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Well, I did say almost. ? Beautiful work.

Not much to say. It's a shallow crank that runs about a ft deep. Seems to bounce off rocks & cover decently. Little cheaper than a Baby 1 minus. Decent color selection.

50/50 between a Stanley Ribbitt or Zoom Horny Toad. Some days the fish like one more than the other. Every once in a while I'll throw a Rage Toad. I throw em on a 7' MH with 30 lb braid.

I've been having decent luck on a popper from Academy. One bait that's been working good for me is the Egg made by BPS. It's a good substitute for a Baby 1 minus.

That is one beautiful rod. Almost too pretty to fish with it. You're doing a great thing too by helping others.

Buy a different rod. ?

Yeah. Stayed close to home & fished near my neighborhood since weather was looking sketchy. Didn't figure I would have much luck, but ended up with 3. Decent one on a Redeye, a little dink on Ned Rig & the big one on a wakebait.

I've had very few do this, but recently had 1 that started swimming on its side on faster retrieves. From the other thread about the diff paints & sounds, I started to think I caused some BBs to get stuck. I've been slapping the RES on the surface to get rid of a lotta slime. That's when it started. I'm guessing some BBs got stuck & unbalanced it. Gonna try the trick of wrapping it in a towel & give it a few good whacks on a table.

I've never had that problem very often, but the 2 other recent threads on RES got me thinking about it. I fish lipless cranks a lot & use RES about 90-95% of the time. I've had 1 doing that swimming sideways thing the last few trips. I've been fishing a pond with a bunch of that stringy & soupy moss/muck that gets stuck on your bait & won't come off. I finally starting getting lazy & starting slapping my RES on the surface to clear the slime. That's when it started doing the sideways swimming. My guess is I inadvertently lodged some of BBs. Now that they're stuck, the bait is off balance. It doesn't take much to unbalance a RES either. I fished with a new one today & the tiniest bit of that slime would get it swimming to the side a bit. My cure, I'm gonna quit smacking em on the surface to clear weeds & debris. With the one I got swimming off balance I might do what was suggested in the other thread - wrap it in a towel and whack it on a hard surface to dislodge the stuck BBs.

Caught my best so far this season at 5+ lbs. Wish I'd had my scales on me to weigh it. She had a fat belly.

Again, I'll suggest the Seaguar Invizx. You can usually get a spool of it cheaper at Academy Sports than anywhere else, like $18. Sometimes they'll mark it down as cheap as $12. I know it's more expensive than mono/nylon lines or Vanish fluoro, but to me it's worth it. I'll always spool my reels with FC like I do with braid. I fill the reel spool about 1/2 way with super cheap mono, then top off with the expensive fluoro or braid. Saves a lot of expensive line. If that option doesn't work for you, then just use some Berkley Big Game or Yozuri Hybrid. Both are good lines & very economical.

Caught this one today on an Academy H2O Express wakebait. This bait has been a proven catcher for me the last 2 seasons. I usually can find these baits for $2 - $3. This is my best so far this season, prob 5+ lbs.

Vanish was the 1st FC I tried, and I did NOT like it. Hard to manage & I had numerous break offs on good fish. Tried a few others before finally settling on Invizx. I've been using the 12 and 15 lb tests for a couple of years now and really like it.

Interesting. Looking at the diving lip I would've thought it might dive 8" to 1 ft max. Def could be versatile.

Exactly. He seems great in interviews and very polite & informative during instructional videos. But when I watch him during competitions, I immediately hit either the mute or FF button. To me the big difference is the live score tracker & how a lot of the episodes go down to the wire. I think it makes it more exciting and intense. The format I think reflects how most people fish. Don't we all like to catch more fish but still manage to catch a few good ones in the mix?

Ahhhh, there it is. The infamous RES with all the battle scars. Lol. I've had a couple like that, but eventually threw them out & got new ones. Now I'm 2nd guessing that decision. ? Was the color originally Summer Sexy Shad? If so, one of my favs. It's usually the Chrome Sexy Shad that chips & peels the worst for me. But this whole discussion brings up a good point. Never thought about the paint schemes or type of plastic causing subtle differences in the sounds emitted from the BBs inside. Definitely seems plausible and, as stated, might explain why certain colors produce better. I know my top 3 producing colors for 5+ yrs now have been chrome SS, summer SS & plain ole Sexy Shad. Got plenty of other colors, but 1 of these 3 seem to always catch at least a few fish. And some days the bass will absolutely choke it.

Ok, now this sounds kinda cool.

This is prob the answer right here. I've been looking for an excuse to buy a 2 tap anyway. I never did any better with the old Excalibur one knockers than a standard RES which is why I've been reluctant to pull the trigger on a 2 tap. Now I see what you're saying. ?

Lol. No, of course not.? See, I wasn't sure I understood your comment. I thought you were saying same size. My point is the 1/2 oz tungsten weight is smaller than the 1/2 oz lead weight bc tungsten is more dense.

Ho-leee cow! Yes, I used to have a couple packs of those dating back to the 80s I think. Never used them much bc they didn't cast well fishing them weightless on my ole Abu Royal Ambassadors. I think I threw them away a few yrs ago when I did a big reorg of fishing stuff. They were so old that the plastic smelled awful. I figured a bass would never eat em. Lol.

Yeah, you'd think. I know about the air bladder (at least it looks & feels like an air bladder) cause I bought a couple packs based on a recommendation from a guy I know that guides & works at our Sportsman's Warehouse. They had some in the store. I like the colors available. Forgot to mention the impregnated scent. It's good too. They're pretty big worms too. I like using them in shallow water on a 1/16 - 1/8 oz shaky head that has a bigger 4/0 or 5/0 hook.

Look, you guys aren't robbing me of an opportunity to feed the bait monkey. I kinda wannna get a 2 Tap anyways. ? To be continued. ?

Bass Assassin makes a floating worm called the Tapout. It has an air bladder in the tail that causes the worm to stand up well on a shaky head. Good color selection. The Gambler floating worm works pretty well too, but there is a limited selection of colors.

Whoa whoa whoa! You caught a bat, and that's not uncommon? ?

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Tungsten is more dense than lead, so a tungsten bullet weight does have more mass than a lead bullet weight that's the same size. It doesn't just feel heavier, it is heavier. But that might be what you're saying. Again, this all gives me an excuse to go buy a 2 tap so I can weigh it on the 4 decimal place scales in my lab. Only way to get a definitive answer. Must feed the monkey! Must feed the monkey! ?