Aaron_H

A lot of it comes down to how they throw a lipless. Most of the time they tend to be jigging it, and a faster reel to pick up that slack quickly is what works for them. Most lipless retrieves tend to be on the faster side in general, IMO. I personally prefer a 7:1.

That's good to know, I have the same rod for frogging that I was considering using to get my toes wet with A-rigs.

Come to Florida! It's rare that I fish a pond that doesn't have a gator in it. The plecos are unbelievable here, stacked around the banks of every pond. I've snagged them occasionally, but you'd be hard pressed to put a dent in their population without a net or gig, or bowfishing them. I've heard they make decent table fare, but I'm not brave enough to try it. They do make a satisfying crunching sound when the gators catch one, though.

Most won't, they have too many bad experiences with dingleberries littering and being in the way of golfers (not to mention liability if you get hurt). Your best bet is to call around and ask respectfully. Better than just showing up and risking getting trespassed.

I've seen gators eat them, but never seen a bass spit one up. I'm sure they'd eat the juveniles but I've never seen it.

I literally opened this thread just now specifically to post that video. At least someone did it! I can only reiterate what others have said, I care about gear ratio/IPT depending on the technique I'm throwing. I find 7:1 to be a fair middle ground that is easy to speed up or slow down with if I want something more universal.

Personally I think I'd make the bump up to the full $100 and get the Shimano Symetre combo. Barring that, the Daiwa Laguna/Berkley Lightning suggestion is solid. Or Daiwa Aird-X/Shimano Sienna.

Yessir! Two of the split rings were still in perfect shape, and they're beefy (not sure what Duckett uses for them, they almost remind me of the Spro power rings but I doubt they are). So just threw on an Owner oval line tie and some #4 Owner ST-56 trebles and she's good to go. Bait cleaned up pretty well and I like how it runs. I wouldn't mind if that guy broke off a couple more of them at that spot....

Walked to the canal out back a few minutes ago to test the swimbait I found yesterday. Hit with another cold front, air temp 20* colder than yesterday, but got this 4lb 2oz on the third cast. Had to run back up to the house for pliers and my scale, didn't expect to get bit for the few casts I was planning on making. There was another one with her about the same size trying to grab the swimbait while I was fighting this one, but she spooked off once I got this one close to the bank.

One of the pros of the old Bass X over some of the other rods in that price range for me was that it offered a lot of actions that the SLX rods didn't, while still being matchy matchy with the SLX reel. Now.... No doubt it's an even better performing rod, but it definitely loses some appeal. Not surprised to see the Expride get the monocoque handle, am surprised that the price increase is pretty modest. New 6'10" medium looks like it's rated as a moderate fast instead of fast. Fingers crossed the current model can be had for a decent discount before they're gone, but I highly doubt it.

Opposite for the swimbait I found. Couldn't have been more than 6-8lb mono.... Not surprised he broke off.

In my experience, hooks and split rings are the first things lure manufacturers will skimp on to lower costs. There are a lot of companies that still use quality hardware, but it is still too common a practice IMO. I'm not willing to risk losing a personal best bass to a bent out split ring (had it happen on Rapala baits) or broken hook shanks (looking at you again, Rapala) just because I didn't feel like throwing $2-3 worth of hardware on it. With upgraded hardware, I don't have to play the guessing game on if it's going to hold up or not. And of course, like many others, I'm pretty firmly in the EWG camp, and most lures I buy still come with round bends.

That's a nice bowfin. They put up such a good fight, but always heartbreaking to think you have a giant bass on only to pull up a mudfish. 8lb is the minimum for Florida's Big Catch program, if you're interested in submitting the bowfin.

Found what looks like a Duckett BD Shad 4" in green shad earlier this evening. Hooks badly rusted off and tail isn't in the best shape, but can't turn my nose up to a $20 lure.

Lipless would be my favorite if I had to pick one (to the surprise of no one familiar with my posts). But a chatterbait is a moderately close #2 for me, and the jerkbait is fast becoming a favorite now that I'm putting the effort into learning it.

I try to tell this to some of my fishing buddies with any bait. Keeping it specific to chatterbaits, they ragged on me for being "caught" by such a gimmicky looking lure years ago. But as soon as I caught a 7lber on it, a few of them rushed out to load up on them. Years go by and they once again tell me chatterbaits are "trash" and they can't catch anything on them, but then they never throw them or put in the effort to gain confidence. No lure is going to be a magic bait if you don't put in the effort to learn when and how to throw it.

The Duality of Man

Can third the Shadow Rap Shad. It's a bit shorter than you specified but it gets bit.

I use Seaguar Premier for my fluoro leaders.

For lipless fishing I use a 7.2:1. Typically working in a slightly more brisk retrieve and if I'm ripping/yoyoing/jigging then I still want to pick up slack quickly.

I don't get fancy with it; I just use a simple Word document where I have a template of info I copy/paste to fill out after each trip. Date, time, location, weather, moon phase, fish caught, techniques used, anything notable, etc. Then a year-to-date total count and a month-by-month breakdown to see my more productive months. I like this method because it is easily searchable for key terms and easy to look back on prior yearly logs to identify patterns.

Yeah I set a "good" PB of 7lb 5oz just a few months after I got heavy into bass fishing (grew up only fishing salt), that one took me over two years to break. Then hit a 7lb 15oz and an 8lb 7oz within one quarter in 2019, then an 8lb 9oz in June 2020 (25" long and a huuuge head, I think she would've gone over 10 if I got her prespawn, she had that summer belly sadly), then the 9lb 1oz this past November. Definitely tougher as you get higher, even just beating by a couple of ounces at this point feels amazing. Thanks for the encouragement, Dwight, fingers crossed I can join the DD club sooner rather than later.

I'm happy enough with my 2021 results. I ended up with 620 bass for the year, which is less than 2020, but I did a bit better in quality. Biggest five went 34lb 9oz, and caught my personal best finally breaking that 9lb mark (double digit club, I've got my sights on you). I spent the year really trying to fine tune a couple of techniques and I think the quality of my bass improved as a result. This year I will be doing the same thing with a couple of other techniques (already mentioned 2022 as Year of the Jerkbait for me) and see if I can't grab a few biggies along the way. I also learned a lot more on targeting blue tilapia with artificials, which hopefully will lead to me inching closer to that IGFA world record. I've caught multiple over 7lb and one 8lb 10oz, and I've seen bigger in these spots so I think it's doable. I've managed to break my personal best LMB three years in a row, which is exciting for me. And it's a trend I hope to continue this year.

Eh, in my experience they're like the bottom of the barrel VMC hooks. They'll catch fish but they're not great, and it's not something I'd be willing to risk a PB on when quality hooks and split rings are comparatively inexpensive. VMC does make some great products, though; some of which I use religiously (Nemesis circle).

Congrats on the PB! That's a gorgeous bass. And a hard lesson learned not to leave home without the scale. I have literally had nightmares about this exact situation ?