Dangerfield

I use an obscene amount of Z-Man plastics, and long before Uncle Randy mentioned it I was already stretching out all my worms, ned baits etc. before I fish them except for the low/no salt Z-Man baits. Reason I do it is so I can get the Baitfuel to marinate inside the bait and I do think they look better roughed up. Rage Bugs, Spark Shads, etc. not a chance, they're too fragile as it is.

Exposed hook: Z-Man Ned Lockz HD Jig Head Weedless hook: Z-Man Nedlockz EWG Jig Heads Locite is harder to locate in Canada, for my brethren north of the border: Lepage Super Glue Liquid works well with Z-man plastics. You'll lose your whole bait before it comes off, and if you want to remove a bait that's been adhered with the Lepage, you can scrape it off with a knife.

To simplify my pursuit of MB Vision 110 (really the family of baits Jr, +1, +2): I'm looking for Perch (Mat), GG Perch and GP Perch, that should cover all aspects of the water condition, clarity/viability and depth considering that's the main forage source up-north out side of Smelt.

I sorely miss Paul's videos on YouTube, his knowledge, cadence and ability to deep dive on a multitude of topics is above and beyond any influencer, semi-pro or full pro angler etc. I hope his wife's health has improved. All the best! -Jon

When I'm hitting a new lake or pre-fishing for a tournament, without a doubt #2-3 and if I'm on familiar territory where I have known spots, I'm going to #4. Coaching my daughters or my partner isn't nearly as often as I like and typically, I scale tackle way down for those instances and I might only bring 2-3 rods for myself.

I love this place - it's a brotherhood in my opinion, there's a wealth of knowledge that gets shared over many demographics and generations. I wouldn't know what to buy and not if it wasn't for this site. Hell I'd probably be a lot richer if I never met most of you.

Finally sent my busted 7' MHF Shimano Zodias spinning rod to Peterborough for warranty purposes. got the call from CS, outta warranty since it's a 2018 rod, so no freebie replacement. It stung that was a solid wacky rod but wasn't willing to pony up $180 with the 50% off, so I opted for a 7' MF Curado for $112 CAD out the door. I thought hard about the 7' 6" model but decide an all around would be better suited to my growing arsenal. Thinking of pairing it up with a Tatula LT or Okuma ITX for the blacked out look, but I'm thinking of giving the Miravel a shot.

I picked up a bunch for replacing jerkbait trebles and an assortment of ewg and dropshot hooks. I think the unusual bend in the hooks will serve me well with Z-Man baits. Y'all got lucky, my orders held up as they ship more supply of the Trapper hooks from the east coast to the west coast.

I've swapped two spools on my 6' 10" MLXF dropshot rod, shallow spool has straight 6# Invisx and line flies off the spool. While the default spool with 12# Sufix Nanobraid to an 8# Sufix Seige Leaders for heavier gauge baits or popper duties. For the price and line strength - Sufix Seige is highly underrated line.

Not sure this is allowed but I'd check out Jeff Little, also know as The Little Stuff on Youtube. He's done a couple videos on this rig and he's a big river guy. I'm not but I do chasing smallies. For some other high quality throwable kayaks, I'd check out the Native Watercraft Falcon, Crescent Kayaks Shoalie or Litetackle, and if you're looking to mount a Micro power pole or a Torqueedo/Newport Sports NK 180/300, have a look at Oneobjectivebf.com

I grabbed a bunch of those D Walkers on sale at TW and just waiting on my order to come in. They're killer swimbaits, very ridged and durable. They'll standup to a pike driveby

Ended back up in Cabela's looking for mounting solutions, nothing but ice fishing gear out now. Managed to walk out with 2 clearance items which are kinda head scratchers: Jackall Rerange 100 in Perch and a Shimano World Popper in Pink. I couldn't resist another one compartment case considering how neatly it carries the Dark Sleepers in their clamshells, plus a big bonus was the Plano KVD 3600 bag. Fits x3 3600 and than some, probably enough space to add a phone, pliers and a handful of soft plastic zips or a couple of clamshells. Perfect for beating the bank.

