing huge, biggest was 3.1), and a decent smallie on a jig. It seemed pretty slow overall. I did see a lot of baitfish shallow along with some huge schools of minnows. The milfoil was still very green too. Seemed like great fall feeding conditions but I couldn't seem to consistently get much action.

The right clothing can really extend your season. I primarily fish out of a kayak too and I don't call it quits until the water is hard or my guides freeze. I usually attach my outriggers once the water gets down into the lower 50's to limit my chances of getting wet. That, some good layering, a waterproof shell, and the right gloves and the only times I'm not fishing throughout the year are when the ice is too thin to stand on.

I have the GS H 1-6oz and if you stick with 2-4oz hardbaits I think you will like it. It has a lot of flex and IMO is not great for jig hook style baits like hudds. I also think the rating is too generous. It's more like a 1 - 4 oz rod.

IMO yes. I use the 7'2" MHR for those and it works out better. The 7'2" HF I would say is very true to it's ratings. It's a light rod but it packs a lot of punch and doesn't give much. I use it with 40lb braid and when I set the hook and it gets into the backbone it just stops, which makes for some fun hooksets when you stick a big fish on a jig but again it's a true fast action so you don't get a ton of deflection with the tip for those other techniques.

^ Can confirm the 7'2" H/F Tatula would probably not be ideal. I have it and it's probably my favorite rod, but I use it almost exclusively for Jigs and T-rigs.

It's a known issue with the larger Lexas. Mine has the same issue. Generally I cast with the knuckle of my thumb on the thumb bar anyway so I can thumb the spool, and make a little extra effort to keep the thumb bar pressed down all the way through the cast. So it's not really an issue for me unless I get lazy and take my thumb off in which case it has happened to me a small handful of times. If it is under warranty exchange it. I've heard of guys having the same issue after exchanging it multiple times, and others that never encountered it again. Try your luck.

I like gold blades on cloudy days or in dirty water. If it's bright with clear water I usually start with double silver. But I also like a gold and silver combo sometimes as well. Just change it up and see what gets bit. I've had days when the blade color absolutely mattered, other days not so much.

I'm just asking because I've noticed the smaller twist locks will tear out easier. I usually replace the stock ones with either a M or L owner twistlock.