PhishLI

Crazy swimbait dinks!

Don't be afraid of going bigger than you'd think. We do quite well at small ponds throwing nice size wakes and glides. Yesterday my brother and a pal had an afternoon dinkfest at a 5 acre pond while throwing only wakes and glides. My brother went back at dark and bagged a tank on a MS Slammer, but as you can see in the pics even the dinks will eat bigger baits.

Thanks! My brother just ordered another Champ XP 794. 156$

I agree

Yes, it's touchy with lighter weights, not at all really with heavier weights though. I run mine with 2 on and 2 off with the dial set at 3. Sometimes a little less. With the heavier baits I'll drop down to 1 block engaged. Don't be afraid of using your tension knob to fine tune. I always start out with just the side to side play eliminated and usually leave it there. I find the external adjustment dial to be a misery to deal with, especially at night with wet and softened finger nails, so the tension dial does my fine adjustments for lighter baits and headwinds. I'm not suggesting that you do this, but here's what I do on all of my reels: I set the tension knob to eliminate side to side play. Then I take a marker and draw a hash on the dial at the 12 o'clock position. If it turns out that i need to tweak it up during a session it's easy to return it to the neutral position when I don't need it to be juiced up, or when I leave the lake. I always back off my drags and tension knobs after I've wrapped up for the day, so the hash on the spool tension knob is useful for not having to find neutral the next time out. The mark can be easily completely removed with rubbing alcohol at any time. They need to be renewed occasionally from friction alone.

I'd bet the clutch wheel isn't seated on the driveshaft. It's hole isn't round, it has flats at 180 degrees that match the base of the driveshaft. Pull the main gear and drag then check that. PS, install the roller clutch sleeve before installing the sideplate ensuring that it's keyed into the first drag washer.

Use the rod and reel you own already. It's perfectly fine for now. Invest in a quality PFD for boating. Spend the rest on baits that have been recommended by the other respondents. If you have any scratch left afterward post again with the balance and you'll get some good recommendations for a quality baitcasting rig priced at your budget.

No, no, and no! I say twelve Hail Marys and throw in an Our Father before I throw a red anything, and NOTHING! I went to a lake the other day that's loaded with crayfish and the first thing I did was tie on a T-rigged red Chigger Craw. I dragged it, I hopped it, I swam it, I dead sticked it, and NOTHING! Three casts after I'd tied on a green pumpkin chatterbait and threw it in the exact locations I got hits all over the place and landed two fish of different species. Tied on a blue/silver paddletail swimmer and more of the same. Come to think of it, I get sent pics constantly of catches from a bunch of dudes from around here and I don't recall ever seeing a red bait hanging off a bass's face. Maybe it's just this area? It's possible. I'll keeping try to break the red curse though.

Just tie it off to anything, a fence, tree, or whatever, then walk it out. Wind it back in under tension. The backing is going to get wet when you're fishing. Don't worry about it.

Earlier Dobyns posted a 40% off everything, + $25 shipping, sale for their FB community page members. He explained that he was inventory heavy and cash poor because he'd loaded up on stock for the busy season. It's conceivable that others may follow in a similar vein if this situation persists.

This one's easy. A Steez A TW and a few aftermarket spools, inductors, and springs. Stick a fork in it. I'm smiling forever..

The state stocks trout in a few of my favorite local spots. It's a blessing and a curse. Those places hold some pretty big fish for these parts, but the bite disappears for a spell after the stocking. It definitely gets tough. One of my pals that's been fishing one particular spot we like for the past 30 years has been skunked for at least 3 weeks after the stocking for the past 6 years. It drives him crazy. He does very well otherwise. We got to a spot about 11:00 pm. I have no good explanation as to why I threw everything but a trout-like bait, but that's what I did for two hours. Not a sniff. Well, there's actually bit of an explanation. My best trout imitators are soft plastic, and the pickerel here grow unusually large. They simply destroy soft baits and are just as likely to slice through your line. I'm down to the last pack of my beloved 6" Nories Spoon Tail Shad in Rainbow Ayu, which are now nearly unobtanium. The two hour skunk made them less precious, so I tied one on, and just like that, action!. Over the course of 15 minutes I had three fish lunge at the bait as I was lifting it out of the water after a cast. That just about gave us both heart attacks! I finally hooked up with a nice fighter who was full of energy. My Daiwa Catalina has a clicking drag and this guy had it zipping. He wasn't a biggun, but he must have some smallmouth blood because he did not want to be caught. I didn't want to push my luck and lose that bait, so I tied on a Rat 40 in morning dawn and got a second fish. My buddy got a pickerel that let him keep his lure, this time.

