BrackishBassin

I have a love/hate relationship with the t-wing system on my Tatula CT. I really like that I don’t feel like I need to pay as much attention to where the line is before I cast, if I’m really trying to bomb a lure. That being said, I hate that the line pops out of the groove so easily when running the line over my finger to feel for lighter bites. I’ve been eyeing the Fuego CT as my next reel purchase for that very reason. People I’ve talked to say they really like the reel, and that the only major difference between it and the Tatula CT is the t-wing system.

Bottom line - they can’t bite it if you’re not throwing it. My PB (fish in my picture) was caught on a wakebait in the middle of February when you’re ‘supposed’ to be crawling jigs on the bottom or dead sticking a senko to get a bite. If you’ve got it, throw it. Might just be a PB with your name on it waiting to see something different.

Looks great!

If you want a guaranteed catch on a ‘spinnerbait’, then go grab a few beetle spins from Wal-Mart. If you don’t catch something on them, I’ll buy them from you. I’ve caught everything from a red drum to a blue gill on beetle spins. They work.

I find that the most effective ‘hookset’ for me when using baits with trebles is just a hard ‘lean’. I don’t move arms at all, which is why I don’t like to refer to it as a hookset. People think swing for the fences when you use that terminology. What works best for me is just twisting my torso away from the fish while reeling. As soon as I feel them hit it, I reel down and twist at the same time. I very rarely lose fish that way, but it does happen occasionally. All my treble hooked baits, actually are my moving baits, are fished on a medium fast action rod.

Got a saltwater rod passed down to me from a family friend. It’s only worth is sentimental. First time I used it, I managed to close the tip in a door on the way out. Completely destroyed it. Cost me $5 at my local tackle shop to get it replaced. Took about 10 minutes, which I spent looking at and buying some lures. Come to think of it, maybe it should have only taken a minute or two and they just know me too well by now...

I’ll check them out thanks!

I’d like to find something right at 7’ because of how I fish (beating the bank with lots of trees), but it seems to be hard to find H rods in that length without spending lots of coin on them.

I don’t think the MH would do what I need. One of the wake baits I want to throw is 1.5 ounces. Ugh. I don’t know if I can handle that. Might have to look elsewhere.

I’m looking to combine a set up (want to expand but do it on a budget) to serve two main purposes - frogging and throwing smaller swim baits and wake baits. I’ve read some things about how the Shock series from Berkley are designed for braided lines (normal backbone but softer tip). Can anyone who’s used one chime in? I’d like to know if I could swing one combo for throwing both frogs and smaller swim baits. Thanks!

Grassburner. It’s expensive, but they aren’t missing a hook, even if they just swipe at it.

I use 15 lb PowerPro on my spinning set up because it does double duty (fresh and saltwater fishing). Works great for me.

Yep! Thanks for the links. Set the reels up like that and you’re golden.

Hey, see if you can get in touch with Fishnkamp on here. He sent me videos on how to set up Daiwas with the Magforce Z brakes. I watched them both, adjusted my CT the way suggested, and I haven’t had a backlash since. My casts went from praying I didn’t get a birds nest to winging it out there without even needing to thumb the spool (if the cast is smooth). It’s made a world of difference for me.

I watch MLF and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “It’s a big’un!” Only to have them pull up a 1.5lb bass.

I’m a bank beater by trade, and I always carry a grocery bag with me to my local spots. It’s usually filled by the time I leave and very little of it is mine. I’m doing my part, but as an added bonus, I often find lures looking for trash. So, it all ends up even in the end. I try to focus on fishing line. It’s downright deadly for anything that gets tangled up in it. You wouldn’t believe how many yards of braid I’ve collected in the past year.

The grassburner works great, if you’re in completely open water with nothing floating on the surface.

It’s only 9.99 for the toadrunner. Think you end up at a net loss if you count the time you put into them. But if they’re more effective, it may be worth it.

Fred’s Outdoors in Waldorf. Doesn’t have a huge selection of lures, but they carry stuff my local shop doesn’t.

Sort of off topic, but yesterday found a local tackle shop that I didn’t know existed. They had toadrunners in stock. I may or may not have picked up a few...

My local WalMart has a whole bin of them on clearance pretty much all of the time. I’ve picked up 8 or so in the past year (cranking from the bank can be problematic).

If nothing else, I find them fun to fish. Something about trying to get the speed just right to get the perfect wobble appeals to me. You’ll know if you’ve got it, you can hear the thing rattling across the pond.

Bass in my profile picture was caught with one. Only issue with them is that you can’t burn them across the surface. They’ll turn over if you do. But I prefer it to my other topwaters in one of the ponds I fish where they mow the grass frequently. Anything else besides a frog (whopper plopper, popper, etc.) gets covered in cut grass and/or fouled up. Something about the wake crank keeps that from happening.

You tried the Arashi wake crank? Love that bait. Caught my PB on it this past February.

Glacier Gloves. Cheap and readily available.