Only been able to get out twice in the last two weeks between work and the thunderstorms, did okay both trips.
First cast I hooked into this one on the chatterbait that went 3.55lb
Not a bad fish and I was hoping first cast curse wouldn't get me. I caught a handful more, but I did lose a much nicer fish also on the chatterbait right at the bank. Spit it on the jump right at my feet, got a good look at her and she looked ~6lb. Not one of the behemoths that lurks that pond but a sore loss for me when big girls have been slim pickings lately.
It was kind of the breaking point for me with my chatterbait setup. I've caught quite a few large fish with a couple over 7lb on it, but I have lost far too many big ones. At first I thought braid to leader was letting them get slack too often on the jump, so I switched to mono. This helped a lot and I landed more big ones than I did with braid, but I was still losing too many. Throwing it on a MH/F graphite rod, but it bends deep into the blank, very moderate for a "fast" rod IMO. Ended up seeing a deal on the Intenza glass on American Legacy for 100 bucks so I figured I'd give glass a shot and see since so many chatterbait anglers swear by it.
Today was the first trip since it showed up, and so far I'm not disappointed. I didn't hook into any big ones, biggest only went 2.29lb but I didn't lose any fish, including one that was just baaarely skin hooked. Time will tell if this is the solution for me. Losing fish is part of the game, but hopefully this switch minimizes it.
They were busting hard on schooling shad later in the evening, I should've been throwing a small jerkbait into those bait balls and I would've cleaned house, but I left it at home wanting to put time into testing this combo. Alas, still ended the evening with 10, including this chunky little guy on a Rage Bug: