Shimano_1

I've gotten to where I use the ewg hooks for all my worm fishing. Gamakatsu for anything smaller that 4/0 and Trokar or mustad grip pins for the 10 inch worms

You will know really quickly if tournament fishing is for you or not. If you're competitive by nature and like to fish I think you'll love it! As these guys have already said...plan on losing all of your entry fee money for a while. Look at it like you're paying for the experience. Like everything else there will be a learning curve. Just fished a local tournament today and a father and son that won the last one 2 weeks ago....won again today...fishing from a tracker grizzly with a 25 hp motor and hand operated trolling motor. Kinda made me smile when I looked around at all the high dollar boats etc and watched them win again lol. Sounds like you're going into it open minded and eager to experience it! Have fun and remember it's still just fishing!

Admittedly I have no experience with the X-zone. I have no reason to try anything else at the moment as I have tons of confidence in the keitech/ rage swimmer. Pretty obvious the X-zone swimbaits are gaining traction tho. May have to break down and try em when my stash of these runs low

I agree with a couple others. Id move on and target some fish that are in a better mood. Id imagine in that water temp there's a good majority moving up shallower and easier to catch!

Pretty sure the ones I use are simms and I've had good luck from them. They've lasted 3 or 4 years so far and they're still in good shape. No experience with any other I'm sure someone will chime in. Good luck

I've been bass fishing for 30 years myself and still have to take a step back every now and then. In the down time...winter months etc I find myself buying tackle to scratch the itch. Sometimes I find a new bait that makes the cut and becomes a staple. More often than not I find myself having buyers remorse and it goes into to bin with the rest that get no play. It's hard when we are over loaded with information from everywhere telling us we have to have this new bait to catch more bass. I can definitely see how a new angler would get overwhelmed. I take way too much every time I go and usually end up using the same 4 baits. As has already been suggested I give inexperienced anglers this advice...buy a cple packs of worms, cple jigs, cple of mid depth crankbaits or spinnerbaits and a cple topwaters. Get experience using these and as the experience comes so will preferences for what one likes to fish. I could flip a jig 100 percent of the time and be happy and my dad could throw a chatterbait the same and be happy. Obviously neither of those will work 100 percent of the time so we have decisions to make. I personally feel that's what separates good fisherman from great fisherman. It's a slippery slope and so many variables and decisions to make about every aspect of fishing is part of what makes it so intriguing to me! Information is a wonderful tool but it can be a negative if it gets our minds all twisted up!

Yeah guess I hadn't thought much about that! Maybe it'll ease up soon and get back to some normal operation

I've been a big tacklewarehouse fan for many many years. I understand the pandemic etc. We are over a year in....I don't really understand why there's a problem anymore? I get that things are out of stock etc but a week is a little ridiculous on in stock items. If it's went on this long maybe it's time to hire a few people to help keep the customers happy. I'm sure they're aware and hopefully soon will figure out a solution! I keep wanting to order stuff from them but I'm too much of a kid to wait 2 weeks or longer to get it.

I'm currently using 3 of the regular slx reels for tournament and fun fishing! Lotta reel for the $

I take mine off after I pull the boat out of the water. If I'm fishing away from home they stay in the truck. I keep the boat covered, no garage, so they stay in my fishing room til next trip. I've trailered with em on but after the money I've spent on these new ones I don't take any chances with debri or anything damaging them on the road.

There should be a hook there. I just got rid of a boat that looked just like that and it had a hook there. I would try to put a new hook in there with some silicone to keep water out. It should sit above the water line on the water. If I were gonna fill it I'd use marine tex. Good luck

Honestly bud hate to agree with a cple of these guys but I don't see that he's doing anything wrong at all. It's your dogs that are creating the disturbance not his fishing. Very hard sometimes to see our own actions as the problem. I realize this more and more with every passing year. If it were me....I'd apologize to the guy and figure out how to shut my dogs up. I wouldn't want to make enemies with my neighbors because my dogs won't stop yapping. I understand it being a lil aggravating but he isn't doing a thing wrong. Maybe not what you want to hear but u asked for opinions. Good luck

If you don't have the answer to the guys question why even reply? He didn't ask who cared about who makes it. He asked who made it as we all know it wasn't basspro. Sorry bud but I have no clue myself and appears maybe no one does. Likely a nice rod but if manufacturers matter maybe better off looking elsewhere. The few things I've heard or read about the rod have been positive and I've always had pretty good luck with their rods myself.

