Hook2Jaw

On this week's episode of River Monsters... Nice fish, brohemius maximus!

@TnRiver46 Nice to know I'm not the only one. I've found slowing down really helps me catch fish on hard baits.

YUM Craw Chunk is my all time favorite, followed by the Christie Craw.

I can slay fish on a Texas rigged worm or creature. I can slay fish on a jig, casting it or pitching in the jungle. I can slay fish on small paddletails and swimbaits. I can slay fish on most finesse presentations; weightless plastics, wacky or Texas. Dropshot, shakyhead. I've been working very hard on learning to catch fish on crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits. I've had moderate success, but I can always pick up a technique with a soft plastic and outfish myself. It annoys me. I badly want to be a better power fisherman.

I keep it as light as possible. Here in Georgia, we don't get super cold, but I was out last year in 30 degree temperatures in a constant but manageable rain. Rain pants and jacket atop a hoodie over a UPF shirt over a base layer, with my legs having a base layer and fishing pants. NRS boundary boots and NRS gloves. I keep a dry bag with a hoodie, shirt, pants, base layers, more socks and a set of neoprene booties. Basically less is more and I want to be outfitted in clothing that keeps me mobile in case **** goes south but also keeps me warm.

I've since got it down pretty well, fishing weightless senkos and watching braid all day really helped me out with visually identifying bites. Pitching to cover and setting a hook before the bait ever touches bottom is one of my favorite ways to fish now.

1. The incident that truly proved how effective the jig and trailer is, to me, catching my personal best and only double digit I've ever caught. 2. My own personal aha moment was my first time trying a jig, and it came while I was pitching. I practiced pitching sidearm all night so I would be able to do it from my kayak. Slung it close to some reeds, let it fall relatively controlled, felt the bite and saw the line move. I was so surprised I missed the fish, as I had yet to gain confidence in the lure. 3. In both instances I was using a Booyah Bankroll Jig. The first instance was casting and hopping it along the bottom. They second was pitching. I normally have a YUM Craw Chunk on the back of the jigs I throw, and it is still my favorite trailer.

I just really want to be able to finely tune my presentation. Adding more baits isn't an option, as I have a kid on the way and need to save money. I already have cranks from 3'-22'. Braid to leader seems to be the best way to attempt this, thanks guys! Though most of you just questioned the madness. Rightfully so, I suppose.

Thanks for the insight. I've always been a rip it and in the trash it goes kinda guy when switching lines, but I've wasted a lot of line doing this and therefore a lot of money. Yes. Exactly that. Stepping up in line size will decrease the depth a crankbait dives to by adding more resistance to the lure, effectively allowing me to make a 3-5' squarebill on 10# fluorocarbon into a 2-4' squarebill on 12 or 14# fluorocarbon. There's also the need to upsize line for bottom presentations if I'm fishing a lot of cover, or have the ability to step down in line size for a more finesse approach in clear water or with finicky fish. I am planning on carrying all 7 setups at once during tournaments. They're all located hours away from me and besides any advice I can get from locals at the lake, I'm effectively going in blind. No pre-fishing, just roll up that morning and get to competing. All of them fish multiple presentations except for my swimbait rod. The reason I'm doing this is being in a kayak, all of my tackle rides in a crate behind me stuffed with plano boxes. My front hatch holds the stuff I don't need access to all that often, which is where the extra line will be located.

I'm on a kayak. I plan on fishing kayak tournaments. I have seven dedicated setups. I'm not all that wealthy. I want to be able to switch out my fluoro and mono poundages with the knowledge that cover could call for heavier line and a slow bite could call for smaller. I also want to be able to decrease the diving ability of plugs for fishing crankbaits over grass and whatnot, rather than buying a huge excess of baits. I don't have the ability to carry an excess of lures on a kayak. So... I was gonna get a dremel and stab it into empty spools to remove say, 10# fluoro, and then put on 14# fluoro. So on and so forth. Will that 10# fluoro be ruined or could I effectively have a multi line system by doing this? Also, @Bait Monkey, you're not welcome here. I ain't buying no more squarebills. Please, just let me be.

Since you're primarily using it for the Ned rig with weightless sticks being the secondary purpose, I would go with a 2500, but that's strictly because when I'm throwing the Ned I'm trying to cover a good bit of water with sparse cover at best. The 2500 size is going to cast farther, which you already knew. That's just my two cents.

I spend a good amount of time inshore fishing as well as bass fishing and the Daiwa BG 2500 is a smooth, exceptional spinner that can handle abuse and will last you for years. They can be had for under 100 bucks. The 2500 puts out 13.2# of drag, the 2000 puts out 4#. With a light fluoro leader, I don't see why you couldn't crank the drag down on a 2000 and not worry about it again.

Jig pitcher powers activate!

Welcome, fellow Georgian! Tight lines.

Thanks man! She definitely felt heavy in hand, so I'll just keep in mind I need to beat 6.5 or so to have a new PB crank fish.

