PhishLI

Lost a few. Caught a few. As I was fantasizing about either stomping it to pieces, lighting it on fire, or launching it into orbit on a huge bottle rocket, I finally, finally, finally caught a bass on a freakin' MegaBass PopMax. There's a god in heaven after all.

I've never touched the BPS version, but the DS Boogers are rather soft. Any fish large enough to inhale a bait of the size of the 5" Ultimate BlueGill will be heavy enough for the hook's point to penetrate through the silicone. They do their job well on baits half the size, and are a good option for throwing open hook baits where they'd be impossible to throw otherwise.

...and the handle is on the "smart" side. So smart. ?

So it's a good idea to stick with rods with a conventional handle length unless you're sure the typical 21"-24" handle length found on many swimbait rods works for you on a yak. Personally, I ended up having wrist pain in butt end hand while using them and had to look for options with a shorter length handle. Other people I know have had a similar issue. Others haven't.

Good story. Yesterday it looked like we'd get a torrent here, which would've been welcome with this drought, but it only rained hard for about 9 minutes. By minute 10 a blaring sun was back out, and that was that. Decent southern winds coming in later combined with the cooler air should spark them later today into this evening.

Do you fish from a Yak primarily? P.S. These work and come in a 8 pack now.

Add some oil to the spool bearings while they're in place if you're not into removing and cleaning them. The oil will cut the factory grease. It'll cast better quickly after it mixes.

You made the right choice for "you" right now with the SV TW. Sometime down the line you can geek out on a reel buying specialty spools and gear sets and whatever else you like if you feel like it. You're going to love the SV. My buddy grabbed one a few months ago. It's magnificent.

Cry no more

Several years ago a thread popped up here asking something to the effect of "What's your dream reel?" I listed the Steez A as my choice along with a handful of different spools. With the newer options for improvement you've listed, it's only gotten better since. Owning the new Zillion has derailed pursuing an A and hunting for spools for it, but I won't let one slip by if the opportunity is right at the time.

Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's hard to say. Last night was a comedy of lost fish for me, but not because I broke off. I guard against that. I was just off. Get a pair of inexpensive $50 hip waders or $20 waterproof boots from amazon. I realize not all spots are suitable for walking into from the bank, but many are. I'm not suggesting that you wade fish either, but with waders you can step into the water, keep the fish submerged as you're unhooking it, which is good for the fish's health, especially in this heat, and you'll never need to lift one up by the line. Fishing with trebles? Use a fish gripper every time. Last night, in waders. Caught on a Shellcracker G2 swim bait. Terrifying trebles. Fish gripper. No problemo. Frogg Toggs Rana II hip waders $34.99

Spawned twice maybe?

Correct, and while the word on the street is that the A is best used with baits 1/2 oz and up, it can absolutely be fished with less. Not as a painlessly as the SV, but not painful either if you have feel and a thumb. You'll be fine.

Crazy heat lately with zero wind, even when some wind was in the forecast, so I took a hard pass since Wednesday. Yesterday was the hottest day of all at 97*. My neighbor's Koi didn't make it through the day. They were crushed. I've been feeding it forever when they'd be away. Sad. Finally got some real wind late in the day, so I had to give it a go. I'm beginning to get very concerned about the water levels here. I've never seen them like this, and haven't ever been able to wade out so far out. A few places dried up completely about 20 years ago and needed to be restocked once they'd refilled. I think I'm gonna have to start doing rain dances soon. I somehow picked the correct location right off the bat, and hooked up on my 1st cast, but it shook off. This happened four more times in a row. I sat on the couch for a few days and forgot how to land a fish. Finally, a squeaker was kind enough to thoroughly hook itself on a Rat 30. I kept doing my best Chuck Knoblauch imitation afterward, but managed a few more slims in between yips. I was expecting a screaming skunkfest, so I wasn't mad at all. This all made me laugh actually. The raccoons must've thought I was nuts. No bigs caught or lost, but better than a kick in the beans.

That's one sharp DOYO, BD.?

Is it? Perhaps we gauge the tone of what we read differently then. You read this as people being distraught over what you see as corporate duplicity. If you're right then we're talking about a microscopic minority me thinks. Were people who bought Cabela's Arachnids distraught if/when they found out they were actually Daiwa Zillion variants? Doubtful. I read this as a "hold your nose, it's a DOYO" type of thing, or occasionally something akin to feigning gagging, with sound effects included, at the sight of someone else's dinner who's seated at another table in a restaurant. This type of thing clearly happens here and elsewhere, and it has little to do with distress over marketing strategies. I think you know this, and I think this is more of what goes on compared to people getting upset over finding out that Lew's and ABU are really marketing names for DOYO.

My only motivation for contributing to this thread is because of examples like this: Several months ago a poster expressed his disappointment after he'd found out that either his new Lew's or ABU was made by Doyo. His disappointment wasn't based on first hand experience because of a negative issue in the past, but obviously just from hearsay and regurgitated nonsense. Had he simply stated he'd heard about either Lew's or ABU in a negative light, I'd understand to a degree, but that wasn't where he was coming from. Certain internet sleuths like to stigmatize Doyo, for whatever reason. This gets repeated, and he picked up on it. How many times will he repeat it, then warn others off? If you spend time elsewhere on the net, you'll hear constant crying over Daiwa and Shimano. The intensity of those complaints are enough that I could easily see a new guy being scared off of buying either of those sacred cow brands, or at least certain models of otherwise fantastic reels. Yet no stigma is attached by the people doing the crying, but it is with DOYO somehow. I'm old enough to remember ignorant fools sneering at Japanese cars with claims that they were junk because they were made with recycled beer cans. Label behavior like that how you wish, but in my opinion it was really just a dumb way to diminish someone who bought one.

"Show me the fool who doesn't like cookies." Nice fish!

Skip the Tatulas. Step up to the big time. https://fishing.asian-portal.shop/category/select/cid/352/pid/316313

Toxic Baits provides a rubber stopper with their Wade Frog and Wade Froglet. They'll work on other soft plastic baits. Helpful if your hook is popping up out of the bait exposing the point. Call them to see if they'll sell you a handful, or get creative and rig something similar with something found at a good hardware store. If you're having the opposite problem, where the hook's point is pulling down through the bait, then superglue a toothpick into the plastic across the bait just before the hook's barb.

available on the auction site

He was interested in finding out if there was a super high gear ratio Chronarch available in the JDM market. Nothing like that is available here. His father has several Chronarchs in stock gear ratios already, but wanted to add another in something quite a bit faster.

Yup. The other day someone was asking about a super high gear ratio option Chronarch for his father. It fits his hand quite well and he doesn't want anything else, or nothing else he's held so far has pleased him as much.

It's not by much, if anything. However, it fits the hand differently, so someone might prefer one over the other because of frame ergonomics.

Nice fish! Congrats. Great last name. My mom's maiden name, except with one T.