Aaron_H

Don't sleep on this budget jerkbait. H2OX Ultimate Jerk Shad from Academy, in the Crackle color. Last year was responsible for my 4 biggest LMB, including two DDs. I replace the stock hooks and split rings, personally. Great slashing action, most of them are slow risers out of the package in my waters but can add suspendots to get them how you want them. The slow rising action has been killer for me, though.

Luck-E-Strike 4" ringworm was the first artificial I ever caught a bass on. Owe a certain amount of my passion and success to them, hope to see the company thrive.

Yes. For weightless senkos, a M power rod is my preference, paired with braid to leader. If I'm throwing a larger, weighted Texas rig, then I do like to bump up to a MH.

I have never had this happen with mine. I'm not that sold on DC truthfully, if I had to replace the reel I'd probably get a Curado 150 MGL, but I'm glad I tried it out; I definitely don't feel disadvantaged casting versus my other reels and I do like it on windier days.

Cloudy days, tannic water, around shiners, or just whenever I feel like it because it's an excellent color. 26" long, on a gold/black Red-Eyed Shad in the middle of June.

I see a lot of different brands being mentioned here, but I have to throw out a vote for Zoom since no one else uses them apparently!!

This is interesting to me; my SLX DC is on a Fury 705CB as well, spooled with 30lb PowerPro to a 15lb mono leader. My brake setting is set to 2, and I get great distance out of mine throwing a 1/2 oz lipless. Nothing mind blowing, about the same as what I get with other reels that are set properly, but certainly more than the 50-60 feet you're describing. Could be the reel, but without having it in front of me it's hard to say.

Gotcha. Reason I asked is because the setup is a little different on a DC reel than you may be used to. For spool tension, it should be tightened just enough to eliminate side-to-side play in the spool, not with regards to the fall rate of the lure. Then set your brake dial on the side to w/e line you're using (2 for braid/mono, 3 for fluoro, 1 for least braking, and 4 for wind/max braking). If that doesn't get it right, then there's definitely something up with the reel, but as of right now it just sounds like the spool tension is too tight to let the DC work.

Is this your first DC reel? It sounds like your tension knob may be too tight.

I haven't tried the Hard Knocker version yet, but the One Knocker is a favorite for me, and has caught my biggest lipless fish to date (9lb 1oz). The Thunderhawk Sergeant comes in a 1/2 oz silent version, and I like it a lot when they're on that kind of bite. The 3/4 oz rattling version is killer as well.

Tried out a new pond today, got a recommendation from someone who has caught a handful of plus sized bass out of it. Did okay numbers, but no size. Main producers were spinnerbait, jerkbait, lipless, and some senko fish. I made a promise to throw the spinnerbait more often this year and try to get some nice fish on it. Did decent numbers on it today but nothing sizeable. I did get some excitement when a hefty fish slammed my jerkbait and had the rod doubled up ripping some drag, but turned out to be...... A 4lb tilapia. Still a good fight but very disappointing to see when I thought I had a quality bass on at first. My biggest bass of the night was right before dark, 2lb 10oz smoked the chatterbait right up against the bank. Had a bigger fish follow me in not long after but spooked off when she saw me. Just nice to get out there, between work and weather the fishing trips have been a little less numerous lately.

It was more to illustrate that spoken language is a living thing, what is common usage often changes over time. If it is common usage, it is not wrong, that is how language works. But it doesn't make @J Francho or you wrong either. This is also what I meant by regional dialect, one usage may be more or less common in a certain locale. But likewise, it's not a hill I'm willing to die on.

The 6'6" ML Fierce combo is rated 1/16-5/8 oz, that swimbait weighs 3.25 oz, over 5 times the max weight rating of your rod. You can usually exceed the rating a bit, especially with softer lob casts, but that sort of excess is a nonstarter on your current tackle. As others have said, there are better options for the money than LiveTarget, but it won't be any use without a setup that can handle it.

If you do a google search for double uni knot, and go to images, 19 of the first 21 results show a line to line connection, only 2 show it as a single uni with the line doubled. Not arguing with you, it could simply be a regional dialect issue, but I personally have only heard people refer to the knot in the OP as a double uni. @OP, you've already got great testimony that I can't improve on. I am a religious user of the knot for both freshwater and saltwater applications, no issues when properly tied.

Still a strugglebus for size this year, but finally (FINALLY) managed my first one over 3lb for 2023. Still no big bites as of yet. We've had some intense storms lately but not enough to get our water levels where they should be and it doesn't seem like the bass are pushed up shallow feeding like usual. Water temps low for the time of year, too, but not surprised with the rain/cold snap we got. This one was the first of the day, went 3lb 2oz. Now to find her momma (or grandmama preferably...)