Aaron_H

If I'm checking the weather report at home it's usually AccuWeather, or NOAA if it's going to be a saltwater trip. When I'm on the water, I use the Weatherbug app on my phone for the quick lightning map access.

Braid backlashes are quick to pick out once you know what you're doing. I do get more distance with mono, but I enjoy throwing braid as long as the rod can compensate for it.

I have a handful of 20-25 year old Zebco 33s that still work great. Be aware that the new 33 and 33 micro use a plastic pin to attach the handle to the frame and it is extremely prone to breakage.

I think the hype for them originally was overblown, but they are effective for me. I reach for them about as often as a spook, I like that I can run it super tight to grass lines or other cover compared to walking style baits that might swing a little wider from it. But the guys touting it as some sort of topwater fish magnet are full of it IMO.

Fingers crossed it ends soon for both of us. I always lose a few really good ones a year and I try not to let it get to me too much, but losing them this close together is what's getting me frustrated I think. That 6-0 I got yesterday was a beautiful fish and it was nice to win one, trying not to let the sour memory of losing that giant overshadow it.

I do think they're overpriced, but the 110 is one of my favorite topwaters. Had a 6lber crush it yesterday.

So far my secret has been to just throw a Chatterbait instead. But who knows, the jerkbait has far surpassed my expectations this year, spinnerbait next year could be no different.

It's an application on Windows. I figured if you were emailing it to yourself you would be able to access it on a desktop, my fault for assuming.

If you can open the picture in Paint, you have the option to resize it (I typically do around 50%). When you save it make sure to do so as a jpeg and not a PNG, this will reduce the filesize to under 1mb.

Caught my biggest jig fish (7lb 15oz) on that SK skipping jig in watermelon/red. Big fan of them as well as the Hack Attack jigs.

Jerkbaits were something of a nemesis of mine for a few years. I would tie one on every now and then, caught a few fish sporadically on them, but never managed to gain any confidence in them. I would look at them wistfully in my tacklebox, knowing they *should* be putting fish on the board but I just couldn't get the hang of it. Finally made my fishing resolution for this year to tough it out and figure them out and I've managed to have some pretty good success on them; my three biggest fish of 2022 so far have been on the jerkbait, including my personal best. It's given me a lot of confidence to tackle another low-confidence presentation next year. Haven't decided yet, but maybe the spinnerbait.

@Columbia Craw picked up a couple of them and gave some first impressions in this thread. Fuji reel seats according to him. I'm interested in them, but have yet to come across one in person so have managed to fight off the bait monkey for now.

I start a Word document at the start of each year as my fish log. Keep it broken down by month, with just a simple template of basic information I can record after each trip. Date, location, time, weather, fish caught, lures used, etc. Then a running tally at the end of how many fish I catch per month as well as year-to-date. I also keep a top 10 list, as well as tracking each bass over 3lb I've caught since 2016, and my best numbers day. We should go fishing one of these days ?

The Zako is my #1 Chatterbait trailer. Also had great luck on the 5" Zoom Swimmin' Super Fluke (in either baby bass or breaking bream), just rigged normally not upside down. The Mister Twister 5" SinSation looks great on the back of one too with that big curly tail. Likewise, the GameChanger Eeliminator if you want that curly tail action in a more compact package.

Trying not to feel too bad about it, I know a lot of guys would kill just for a shot to see a bass like that so I know how blessed I am to be getting consistent big bites. But man, it's got me second guessing myself something fierce. Drag too tight? Too loose? Rod suddenly not loading as deep as it should? Are they mysteriously getting slack line? It's gotta just be a bad luck streak, but I feel like to be losing this many fish the past month there has to be something that changed that I'm not picking up on.

