CroakHunter

Still gotta be able to find the fish to be able to catch them. Not gonna be pulling 40lb bags out of a glass of water in someone's kitchen.

Although I do throw a frog and the occasional buzzbait, I am not a fan of topwater or reaction baits at all really. Id much rather pitch jigs and plastics all day. Early spring it's tough to not use a spinnerbait/bladed jig/ or lipless, but as soon as they move shallow and start eating the jig thats when I have my most fun

I too have both tied on at all times. Sometimes as many as 6 rods have a jig or t-rig on them. I usually pick one and fish it until I lose confidence in it. That could be 15 minutes could be 4 weeks. I believe it is more about location and rate of fall rather than the exact bait most of the time. Very few instances for me where i am putting a jig in the same places as a t-rig and one is getting bit a lot more than the other if rate of fall and color and size and action are similar.

Only place I order from.

50Lb is pretty heavy for those lures. 30lb would be better. But rod choice is probably a more important factor

40 would be the least I would use. I like 50 the best for jigs and frogs. 65 for super heavy flipping and punching.

I do both. I really like green jig with with black trailer. Or solid black skirt with red trailer

Bubble gum lemon swirl stick bait

I have found that most cork or Eva handles are brought to float them. So yes the extra foam will for sure keep the butt end floating enough to grab them out of the water.

Its floats. And is cushioning for your ribsnif you set the hook with the rod butt in your rib cage. Frogging comes to mind

Cush it?

To add even more confusion to this, I've caught the same 3.5lb bass on the same lure twice one spring and then again in the fall, and he had been caught 6 other times since 2011. But on the other end of the spectrum, my pb was caught in June of 2011 off an old road bed on black and blue jig and released after getting length and weight measurement. He wasn't caught again until May of 2017, only 125 yards away sitting in a brush pile where I caught him on a Texas rigged 10" worm. So was it the lure, fisherman, presentation, season, or just dumb luck?

I've caught some of my biggest bass on techniques that I know nobody else is throwing on the body of water I caught them in (magnum rage bug, big straight tail, 7" senko, weighted senko). But o the flip side, the other big ones I've caught on that lake have been on baits that everybody throws there (jig, craw, spinnerbait, big ribbon tail). The only reason I know nobody else is throwing the first few baits I mentioned is because it is a private 65 acre lake owned by my fishing partner and we know everyone that fishes there, what they like to use, and where they like to fish and anytime they see any of those baits I have tied on they just laugh and ask if I really think they are gonna work. I just grin and say nope just trying them out.

Youd be surprised at how good a drop shot lizzard is at night during and after the spawn.

Trap caster is the 7ft mh moderate fast rod. They fish a bit lighter and slower than advertised on my opinion. I have a review of the sr on this site.

A 6.4:1 tatula ct or tatula sv would pair nicely with a falcon Bucoo sr "trap caster" or the 705 cb from dobyns. With my svs I can pitch weightless worms and light jigsbwith ease and without backlash

Second the American legacy deals. They are just 30 minutes south so I like to support "local" stores. They also have a decent trade in program. I own 2 dobyns fury 735. They are flat out ridiculously good for $110.

To keep hooks from ripping out, To keep your line from breaking, to keep your rod from breaking, to help in tiring out and landing a hard fighting fish, to keep hooks from bending out, to prevent your line from digging in. Etc etc etc. I think common rule of thumb is to set it at 1/3 of the strength of the weakest link in your gear. For example, If your rod is rated from 6-12lb line, the middle ground would be 9lbs. And say you're fishing with 12lb line. And your reel has a max drag setting of 15lbs, you would want to set your drag to around 3lbs (which is surprising a lot) 1/3 of your rods max capacity, to help prevent any equipment failures or fish loss.

I let my 10 year old step daughter, who has only used spincast and spinning reels use my Tatula sv the other day and sitting 10 minutes I had back the brakes off a fair amount and she was casting 45-50 feet. That was using a rod that was too big and heavy for her and her having not the best mechanics in the world. Not once did I have to pick a backlash or over run out. No way I would let her even touch a reel without the sv spool right now until she learns proper technique first. with that being said, I can take that same setup and pitch weightless senkos, 1/4 ounce jigs, or make 45 yard casts with a frog or heavy jig. *also didn't read the previous posts so you may already have your answer.

The sizes you have listed are head weight, not total weight.

Anybody throwing one? Was just messing around with some of my 10" straight tail worms and thought I'd try to rig it up and see what it looked like. Looks nice and if it works it will definitely find a way into my arsenal. Using a dobyns 735, tatula ct, 17lb subline, gamakatsu g-lock 4/0 hook, 10" xcite baits worm, and a 5/16 ounce screw in weight. Rigging it "chicken" rigged I plan to use it in deeper water on grass edges and roadbeds as well as near brush piles. Don't have neko hooks big enough or heavy wire enough to try out yet but will be on the hunt for some. Some may question why I'm using such heavy gear for this rig when a 4 power and 14lb fluoro would probably work, but hopefully I'll be dealing with 4+ pound fish near or in cover, plus have a few tournaments coming up and don't want any equipment failures. Just a post to mention a new to me rig that may get someone curious about it.

832 is a quality line that should work good. I've been using kastking super power and it works great for a good price

When I pitch heavy wood, whether its a jig or Texas rig, weighted or weightless im throwing no smaller than 17lb. Most of the time it's either gonna be 20lb big game or cxx or 50-65lb braid. A heavy or extra heavy rod and I'm trying to cross their eyes and flip em in the boat before they know what hit them.

Frayed rope works well. I'm sure someone will chime in with pictures as they have before. @Bluebasser86 got any tips?

My 3 fuegos do everything from cranking to punching to pitching 1/4 ounce jigs and they haven't had a hiccup yet.