TotalNoob

We have Spotteds here in Southern Colorado (my PB spotted in my avatar). Best way I have learned to tell them apart in photos (because typical photo angles don't always provide the tell-tale signs) is to look at the CHEEK SCALES. The scales on the cheek of Spotteds are SMALLER than the scales on the rest of their body. On a Largemouth, the cheek scales are the SAME SIZE as the scales on their body. Cheek scales are always visible in any photo thus making this my go-to way to quickly distinguish the difference.

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, it's just the same product info I've been reading just in video form. Reviews for this rod seem not to be around. These rods had to have been purchased and used by some folks. Would greatly appreciate any first or second hand knowledge of these rods.

I'm finding some good deals on eBay on an Okuma EVX 'b' Series Carbon Fiber 6'8 Topwater Jerkbait Rod. I'm in the market for a shorter jerkbait rod (and topwater for that matter) for shore fishing. I'm trying to research this rod and I can't find hardly any information on it. I did locate an article here on bassresource (https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/okuma-b-series-62816.html) sort of announcing the introduction of this line up in 2017. But I can't seem to find any reviews on them nor does the Okuma site even list them in their line up (as far as I can tell). Hoping someone has some info/experience on these .. even if not first hand. Has anyone heard anything about these or used them?

It was a Whopper Plopper 90. I bought 90s "on accident" but it turns out that was probably for the best as Smallmouth Bass are easily the dominant Bass species in this res. We have all three, though, and last summer I did catch two largemouths on a chartreuse buzzbait. I must've made 200 buzzbait casts for those 2 Largys though. You're "glancing blow" description is spot on in my minimal topwater experience. I caught a few Smallys last Fall on small poppers essentially gill-hooked. What's the significance of the WP size and hook sizes? Someone else mentioned upgrading the hooks (to larger, I assume). Would that be reasonable in a mostly smallmouth/spotted fishery? What modifications (if any) would be reasonable given the type Bass I'm likely to catch? Btw we have Wiper in this Res but their mouths aren't large. I've only caught them on jerkbaits in the Spring. My dream would be a huge Wiper on topwater if I'm being honest.

Yea, I am unsure about the hookset myself. In case it wasn't clear (my OP was long, apologies) this was my first time using this baitcast setup, though not my first time using baitcasters. I am trying to get 100% comfortable with them, so I'm still in that transition phase. Anyway, prior to the strike I had been working topwater for 10-15 min since noticing the surface activity. Quick or moderate speed retrievals yielded nothing (as they typically do not in this mostly Smallmouth reservoir). On this cast, I had already decided I was just going to practice with this rod .. practice different twitches while getting used to holding a baitcast reel instead of spinning. I knew the potential for a strike was there but I was honestly not expecting it. When he struck, I had a little more slack in my line than I would have liked I think (tough to tell when transitioning from a 5.2 to 7.5 gear ratio). This was not a typical moving topwater strike; that is, I was basically popping and twitching it. It wasn't blasted while being burned through the water (I wish). In that sense, it was a lot more like a jerkbait strike which I use fluoro for, not mono. The stretch of the mono may have cost me this one since it was hit on a pause, but idk - there are a lot of variables. My torso immediately pivoted 90° to the left on the hookset while simultaneously burning the reel.

Let's hypothetically say you HAD to use this set up for topwater. It's known that it's not ideal or recommended, but it is what you have for now and you HAVE to use it for that application. What kinds of modifications would you make to your presentation, hookset, drag, and retrieval of hooked fish ... for the purpose of trying to increase landed fish with this non-ideal set up? Also, is it possible that I couldn't feel what this fish was doing under the surface (he was ascending and I couldn't feel it) because I was bringing him in too quickly? It does worry me when I realize that I couldn't FEEL the fish like I typically can.

