TotalNoob

Given the title of the thread and question, I'll throw out an alternative. The Rapala Shadow Rap. You're at $10 bucks for an exceptionally effective jerkbait. How confident are you in your jerkbait presentation skills? How bummed/frustrated would you be if you snagged and lost a vision 110? The answers to these questions should help guide your purchasing decision. I actually have never fished the vision 110 BUT what I can say was that jerkbaits had a fairly steep learning curve for me. It really is something you sort of have to practice to get the rhythm and feel down. The rod and type of line you use (braid-to-leader or straight fluoro or whatever) will have a substantial impact on the way the jerkbait bahaves in the water. There's more to jerkbaits than just price point - spending extra doesn't suddenly make you a more effective angler with jerkbaits. Point is, if you're at all unsure whether a $25 jerkbait is worth it then my suggestion would be to pass on it for now and work with other proven jerkbaits (that cost 30-40% what the vision 110 does - Berkley Cutter and Skinny Cutter are good ones, too) until you feel very confident in that particular presentation.

Looking for any suggestions to help sort through all the frogs on the market. Will be first time throwing a frog. There are a couple local ponds that I know have Largemouths. They have a lot of vegetation in them, having a hard time casting out my typical trig presentations, not sure I'm getting them in front of the fishes faces/in the strike zone. I'm also aware that frogs can produce big bites. Would like to bomb a frog out and cover some water, open to any/all suggestions.

Just a quick note on the spiderwire EZ braid from my experience... I do have the 300yd spool in 20lb that I used for spinning setups all of last year. I honestly can't complain about it, I didn't have any problems with it that I don't have with power pro. I always use a fluoro or mono leader though, typically a fairly long leader FWIW. Couldn't speak to tying lures directly to it. Having said that I now use power pro exclusively, it feels smoother and sounds better coming back through the guides. I wouldn't hesitate to finish off my spool of spiderwire EZ braid in a pinch if I needed it though. I personally wouldn't use it on a baitcaster if I had power pro as an option.

For anyone who fishes a multi-species lake, what are your thoughts on using glide baits to target the largest fish in the lake? Looking for some absolutely honest feedback before possibly jumping into this. So what I'm looking at is a fishery with: 1) a very solid population of 26"+ walleyes. I caught a 30" on a jerkbait last year post-spawn and I'm aware of multiple high 20s and a 31 being caught this year. 2) 30" to 45" catfish, mostly Channels and Flatheads 3) A population of wipers in the 27"-32" range. They've been stocked every year for the last 6-7 years so I expect there to be more and bigger wipers each subsequent year to come. I'm sort of primarily targeting the walleyes but I catch a LOT of short eyes with standard jerkbaits in the 4-5" range. I'd be hoping to eliminate the majority of smaller bites and hopefully draw the attention of more larger fish. As I've accidentally caught smaller flatheads while jerkbaiting for walleyes at night, I don't have any reason to believe they wouldn't be attracted to a glide bait type presentation, though I'd be curious to know if anyone has any experience or information with glide baits and catfish specifically. Any thoughts/feedback appreciated.

On this note, just as a general reference point, what is considered: 1) a "big" glide bait and 2) when you say the wallet has to come out, what price points are you referencing? This glide bait in the OP is 7". I know the swaver 168 is 6 3/4" and the swaver 200 is 8" (at about ~$40) I guess, how much larger than 8" is the typical glide bait thrower throwing?

I've hooked into some decent fish (quality & quantity) since throwing the owner flashy swimmer starting about a month ago (sz 1/O and 3/O). Can't overstate my appreciation for how the twistlock/centering pin holds the plastic in place and keeps everything straight and in tact, far simpler and more effective than how I was previously rigging keitechs. Problem is that I've also lost more fish w the owner flashy swimmer (landing ratio I mean) than I would on like a simple texas rigged worm or creature bait or how I used to texas rig keitechs. Typically when I stick em with the single hook they're landed pretty close to 100% of the time, pretty rare not to. So I'm trying to figure out the problem and some solutions. I'm using the fat swing impacts exclusively so far and I'm wondering if I'm not getting good hooksets. When I look at a 4.3 fat keitech on a 3/O it seems like there isn't much room for the plastic to get out of the way to get the hook exposed ... this is the combination where I'm having trouble losing fish ... could this be legitimately costing me fish? What are some solutions? For my multi-species shad-based fishery (mostly smallmouths) I honestly do not need any stouter hook than the 3/O yet I do want to be able to present larger profiles. A 4.8 keitech definitely doesn't seem to fit on the 3/O flashy swimmer and like I said above I'm not even sure the 4.3 technically is meant to. Is anyone using anything else like the flashy swimmer where they can get that larger profile presented without having to also include a crazy thick hook?

