Aaron_H

They do! They just still have some of the older models left over, which is why I believe they had them on sale to try and clear them out. Here's the listing for the new model (though looks like they're out of stock on the 7'1" MH/F): https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/St_Croix_Bass_X_Casting_Rods/descpage-TCVB.html?from=basres

Isn't that the older model? New model is yellow/green IIRC.

Fenwick is a very underrated brand down in the south IMO, seems like they're a household name up north but most of the Florida guys have never heard of them. Great rods for the money. I've got a couple of Aetos spinning rods and I love them, caught a lot of great fish on them and I've heard nothing but praise for the HMG line.

Please do not body shame my Whopper Ploppers, they are sensitive and refuse to leave the tacklebox when they're upset. ?

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Plano_EDGE_Master_Jig_Bladed_Jig_Box/descpage-PEJ.html Should last you for many more shopping trips before it fills up. ?

Mono won't make a sinking lipless suspend but it will help it run shallower. 17-20lb would be fine. You're going to be burning the bait with your rod tip high either way to keep it out of the grass.

Mono is like braid: it floats. Fluorocarbon sinks. But more importantly, the larger diameter line has more drag in the water, preventing the lure from diving deeper. Wakebaits are kind of the lovechild of a topwater and a crankbait. They typically run just barely subsurface while creating a wake (hence the name). I'm not big into them so I can't rave over any recommendations, but I've heard good things about the Fishlab Bio Shad, supposedly a copy of a discontinued Strike King wakebait that performed well.

I'm right where I want to be in East Orlando. Surrounded by quality bass fisheries and both coasts within driving distance.

Larger diameter line will keep the lure higher in the water column. Personally I'd swap out the hooks/split rings on the Super Spot, but it will do what you need. A wakebait sounds like it would do well for you in that pond, also.

If you can swallow the price tag, the Plano Atlas would be my top pick. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Plano_Atlas_Tackle_Pack/descpage-PAT.html

I can't specifically speak to the XT as I don't own one, but I do currently throw jerkbaits on a standard SLX and it's adequate. I've heard the regular SLX handles lighter baits a bit better than the XT does but again, I haven't been able to compare the two. Personally, I'm looking to upgrade to the SLX MGL which should handle the lighter jerkbaits much better.

The reel I use for lipless cranks is 30 IPT, 7.2:1 ratio. I want to be able to burn it without wearing myself out, or pick up slack quickly when I'm working it on the bottom. An 8:1 would be a solid option as well. Rod depends on the line. I like braid to mono leader for my lipless baits, so I throw them on a MH/MF to offset the braid. If I threw stretchier line, I'd go with a faster rod.

Generally not a 'poor practice,' but I disable it for trusted sites (such as this one) that deserve the potential ad revenue. A quality blocker will produce a more secure browsing experience for the user. Moving on...

While I generally would advise against this practice, if you have an **** try disabling it for Bass Pro. For some reason a strong **** will prevent the site from loading properly. I went through this same experience last month, couldn't browse colors, couldn't add to cart, couldn't log in. Made BPS an exception for uBlock Origin and boom, site ran flawlessly. YMMV, but it worked for me. Edit: That's a weird word to block in 2021 ?

You showed her that you understand something she cares about enough to help her make sense of something you care about. Fellas take note, communication is paramount. ?

That's just a bit under twice my 2021 top five bag. What an incredible year and an absolutely gorgeous fish. Hats off to him.

I have a senko tied on mine 99% of the time. Light T-rigs and topwater are also good options. Small chatterbaits, light spinnerbaits, underspins, finesse jigs, I've thrown traps on it as well. It's a versatile rod, but as stated it is fairly stout for a Medium, and noticeably stouter than the 6'10" version IMO.

I cast and reel with my left hand, swapping hands is just effortless muscle memory at this point. Never had an issue handling fish that hit the lure right when it hits the water, personally. Props to the ambidextrous among us, though, definitely a nice skill to have.

I do find that the tipped in points of EWG trebles have a better landing ratio than round bend, but round bends will hookup easier if they're just slapping the bait so there's a little trade off. I find a lipless bite is generally aggressive enough that I can stick with EWGs regardless. The two replacement trebles that I use are the Gamakatsu EWGs and the Owner 3x ST-56 (my preference between the two). But EWGs are not *necessary*, I've landed large bass on round bends while lipless fishing, though as I said I do believe they are harder for a bass to throw in my experience. Yes, many lipless baits come with split rings that are weaker than they should be. I've had a few split rings on Rapala baits bend out on bigger fish, one of which was on a 7lb 2oz tilapia which I landed but the split ring looked like a pretzel afterward. I use either Owner Hyper Wire rings or the Gamakatsu Superline (both size 3), with an Owner oval split ring (size 4) for the line tie. This is my preference for the different lipless cranks I throw: Strike King Red-Eyed Shad: I swap hooks to EWG, stock rings are fine. You can fish the stock round bends also, they're fine quality. Rapala Rattlin' Rapala: Hooks and split rings all get swapped. Berkley Warpig: Hooks and split rings swapped. Booyah One Knocker: Line tie swapped for oval, but stock hooks and rings are solid. Thunderhawk Sergeant: Split rings swapped, hooks are good. Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap: Swapped for oval line tie, otherwise stock. The Mustad Triple Grips are fine hooks. Cotton Cordell Super Spot: Hooks and split rings swapped.

My most "unique" lure, a 1/2 oz green pumpkin chatterbait that had the 5/0 hook bitten in half by a huge softshell turtle when I went to unhook it. I keep it on my desk as a reminder not to underestimate those little buggers.

"A poor fisherman blames the fish." If you've really put 100 trips in with only 20 small bass in the last three years, then you need to step back and figure out the pattern they're on, not the pattern you want them to be on. Incredible that someone could call bass fishing in Florida of all places "dead."

Luck-E-Strike has a really great version, too.

The Kaden is an outlier on purpose, Gary received many requests from customers for a line of rods with faster actions than Dobyns is typically known for.

Interesting topic. Just went through my log for the year, and my top two baits were a senko (made up 44% of my 2021 catches, with 57% of those being on watermelon/red) and a lipless crankbait (which made up 40.5% of my 2021 total, 52% of those were on a Red-Eyed Shad). Honorable mention to the Ned Rig in a very distant 3rd place, only making up 6% of my total numbers for the year. Ned rigs are a new thing for me this year, just started throwing them about halfway through the year so still a learning process. Size-wise, lipless was the overwhelming lead, 100% of my bass over 5lb this year were on a lipless.

Very true, but I'd be pretty annoyed if I tried to drive my new vehicle off the lot only to find they never put oil in it.