KCFinesse

I completely get the glide concept and it makes a ton of sense for how you fish the biffle heads based on what you described (lighter weight, almost shakeyhead-like but with added natural movement). But if the idea of biffle heads is scooting a heavier bait on the bottom and covering a little turf- wouldn't a tokyo rig be better? Or are there other advantages to the hardhead in those instances? My thoughts with the tokyo rig are that the line tie is out of the rocks and the orientation of the weight facilitates getting to the bottom quickly. Food for thought... I know I have way too much tackle for both options ? -Jared

Super interested in this- I fish the ozark lakes a bunch and have used hardheads quite a bit. What are the pros and cons of bottom contact fishing a hard head vs bottom contact fishing a tokyo rig (heck or even a jika)? I feel like I fish them the same way... -Jared

That's my goal for 2021- there's some Rick-Clunn-Zen involved with something as easy and as complicated as getting good with a spinnerbait.

Totally get it. I'm a doyo guy and picked up a lew's tournament mp lfs recently as well. Should make for an interesting side by side comparison. -Jared

I like Trey, his message, and his willingness to do his own thing, so I took a flier on a reduced price series 2 this winter and haven't had a chance to fish it yet. It seems light, comfortable, and solid to me for the price range. I look forward breaking it out. -Jared

In mid-summer I've had success fishing/yoyo-ing green pumpkin or watermelon chompers through brush and channel swing standing timber. Bluegill start picking bugs and what not out of timber and bass will suspend in the branches. The bulk and movement of the chomper does a good job of imitating panfish in those situations- I'm sure light weight texas rigging can accomplish some of the same panfish-y movements in other "less traditional" hula grub applications. It doesn't have drag drag bottom to be successful- those things have gobs of action while slowly falling. -Jared

@ironbjorn I've had a really really similar progression- so much so that I have a 6lb flouro size 50 baitcasting set up that I mix in with my couple ned spinning set ups. I think the ned stuff has given me much more of a feel for weights... There's definitely a feel for going lighter in weight to keep neds from bogging down to the bottom... And there is a feel for keeping more traditional bottom contact baits in the strike zone without bogging down. I'll add that a lot of my fishing has started going to either extreme... Ten inch bull worms or 1/16 oz neds...

I really like Edgewater resort in Aunts... The owners are great and pricing reasonable. A touch west of KC, but having quick access to KC, the Baxter area, and the James is pretty awesome. If you're looking for a place with decent wifi keep looking ? -Jared

I'm not up there regularly, but I've been going up to ottertail county in early June for the past 20+ years and I spend tons of time researching water in that area. That area is incredible for bass. I've had really good luck with researching the lake surveys on mn lake finder for numbers and size structure information. Admittedly, I'm kinda protective on which lakes I really like. Shoot me a pm if you need some guidance, otherwise it is THE coolest area to just go explore. Good luck on the move! -Jared

Ultimately went with the SJ72/8-15 and it seems like it has plenty of backbone. Cool blank and it's made a bushido fan of me.

Winter fishing might be the best equalizer... and there might be a certain Zen associated with winter fishing. Most of the time it's brutal tough. There is a lot of time to contemplate birds, enjoy being the only person on the lake, or really really appreciate a thermos of coffee between occasional twitches of jerkbait. I can usually deal with getting my head beat-in during the winter. Missing a suicide topwater bite because I'm too busy scratching and clawing with a ned rig is the tough part.

I'm cheap and I fish texas rig senkos on baitcasting gear a bunch. This trick has saved me a ton of money (both in hooks and how senkos last better on screw locks). I buy vertical line tie ewg 30 degree jig mold hook like a gammy 30 and add a hitchhiker screw (much much much cheaper than the regular screw lock options). If I keel weight, I'll add fly tying lead or suspend strips: modify the location of the lead keel to get the fall you want. -Jared Koliha

Even if it's not clicking the blade, the bead really seems to help prevent the toad from getting pulled down the head when fishing weeds. Food for thought!

I really like the single buzz in the two blade design, but I also prefer using a horny toad over a skirt- it just seems to cast and 'get up' better. I spent a bunch of garage time tinkering this year and worked out a few buzz designs I like. The one below is a glass bead, flat head, super long shank, filed rivets for extra squeak with a sharp angle on the head to slide a toad on. I fish these in brush, timber, and weeds without a trailer hook. These work for how I like to fish buzzbaits, but there are a ton of different ways to go on the design!

I like both- but I know a lot of people hate EVA because it isn't as sensitive. I usually 'bear paw' the reel with a finger on the blank (no foregrip) and I think I can get away with EVA more because of that. This build was on a CRC handle that's a mix of EVA and cork. I dislike 'soft' EVA so I tend to favor the EVA with rubberized cork or carbon fiber reinforcement/trim. -Jared

Just finished a medium heavy american heritage complete with one of their grips as a general duty all purpose/T-rig rod. I think their colored blanks look pretty sharp and the blank feels good.

Spike it does have spray on plastic dye, but I think their color selection is pretty limited. I've used the black spike-it rattle-can to tone down some brighter color baits. -Jared

I feel like the odds are better at Table Rock than Stockton... I fish both two to four times a year, and I seem to catch more and better smallies mid lake at table rock than anywhere I've fished at Stockton. I've never fished downstream of KC bridge at Table Rock. I like the Baxter area a lot because it seems a little bit quieter than some of the other sections of lake. With either lake- don't be afraid to fish flatter, less attractive points. Some days it seems like they really concentrate on a few stumps or boulders on hard bottom points that otherwise don't look very attractive.

I'm building my dad a Texas rig unweighted senko casting rod for fishing moderate weed growth and brush. It'll be 7'-7'³", with the preference being towards a fast action heavy medium or light medium heavy. I'm trying to keep the blank under $100 to fit his budget. I was leaning towards a MH Phenix M1 but they seem to be a bugger to find right now... Another option would be going the bushido route, but I don't have a good gauge as to whether they run more stout than soft or vise versa. Anyone have opinions on how the M-MH bushidos run? Am I missing a good 'tweener' blank option in this range? Thanks! -Jared

A tokyo rigged menace stayed in my hand a lot this year. I caught smallies dragging rock secondaries, largemouth punching, big spots at night pitching trees and everything between. I'm really really impressed with the versatility of it.

As a cost effective option, the lew's tp1 speed sticks in 6'8" have been a good casting rod choice for me as a light shakey and ned rod. It's a topwater/jerkbait rod but the action is still crisp enough for plastics.

I second the academy ones as far as cheaper 1 minus alternatives that run better. I had a lot of success on Table Rock last year on the Rapala bx wake minnow, but they do have a bit different action and they seem to be really picky about chop on the water.

Guides come manufactured with a beveled foot on the outboard side. I think in the process of adding coatings the bevel gets steeper and the coating rounds on the tip of the foot (blue in the attached picture). When I attack guides with a file, I try to flatten the knee of the bevel and eliminate the rounded tip. The last stroke or two with a file I'll put on the rod side of the foot to get the very edge of the foot level or pointed very slightly upwards to better stack wraps and make the transition to guide more seamless (red). It might be cheating a bit, but I build rods mostly for myself and I'm not that good!

Make sure you're prepping the feet of your guides. I take a file to both the rod side and the outboard sides of the guide feet to make sure there are smooth transitions and no burrs anywhere. It really helps the thread to lay evenly. -Jared

I am a fan of the lpo hidden weight ones (if I don't make them myself). They seem to use a good job of using lighter wire and the baits just work. -Jared