In my experience no. I use snaps on everything with trembles and have for many many years

Uve pretty much answered ur own question. Yes it can be fished slow. Do u want less action? In cold water I stay away from the rage craws because they have more action than I want. Not really convinced it matters but I find myself fishing things like chunks and chigger craw typed in colder water. If u wanna slow down and crawl it I'm sure it would produce in the right area. I used to think my baits needed tons of action. Over the years I have eased away from that and seem to do better on baits with little to no action. I think the subtlety makes a difference in pressured waters. Try it fished any way you want. Don't know that there's a wrong way to fish a rage craw!

I fish a chunk or a raptor chunk in spring period. Move to the more active craws post spawn

I totally get someone fairly new to all this assuming that a 30 dollar reel feels similar so why should I spend more. Used to be of the same mind set. After a few years I realized I was replacing my cheap stuff yearly and my buddies that had spent more money for quality were getting years from theirs. Quality comes at a price period. I can't tell u if a vanford is worth the money....but for me it absolutely would be. I fish several spinning reels in the 100 dollar range and am satisfied. Have no clue if the lews is a decent reel. If you're satisfied with it that's all that Matters. Just dont expect vanford performance and quality from anything that cost 30 bucks....it's never going to happen. Most shimanos I own and have owned get better with use. Can't say the same for the lews and garcia reels I've owned. Lews reels are fantastic for their price points and for 30 bucks if it casts and reels I guess its a winner. Just remember a year down the road to reevaluate its performance and I think it'll make sense why some guys prefer the higher end gear. I agree comparing lews and shimano on here is gonna ruffle some feathers. I personally feel that they're quite comparable dollar for dollar. I think the tournament pro is a worthy competitor to the curado. Some of the better spinning reels are comparable as well. Of course we all know what they say about opinions lol. Both companies make fine products....just no comparison in the 2 reels being compared here.

I always put a split ring on my glide baits and tie to it. Seems like it gets a little more action from it.

Don't seem to be a ton of people sharing negative experiences. Seems like mostly positive. Id own a tracker in a heartbeat. Actually think it's pretty sweet that they offer what they do for the money. I personally would likely upgrade most things on any new rig myself so I'd order one bare bones with the motor I wanted. Then buy ur stuff yourself. If the dealer was that close and was a reputable dealer I'd have my answer

They're all cookie cutter boats in my opinion til you get up into the vexus and xpress caliber. Other than things mentioned such as trolling motor and pumps etc. Id venture to say there isn't much difference in quality from tracker to ranger or whatever else. Id go check out all the rigs that interest "you". You know how guys are....my brand is better than the rest. I don't think you can buy a bad rig these days. Find the best choice for what you want and need and pay little attention to anything else. I bought my triton tin because the dealer was close and it was 2k cheaper than the ranger. Had I came across a tracker that suited me it would likely be in my driveway

Yeah pretty sure you're vision of the g is way off base. It being safe to use in salt has nothing to do with what it can be used for. Excellent reel and not much different than the mgl. If it were cheaper than the mgl I'd buy it in a heartbeat

I own a 2019 triton 18tx, exact same boat as the rt and I've been quite satisfied with it. Someone else owns ranger, hardly means they're trash now. Still some of the finest boats made. Too many people caught up in Johnny morris owning everything and it usually turns negative. Ive done the same. Also hard for me to believe tracker doesn't make a fine boat as well considering how many you see everywhere. Personally I'd go with the rt but admittedly I have no knowledge of the lund. I would feel confident in ranger handling it if you did have any problems. Buddy has the rt and loves it. I've had no issues with mine except for a couple minor things that were addressed quickly and made right by my dealer. As mentioned I'd definitely take into account the dealer for each and their reputation as well as location. Either boat I'm sure would serve you well. Good luck!

I too would get the shimano slx combo. Simply no comparison at the price point in my opinion. Several nice reels around 100 bucks and same for rods but ur getting a 200 dollar combo for what was 139 a cple weeks ago. I picked up my second one a month ago.

It will largely depend on the outfit running the event. Fished a Toyota owners tour in September on pickwick. Launched 240 boats I think it was that morning and it was smooth as silk. Ive fished a few 100 boat tournaments locally that have been a train wreck. I suspect with bps handling the whole deal they have experienced personnel manning these events. I'm most likely going to enter for the old hickory one myself since it's the closest to me. Seems like a pretty good and big deal for the weekend angler

Yes it is beautiful but I hate em in bass waters. One of my local lakes is a big musky lake and try as they might the bass fishing is and always has been trash