So I set out Saturday morning to beat my PB crankbait fish, that fish being about 3 pounds and get some crankbait practice in general. I was making good casts and bumping bottom, occasional pausing, constant retrieve, you name it. No fish. Then this girl cruises up to me looking for food so I made a short cast with the Berkley Squarebull and reel it right by her, get a follow, stop the bait, twitch it once and she slams the front door on it. Took the bait beautifully. What do y'all reckon she weighed? Sorry about putting her on the ground, but at 6'1" and 200 I don't really do the fish justice when I pose with them.

Thanks for the opinions guys. I think I'm gonna go with *** *** Crank in 7'9"!

I need information on the Daiwa Tatula 7'7" Medium crankbait rod. Anyone with experience with this rod or experience with Daiwa's glass offerings? I've never deep cranked in my life, but I'm continuously getting ready to give it a shot and if anyone could let me know if this rod would comfortably pull a 3/4oz crankbait rated at 16-22' of depth, that would be great. Here are the specifications : Specifications Description Tatula Glass Cranking Rod Power M Action R Length 7 ft. 7 in. Sections 1 Line Wt. (lb) 8-17 Lure Wt. (oz) 1/4-3/4 Number of Guides 10

I own a 1436 Tracker Topper with a nearly brand new Mercury 4-Stroke 9.9hp and a 40# foot control up front. I also own a Hobie PA14. I put about the same amount of cash in both boats. I never use the Jon boat and I'm selling it soon. The kayak is almost always in the back of my truck.

I just use a stake-out pole and an anchor trolley, but a nice system to anchor in deep water for offshore fishing would be nice. Thanks for pointing out the anchor wizard, you guys.

TheReelTest did a video on the YouTube that shows a 7-10' increase for a Daiwa Tatula CT Type-R versus a Daiwa Fuego CT. That's the best test of a T-Wing against a level wind I can think of with actual video evidence. TheReelTest even gave the Fuego one of the Tatula's bearings to fully even the odds. Very marginal difference that will very rarely come into play, in my opinion. EDIT : The Tatula SV TW is more than likely a much better reel than the two tested reels, and those better parts will probably work in conjunction to allow the T-Wing to assist the cast much better than a Tatula SV TW in a fictional world where it has a regular level wind guide. I still don't think there's much difference in casting ability with a Fuego, CT, or Type-R, however. 2ND EDIT : You're touting the Curado as a better casting reel than a Tatula. That's fine with me and I'm not going to argue with that. We're in here talking Daiwa versus Daiwa, though! ?

The Fuego is fire, the Tatula CT is fire. The former can be had for 67 bucks on eBay, the latter for about 100. I haven't checked Tatula CT prices lately. The T-Wing system adds maybe ten feet to a typical real world cast. I'm not sure if a leader knot will pass through the vertical opening of the T-Wing. I don't use leaders that long, my own are only to the reel. Typically a few inches away. As everyone has said, I would give the Fuego CT a healthy amount of consideration and spend the saved money on some tackle, line, or flowers for the lady in your life.

I run G-Man's K.I.S.S method. Keep it simple, stupid. I believe three colors to be sufficient for my own style of fishing. I believe one brand has my back when it comes to quality and cost. If buying a million baits it your thing, that's fine. I've been there and I've done that. My organization paid the price and I've lost valuable fish catching time digging for a particular bait. I've probably not caught fish because I wasn't proficient in that particular bait. If you can rock a million colors and a million variations and do well with all of 'em, more power to you. Personally, I've got a wad of YUM soft plastics; various trailers in green pumpkin, black and blue, and something to match the forage I'm trying to replicate in clearer water situations. Worms, stick and tailed, finesse worms, paddle tails...you guys know the deal. One company, three colors. I'm in a kayak anyway where I can't just bound up and down the boat to access a box here and a box there. Overthinking things oftentimes has led to failure for me.

When I first seriously got into fishing again last year, I started with senkos. I "mistakenly" picked out 1/0 EWGs for the first weightless presentation of a worm in my life, and proceeded to catch fish. I caught a lot of fish that way and still do, I've got more worm wiggling with a smaller hook. I haven't gut hooked many fish, either. In my opinion, 1/0 EWG worm hooks do just fine for 5" sticks.

I am surprised at the amount of people here saying that fluoro sucks for knot strength, break strength, etc. I use 10, 14, and 17# BERKLEY VANISH, of all things, and I hear bad stuff about that line all the time. I've landed tons of fish that were between 7-11 pounds in the last year on the general consensus worst fluoro ever without issue. This is crankbaits, texas/carolina, and jig fishing. I'm doing it with a lazy butt improved clinch rather than the superior Palomar for fluorocarbon. I haven't broken off a fish in god knows when, and the only time I do break off is when I'm snagged. This is the absolute truth. I think you guys are burning your line. Slobber more and tighten less. As far as folks mad with leader connection, learn the FG. Tied correctly, that knot does not fail. Your leader will break before the FG everytime, and that's catching everything in inshore saltwater around me. Redfish, seatrout, and even a king mackerel last year in NC.