Haha, yea, that 7.5:1 gear ratio is nothing like the 5.2:1 on my spinning pflueger reel that I'm most accustomed to using. I bought this set up as an all-purpose baitcasting set up and to help me get more accustomed to using baitcasters. I intend to purchase a (yet unknown) baitcasting rod for throwing jerkbaits in the spring and fall because I've found they work very well in this fishery. Whatever dedicated jerkbait rod I get will definitely be less than 7'. Anyway, seems then like I was way over-horsing this fish in on equipment designed for a Wiper or much larger Bass.

Hooks definitely sharp, that was first fish on that plopper ... and first fish on that rod. I didn't even think about reducing pressure. Now that I think about it (prompted by your mentioning it) I couldn't feel the bass ascending in the water. That surface break was as much of a surprise to me as the fact he was there one minute and the next gone. I mention this because a good chunk of my bass fishing is done finesse on texas rigged plastics (1/O offset hooks mostly). Using the same rod, in fact, but on a spinning set up. Nice clean hooksets, I can "feel" their movement laterally and vertically in the water column. I can feel when they're ascending and going to break the water. With this bass on the plopper the only thing I felt was the strike, the load on the rod, and then the sudden lack of load on the rod. Because I was kind of twitching it and pausing there was some slack in the mono when he hit it, which is why I swept hard and fast to the left. Thinking back now, I remember in that moment worrying about the slack - but then it seemed like I had him on.

Hi guys, hoping you can help me understand what happened on a topwater bass I had on yesterday but couldn't land. I'd like to know what I did wrong or what I could have done better to increase my chances of landing these fish. I have a ~90 second clip with slowed down footage from an action cam that will hopefully be helpful with feedback. Details: I had noticed some random surface activity. We have gizzard shad here. I threw on a white buzzbait but nothing. So I threw on a whopper plopper in Monkey butt color (I feel like the spinning prop in this color is kind of flashy and might imitate a small school of shad on the surface). After a few casts of nothing, I decided to slow this retrieve down. I was basically just practicing/experimenting at this point. I let it sit on the surface for about 30 seconds before beginning the retrieve. The vid picks up right on the retrieve as I begin to pick up the slack. I started to pop it like a popper .. giving it a couple quick twitches like a jerkbait then pause. The first two pops occurred with the rod tip up, then I dropped the rod tip for the next couple sets of twitches, literally just practicing jerkbait-type twitches on a baitcaster. You can see in the vid what I was doing. Whatever it was it finally prompted a hit. I don't know if my hookset was bad (too fast? sweeped to the side instead of up? my rod tip was pointing down like a jerkbait so I had to go side) or if I was reeling too quickly? ... drag too loose or tight? Whatever the reason I definitely felt like I had him on there (for however brief a time) and that he was coming in. I didn't feel any slack in the line. It all happened so quickly and I couldn't believe he was suddenly just gone. He wasn't big but I want to understand what I did wrong or could have done better for next time. The equipment is a 7' BPS pro qualifier 2 combo I picked up last weekend on sale or clearance for $113. They only had left retrieve remaining but I was fine with that. I'm trying to acclimate myself to baitcasters so I'm fully comfortable with them. It's a 7' MH/F and reel is 7.5:1 ratio. I spooled on 110 yards of Stren lo-vis green Mono. I tied on a barrel swivel and attached a crosslock snap to the other end. Mono is supposed to help with the hooksets on treble hooks as I understand. I primarily use fluoro (for sensitivity with bottom contact and jerkbaits) but spooled this up with mono for fast moving baits with treble hooks. Btw I had caught a smallmouth on this same point about 20 min earlier dragging a creature bait on the bottom (different rod). Bass in this reservoir are populated by mostly smallys, then spotted, then largemouths. I think there are so few largemouths (in part at least) because this is a major walleye egg-take reservoir for the state and I read somewhere that largemouth bass adversely affect walleye populations. Point is, my gut tells me this was likely a smallmouth but I obviously can't be 100% sure. I used some basic windows software to slow the vid down at a couple points. The angle isn't the best but it isn't the worst. You can tell on the slow mo where the rod clearly loads and unloads. He comes partly out of the water and the plopper appears to "land" several feet from there (as seen). Was he able to spit the hook when he surfaced? If so, what could have been done on my end to increase my chances of bringing this fish in (equipment, hookset, drag, began reeling too quickly, etc)? Anyway, I hope there's enough decent/slowed down footage to get some feedback. Thought's on why couldn't this Bass couldn't be brought in and tips going forward? Any/all feedback much appreciated.

