Hook2Jaw

I fish mine on a Daiwa DX Type-H 7'3" Heavy Regular, which is Daiwa's word for moderate. It's able to rip my chatterbaits and swimjigs from grass as well as give the fish time to get the bait. Old 7.3:1 Daiwa Fuego filled with 16# Sunline Sniper.

Dislike: Weightless worms, both Texas and Wacky rigged. Cast. Let it sink. Pop it off bottom. Reel in and cast again. I used to enjoy the amount of fish I could catch using them, but that's before I gained faith in other things. Can't Stand: Ned rig. I've relied on it to catch fish. I just don't like fishing it. It's small. It doesn't cast well. It takes forever to sink on a decent line size and every time I break this miserable technique out, the day was awful to begin with. Doesn't Work: A-Rigs. Every instance of me threading a bunch of small swimbaits onto jigheads and installing them on a chandelier ends with that twenty dollar chandelier, five bucks worth of jigheads, and five bucks worth of swimbaits becoming zero fish and a thirty dollar hole in my wallet.

I fish mostly weekdays now. Let me know when and I'll get my bells on.

We fish the same lake, @Koz. I'm pretty sure we've even spoken about fishing together. I can't offer any advice besides my own take, running a Bonafide PWR129 with a Newport NK180s and soon to add live sonar. My neighbor has a 17' aluminum bass boat with a 115 on the rear of it, and a day on Lake Sinclair with him showed me that one, gas is expensive. He didn't want to run and that's one of the advantages of a boat to me. Second, Lake Sinclair is awful for boat traffic in the recreational months and that thing absolutely beat me to death. I'll be sticking with a kayak for the rest of my fishing days. I can go wherever a boat can and tend to just focus on early launches when I want to hit a spot far away. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you took the Autopilot up to Rooty Creek. I've made that run a few times and it takes about an hour. I'm gonna continue making that hour run and telling my spinal cord, "you're welcome."

One jig? That's a ½ ounce BOSS Dock Knocker with the Dark Brown paint job, dressed with a BOSS Black Brown Amber skirt. I'll even do you one better and go to one trailer; a YUM Craw Chunk 3.75 in Craw. Altogether the jig costs less than three bucks each and is absolutely premium, with a paint job that scratches at worst and never thinks about flaking. The weed guard rarely hooks cover but clears on a hookset. The hook is a sticky stud of a Mustad hog snatcher. That's the one.

Toilet paper and/or gas station napkins. The ones from the window cleaning station at the pump are rough, tough, and don't take crap off of nobody.

My biggest largemouth was 10 pounds and 6 ounces, caught on a MHF Abu Garcia Promax combo with 12# Berkley Vanish with a Booyah Bankroll Jig in Money trailered with a YUM Craw Chunk 3.75 in Craw. That was a private pond. My biggest public water largemouth was nine and a half pounds, 25" long, and was caught on a Daiwa Tatula 100 snugged onto a Daiwa Tatula XT 7' MLR with 10# Yozuri Topknot Mainline Fluorocarbon tied to a Sexy Blueback Herring Strike King 3XD. My personal best spotted bass, 19", didn't weigh, was caught on a Daiwa Tatula 100 on a 13 Fate Chrome 6'7" MF with 15# Berkley Big Game tied to a Berkley Drift Walker 110 in Ghost Shad.

Those are red drum, also known as redfish, puppy drum, spottail bass, etcetera. I've caught a couple inshore near Savannah, GA.

I started bass fishing a long time ago with a Texas rigged Culprit ribbontail worm in red shad. I still reach for a Texas rig when I'm around a lot of vegetation. I've got a lake here that's absolutely gobbed with vegetation, and you're not getting a shaky or jig through it.

My wife blew up a spool of 15# big game a few months ago that I invested about 30 minutes in before calling it quits. I'm sorry for all your Sniper and Tatsu losses, fishing friends. I couldn't be upset with her, before we had two kids I could hand her reels I'd blown up and she'd sit there unthreading the line through loop after loop until it was done. While we're on the subject, there's something pretty magical about Daiwa J-Braid X4. It's the best line I've found for skipping with a casting reel. I think the stiffness of the stuff helps it lash only slightly when it inevitably does on a bad skip. It's definitely not a distance casting line.

This thread has become hard to answer as the years go on, but if I've got to catch a fish it's more often than not on a Shakyhead; ³/¹⁶ Big Bite Baits Fintwist paired with a Watermelon Black Flake ZOOM Trick Worm. I've been throwing that on a Medium Fast casting setup as of late, as I'm able to pitch more easily with a baitcaster and letting a shakyhead soak in a laydown is a sure fire way for me to catch one.

If you want a blank that imparts action quickly but loads up nicely with a fish, I've been jerkbaiting with 13 Fishing blanks since I first tried it with a 13 Fate Chrome 6'7" MF years ago. Admittedly, I haven't been ripping nearly as long as some folks in this thread, but I'm pretty in tune with the technique and fish them often. Every single 6'7" MF from 13 has been awesome for jerkbaits for me, from the budget stick I started with to the more high dollar offerings from the company. A moderate rod that loads under the pull of a jerkbait will work the tar out of you and it's not my cup of tea.

I fish a lot of docks on Lake Sinclair here in middle Georgia, like, a looot. My most productive baits are mostly skipped under docks and those baits are a finesse jig, a shakyhead with a trick worm, and a wacky rig. Alternatively, as has already been said, beat up the docks posts with your choice of moving bait. Mine happen to be a squarebill crankbait and a spinnerbait. Finally, shakyheads don't skip well, but a larger bodied worm like a Senko or YUM Dinger manages to improve that.

