CroakHunter

I don't fish swimbait much. But use the grass pig as a swim jig and chatterbait trailer and liked the action. Maybe I should try a keitech fat impact.

I use a large bass pro tackle bag. It holds 8 or 9 3600 boxes. Plus a medium worm binder and a small box for my weights. I also carry some tools, 3 spools of line, and a water bottle in it. Its a little much for when I go pond hopping, but it's great when I jump in someone else's boat.

I use almost all braid, I just guess on how much backing to put on depending on spool size. My tatula sv tws I only put a few handle turns of mono on, my curado 200 I put about 1/3 of a spool which is probably 50ish yards. I can usually get 3 reels worth of 50lb braid out of a 300yd Spool. Another good way to save money is to take line off one reel and spool it backwards onto another. Especially for braid this works well when the color fades.

I'm about the bite, not about the fight. Thats why I didn't care for the saltwater fishing I did a few years ago. The guides were like "isn't it fun fighting that fish? This is a lot better than a largemouth isn't it" My reply was "eh, it's ok, I'm getting tired of reeling though"

I set my drag by rod/presentation. None of them are locked all the way down. Even in my flipping stick with 65lb braid, I can still pull line of with a sharp tug. But my medium power senko rod with 30lb braid can be pulled out with a steady pull and not too much force. Maybe around 4lbs. Crankbait and jerkbait rods are even less resistance due to the small thin wire trebles. My only spinning outfit is set light enough where almost any fish over 2lbs pulls drag at some point. My ultralite Panfish setup cant lift a 1lb red ear out of the water without pulling drag. Set your drag by your rod and presetation not by your line choice is my recommendation

Zoom paddle tail worm works well. Very slender so it goes on and put of cover well

No need to kill it. They fight hard and are fun to catch. They live forever out of water Too. Maybe people thought it was a snakehead which I think are an invasive species. I don't believe bowfin are invasive but could be wrong. The only fish we kill and don't eat are Asian carp

Kind of what I was thinking, may experiment with line to see if I can get a suspend when slow sinking isn't the ticket.

Mule tape and a cinder block work well for small boats. We use actual anchors, but only because we had a guy give us 5 of them.

I have some bass pro xps hawk minnow jerkbaits. I noticed when throwing them the sink slowly in our slightly chilly water temps Here in indiana. Probably about 50 degrees. They come stock with #6 hooks but want a truly suspending bait for cool/cold water times. Should I try #8's or will they be too small for the fish that just slap at the bait? Or should I try a different line. I use 10lb copolymer right now. Have thought about using small diameter 10lb mono but would like to have the little more strength the copoly gives me. Thanks for the help.

Here in southern indiana, last 2 years we've gotten less than 6" of snow combined. I don't mind snow, ice stinks though. I'd like a little bit so my 9 year old could go sledding. But it was 64 degrees here today.

Check out omfishingsinkers.com they have tungsten jig heads now for really cheap. Shipping is usually 9 days and free of you spend 40 bucks.

Too high end for me for a moving bait, but if it works for you then hammer down. I don't throw the chatterbait much any more but use the fogy from seibert outdoors because it has quality components at entry level costs. You should look into them possibly. I do like the moderate fast action for bladed jigs and spinnerbaits.

I wasnt. I'm not musically gifted in any way. But always loved the pep band playing at our schools basketball games. Especially when they played "great balls of fire!" that always got the student section pumped up.

Not a new technique to me but a new bait that won me some money was the magnum rage bug. I used it to flip deep weedlines next to stick ups.

Rage craw, rage magnum bug, brush hog, paca craw, rage menace, pit boss.

Sometimes fish prefer one over the other. I have experienced it many times. Also, not all jigs are the same. For example, a football head jig isn't good in grass and around wood. Where as a pitching/flipping jig isnt great around rock. For me a Texas rig is good around brush piles and grass. But a football head jig is better around rock and contour changes. A pitching jig does well for me around lay downs and stumps/stick ups. Not saying some of these can't be effective where I mentioned they didn't work for me. On another note, think about profile of the 2 baits. A pegged Texas rig with a 1/4 ounce weight and a 4/0 hook with a 4 inch craw (standard for me) bait is pretty slender. But a 3/8 ounce jig with a 65 strand skirt and a 3 inch trailer is shorter, but has more bulk to it. another point to consider is secondary action. The Texas rig only has the action of the soft plastic but the jig has the secondary action of the skirt. I have a dedicated rod for both presentations and they are my confidence lures. Don't be afraid to hit an area with one and go back over it with the other. Just because they seem similar doesn't mean a fish will eat both. I've had days where one will outfish the other 10:1 multiple times

I haven't fished the abu, but have the tatula and absolutely love it. I don't think the garcia holds a candle to the sv tws.

A pair of side cuts works wonders, so I've heard and seen.

Following. Just stocked up on 3 and 5xds as well

Quote of the week! Good one Catt!

6 and 12 is what I'd do. I crank and throw jerkbaits with 10. spinners, topwater, and chatterbait 15. Pitch, deep worms, and jigs with 17. Plan to have an a-rig/swimbait setup next spring and will have 20Lb spooled

Your be surprised at how good of a flipping and punching bait a senko is

They always go on sale around black Friday. Yum, keitech, rapala, bandit, jackall are also all heavily discounted on some websites.

20Lb cxx