Yes, absolutely. Should have asked that in the OP, glad the responses picked up on that and mostly reflected line type. Why Moderate Action and why a mono leader (as opposed to fluoro)? You state that the whole idea is to have some stretch in the system but isn't the desired crisp delivery (I like that wording btw) achieved better with a Fast Action rod and braid to fluoro? I feel like a mono leader would prevent the lure from darting as crisply and would result in having a sub par feel and interfere with establishing a rhythm when working a jerkbait. I base this statement on the sensitivity and low stretch properties of braid and fluoro. Can you help me to fill in the missing pieces in how I'm interpreting this?

What an eye opener .. so many fantastic responses. I noticed in a couple of responses (below) that a Fast action/"soft tip" is specifically noted. My understanding of rod action is that it's on a spectrum of Slow to Extra Fast - determining how quickly the tip of the rod recovers. When I think (or hear) "soft tip" I'm associating that with Rod Action ... so I'm interpreting that as meaning a slower action. Clearly my interpretation isn't correct - what am I missing in terms of a "soft tip" and how is that identifiable on a rod labeled, say, MH/F?

What are you throwing jerkbaits on? I hope this question reaches not just Bass guys, but vampire shift Walleye guys and everyone else who has these incredible multi-species lures in their arsenal. As I try to understand what most folks are using to throw jerkbaits I'd like to ask a series of quick questions. This would act as something of an informal poll I suppose. Definitely looking forward to understanding what kinds of set ups are being used and the reasons. 1) Do you have a dedicated jerkbait set up (or a set up that doubles as a jerkbait set up which is frequently used to throw jerkbaits)? 2) What is the primary species you're targeting when throwing jerks? 3) Is your jerkbait set up spinning or baitcasting? 4) What is your preferred rod length for jerkbaits? 5) What is your preferred rod Action and Power for jerks? 6) If your jerkbait set up is baitcasting, what is your preferred gear ratio? 7) If you don't have a dedicated jerkbait set up but could have ANY specific set up for jerks, what would it be?

I noticed the Bionic Blades are on clearance right now at mine (an hour away, don't make it there too often). Clearance for $59. Not sure if these are all that great but I'm picking up a 7' HF to toss some 1-2oz swimbaits I bought. Big swimbaits are completely new to me so we'll see how that goes. I've read some folks say the Fast taper on the bionic blade is closer to mod fast so that could help out w treble hook swimbaits. Anyway I guess it sounds like Black Friday is the next best time to get a deal on something a little more high end.

Apologies if this is the wrong sub forum for this question, not sure where else to post it. This is my first full year of taking fishing seriously and I know BPS had (or always has) a pretty good February sale on rods and reels (and other tackle). I remember the Carbonlite 2.0 combo was a main attraction this year. I have a couple questions about their sales: 1) Is the February sale the only "big one" they have per year, or can I expect any mid or late season sales on top end rods? 2) During the February sale, are their top rods (like the Johnny Morris Platinum Signature Casting Rod) on sale? Or is the higher end stuff typically not on sale? I have my eye on this rod but I'm not sure I can stomach the $180 retail price tag ... it's bound to be on sale again??

