JustJames

Nice fish there, and you don't even have to do long hand. I would say 6+ for sure maybe close to 7.

Before when I lived in city with only small city park lakes but huge with population in SoCal, I caught may be 10-15 bass for those 8-10 years. I had been skunked more than I could count and I never give up.

Once you see me catching big fish with that SLX, you will want one sooner. LOL

Just special for you, try wacky rig you Roboworm Ned Worm.

All I could say is " hang in there" it happens to most of us, some less some more but more so for those shore hunters. If WP doesn't work try small popper with longer pause. if trick worm doesn't work try wacky finesse worm or 4" worm. if baby brush hog doesn't work try weightless baby menace. Fall transition is pretty suck for me too, so this year I change my game plan. I target those tiny bass in shallow weedy area instead. Most of the fish I caught were within 5-10' from bank. Of course I caught a whole lot of dinks but I got 2-3lbers mix in once awhile. The good thing is I get to use some of my setup and a few of my lures that never get to see water for awhole year. The key is to down size and slow down.

Good time for you, sir. Ive been having a good time with my wanna be finesse fishing for those tiny bass too. Got them on small popper and small rapala floating minnow.

@Junger I don't know if I should thank you or hate you. Just ordered Shimano SLX for no reason whatsoever. ?

This ^^^ I caught a lot bass like the top picture in my smaller and shallower lake in summer every year.

Nope not allowed in my lake.

I own 1432 Jonboat and 10' kayak pescador pro, but I usually bank fishing lol. I have not touch my kayak once but planning to soon. If you don't have problem towing your jon in a trailer and accessible to launch lamp on your lake, then go with jon boat. I got my Jonboat around 2,300 with 15hp it 2005 but only have a few hour of operation. I can haul a lot of equipment on Jon and my big fat ass 6'5 fishing buddy. I plan to upgrade only the boat to wider platforms jon and foot control trolling motor once my wife approves my budget (should be about a grand). Kayak is good when you need some what portable (no launch ramp or have to walk into lake) you can find good kayak for less than 1000 plus 100 for paddle, 100 for PFD and 50 for transport wheel you should be good to go.

My first one was 25 years ago then 2 for the past two years but all were my own fault.

I use this Strike king football swing head. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Strike_King_Tour_Grade_Tungsten_Swing_Football_Head/descpage-SKTGTSH.html

Yup family also matter not just fishing. You did well my friend and you did catch some bass at least. There always tomorrow.

It happen to most of us this time of year especially those of us Bank beaters. It either dinks or skunked, you pick. I prepared this year so I still catch bass but most of them dinks with a few 2lbers mixed in. I target only weedy area and use only weightless small plastic like Trick and Finesse worm sometimes baby menace grub or hula grub (all weightless) work as well. This morning I caught about tens with Roboworm Ned Worm (MMii) wacky rig no weight. Most of the bass I caught were within 10' of shoreline on top of weed/grass. All I can say is down size your lures and slowwwww way downnnnnn.

Another reason I don't fish a lot of treble hooks lure, especially at night. I have converted some of my top water lures to single inline hook just for this very reason. I'm not just talking about pliers but fish grip as well if I don't have both I don't wanna fish with treble hooks. Most of the time I don't need pliers but with small hooks, pliers is a must.

Yes some knots would strucked on T-wings especially bigger diameter line like 12lb mono on 30-40 lb braid. It would cast just fine the problem is when reeling in. How long do you plan for your leader? If shorter than rod length you should have no problem wit any knot.

Have you try the 3X shrink tube? You might be able to get away with bigger tube to pass barb or eyes of those hooks. About worm hook, the only downfall that I can see is if the hook doesn't have that small barbs on the shrank, the tube might slide down over time.

@kenmitchI used to live like 5 mins from Lake Perris, On Moreno Beach by the Golf course. I didn't do good before I moved out but I've heard behind Island still good and around dock by launch lamp(new flooding area). The guy from local forum who come fish with me, told me he caught a lot of 5-6# there.

I have curado M/F 6'10 fish (1/4-1/2) with it only couple times. The foregrip is not that bad it is more like decoration than foregrip and act like lock nut same as my Ateos, but I don't like it either. The M/F is only a tad softer than my Daiwa MH/F (1/4-3/4). Another thing I don't like is reel seat design (not enough bank exposed) make my reel sit a little bit higher but I can feel vibration from the bite just fine. I use my Daiwa MH/F (got 3)for all around, Texas rig, Jig, top water, jerkbait, Senko, chatterbait you name it but mostly 3/8 or heavier. The curado can cast Senko a mile and can cast down to Zoom weightless trick worm(plus 3/0 hook). The sensitivity is comparable to Daiwa or any rod in this price point. My problem with this rod is, I wanna use it mainly for Fluke and Jerkbait, but the tip is not soft enough. It might be okay if use with big jerkbait like SP100 but anything smaller might have some hard time getting the right action. Too bad Shimano doesn't offer ML version of this rod.

Kidding aside tho, I would open it up and let it air dry, you might not need re-grease anything but a drop of oil on spool bearing doesn't hurt.

I like split grip better just for the look, but doesn't matter full or split I don't use handle anyway. The most important is reel seat, I want low profile with a lot of bank exposed. I went back to fish some of my old rod with full Fuji reel seat and it huge and can't feel s thing with it.

If you plan to catch a lot of dinks, yes. I agree with @Bluebasser86 about stress to big fish on UL. You can cast most of the lure these day with ML spinning rod.

@new2BC4basshave you ever try that tatula 610mxf with Super Fluke or jerkbait? Is XF really XF? How is the bend on the rod, just the tip section? I'm dying here, it about time for me to fish Fluke but I don't have rod for it.

I think I did that once or twice with my two reels Chornarch 50e and curado 70, but it only submerged in water for only a minute or so, ?. I remembered fishing it until couple months later to get a drop of oil on spool bearing.

First of all blood knot is not recommended for mono to braid, it might be fine for backing but never for leader. Second of all what size (dia.) your mono backing and your braid? You might not need to buy a new line, it depends on how much your braid line is in there. Try bomb cast as far as you could with 1/2 oz bullet weight if you still have plenty of line left (at least 10-15 yds) you should be fine. While you at in, strip more line out as much as possible, now reel the line it make sure to use your finger to hold the line firm but not too tight. (from your pic I saw that small bump on the way left, it looks like your knot causing this bump. If spool or any mechanic problem it should be slope from one side higher than other.