I tie improved clinch knots to put my line on the spool and my lure on the line. I've learned a lot of knots, but the improved clinch doesn't fail me for anything. My leader connections are FG. I tie Palomar knots to connect my dropshot hooks. KISS.

I'm incorrect. An Owner ST36 comes in at .5 grams. A VMC round bend #6 comes in at .46 grams according to my scale. The ST36 gains me .12 of the .57 grams I need for good suspension, so I'm down to .45! Maybe someone will come along and offer up a heavier hook. As for your point about the cheaper bait offerings from LC, I suppose they did it for anglers like me that don't want to spend 15 bucks on a bait. I suppose after I switch the hooks and rings out, I'll be approaching 15 dollars. I'm still absolutely amazed at the way the Lightning Pointer 110 wanders from left to right very, very well, and have gained a lot of confidence in that little 10 dollar jerkbait. That's why I'm trying to make it a little more perfect for me.

@FishTank I've got a couple Pointers and you're very correct. They suspend beautifully. The bait I'm concerned about is the Lucking Craft Lightning Pointer. It's 5 dollars cheaper than the Pointer. I've taken a look at the ST-36, and it's actually lighter than a VMC #6. I need to gain weight, not lose it. I do plan to upgrade the split rings one size higher.

I really like the Lucky Craft Lightning Pointer 110. The bait casts very well, better than all of my jerkbaits except the Jackall Rerange. The problem is that is has a pretty quick float. I've remedied this with .57 grams of suspenstrip. With the additional .57 grams, it suspends in my typical winter water. I just don't like the obnoxious lead strips down the bottom of my bait, it takes away from the natural look. I realize hooks and split rings do as well, and this is just a nitpicking issue. What isn't a nitpicking issue is the stock VMC #6 trebles aren't as sharp as a lot of other offerings, and the stock VMC split rings aren't as strong as others. I've been through multiple threads looking at hook and split ring weights, and can't find enough of a weight upgrade to gain .57 grams. Does anyone have any hardware recommendations to gain the weight I'm missing?

Daiwa makes the Tatula in a 6'3" MF that might be good for jerkbaiting. I was interested in that rod for the longest time, but never picked one up. I'm 6'1" and jerkbait from a kayak standing with a 6'7" 13 Omen Black 3 MF as well as a 6'7" 13 Fate V3 MF. The Omen Black 3 is a phenomenal jerkbait stick, best suited for straight fluorocarbon. The Fate V3 pulls double duty -- it's much softer so it's typically rocking straight braid for topwaters. I have leadered it with fluoro to have two jerkbaits available when necessary.

I just stab the bait with a hook and twist the screw lock in. It's tough to do, but it's doable. It's kept me from keeping a lighter on the boat and I definitely don't have any use for a paper clip. I'm sure your method works well. What has not worked for me is heating the screwlock. It either cools too fast or burns the Elaztech.

Two? The first would be a Netbait Paca Slim. ³/¹⁶ bullet on the front and a 3/0 EWG as the business. The thing is my confidence bait while Texas rigging. The second would be a ZOOM Ol' Monster. I can't stop throwing these every single summer and they catch bigguns. In actuality, however, I throw quite a few baits as a Texas rig. 1. Yamamoto Senko 2. Netbait Paca Slim 3. ZOOM Fluke 4. ZOOM Ol' Monster 5. ZOOM Trick Worm 6. YUM Ribbontail 7. Missile Baits D-Bomb 8. ZOOM Z-Craw

Jerkbaits, partial to the Strike King KVD Deep this time of year. Blade Baits, I throw the Cabela's Mean Eye Blade Bait. Dropshot, 6" Roboworm. Finesse Jigs, Strike King Bitsy Bugs.

@Catt, that might be the flattest flat-sided crankbait of all time. back on subject, now I want the try the Quake 80 Suspending.

10-15# Berkley X9 to Sniper.

The Headhunter Fire Tail Craw was an absolute machine for me all year long. Particularly in cold water on deep laydowns, the bait caught fish. My second standout was the Netbait Paca Slim, Texas rigged. That bait never went without a bite when I decided to pick it up. Third and most recently was the Lucky Craft Lightning Pointer. I've finally found my shallow 3-6' jerkbait that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I'm a big fan of the fish catching ability of the Strike King 3XD, but it casts like an absolute potato chip. It wobbles and goofs off en route to 15' short of your target, at least for me. It calls for a pretty light cranking rod. I used to fish it on a Daiwa Tatula XT 7' Medium Light Regular. I now fish it on a 13 Fishing Omen Black 3 7'1" Medium Cranking. Both of them load very well down the length of the blank and get me good distance with that bait, which I believe to be critical with the 3XD. The XT MLR isn't made anymore, so my suggestion is a 13 Fishing offering in a Medium power from their cranking line. You will not be disappointed. Alternatively, I've had my eyes on the Ark Invoker Tour cranking rods, and from playing with a buddy's jerkbait rod I don't think you'd be disappointed there, either. I believe Ark is going to slot in where 13 formerly offered me a nice blank for less money since 13 has been bought out by Rapala and seems to be sliding out of the lure game and offering less sticks than they used to. The stick from Ark I'm particularly interested in is the 7'11" Medium Medium Fast Invoker Tour, rated ⅛-1 ounce. That's probably a bit long for those other baits, but I see that stick and start thinking Wiggle Wart, 3XD, RkCrawler, and Head Hunter Fire Tail Craw.