JustJames

Only problem I see is to keep it down on the bottom, you would have to reel very slow and might not activate the tail and blade. It look good for lift and drop or shallow flat area though. Thanks for the idea. BTW regular fishing line the blade might spin and wrap the hook/plastic. Maybe use stainless steel/copper hard wire?

You don’t miss anything along with 80-90% of other spinning user. I’d rather have reels without it.

If you have compared Vanford to Tatula since the beginning, there might even be a lot more ppl agree with you, and I for one. They both almost at least in the same category. You were trying to beat the expensive with the cheapest available which little unfair. They both reel, do the same thing, different is one with way better material inside and out, one with quality QC, R&D while the other just an OEM make a bunch of parts and sticker for different brand. I can say this, I’m also not impressed with Vanford in smoothness when compared to all my Daiwas (ballistic FW, Tatula LT Kage LT or even Exceler LT) but others thing like solidity, smooth strong drag and protection is way above those.

Googan bait lol.

I will settle with 3lb Canyon Lake crappie this year lol.

When do we compare, plastic light to magnesium light or carbon composite light?

Yes underspin with 3” or 4” paddle tail swimbait. I’m still confused as he said about 3 big ones but no mention of school. Again this might show, the big ones always stay on top of school (I think I’ve heard somewhere or bottom of school?)

Yes, I fish Texas rig hula grub through weed. The only thing I don’t like when bluegill nib the tail out which happen very often.

I’m cheap and lazy, so uni knot for everything. How many wraps depend on line type and diameter. 4 wraps for 10lb and above 6 wraps for 6lb and below. Braid 5-6 wraps, if smooth type braid then more wraps needed. This way I only cut about an inch or two of tag end. Snell only when I don’t want knot on the hook eyes. I’m not sure if it would help hook up ratio without specialty snell hook.

Dang those Clearlake and huge crappie. Should I move again? Lol. added..pics too bad he gonna mount that huge crappie.

You should give Gantarel Jr. a try. It is good for cruising along shallow. It you want slow sink action just add weight strips to the nose and become good bass bed fishing. It 1.5oz so you can fish on regular H or XH rod. I use Phenix ultra MBX XH with either Cardiff 200 or Curado 200iPG.

How big of a line when you fish frog? Curado 70 should be able to hole 40-50lb braid at least 100yds. I frog light cover and mostly open water so I only use 30lb braid and that is plenty enough.

Most of my reels have box either used or new. Some used reels don’t have box but if I want the reel, that is not the factor at all. I don’t have too many reels so having 15-20 boxes is no big deal. If any reels that are not in rotation either stay in reel cover or it’s own boxes. It is not about up the value of resale but to show you care of your equipment. If collectible reels then that different story.

These are pretty much hook I use now VMC weedless and none weedless 1/0 #1 and #2 for both wacky, Neko and sometimes dropshot. I normally use heat shrink tube so I can go down to #2, or #1. You don’t really need to hook through plastic right in the middle. 1/0, I use mostly when Neko rig while ZinkerZ or Zman Finesse Worm and with other plastic when not equip with heat shrink.

It depends on how much risk you wanna take. You work in this type of business anyway so you should know. A lot of guys here fish from boat with net and boga grip ready at hand with about a foot reach to the water. You should ask yourself. Yes I fish treble hooks sometimes (barbs been crushed most of it) but that when I either on my boat with net ready or when I can just pull the fish up to the beach (easy landing type structure). It is your choice, I made mine which is work and my body is more important than the fish. It might be hard to compare me with others since I can fish everyday and catch fish most of the time. Im sorry @A-JayI don’t wanna be in contrast with you. I’m still respect and envy all your catches but this is my honest opinion, especially for OP since I know where he fish.

Main benefit to me is easier landing and less risky to my hand/ fingers. Hook ups ratio, to me if use proper size hook, there shouldn’t be any issue. I only got one last year that swiped at my lipless and no hook up. I might not be the best to answer since I don’t fish these type lures often anymore.

It might work for you, if you dropshot a lot and trend to loose the rig. I just wanna comment regarding dropshot weight. It might be a little bit pricier than other but there are plenty of benefit. Cylinder weight, a lot less hang up, swivel on top reduce line twisted, the clip is help for quick change for depth, in a lot of case you lost only weight not the whole rig. Regarding the weight thrown off, when you insert the line to the clip do not pull up too tight, that will damage (kinked) the line and weight can cut the line off. Or some case the line is too small and the clip doesn’t work properly. You can expand the hole on the clip to be bigger or smaller depend on line size.

They are both pretty close regarding weight and characteristics. I compare OG Tatula Eva handle and old version Zodias. It is really depend on your preference but if Tatula is 50 cheaper, I’d op for Tatula. I have 3 Tatula MH, but only 2 zodias H and ML.

I’m lucky to move to Canyon Lake, or I would say lucky to marry my wife lol. It is not a big lake by any mean only 400 acres but a lot of shoreline with different depth and structure from sandy beach, rock flat, drop off ledge to old river system to riprap. If I ever feel the need to fish other it only about 30mins to Lake Perris, Lake Skinner and Diamond Valley Lake.

If you are strictly fishing LA pond, and you are targeting 3-4lb bass, I would recommend you rethink it. You don’t need big swimbait to catch 4-5lb fish. Most of the swimbait guys I know, they are sick of catching those 4-5lb bass and searching for instead Trophy bass. It might be cheaper and even more effective if you start with something smaller and still able to catch bigger fish like chatter bait, 4-5” paddle tail swimbait or even Jig.

If you are not even sure, you are gonna like big swimbait why don’t you start with something cheap enough like @WRBmention, shimano Cardiff 200-300. Big swimbait is not only cost but also time consuming and really need some dedication. You can kiss good bye to those 5-10 bass/day. Some might go day, week or even month to get one good bite.

Good fishing there. My fish aren’t in really shallow yet but pretty close. Most of them I caught around deep edge 10-15’ close to spawning area. The thing is all the fish are getting bigger. The other day caught a 7lb on weedless hudds and this morning caught a couple nice ones on Fatika. I hope my right elbow doesn’t act up too fast.

Yeah you know that and you might even guess where the kid caught that 10.3Lb (three tunnels on main lake side). At this time of yeah I always throw hudds in this area. Too bad I sold most all my big swimbait but will definitely try Gantarel Jr. or flashy swimmer when I have a chance. BTW thanks to big crappie in the bass gullet to put her over 10lb.

Sure why not? Actually this rod reminds me of my old shimano crucial dropshot specific that I broke year ago. I still have ML crucial dropshot 1/16-1/4oz but I prefer this Nanoace M.

When one said he caught fish on Ned, 10 followed. I do use Ned from time to time but not exclusively. Anything that work for shallow water with less snag I’m all for it since I most fishing from bank. Another story just happened to me the other day. I was fishing 1/4oz mushroom head with whole 5” ZinkerZ. Only caught one fish working for about 45 minutes around deep edge. One young kid show up with jerkbait and his very first cast he caught a 10.3lb bass. So much for Ned lol.