I've been throwing the owner flashy swimmer for about a month now in the 1/O and 3/O sizes (see smallie pic below - 3.3 keitech on 1/O - smallies really tear up my plastics it seems, lb for lb the best fight though IMO). @Catt curious if that's a bobber stop above the knot and why?

Water temp is literally just now in the low 70s on a regular basis. I'm starting to see some shad-type activity and I'm catching my better fish around the areas where I'm seeing little surface bubbling and shimmering occuring. Last year in the first week of Sept I measured a couple gizzard shad at different parts of the lake on the same day both right at 2". I've read where gizzard shad can grow up to 1"/month. I'm trying to determine how to use this information to best size my swimbaits and underspins (or whether to even throw an underspin). I can't be sure the shad are even 1" long yet. I'm not seeing them all over the surface and shore like last fall. In fact I haven't seen any. But I am seeing some random bubbling/glittering on the surface at times that I'm positive is shad activity. What kinds of swimbait rigs would you be trying first given this information. This is my first year throwing swimbaits and/or underspins for the full year (I began throwing underspins last Fall). Looking for any feedback/thoughts that might help steer my thinking in the right direction.

I noticed you mentioned the skinny cutter. Was wondering your thoughts on the regular cutter

Has anyone downsized the trebles on a 168 or any glide bait? I picked up two 168s last year on ebay while they had those once weekly 10-20% off days. Picked up the bluegill and the lite trout. I messed around throwing them last summer, fall, and this Spring a little bit, trying to get a feel for the cadence & how to make it look as authentic as possible. The other morning right before sunrise I had my first (known) follower, a walleye. We have a reservoir that has all 3 black bass and tons of walleyes, lots of trophy walleyes at that. I'd be lying if I said I didn't also have big walleyes in mind when I picked up the 168s. A few casts later I had an eater, presumably a walleye, just a few feet out from shore. Either the fish wasn't real big and/or I got excited and pulled the bait away. Either way, between the follower and the one that struck I'm feeling the fever for these 168s and determined to develop these into a confidence bait rather than something I'm screwing around with just because I saw it in a youtube vid. Taking a look at this lure the first thing that jumps out at me is hook size. The largest bass population in the lake are Smallmouths (by a lot). Walleyes are quite abundant. These are the two fish most caught from this lake. With that in mind, and knowing that these fish have softer mouth tissue than LMBs, would it ever be reasonable to think about going with a less stout hook on an swaver 168? I just don't know that I need this kind of treble hook firepower for these species fish, yet I know I definitely want the size/profile of these lures to attract larger fish. What kinds of mods has anyone made to their 168s in terms of hooks and split rings? I was also thinking perhaps of adding an additional split ring to each hook to create more separation between the treble and the lure, with the idea of trying to minimize potential leverage a fish can get against the weight of the lure. I don't have enough experience to know if that's a good idea or not. Appreciate any/all feedback.

I started doing this as well on my shadow raps this Spring. I removed the middle treble and replaced the front treble with a bit stronger hook (the shadow raps come stock with pretty light wire hooks). I'm not finding any difference thus far. I haven't done it with all of them yet but I'll find out this Fall for sure if I want to keep it this way or not. As has been stated, it definitely seems like most fish that eat a jerkbait eat it from the HEAD first. I've got a bunch of walleye pics here from last Fall - walleye are obviously aggressive predators like LMBs. Clearly the majority of the time they are eating jerks on the pause or just as it begins to move again on the next set of twitches FROM THE HEAD FIRST. The two wiper pics are from this Spring with the middle treble removed from the shadow rap. They both got the front treble cleanly, that middle treble would have only given me grief. As long as removing the middle treble doesn't adversely affect the desired suspension or orientation of the bait then I don't think there's anything wrong with removing it (just make sure your remaining trebles are stout enough by themselves). I've had too many fish with trebles all over the place and too much time lost trying to remove them while the bite is on. If you like, here's a walleye I caught last Dec on a shadow rap with three treble hooks. When they hit it exactly like this, I think you can make both arguments (having both front trebles or having just the one). Perhaps this is why rapala puts very light wire hooks on the shadow rap, because each hook will help absorb the overall load of the fish. I'm not sure. Either way, I feel like I get this fish in with just the front treble hook 95+% of the time. Regardless, I bend out too many of these lighter hooks and end up messing with removing multiple trebles too often that I'm actively pursuing the removal on the middle treble of my 3-treble hook jerkbaits. One other factor on this subject I wonder about is whether or not a fish with multiple trebles hooked vs a single treble ends up with more leverage throughout the fight?