Bait Monkey Season is in full effect! My main focus this year was to outfit my vessel, Wilderness Systems Recon 120 HD to be more tournament ready. I debated adding a Newport Sports NK-180 motor but I wasn't ready to spend the dough when I had other areas to address first, like a Blackpak Pro, better rudder, more rod holders and some other creature comforts. Part #1: Garmin Echomap 95sv with GT54 transducer. Picked that up Christmas night $750 off at Cabela's. Still debating which battery and mount to get. The unit should arrive later next week, goal is to win a tournament this year and add a 75sv and LiveScope. Thinking a 12v 18-25ah will be in order. Part #2: My order from PTBO Pro Tackle here in Ontario arrived earlier today. The focus was more combos and to round out my arsenal after selling/swap gear at the beginning of this season. I picked up x3 2022 Daiwa Tatula XT rods, which are much lighter than I anticipated and lookers. Think of the last gen Shimano Zodias but with black/carbon accents. I grabbed a 7' 3" Med Fast Spinning + 2500 Fuego LT for bottom contact duty, ned rig, SMH rig and neko. Canadian fishing legend Bob Izumi praised long spinning rods for fighting brown bass and letting the parabolic bend to do most of the work. Gonna need some 10lb braid and an extra SLP spool. I sorely missed a dedicated cranking rod this past season, especially for dual duty as a topwater and smaller glides or chatterbaits. Insert a 7' Med Regular Glass Daiwa Tatula XT casting + 6.3.1 Fuego CT. Getting 10 or 12lb Seaguar Invisx. My MHMF jig rod wasn't cutting it for frogging or flipping tactics, insert a 7' 3" Hvy Fast Daiwa Tatula XT + an existing 7.3.1 Daiwa 100 off my Topwater rod which is getting a new 6.3.1 Fuego CT (I prefer the slower retrieve for my fav two baits: MB Dog-X & EG 125 Showerblows) With the Hvy rod, I can finally start using an A-Rig, Frog and 6" Magdraft without moving a reel around. Also grabbed 1/2oz & 1oz Dark Sleepers in Donko (goby), Haze (perch) and Clear Pink for smallies. A 3600 Plano one compartment for my big swimbaits, wakes and topwaters and scored a Daiwa Needle nose pliers for blowing too much dough. Next up is more gear from Yak Hobby and Yak Attack to finish outfitting my rig.

Waiting for the 7' 3' HF & 7' MR-Glass casting & a 7' 3" MF spinning rods to show up from PTBO Pro Tackle here in Ontario, should be here tomorrow. Pairing the HF up with a 7.3.1 Tatula 100, the MR-G up with a 6.3.1 Fuego CT & 2500 Fuego LT on the MF. I looked hard the cheaper Daiwa options like the Legalis LT, I'm adverse to the t-bar handle and the CC/CR/CA casting reels but I couldn't part with the 100mm reel handle. Pics to come.

This past season, I took 5 out on the kayak every time whether it was a tournament or a week night outing. 2 spinners and 3 casters, being from up north, I seeing the value in more spinning rods. I know that's not popular but most smallmouth tactics are ideal on a spinning rod: dropshot, wacky rig, ned rig, tube, jerkbait and topwater. Dropshot, wacky and jerkbait are covered, I need another 7' MF & 7' 3" MF , a dedicated frogging/punch set up, texas rig and a cranking rod will flesh out the balance. So I'm looking at 8-10 on any given day, dropping a casting rod depending on the body of water.

I've read good things about the Daiwa Tatula Bass swimbait rods, not the DX. Split grips, power handle above the reel seat, 7'3" is rated up to 4oz, and the 7'9" up to 6oz.

If you're bending out the stock hooks I think it is worth revisiting your gear. Lighter line and rod, these baits were intended to be fished on spinning tackle with 6-8lb test fluorocarbon. If you horse 'em they'll bend out. Randy Blaukat has covered these baits to death. I use a 6' 8" MF Daiwa Tatula paired with a 2500 or 3000 Feugo LT 6lb Seaguar invisx. I'll use the same rig different spool with 10lb braid to 8lb mono leader for smaller squarebills like s-crank or pop-x duties.

Have you tried the Turbo Fattyz on that rig? I'm waiting for someone to share the details/retrieve for the Megabass Flap Slap.

I was shocked how light the Victory rods are for a St Croix rod. Not sure I'll buy more, but I sure do enjoy the 610 MLXF for dropshot and light wire finesse stuff. It actually feels wimpy for the St Croix label.

is that last gen or the newer model? can you comment on how much lighter the Victory is compared to the Mojo Bass?

@NorthernBasser any updates on this rod? I'm starting to stray away from high end rods to do lots and pick up more budget friendly options for technique specifics. I'm looking hard at the following in this line and would love some feedback from your or anyone else that picked these up: Casting 7MR-Glass for cranking and lighter bladed jigs 7MHR-Glass for the heavier options and possibly smaller swimbaits/wake baits 76HXF or 73HF for flipping/A rig duties 74HXF for frogging 71MHXF for texas rigging Spinning 73MF for bottom contact, neds, texas rigged dropshotting 7MF for tubes, underspins and just about everything else.

I hit up Simcoe last night for a little topwater bite, I wish I had since Ajay's post and gone in the morning. Only managed rockbass on the dropshot.