The past few weeks have been miserable. I've mentioned that I lost a couple of big fish, Saturday was no different. Threw the lipless on the second jump, easy 6-7lber. I ended up cutting the day short because I was so frustrated and didn't want to force it if I wasn't having fun. It was the first day I ever felt genuinely mad while fishing, which to me was a sign to cut my losses and clear my head. Then today was a day of ups and downs. Lines in at 3:15, started off breaking off a brand new lipless crankbait 30 minutes in after catching 0 bass on it (but did get two tilapia). My 5th or 6th lipless into the drink for 2022 so far, more than I typically lose in a couple of years. Then had a break, finally landed one of the bigger bites. Just before 4:30 had a nice one smash the whopper plopper 110 while working it through some flowing water. Came in right at 6lb even. Got a few more on topwater, and some on the lipless. Then got to the same pond that I caught my two DDs out of this year, working my way around and....hooked into an enormous bass on the lipless. She ate it on the fall while yo-yoing it, came up and jumped and she was just humongous. She did that big lazy backflip the giants do, could see the lipless in the inside corner of her mouth. Everything looked good, both trebles down her mouth, rod loaded, she went back under and started peeling line. Then she came up again for backflip #2 and *poof*, threw the lipless. I know everyone who loses a big fish is always like "it was a frickin ten pounder bro!!!" but I'd like to think I have enough credibility when I say this fish was for sure a DD. I don't get it. I feel like I've got the yips lately with losing these big fish. I'm not doing anything different and it's typically very uncommon for me to lose fish on a lipless, let alone big ones that can really load that rod deep. The lipless is my all-time confidence bait and I have spent a lot of time getting my setup dialed in for how I like to fish them, now I feel like I'm losing d**n near half the fish I hook into. It might just be a bad luck streak, it happens. 2022 has already been a very fortunate year for me bass fishing, and I know I'm doing something right to be finding and triggering big fish like this so consistently this year. I'm trying not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but losing these big ones lately has got me feeling like Charles Barkley's golf swing. I did end up getting another decent fish on topwater to close out the evening, 3lb 8oz, but it was a poor consolation for the one I lost.

My brothers and I each have one that we stuff in our camping bags for giggles. I've caught panfish and small bass on it. My brother caught a 4lb 5oz largemouth on his, handled it surprisingly well.

That's a brute, congrats on the new PB!

I have both, and I'd agree that it's stouter than the lure rating suggests. Neither are as stout as the MH rods I own, but I've thrown 3/4oz on the 7'2" with zero issues. Haven't tried anything heavier than 1/2 oz on the 6'10", but I'd bet it would be similar. IMO Shimano tends to lean more conservative with their lure ratings anyhow.

The guys at TacticalBassin just uploaded a video the other day where Tim was throwing a 1/2 oz Jakchammer with a 5.5" trailer on the 6'10" medium SLX rod. He caught some nice ones on it and it handled it well. Looked like he was throwing it on braid (despite the video description which says fluoro) which likely helped the hooksets on the lighter rod. My 1/2 oz chatterbaits w/4" Zako come in a .95 ounces, almost double what the rod is rated for. I prefer to throw them on a MH/F, but a medium definitely seems doable if you were inclined to try it out.

I know you're being facetious, but just for the sake of discussion I don't count anything that isn't in my hands as a catch. A lot of guys count leader touches for some fish, but I'd only do it for toothy critters or something like a tarpon/Goliath grouper where it is unlawful to take mature fish out of the water. But it would need to be an intentional release, not the hook pulling/line breaking after you happened to grab the leader. Sorry to hear about the skunk, brother. You'll get 'em next time.

Throw a Zako on the back of that chatterbait, betcha those Florida pond bass start looking at it more.

I've done it with lipless cranks and am currently testing it on jerkbaits since another member was asking about it and I have some lying around. You will miss some of the fish that just slap at it, but the ones that eat it get a very solid hookset. That bigger, stouter single hook really allows you to lean on them harder than you can with trebles. I use the Owner 1x single replacement hook. If you don't mind missing out on some of the slaps or strikes from smaller fish, it's a good alternative.

The 3" is significantly smaller than the 4". It's a small, reasonably light wire hook (very stout, just not heavy gauge or anything), so I'm throwing them on my lighter Texas-rig rod. 7'2" M/XF SLX, 30lb braid to 20lb fluoro leader. Rod is stouter than you think for a medium, can push 3/4oz+ on it easily, a 3/8 oz bait with that hook is easy peasy to drive home. Again, 4 fish is not a large sample size, this was just my early impression.

Time will tell, my sample size today was pretty small. Had four good bites, hooked into two of them and both threw it on the jump even with the whole bait deep in their mouth. Four bites is not enough data to say either way, but it was not a promising start. Looks good in the water, though, that iridescence really comes to life in the sun. I do wish it had a bit more secondary action, tail thumps like crazy but the body is pretty static. It reminds me a lot of how the Live Target swimbaits run, but it's getting bit so who am I to judge?