Yes you did, and it scared me off right quick! I have a Tour S3 on the way as of 10 minutes ago. Stoked. Please leave your impressions once/if you've given them some work. I posted a thread some time ago asking about these reels, but only received a few replies with very little detail.

In my local spots the 6" Watermelon Black Flake GY senko rules at just about this time of year. Weightless T rigged or wacky, 6"ers through 6LBers will eat it. I've found that the Owner 5132-151 5/0 is a great choice for both hookups and longevity of the 6". Step down to the Owner 5167-141 if you choose a 5" Yamamoto. They'll both last way longer with these hooks than any other that I've tried as the worm tends to not rip as easily where the bend of the hook is threaded though the body. It really extends the life by alot. Definitely step up to a larger rigging tool like "The Brute O-Wacky Tool II" and get the upsized O-Rings with an I.D. of at least .300" or 5/16" for 6" GY Senkos. 6" Stick-Os and 6" Yum Dingers can stand up to the .250" O-rings that come with the standard size tubular rigging tools, but the Yamamoto cannot. Those O-rings will slice them in half way before their time. The upside of the larger rigging tool is that the worm actually fits into it. If you've tried to wacky rig 6" worms with the VMC or Harmony tools it's sucks as the worms barely fit, and you'll end up rolling the rings to where they need to be with your fingers and it's then a pain to criss cross them.

Bucca Bull Gill Glide

Squoze in a late afternoon/evening sesh with some buds. The chatterbait got some play early on, but the Buccas got bit after dark.

A friend I fish with has no problem lipping walleye. I've witnessed him lipping them, up to 30", right out of the water. Crazy. He says he knows exactly where to position his thumb. He tried to show me and explain how, but I just averted my eyes and said no thanks! I have zero interest. Anyway, this guy is kind of famous on some of the Walleye FB pages for this practice. Also, he catches a ton of them on big bass lures like glide and wake baits, including big rat baits. If you frequent those pages you've probably caught some of his posts.

