Aaron_H

I hate them. So much. Culled seven more of these from the pond today, makes the tally 92 culled for 2022. Still haven't put a dent in their population, and I probably never will. I had a couple of them on that put up a very strong fight with several hard runs and big head-shakes, but most of them fought about as well as a plastic bag full of water. All seven today caught on the 3/4 oz Thunderhawk Sergeant lipless in gold/black.

Looks good. Segmented tail at the back should let it work in tandem with the blade, but my biggest pet peeve with the Zako (similar tail design) is how easy it is for tilapia and bluegills to yoink that tail off and destroy the trailer. Is that something you are mindful of with designing this trailer?

They're fairly light wire, but as long as you're not hammering them you'll be fine. I think there are some threads around here (and some videos on YouTube) about what hooks you can use without messing up the balance of the bait if you do decide to swap them out. Wouldn't worry about it presently.

Your setup sounds good to go to me. I use a 6'10" medium rated to 1/2 oz paired with 30lb braid to 15lb mono leader (very similar stat-wise to what you're throwing, just lower-end) and it handles those 110-sized jerkbaits wonderfully. I would say that a few fish aren't a large enough sample size to say if adjustments need to be made. Losing fish is part of the struggle, sometimes it's just not our day. I'd say stick with it, make sure your drag is properly set, and you're not setting into them too hard with that braid, and see where your results end up.

Dang, and only 8 bucks for some of the colors....I see a purchase being made very shortly. I'm not a big swimbait/glidebait guy, but I think that 5" model would do very well in my waters.

It's also useful for saving waypoints. Mine looks like a pincushion at this point. I mark favorite spots, places I've caught quality fish, and cover or hard structure I find, general notes, etc. It's incredibly useful compared to the regular Google Maps.

If you use Google Earth Pro, you can access past satellite imagery for the area that are usually at different times of the year. Good luck! Always nice hitting a new spot for that chance at the unknown.

Fantastic! ? And +1 for the Leatherman Wingman.

Personally I would go with the 7' M/XF Shimano Intenza in that price range, but you've got a lot of options here and plenty of great suggestions.

Could be interesting. Profile wise in this pic it looks a lot like the new Berkley Stinger. I was ready to order some since they look great and the honeycomb structure seems like it will lend more durability than the Zako, but decided against it after how Pure Fishing handled my TrophyCatch prizes.

I'm too far south for those, too. But we grow good LMB here, so I can't complain too much.

Gorgeous smallie! Some day I will make a trip up north to try and target those brown bass, they are so incredibly pretty. A bucket list fish for sure. Also laughed at the "Minichuck" designation. I honestly get such a huge kick out of naming my spots.

If you can get it to shimmy/swim in cadence with the blade vibrations, I think you'd have a winner. It's got the right profile and length, but it's gotta be supple enough to get that perfect swim and not be too stiff or fighting against the action of the blade.

I found one of these at one of my favorite spots a while back, cleaned it up and replaced the hardware and the action is definitely good on it. Caught some decent fish with it, but no giants yet, biggest was one just a bit over 4lb. Best luck with it has been running it just subsurface almost like a wakebait.

I'd probably try throwing some topwater on it, but it sounds like it could handle plenty of techniques well.

I fish smaller sub-10-acre ponds 99% of the time I bass fish, most get decent pressure. Small bass are a dime a dozen in them but they can hold some true giants. Bluegill and young bass are going to be the primary forage for larger bass there, focus on those presentations (prioritizing bluegill IMO). Lipless crankbait, squarebill, chatterbait, jerkbait, spinnerbait, etc. in darker colors will be the ticket to triggering some bigger bites. Like WRB said, target fountains (cover as well as more oxygenated water) and along the banks. Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, and jigs can all be useful not only for getting bites, but also dragging bottom to see if there is any structure along the bottom that could hold fish. A lot of ponds to end up having some decent ledges and dips away from the banks from where they were dug out and that will attract bait/bass.

I don't eat them. The water in the spots I catch them in is fed mostly by drainage from nearby roads, and much of it in the area has been tested as unsafe. I feel wasteful dispatching them without eating them, but FWC does not want them live released since they are invasive.

Yeah the small ones aren't much sport, but once they get a little heft to them they are aggressive strikers in my experience that are pretty good at using those tall flat sides to their advantage to bulldog you, and they can make some pretty impressive runs. No jumps, though. I've had a handful over 7lb (and one just over 8.5lb) and they were fantastic fights. FWC says they "rarely" strike artificials, but I'd like to take one on a trip with me to some of these spots....

Those tilapia are the bane of my existence. I'm up to 85 of them culled for 2022. A little sad that I haven't gotten a big one this year yet, but still got some time. Pretty good fighters, at least.

I would rather get clubbed in the nuggets. I cannot speak of using swimbaits to target large bass, the risk of losing that much $$ to a break off is more than I can justify spending as primarily a bank angler. But I can relate heavily to that pursuit of DD bass and what worked for me wasn't an expensive technique, but getting better at figuring out when/where I would have a shot at one. When they were up shallower, when they were on feeding patterns, etc. Locating bait schools during the fall transition and narrowing down prespawn locations ended up being the ticket for me finally getting into some bigger class fish more consistently.

Guilty. Sometimes it's more about what I'm in the mood for than what the bass are in the mood for. Definitely some days where I should've put the lipless down for a wacky rig or something, but doggone it I wanted that lipless bite.

Great fish, bud! Very cool of him to offer you a seat on the boat, hopefully you guys continue to partner up out there.

Rodman, Toho, Headwaters, Okeechobee, many others with solid chances at a giant. I wouldn't say next month is the "best" time, but you're definitely getting into that period where some (but not most) fish will be prespawn, especially in south Florida. Jan-March is IMO the best period, but big bass can be found year-round here. Floating shiners is a great way if you have no qualms with live bait. Like @roadwarrior said, you should hire a guide.