gilkeybr

Last year my goal was getting more confidence jig fishing, which I did. This year i'd like to roll that confidence over to the T-rig. Also, I got away from spinner baits the last couple years after having them as one of my go-tos when I first started fishing. I'd like to work on that again. But, my main goal for fishing this year: Catching a SMB out of Lake St Clair. If I don't get that done (skunked the last two years) then i'm moving out of Michigan...

Okuma SBX 7-11XH and XXH are pretty heavily discounted on Amazon right now (and only one of each). Wish the deal was as good on the H, as that is what I am looking for... Brian

I think rods are difficult to resell, because packaging ends up being such a drain on your return as a seller. I couldn't imagine trying to sell a rod besides locally. When it comes to selling reels, or tackle, my experience is I often don't need to get rid of them. So pricing can be closer to a make-me-move price, as opposed to a have to sell price.

Eco Pro Tungsten has a paddle style swimbait, the Swing Shad. Not as many options on length or color as the Keitechs, but in my experience they catch fish just as well at almost half the price.

I think I would rather break off than have to manage unhooking 5 treble hooks from a fish! I already get pretty queasy every time I hook a fish on a 3-treble jerkbait or similar. 5 trebles is just reckless!

I wonder why reel manufacturers insist on using gear ratio for their publications? IPT is a much more useful piece of information. For Comparison: Daiwa Pixy - 6.8:1 - 24 IPT Shimano Tranx - 5.8:1 - 30 IPT This is an extreme example, but illustrates how gear ratio can be misleading

1/2 Z-Man Flip-N-Cast in California Craw. The football head jig has the same textured skirt.

Had a cool package show up in the mail today. Was looking to get my first Trick Darter, and while exploring I found a seller on ebay with good prices and some other interesting lures. Ended up combining shipping and getting this MB Vision 95 as well. I have no idea the vintage of the bait, definitely doesn't seem "new". Maybe 10 years old? (Update, its labeled 2004 on the bait). I look forward to fishing both. X-80 I think is in PM Fine Wakasagi Vision 95 is in Al Hakone

The first wave of Black Friday stuff showed up...i'm not proud of my lack of self control. I do appreciate whoever gave the tip of getting the free t-shirt in your wife's size! Hopefully that helps get me in the clear! Biospawn's 40% off was hard to pass up, as well as TW doing an extra 10% off on 6th Sense stuff. Didn't realize how many jigs I had until I ordered a box that was too small to fit them all...whoops! Still waiting on some odds and ends. Took the 20% off BF deal as a chance to put myself on the Curado DC waiting list.

Im a big fan of the Missle Jigs Head Banger jig. Not a huge selection of colors, but a very nice finish that isn't prone to chipping off in my experience. Haven't tried the jigs you mention, but I do have a hybrid jig on my wish list for black friday!

I told myself I was getting out of the MB game after finding that a couple of them had "puffed up" in the past. But I just keep coming back like the junkie I am... I have a real weakness for perch pattern lures. That Pro Perch +1 is by far my favorite lure to throw, thus the hook rash. Caught me several 5lb smallies this year!

In my experience, even when ordering online the discount has still applied to MB. This is a screenshot of my order last fall, with a LC lure thrown in as well. Hopefully I don't jinx myself because I have my eye on a couple things that are on the excluded list for next week (Shimano, MB, etc)

Had a fun order turn up today from hookup tackle. Really have been wanting to see, none the less try, a Vision 110 +2 for a while. Then I had to make sure I got to free shipping and it just spiraled out of control from there... I took a couple pictures comparing the 110, 110 +1, and 110 +2. You can see the bill is quite a bit larger. Also the body doesn't taper as severly. A final observation would be that it has significantly more stout hooks compared to the type katsuage trebles. I also took a picture of the 110 LBO compared to a 110 FX. The weight transfer system can be see a bit through the paint, although it is more obvious in the Dive ELBO. Also excited to try these lures. Reminds me a bit of the Jackall Rerange? Too bad soft ice season is almost over here in MI!