Daiwa Tatula 150 and 200. Both can be grabbed for 109$ from sportsmens outfitters or the auction site. Both have metal gear side sideplates The 200 is a nice entry level small swimbait reel. The braking is consistent and it'll cast as well and far as my Tranx 200. A steal. If you don't have baby's hands the 150 is a great all around reel. It's on a pitching stick right now. So nice. You get alot of reel for the money in both cases. Mend-It. If you don't know what this is you should take a look. It's amazing how many times you can fix a soft plastic bait with it that's been torn by a fish, cover, or just from casting and retrieving. Gluing your soft plastics with super glue pretty much wrecks them, IMO. The repairs with Mend-It are undetectable as there is no hard residue left like you'll get with super glue gel. If you're put off by the price with shipping for a measly 1 oz bottle, think again. This stuff goes very far as a repair requires very little of it. 1 oz can fix hundreds of torn baits. Just don't expect it to work as quickly as super glue. It's best to let the bait rest a while and cure until you use it again. I've joined two separate pieces of 6" senkos and not had it come apart at the repair while fishing it hard. Once you've gotten a bottle and repaired a few baits, try not to think too hard about all of the plastics you've chucked in the past or super glued and ruined. You'll find it depressing. What a waste. Lew's Carbon Fire Casting Rods. These are DSG specials as far as I know. They are light, tough, and quite fish-able. Sales will put them between $39-$59. The standout for me is the 7'3" Heavy Fast. I think it's a great frog rod for little $. It loads great with typical frogs, so I can launch them, and has a "just right" taper for hooksets. Also, it hasn't blinked dragging fish out of dense pad fields during last season. No popped eyelets, no loose reel seat, no problems. My brother has one too without issues. I also like it for 1 oz baits like the Beast Coast Miyagi on a 1/4 oz 6/0 Beast hook and other medium sized single hook baits. A real bargain. Owner TwistLock Light Weighted CPS hooks, 3/32oz . I fish a bunch slim bodied of 4"-6" paddle tail swimmers as they are my best producers by far. For me these are the ultimate hooks for those type of baits. The position of the weight keeps the swimming attitude of these baits right on the money, and it cuts through grass and muck remarkably well. They feature an unusually long shank which places the hook's point farther back on the bait which really helps with short strikes. Don't let the lack of gap when compared to a typical EWG hook scare you away. Just choose baits with the appropriate torpedo profile for it similar to the Berkley Champ swimmer. My hookup ratio has been fantastic once I switched over to these hooks. Baits like the Megabass 4.2" Hazedong Shad get fitted with the 5/0. The Champ Swimmer, 4.8 Fat Swing, J-Shad, and similar baits get fitted with the 6/0. Trust me on this recommendation.

Yup, and if the general public understood what the actual total cost must be, from end to end, for a manufacturer of a $100 retail rod in order to be profitable they'd be shocked. The margins are so slim that it's almost not worth it without big volume sales.

Very few people people can throw an actual lure, even a 3/4oz lipless, anywhere near 200 feet on a typical 7' bass rod. If you'd really like to know what's what, do what A-Jay said. Go to Wally World and pick up some OmniFlex in the same diameter as the Fluoro you'll be using. It's cheap as dirt. Tie on a 3/4 oz Dark Sleeper, which is as close to a casting plug that you'll find in a lure, then bomb it out. Put some tape on the spool once the lure lands. Go home and measure the length of the line. After you've measured, cut the line where you taped it then tie it to the remaining line on the spool and wind it back up. Go back to the lake with some of the lures that you'll be throwing day to day and see how close you get to the connection knot. You can tape it off again at your farthest cast, then measure what's left. Do the math and see if 66 yards will do the trick taking into consideration the exposure of the connection knot and for extra line for re-tying multiple times , etc. It's the only way you'll have your answer without speculation.

and no option for Paypal, plus $18.95 for ground shipping.

Tour S3 PT for a hundred clams! Lord have mercy! Thanks!

It usually takes a few days of stable temps after a cold snap before they come around. The 3rd day is usually best. Friday and Saturday we were frozen stiff, mostly due to the N winds. The water was noticeably colder while wading. It'll be 68 today, so tonight they may be active, but tomorrow should be poppin with the cloud cover, low pressure, and warm rain. P.S. The depth of the lake or pond is a factor. We have mostly shallow lakes around here, so the effect of temp swings is felt to a greater degree.

Unlike Daiwas of the past, the LT's spool sizes are more in line with the rest of the industry. The 3000's frame is small, but the spool diameter is comparable to other maker's 3000 sized reels which is desirable for line management compared to sizes below it. This is a bigger deal if you're spooling with straight mono or fluoro, but not so much with braid. You'll get better distance because of the larger spool regardless of line choice. The CHX has a shallow spool, so you're not wasting line, but get the advantage of a larger diameter spool lip. If it matters to you the LT still has an anti-reverse switch where the Stradic doesn't. I don't want to live without it personally for reasons beyond back-reeling. If you have concerns about the size, or want to make whatever comparison you can just by holding the reels and spinning the handles, call J&H. They probably have both in stock and they're just a few miles from you. They have a ton of reels out in the counter display, which is huge, and they seem happy to let anyone play with them.

Daiwa Tatula LT 3000chx. Silky smooth. Never had a wind knot. You'll never look back.