Okay.. I see. The yellow skeet reese spinning rod I have right now is 6'10" and literally says "Drop Shot" on it. I've used it 80% for jerkbaits (Xraps, Shadow Raps) and 20% for rattle traps and some other 3/8oz to 5/8oz cranks (like Countdowns). It hasn't been used for jigging or drop shot or t-rigging at all. I 100% agree with the shorter rod for jerkbaits. I do the same thing (point the rod down at the line/water) and it's nice not having a ton of butt end of the rod right at your body. Having said that (and correct me if I'm wrong) I'm looking for longer casts to cover more water with jerkbaits and that's where my mind goes to the 7' baitcaster. I feel both the reel and rod will help get that thing out there further and in front of more potential takers (especially casting out into some of that deeper water where the Wiper come in from). Is this a correct thought process? If so, do you think it's worth the trade-off of having the shorter rod for working jerkbaits? Additionally, are most folks throwing jerkbaits on a spinning set up or casting? Fyi I'm not married to ANY type of thinking. I don't know enough about all this quite yet to make a comfortable conclusive decision. I'm learning.

Thanks on the walleye. Was 2 nights before the full moon. I caught my first two wipers ever earlier that night (just a 14 and 15" but WOW the fight in those guys) and tons of eyes. We have an 18" slot limit on eyes so I was trying to catch some keepers (turns out walleye is delicious table fare - yea I'm late to the party). I wasn't TRYING to catch her but man oh man was she one heck of a fish! She hit the jerkbait probably not even 15 ft from shore, zero fight. The net felt heavier than usual when I landed her (adrenaline probably numbed my senses a bit in the moment) but when I pivoted back to the shore I caught my first glimpse in the moonlight of what was in the net and I was absolutely dumbfounded. Anyway, so yea with this being a heavy walleye reservoir I'll probably be on the big pre and post spawn walleye hunt every year from here on out - which also means I'll be on the pre and post spawn Bass hunt. Of course, wiper come out to play at this time, too. Walleye have no fight though. A 12" Smally ... heck, a 10" Smally has more or equal fight than a walleye 2x or 2.5x the size. What are the reasons you would choose these two setups? I want to understand the logic. I think I get the ~7ft MH Mod Fast bait caster ... mod fast over fast because you want some flex at the tip for treble hooksets on jerkbaits? And no greater than 7.3:1 reel because 1) this isn't a largemouth lake where I need to get a jig in and out of cover quickly to cover water and 2) because a potential huge wiper fight (or really good sized Smally) would be better met with a gear ratio in that range? Please let me know what I'm missing or misunderstanding here. These are the kind of details I am trying to fully wrap my mind around so I'm not standing in a rod aisle at BPS looking and feeling like a moron about to make a stupid and costly purchase. On the spinning setup, why a 6'6"? I think you choose M Fast because this is a finesse rig with a single hook to set (?) ... but aren't I getting longer casts out of my 7' M Fast? What are the pros and cons of both the 6'6" and the 7' M Fast rod for this application, considering as well that I'm casting/setting hooks from shore?

I definitely wish I would have been able to pick up that $120 Carbonlite 2.0 combo back in Feb. I think that would have been a good way to really get acclimated to a 7' baitcaster this year. BPS is an hour away and I was on the fence about baitcasters at that time. I think you nailed it when you said the hardest part is picking the correct rod for the baits intended to throw. I'd like a set up to be able to throw 5/8 oz jerkbaits (a mile), 1/2 to 3/4 spinnerbaits/chatterbaits, 1/4 or maybe even 1/8 oz jig heads if I need it to. I had some success on post-spawn walleye throwing lipless cranks. Those were 1/2oz. We don't really have any kind of cover to punch here so I don't think I'm needing to throw heavy texas rigs ... I'm finding this finesse set up that I'm using right now to work out well. To be honest, I'm not even 100% sure what lures I should be throwing at this reservoir (and best times for them). We don't have a lot of Largemouths or a lot of cover BUT we do have a healthy population of Smallmouths and Spotteds. I basically just switched from jerkbaits in the Spring straight to finesse soft plastics here in the summer. I must've missed a phase in there. I know I can catch fish on the texas rigged plastics so that's why I basically just made the straight switch when the jerkbait was getting less effective. Well, back to the rod. In my mind (based on what I know right now) I feel like a 7' MH Fast action is the range I'm in for an all-purpose type set up. Jerkbaits, Spinner/Chatterbaits, Crankbaits, 1/4oz texas rigs. If this is correct, which one? I'm really keen on a super sensitive rod. The walleye and prespawn bass bite on jerkbaits is somewhat subtle. I had bought a Lews American Hero 6'6 combo for $70 bucks from Dick's and I had a walleye hook himself on the pause on a jerkbait and I didn't even know it until I went to twitch it again and felt pressure. I never didn't feel a hit on that yellow Skeet Reese rod.

