Big Rick

Some say the two happiest days of your life is when you BUY a boat and when you SELL said boat. While I can't testify to the latter I will say boat ownership has opened my life up to many beautiful sunrises, once in a lifetime opportunities, and unforgettable moments with my boys. My boat isn't the biggest, fastest, or most technological. But, it IS the perfect boat for me and it is PAID FOR. May your boat fuel many opportunities to spend time with the ones you love and bring you fond memories during the times you can't be on the deck. Life is at it's best when you're on your boat. Congrats. You deserve it. Go make some memories.

Get a couple of colors of SplashIt's and when your bass are short striking your Pop X go to the Splash It. Often times just a subtle change in sound and presentation as all that's needed to trigger an awesome topwater bite that otherwise would leave you frustrated due to all the short strikes and boils that produce nothing. I have learned from many hours of use that the Splash It is easier to walk and has superior components to the Rico. However, on some days the Rico works better. It tends to sit a little higher in the water and produces a different splash than the Splash It. But my go-to is the Splash It. It just flat out catches them when other poppers just produce short strikes.

Bill Dance Thanks for posting the link to the article.

BPS Speed Shad are great baits. They are very consistent in action, have good density for staying on a hook, great color and size availability, and come in at a great price. BPS runs them 25% off regularly too.

Swing head jigs like the Gene Larew Biffle Hard Head.

And the Mojo tips seem to be just the right touch softer than most.

This^^^^ One exception I make is I use a St Croix Mojo Medium Heavy 7' with a MODERATE FAST tip with a Tatula SV 8 to 1 ratio. That tip allows the bass to fight without tearing off and the backbone insures a good hookset while keeping the big girls from running off with my bait. I use 14lb Cajun Line. I can easily cast a 1/4oz popper all the way up to 3/4 walking bait with that one setup.

I got the purple. The color favors the Ike series Abu rods. Very dark purple.

Got my combo in today. Reel is a Daiwa Crossfire 2500. Retails at $30. A bit heavy at 9.3 oz. Smooth, though. The rod feels awesome. I would've paid $69 just for the rod. I've swapped in a much better reel and I'm ready to give it a whirl. All in all, I'm very satisfied with the purchase. My son gets the Crossfire on my older rod, so he's happy too!

If you need/lose that many hooks in an outing you really need to look at some new LINE....

Amen to that! 50% humidity is a nice balmy day down here! Under our first heat advisory for the year. Heat indexes in the 110 range with cautions issued for heat stroke. And it's still JUNE..... But, it makes for some awesome topwater fishing at daybreak!

I'm thinking that's gonna be the big difference right there... Big motors change the numbers in front of the comma drastically.

Nearly every spinning reel has the option of swapping the crank handle to the other side of the reel. Wouldn't that be the easier solution?

It is. And ANYTHING on the blade kills the action which defeats the whole purpose. A swim jig with a hard thumping paddle tail is a much better option for fishing in weedy scenarios. A spinnerbait will work as long as you keep it above the weed line. Again, grass will wrap around the blades and kill the action. Hope this helps. It's been my experience that bladed jig baits tend to stop working under a certain speed. So, if you want to roll deep be sure to get heavy ones, like 1 oz or so, so you can keep the blade thumping but stay in the strike zone.

Assuming you're referring to a spinning combo as opposed to a bait caster?

Did I miss something here??

Can you post a link for these guys?

kpla51 hasn't been on here in 6 months. Don't hold your breath waiting on a response....

Welcome to the forum, Zach. I've had no experience with the Aldebaran, but plenty of experience with the Concept C. If I could get my money back I would. Those reels are very smooth to start with but it doesn't take long for them to develop slack and gearing issues. I loved them at first to the point I bought 5. I've given all but one away. And the last one will be gone shortly.... I've never had a bad experience with a Shimano product. That said, I really like the Daiwa Tatula SV series. For a little more refinement, step up to the Zillion SV. Smooth as butter and cast 1/4 oz baits like a dream. And with the SV spool you'll quickly become a lure skipping genius. That spool is amazing. Just some food for thought..

I own several of different strengths and lengths. Love them all. Very sensitive for the money. And, when the eye fell out of one of them, my local retailer swapped out a new rod for $40. No shipping to the manufacturer and waiting for a replacement. Not bad for a $120 rod in my book. Most of mine are Infernos and Max 3D's.

It's that darn tariff on Mexico......?

And such is life. The love affair of fishing. On again, off again on certain techniques. Try it and somewhat succeed. Move on to other ideas. See an article, video, forum post, and all of a sudden the desire is rekindled and you're right back where you left off. God, I love this sport...

To add to this great technique, helicopter a spinnerbait next to any vertical structure. Especially if you're getting short strikes. One of the best lures for this is also one of the best waking spinner baits. Zorro Baits Short Arm Aggravator. It has a pretty aggressively cupped blade that really thumps and has a great action when the bait is killed next to a stump or tree. I prefer to allow the bait to hit bottom then pop it off the bottom and continue my retrieve to the next available structure.

Neither does Tackle Warehouse have an option on whether to collect it or not. Thankfully, we still get by in Mississippi.

When you're fishing a lake with trees, preferably cypress, a spinnerbait is deadly. Cast past the tree. Reel a steady, moderate retrieve until your bait reaches the tree. At that point snap your reel handle 1/2 a turn and resume your steady retrieve. What happens is the bait is just moseying along until it reaches the tree where ole bucket mouth is hiding. Bait sees bass and flares to escape which causes bass to instinctively react by smashing the bait. It works like a charm. Be aware of your line and weight of the bait as often times the bass engulfs the bait from behind and the only notification you get is the line goes slack or starts swimming sideways. Best time to try this is any time bass are staging on cypress trees. Which is pretty often since cypress have a root system that makes great habitat for bass to hide in.