Aaron_H

I have never trimmed the Zako down on a Chatterbait. If I'm getting short strikes it's usually an indication that I'm moving too fast.

I would use fluoro between the two. Personally I use braid-to-leader on my Shimano 6'10" Medium jerkbait setup but I recognize that I'm an outlier there. Rod would still be versatile with fluoro, just wouldn't throw topwater with it. Anything mid- or bottom- of the water column would be good to go on it IMO.

1/2 oz religiously. Can run them shallow or deep without issue.

Nothing like breaking off yet another $10 lipless the first day you throw it in a spot you've fished for over six years. At least I managed to get a handful of cookie-cutter bass on it before I hung up, and it was only 95 degrees and 1000% humidity so great day overall. ? 3/4 oz Thunderhawk Sergeant lipless in the "Bait" color. Newer company but worth a look in my opinion, the lipless is quality.

Those 6'10" mediums Shimano puts out are dynamite for jerkbaits. Nice tip for imparting action and good bend for keeping them pinned. If you're already committed to that Levante budget, the Expride is very much worth looking at here.

Less competition for me! Those ponds can hide some giants now and then.

I've handled them in store but not fished with them. They feel great, very comfortable and they have a slight rubberized feel to them. My youngest brother is a fan of the previous model and I've fished with them a bit and I think this grip is a step up from the old one IMO. Rods are nothing crazy but solid blanks for 80 bucks. Your mileage may vary.

I use the Rapala fish gripper, both to keep hold of unruly fish and to safely weigh them on my scale without jamming a hook up in their gills (just have to make sure to zero your scale to account for the extra weight). I've been very happy with the product given how inexpensive it is.

Depending on what part of Central FL you're in, take a trip over to Bitters Bait & Tackle in Longwood, excellent selection of mid and high end rods for you to handle without buying online sight unseen. In that budget for freshwater only, I'd probably do a 7' MHF Zodias ($209) paired with the Curado 150 MGL ($199).

Are you guys still in the spawn up there in SC? I'd try hitting the backs of some of those shallow coves.

All of them are fabulous bass, Dwight, but that last one looks like it could star in the next Godzilla film! Congrats.

I am open to anyone willing to donate their disappointing Chatterbaits to a good home. ??

Between a lipless and a senko for numbers, lipless takes it on size.

FWC stocks hybrids in some of the lakes around here, I'd love to get the boat out one of these days and try to target them. They look like a lot of fun. @A-Jay that's a good looking LMB, very pretty colors. Will there be video of it?

I've tried them on lipless and jerkbaits, jury is still out on just how much better they keep the fish pegged but they certainly work. I don't have the biggest sample size to work with yet but results are positive so far, I'd say give them a shot if you're curious.

Congrats, Mike! That's an excellent chatterbait bass. I'm very happy to see you have some success on it finally.

This hurts my feelings every time, Mike. ?

I would think I'm on the low end compared to most of the guys here. Rods/reels I'm sitting right at $3K, hard/soft baits probably $1.5-2K or so. Not counting discarding used soft plastics as "lost" lures, I've been pretty fortunate in that regard, definitely sub-$200 in lost hard baits and probably closer to the $150 mark.

It's late 80s and not high end, but the old Shimano Bantam Bass One Mag can be found reasonably cheap on auction sites. My father has one he bought new in '89 that's still slaying them on traps to this day.

Would still be singular when talking about one species. I could see a case for pluralizing if you caught more than one species within one common name, a mixed bag of white crappie and black crappie as "crappies" for example (same usage as fishes vs fish), but it would be unusual. Personally I just stick with the singular form regardless.

Every snapper and grouper we catch offshore with circle hooks is hooked perfectly in the corner of the mouth. Maybe we're just wizards, I guess.

Not what I expected to catch on a 1/2 oz spinnerbait today, but I'll take it. Forgot my tape measure today, but it was a solid 9", laid out in my palm it measured from the tip of my middle finger to the start of my watchband. This is about the average size I catch from these ponds, plenty up to around 11". Zero fight on a MH rod, but always a nice surprise and the strikes are always super aggressive. It's getting about time to bust out the panfish gear and target them on some tougher days.

Shimano's 6'10" medium (in whichever line you feel comfortable spending) is wonderful for those techniques. They're rated anywhere from moderate fast to extra fast depending on the line, but they've all got plenty of bend in them.

He downplayed it at first as I had caught a few bigger ones beforehand, but I told him my first "official" PB bass was 2lb 1oz, so he had me beat in that regard and it was certainly a bass to be excited over. His first one to really pull any drag and not just get skied across the surface. Any PB is a good PB in my opinion and I would never try to make someone feel less than over it.

One of my buddies is just getting into bass fishing so I've been tagging along with him to help him out, and the company has been nice. Pond has potential for some real giants IMO, been there 20 years, full of hydrilla, lots of quality forage. Been a dinkfest the last couple times I went, but today I managed some better ones. Handful over 2lb with one just barely breaking 3lb. Very skinny postspawn fish but she was still able to bulldog me down into some hydrilla for a second. Gives me hope of finding some big mommas lurking around. 3lber was caught on a lipless, rest were all on chatterbait. Not pictured, but my buddy was able to set his first official PB at 2lb 3oz, so I was glad to be there for that. Might not be a big trophy bass, but his excitement over it made the day for me. Hope I get to be there for the next one, too.