Boomstick

Not a Norman expert by any means although I do fish the fat boy a lot and they are my goto brand for medium and deep drivers , but the Goby color is not the usual colors I see on Norman's baits by any means. I bet you'll have some luck with these as many bass never saw them before!

Right now, I'm running 15lb line but I plan on getting a slightly shorter M/XF rod for jerkbaits and topwater and running 12lb Sufix Siege on it for next year.

When I started getting back into fishing last year, I went out and bought spinning rods for myself and my youngest son. My oldest son was brave enough to try the baitcaster. We both spent time trying to learn it, and for the first few weeks, had a very difficult time. At this time, I probably could say that I hated it, but we remained optimistic because we know that people do learn how to use them and kept trying. Fast forward about a month or so, I finally figured out how to use the baitcaster and now for anything besides finesse baits, I couldn't see myself using anything else! I can cast more quickly and accurately and I just love fishing with the baitcaster! I immediately went out and bought one for myself at that point. Fast forward about another month or so, and I started being able to cast reliably without birds nesting, turned my tension knob and brakes way down and could cast for better distance and place my bait within a 12" radius of where I tried to cast it pretty consistently. Caught my biggest bass to date by throwing it perfectly under a fallen tree which was an absolutely perfect cast! Start with the brakes turned all the way up, and adjust it so that your bait falls rather slowly. If the tension knob is a little too tight, it might cause backlash issues as well (although usually more minor). Start by casting sidearm, and when you cast, you want to essentially draw a Nike symbol with your rod, and as you start to throw it forward, speed up your cast to really throw it forward. I found that I was hesitating to throw it forward for fear of birds nesting, but as it turns out the further you throw it forward, the less likely to birds nest you are. Hope that helps anyway.

Add Booyah to that as well, they have some effective lures that are often cheaper than Strike King!

The fall bite seems to be September and early October up in Western MA and Vermont.

I got skunked the last two times I was out. Prior to that, I only got skunked 3 times this year! I think I picked the wrong lakes to fish as I believe they moved a bit deeper as it's getting colder up here, and I had no access to deep parts.

I believe that uses the same blank if I'm not mistaken? I'm sold!

I wouldn't ever really need to fish a buzzbait or spinnerbait on it. Is it decent for smaller squarebills too?

I have a not enough tackle problem!

A tip I picked up from the bassresource Youtube channel was to target large fish, use a 4.3" Keitech or a 3.8" for slightly smaller fish. To catch fish in quantities however try a soft plastic craw or a 4" fluke.

This time of year, I will use a lot of lipless crankbaits, squarebills, spinnerbaits, and jerkbaits. Once the water gets to the lower 50s, I will focus more on lipless cranks and spoons.

1) I have used 12lb Berkley Big Game for spinnerbaits in open water and light cover and only lost one (it snagged between two rocks - there was no getting that one back). I'd think 10lb line might be usable, but is far from ideal especially with Vanish. I personally like 15lbs for fishing spinnerbaits in pretty much all conditions unless I'm fishing in some really heavy weeds, at which point I'd use 17lbs line. I have had great luck with Berkley Trilene Fluorocarbon in 15# for spinnerbaits myself. 2) There is no harm in experimenting with different blades. Different blades work in different conditions and different lakes.

I usually don't target larger fish simply because I largely end up shore fishing and can't get to the right spots for larger fish. If I rent a boat however, I'll change that up.

Is this a Nord VPN ad? Just wondering...

That's the reason I don't have one now. I owned a Charger with the 5.7L v8 engine that was two or three years old and lightly used. It shares much of the same powertrain as the Grand Cherokee which would be the only model I'd consider other than maybe the Cherokee, and with a warranty with a $100 deductible, I was spending $200-400 on repairs every month. Finally the drive train went and I had enough. The straight 6's were legendary for going and going. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if it still has more life in it than some of the newer Jeeps.

This was the impression that I got from the 7'1" M/F Mojo Bass labeled as the "Plastics" rod as well. I currently have a M/F spinning rod that has a lot of tip that I can use for jerkbaits as well, but would love a casting rod for these presentations, and I am thinking the 6'8" M/XF topwater rod might be the winner here but I wish I could get my hands on one.

One of the things I hope to pick up for next season is a a rod to fish jerkbaits, poppers, squarebills and soft plastics. Today I was at the Dick's / Field & Stream, and they used to carry the Mojo Bass lineup but the only casting rods they bother stocking anymore was a rack fill of the Jig & Baits rod, and a couple of the soft plastics rods. I was hoping to be able to look at the soft plastics rod, the jerkbait and topwater rod. The soft plastic rod is one I'm considering, but it's 7'1" and doesn't have very much tip (more of a moderate fast than a fast I'd say). I would prefer something a few inches shorter to work a jerkbait or popper easier. They have a 6'8" M/F rod labeled as a jerkbait rod (that is rated for 10-17lb line, so that tells me it's probably on the heavier side) and a M/XF which is labeled as a topwater rod and is rated for 8-14lb line, which sounds more inline with what I'm looking for. Does anyone have any experience with both of these rods and if so what would be better for the applications I listed? I'm also open to other suggestions, but I am a bit partial to the St. Croix Mojo Bass line and Daiwa Tatula line (they have a largely suitable rod as well, but it's 7' long) as they're solid rods at a good price point.

I'll try the pop max too!

Put it some place warm. If you have a space heater that blows air not the oil filled kind, you can blow that on it and it will dry the insides (just don't make it too hot). In the warmer weather, it will dry itself.

Has anyone tried the Megabass Pop X? Curious how it works. I found the link on tacklewarehouse, and the GG bass sure does look just like a baby bass, which has me curious in trying it. Is it worth the price?

I have used the same Daiwa J-Braid x8 40lb from on one of my casting reels that I had from last year. For the other one, I picked up some Berkley Trilene Fluorocarbon in 15lb on a buy one get one free sale at Bass Pro shops and I have had very good luck with it. Until today (which I was fairly sure I botched the knot I tied), the only lure I lost was caught on a handle on a dam and I had no chance of getting that one back.

I learned to fish a casting rod on the Ugly Stik and Black Max I bought for my oldest son, who was brave enough to try a baitcaster. It's definitely not as good of a setup as what he has now (I got him a Dobyns 704C and Shimano Curado K for his birthday (as he's taken to soft plastics) but we both caught plenty of fish on the Ugly Stik and Black Max combo he still uses it today for crankbaits! The HMG is a huge step up from the Ugly Stik anyway. No reason he can't go out and land some nice fish with it.

My first SV is just about my smoothest reel, but my second had a little click. I cleaned it and oiled it and that click went away. The handle doesn't feel as stiff as the other, but that's no big deal. But as rippin-lips suggested, it might be a smarter idea to just return it.

It's amazing how sensitive some of the new midrange to upper end glass rods have become. As for M vs MH, it depends what and where you're fishing. MH rods tend to be ideal for deep divers and throwing square bills in cover where it might get stuck and you need that extra power to horse the fish out. If you fish mostly in open water and don't use deep divers to often, I'd think you'd be good with the medium especially as other uses have said that rod runs on the stiffer side.

I usually use Daiwa J-Braid (15lb for finesse) on most of my finesse spinning rods, Sunline SX1 12lb on one tie on leaders. Seaguar blue label 6lb is a solid leader choice but I've been using a lot of 6lb Berkley Trilene XL this year. If the line is thin enough, you don't have to worry about the knot getting stuck going through the guides, even on my Avid X with micro guides, it's a non issue. I also ran 8lb mono on one before, and if spooled correctly you shouldn't have any issues.