10lb Spiderwire fluoro... I also have a spool of Trilene 100% fluoro 10lb. Both state .012" average diameter/.30mm 10lb invisX says .010" diameter/.260mm 6lb Spiderwire box says .010" average diameter/.25mm --------------- @Steveo-1969 Yea my reservoir has a LOT of shale, I typically don't have a problem but I know when I finally hook into a good one I obviously want to be in good shape as far as my line goes if I get pulled down. I've got broken off (last year) a couple times by what I'm pretty sure were some big cats.

New to the "premium" flouro game, I picked up a 200yd spool of 12lb and invisX at the bass pro classic earlier this for dirt cheap, later picked up a 10lb spool from amazon for <$15. These are my primary ranges for ~80% of my fishing (including all bottom contact) and I use them exclusively as leaders to braid. This stuff really is great. Prior to that I used spiderwire fluoro from WM (still do on some applications). So one of the main benefits that attracts me to the invisX (aside from the superior knot strength) is the thinner diameter (12lb same diameter as non-premium 8lb fluoros... 10lb same as 6lb etc). This makes my leader knots smaller, longer casting distance on lighter presentations etc. Lately though I've been thinking about the possible downside to that tradeoff, that being the line is still pretty thin in reality despite it's superior shock absorption strength or breaking strength. This probably isn't relevant as you get higher in lb test. So if I'm fishing 10lb breaking strength line that's the same diameter as traditional 6lb breaking strength line, is the 10lb invisX not more susceptible to nicking and subsequent strength-loss vs "regular" 10lb fluoro? Are there any scenarios or situations where you'd prefer the traditional thickness of 10lb test when in need of only 10lb test to match the application/fishery?

Very Nice! @Dorado Yes, they do fight really hard. It's unlike anything imo. There's zero doubt when you have a wiper on the other end. I have only caught 7 in the two years I've been fishing and I remember every single one of them (largest being just 19"). I will say they are probably funner on spinning tackle as the drag really sings but they're a blast regardless. I caught one on a whopper plopper 110 last September, by far my favorite one. Luckily I had my gopro on that morning. I had been catching smallies when this guy (just 2.5 lbs) crushed it like freight train. Here's the gopro footage of the wiper on the plopper: https://youtu.be/URAbiRcwJcg Found a keeper walleye (they gotta be 18" around here) yesterday morning bass fishing, on a flashy swimmer/keitech. Was a little surprised to find a walleye up shallow like that with slick calm water and not a cloud in the sky. Can someone identify this fish? I caught her a few weeks ago in a place I hadn't fished. I've never caught a bluegill, I thought this was a bluegill at first but when I google pics of bluegills now I can't be sure. At the fishery I frequent most often it's shad, shad and more shad ha, so I have to admit I haven't yet paid much attention to bluegills or the sort.

Finally found my first couple wipers of the year.

Any recommendations on underspin jigs for 3.3/3.8/4.3 keitechs (or other swimbaits around this size) where 1) the blade turns unimpeded and 2) the size of the jighead isn't a mismatch to the size of the swimbait where they butt together?

Bandit crankbaits (2") for a reservoir with all three black bass but the vast majority of them being smallies? Or am I opening myself up to getting strikes from smaller fish? BPS has these bandits on sale at the moment and I was thinking of picking up a handful. What crankbaits are good for targeting smallies?

Can anyone speak to the Regal? Is that much more value gained for 2x the price between the regal and either the fuego LT or Pflueger Supreme? I see the regal (vs the Fuego) has 3 additional bearings, more than 2x drag, and weighs just .2 oz more. For 1/2 the price. Both with 34.5" of line recovery per turn. Similar terminology is thrown around in their descriptions, "Rigid, lightweight true carbon frame" on the regal and "Lightweight, sturdy carbon-infused housing" on the fuego. Both state "Air Rotor with Air Bail system", however, on the Fuego, it's "Balanced". The Fuego description also includes "Magsealed technology protects the main shaft" and "DigiGear computer-driven gear design". The key specs that I, as a novice, would think to look for (line recovery, drag, # of bearings, weight) when making the comparison would seem to favor the reel that costs half the price - with both reels made from the same company. When an experienced angler and reel owner looks at these two reels, what trade-offs does he see when looking at the regal vs the fuego?