New in this group, from SE Michigan. Got a boat this year and have been trying to take advantage of it. Absolutely love catching SM, which is perfect with St Clair so close. However, i've been out ~5 times and haven't caught them yet! Planning to go out Thursday for one last hurrah. I've heard tips of The Firecracker as well as the Ridges. Going to go out and get lost and hope to stumble upon them! Any tips for finding workable structure on LSC? Does it come down to just having "tribal knowledge"? Do you use graphs and cover an area looking for anomalies? The last time I went out I drifted across Anchor Bay for ~90 minutes and never saw anything besides 9FOW!

Thanks for the tip. I've never had much interest in Norman baits. But for that kind of deal, hard to pass up! Threw in a Chug'n'Spook Jr for good measure

Almost every LC bait I own (not a million, but more than a couple) has done this. They're on my list of lures i'll no longer buy because of this failure. MB lures also seem to be vulnerable as well, as I found several Vision 110s and a few Flap Slaps that showed similar expansion (MB did replace these for free which was nice). Some of these were unused much like your own. My only conclusion is heat as well. I keep the lures out of the sun and out of the trunk/boat as much as possible.

I've caught a lot of fish on an I Know It 168 in a pond that has no shad (all bluegill and perch). I thought it was a good compromise color that looked like a lot of different forage. I wouldn't hesitate to get the trout color though. I've caught bass in the same pond on other trout imitation baits!

Stopped at F&S this weekend on a whim. Turns out they were having a 20% off everything in the store sale. I had been eyeing this MB Levante Launcher rod for a while. They had it on clearance, but not especially cheap (slightly cheaper than the regular TW price). They had it discounted 30% in addition to the 20% off sale. Ended up getting it for quite a deal, IMO. It'll be my new cranking rod! Can't wait to put it to work. Its by far the longest rod I own!

This isn't a "new" lure exactly, an S-Waver 200. The bait monkey convinced me to get it after having success with the 168 last summer. Once the 200 came, I quickly realized I didn't have anywhere near the gear required to throw it. So it sat in a box, unused. I finally got a budget rod that can manage it and swore I wouldn't throw anything else until I caught a fish on the 200. Did a few 15 minute sessions at lunch time on our 5 acre pond at work. Finally hooked up today on this bass and one other one that I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of. Always remarkable how savage bass can be. This fish was probably only ~2.5lbs, and the other was even smaller! They sure must have been hungry

I recently got a couple of these jigs and really like them. They are a "football head", but have a fairly flat bottom so they skip well in my experience. Also, they seem to get through grass decently. I'd say they are a good "do anything" jig https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Missile_Jigs_Ikes_Head_Banger_Football_Jig/descpage-MBIHB.html

This coupon made my weekend. Forced my wife to go with me twice on saturday and got some stuff that I might not get in a situation where I had to pay for it! She thought I was nuts, but I told her she was coming in the store with me even if I had to throw her over my shoulder to do it! Even wondered if they would honor the coupon for my 3 month old...didn't push my luck on that one haha If I lived closer to a Gander Outdoors, they may have been out of fishing stuff by the end of the weekend

Not a -G, although I wondered at first.

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I certainly am not here to tell you "You can't fish a T-rig or Jig with this rod." As many people have said, it seems very flexible in terms of its usage. I'll continue to fish it, predominantly with jigs and see if my first impression was wrong. I'll also try it with some other moving baits.

Thanks for the replies. I bought this rod with the intent of using it as a T-rig/Jig rod. I must have been mistaken, as I thought it was a Fast action instead of a Regular...at any rate, it still was a good deal. After using it a few times since I got it, I feel like it is a bit "parabolic" for jig fishing, IMO. There is a lot more bend in the rod than I was anticipating on a big hook set. I really like the rod. Its impressively light and sensitive. Wondering if it would better suit me as a squarebill/light crank/spinnerbait type rod... As others have said it does feel pretty multi-purpose, as many MH rods are known to be. I think it would suit my preference to have something with some more backbone for jiggin'

I got some of the Roboworm Ned Worms. I like them a lot. The durability may not be as great as the elaztech, but they hold up admirably IMO (better than a wacky rigged senko, not that that is saying much). Its nice to have the different colors at your disposal (I went with Morning Dawn Chart.)