Hello, thanks in advance for any insight or information you can provide. As my screen name implies, I am pretty much a noob to bass fishing it turns out. I had success fishing for stocked trout as a kid using chartreuse spinners, so when I picked up fishing again last year at age 35 I thought it was gonna be easy breezy. Didn't take long to realize I didn't know much at all. Okay so, here's where I stand (apologies if this is somewhat jumbled and long): I fish a reservoir that is primarily a Walleye brood lake for the state of Colorado. We have the 3 black bass species though not many of those are Largemouths. Smallmouths make up most of the bass population in my experience and per the gillnet sampling provided by the CPW. We also have Wiper. I fish from shore for now. I caught and released a 30"/10lb post-spawn walleye just after midnight on April 28th this year on a jerkbait (tried to post a pic, not sure if it'll show up). I ran into a few wipers this Spring as well on the jerkbait (spinning set up). Of course I ran into a few 17" smallys and some chunky 16" spotteds in the Spring, right now I am mostly texas rigging worms/soft plastics on a spinning set up for early morning bass fishing. I'm not finding topwater to catch anything other than the occasional small Smally. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. https://imgur.com/rOm8wwn Bass fishing was my main reason for taking up fishing again. I realize now that Bass fishing in Colorado (and my reservoir in particular) is not the glamour of many a Youtube vid or televised Bass tourney. I grew up watching and loving B.A.S.S tourneys and Bill Dance and Roland Martin and the such, as a kid I fancied being a professional fisherman ha. Fast forward to today and this reservoir is what I have to fish. This is what I get. Having said ALL that (again, sorry for the length) I have been going in circles trying to determine the best one or two overall rod/reel set ups for fishing this res. I think I've already made some premature purchases without fully knowing what I was doing. I have spent the last several months really trying to understand rod Power and Action and their different applications. If you were fishing my reservoir and could carry exactly one rod/reel combo ($250.00 max likely), what would it be? If you were fishing my reservoir and could carry exactly two rod/reel combos (~$400 max), what would they be? I caught the 30" eye and the 3 wipers on a 6'10" Wright & Mcgill Skeet Reese rod - it's ugly bright yellow and annoyingly has the hook keeper down below the reel seat (why do they do that?). It's rated M Fast, 1/8 - 3/4 lure, 6-10lb line. I got it on sale at Dick's earlier this year ($50). I spooled 20lb braid onto a Pfleuger PRESSP30 reel using a 10lb flouro leader joined with an FG knot. That was my Spring jerkbait set up. Since then I've really just been throwing texas rigged soft plastics on a 7' BPS "pro qualifier" M Fast 1/8 - 1/2oz, 4-12lb line. I never threw spinnerbaits though I feel like I should have. I feel like there are a couple reasons I need a baitcaster set up: 1) I think I can get more distance in my casts throwing jerkbaits as I found these to be very effective this past Spring and want to take that success to the next level. I feel like the more water I can cover the higher probability (obviously) of a big wiper spotting and smashing it which leads to reason 2) I feel like I want the back bone to fight a big wiper when I'm lucky enough to eventually cross paths with one. I know several 10-15lb wipers were caught this Spring as our wiper population has been gradually rebounding. I just reread what I've wrote so far and it's a ton so I'll end this now. I will provide more information as necessary per the responses. Again, thank you in advance and I look forward to any feedback.