Looking hard at this Daiwa Regal LT Spinning Reel that BPS has on sale for $50. I currently use a Pfluegar President 30 (same price) but I'm very interested in the 6.2 ratio to help pick up slack line on jerkbaits. Their weights are comparable but the drag on the Regal is substantially higher at 22lbs. I'm not sure what to make of the other details. Is the Regal a good reel, comparable in quality to the President? BPS says this is a "New" version of the this reel ... it's not generally been my experience that "New" versions of goods these days = better. Often times it seems to mean lower overall quality but of course that's not always the case. Before I saw this Regal on sale I had my eye on a Fuego LT spinning reel in 6.2:1. Can anyone provide any pros or cons between these three? I know the Fuego LT is at a higher price point, what additional qualities/features does it bring to the table? Does the President bring anything to the table that the Daiwas don't in terms of quality (in the < $100 category)? My four main categories of concern are: 1) Line Pickup 2) Drag (reservoir does have some 10+ lb wipers in it, haven't caught one but you never know) 3) Quality/Durability and 4) Weight

Thank you, great info in the link. Yea I was wondering about this, how much water it takes to trigger the auto inflation. I like the idea of the auto-inflation (you never know) but I don't need it being triggered if I drop it in the water accidentally while loading up the pond prowler or something. So on yours it sounds like once it inflates it's done with? In the clip above there's mention of a "rearming kit" that allows the PFD to be essentially reset (I guess?). Does the rearming option come with the higher end versions? **Edit: Nevermind I see where rearming kits are sold separately depending on the cartridge size

BPS currently has on sale a "Bass Pro Shops AM24 Auto/Manual Inflatable Life Vest". I'm looking for a low profile life vest as I currently fish out of a small Pond Prowler/Bass Raider type boat. I always wear my PFD, currently a bulky, standard life vest. It's cumbersome but I'm not willing to go out unless I'm actually wearing it (fish a reservoir where there can be some decent & random wind). Safety First. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-am24-auto-manual-inflatable-life-vest?cm_sp=GoOdAMLfVsMay2019_CFM So this looks like a nice, comfortable profile to wear while fishing. I'm willing to spend the $$ for it, I was just hoping to get some feedback about these life vests. Are there any considerations I should keep in mind as I'll be wearing it the entire time fishing? How easy or difficult are these pull handles in the event I accidentally snag it on something? Things like that. Just looking for any tips or basic info I should know on these types of vests from anyone whose used them. Additionally, weighing in at 230 lbs, I want to make sure I get the appropriate vest. I notice in the description it says "USCG-approved Type V with Type III performance" ... Can anyone roughly translate that so I can purchase with peace of mind? The chest sizing on this does fit me. Any/all feedback appreciated.

I live in Southern Colorado but I can tell you for Bass fishing the Denver area has a lot of ponds that guys chase LMBs. Most folks are after 5-6lb LMBs as their PBs, the vast majority fall well under this range. I'm sure there's the scarce 7 or 8lber somewhere. There are some Reservoirs up there with Bass (cherry creek, chatfield, Quincy). If you're coming to Colorado from California I can unfortunately just about guarantee you'll be disappointed in terms of Bass fishing. Smallmouths and some lakes with stocked Wipers are likely what you'll find yourself targeting. I have heard of combat fishing in the Denver area, I know a lot of guys are up and fishing long before the sun due to the pressure. I've also heard combat fishing as referenced to fly fishing the "dream stream", a stretch of river running down from Spinney and Elevenmile Reservoirs (west of Colorado Springs). Trout (of course) are big here and not so commonly known, Walleyes are big here as well.

After I checked out the invisx on amazon they auto-populate a "similar purchases" type page. First thing that popped up was the Tatsu. When I looked at it on amazon I saw they had 10lb for $31.13 prime. I only briefly looked at tatsu before making this thread and dismissed it due to cost. Can you articulate why tatsu is superior (or at least how it's different) from invisx?

7' MH/F BPS Pro Qualifier 2 Daiwa Fuego CT 6.3:1 30lb Power Pro - Main Line 15lb Maxima Ultragreen Leader joined via FG knot Uses: Spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits, Buzzbaits swaver 168 whopper plopper 110 spro rat 40 a-rig So far I've only hooked up with fish on this setup on an A-rig (and it seemed fine) but the bass are definitely starting to get more active so I think this setup is about to see some action over the next month or two. I guess I won't know for sure until I start hooking up with fish on the other presentations but I wonder if there any thoughts/suggestions or if anything really sticks out. I know the PQ2 rod isn't "the best" rod in the world. I think it might be a bit more "noodly" than a higher end 7' MH/F. Hence the braid main, mono leader. I'm trying to balance out the whole system to accommodate the single hook and treble hook applications. Still unsure if it might be a little stiff ??? But the trebles on the plopper, rat, and swaver are no joke. -If the system is too stiff, does a longer mono leader (20-25ft) make a meaningful difference? -Any changes to line strengths to compensate one way or the other? Limited on # of rods I can bring (and own ?) so trying to get the most bang for the buck.

Thank you for all the feedback. I found invisx on amazon in 10lb for $18.99 Prime. As @WRB said, using as a leader material I can make a spool last quite a while. Seems like invisx has a little more stretch but as a leader to braid I don't think I'll mind that, especially if I need to have a setup double for jerkbaits/treblehooks @CroakHunter