txchaser

That's a fair point, but my recollection of the 'got ffs' posts so far are more on the end of 'dang this is hard' I'd like to think we could adjust mentally for locations that grow smaller fish. My personal experiences were dang this is hard, but I can see how leaning into it could absolutely get you on fish that were otherwise tough to find or catch. But it'll take real time, and it isn't magic. Sometimes even more frustrating - I can see that fish, I know it's a bass, it's setup to eat, bite dangit! I may have an unreasonable perspective on some of this since I'm in texas so there's monsters everywhere. I wonder if anyone has easy access to compare winning weights over the last three years - seems like there would be a big rise in winning (or top10?) and average weights if it was really.

Couple over 8 on a 7+ meter JDM deep crank on sides of points this summer. It was so hot I was delerious. They would not bite a big worm, but it was an epic crank day.

I was surprised at how few days he said he guided per year. I expected 200+, I heard 90. ---------------- I'm still waiting for the BR post that's along the lines of "OMG I got FFS, I caught 50 fish today and two dd's"

I think I picked the pattern up fly fishing - I feel like the first part of my drag system is my arms. I used to fight back, now I just let them surge and try to keep constant pressure on them, so rubberbanding a little. (Largemouth) I still run my drag on the light side on most of my rods too. I can get a little more if I need it with my thumb.

Oh man I gotta start weighing more fish, I'd have guessed that fish at like 5lbs max. Pretty cool to see him go for it though.

If Daiwa won't tacketrap probably has the part, or @Delaware Valley Tackle can get it.

-360 degree live sonar rendered in a hologram off the front deck of the boat -head-tracking AR glasses that move the scope with your head -fish-tagging with tracking -custom-trained AI lure and presentation suggestions based on what the FFS sees -motorized lure that uses WIFI to the FFS unit to track the fish and get in front of them Also, IMO boat flipping onto carpet and riding in livewells in tournaments probably puts more damage on the fish than extra pressure from FFS. Anyone talked directly to TWPD brass to see if they are seeing any negative effect in Texas, at least beyond the social media effect on Ivey?

So for whatever reason the craws at a couple of lakes I fish at stay red in the summer. It's really more like a maroon than a red, and SK's Falcon Craw is a decent match (at least the red part of it) but it also has flake. I caught one at the ramp today, 5" long, thick, smallish craws for its size, and maroon. I had a hunch they would be keyed on them since this craws were moving around in shallow water even though the sun was out. Jig, bubba shot with t-mac, and a mojo rig were the winning presentations, with the bubba shot being the best. Netbait's GP/red with flake (Kentucky Special) and SK Falcon Craw worked well today, and they were super picky. But I can't find this color in solids (craws and worm) or in a GP/maroon laminate with no flake. The color of the craws is similar to red bug from netbait but with no flake. And good luck in hardbaits. Rapala DT has one maroon color that is pretty good. Almost everyone else has a bunch of bright red or orange on the belly. Am I overthinking this and just use whatever, are these local craws just weird, or something else entirely? Please send help.

Came here for the fish, but this delivered.

Thanks. I think I might have some 7/0 6th sense hooks too. I bought them for the Sweep. BTW their Sweep is legit and catches big fish. At 6" it's a pretty big presentation though. Oh were you using the beast flashy 6/0 (I think one exists, I know there's a weighted beast 6/0) or the regular flashy swimmer 6/0?

Great outcome. If it doesn't workout for whatever reason, there might be someone around local that either meat hunts (ie happy to thin the does out) or would hunt to feed others. Down at the farm there's a decent amount of infrastructure in the county for getting good meat to people in need.

Might as well pile on in the hopes someone over at TW reads this thread. I don't want to complain I just want it fixed :) Hey TW: Go restock six senko colors in three sizes and tell me how many clicks it took you vs the old site. Now go browse Keitechs, looking to see which color you want but you don't know the name of it. Cool you finally found it, if you squinted. Oh wait, they don't have the size you need in stock. Start over. TW's old grid layout for getting 200 SKUs (colors X size) on a single page was *great*. Frankly probably got me to buy too many colors or sizes because it was easy to see something that caught my eye. I used to really dislike shopping elsewhere online. Now, same deal. TW still winning on selection, but that's not a very big moat. On the bright side it is nice to be able to sort by bestselling colors. I can tell when UI designers or product photos don't fish/hunt/skate/whatever.

Nothing new but to echo some of the above. I'm way south of you though. 1) slowing down has always given me bigger and more fish. 2) my standard size is a 3.8, and will occasionally downsize to a 3.0/3.2 3) One of the a-rig makers told me that the bladed is for active fish and the non-bladed was for passive/neutral fish. He said to think of the bladed like a crankbait with a big rattle in it. There's a lot coming their way as it is a really big presentation with the blades on it.

New jig that will probably end up as a long term favorite: Engage waterbull jigs. Has the twin guards, and I have a limited supply of the *** jigs left (thanks Tom). Swim Jig: Evergreen's swim jig. It's the jackhammer of swim jigs. Very well built, color matched to jackhammers, and a medium-ish hook instead of the monster hook on most swimjigs. It's premium priced but it's not a bait I lose much. Backup is the picasso. Mexico Jigs: Seibert makes some big heavy jigs for mexico that are great. I think it's the dredge.

Tatula Elite in a "R" action ie MH/R. Not sure if they have an AGS version or not. Or if you want to spend up, the St Croix Legend X MH/Mod-F in 7'6" is flat out amazing. Comfortably throwing deep divers this summer, enough tip to throw smaller stuff.

Thanks! It's the sunfish I had. I also bought the trokar hooks with them since they said they fit properly. Not a fan of the cutting point. Will also see if I can get a 6/0 flashy swimmer on it. But based on your reviews it looks like I'll end up back at the keitech anyway.

Didn't want to make a new thread just for this but is the new tackle warehouse site a temporary site or something? I absolutely hate it; best thing TW had going for it was the way they laid out colors and sizes. I'd bet $1 that my average cart value drops... it was so easy to just toss in another size or color. Now it looks like BPS I hope someone there is reading this and remembers it when they have the big internal meeting about why revenue fell off.

Obviously not a picture of my actual rod, but I have one just like it now, and I'll get to fish it this weekend. Super curious to see how the recoil guides are. I have a stack of heliums, z-bone, and a SC legend X, to compare it to, but no NRX+/Conquest which is the target.

Was mostly 20lb tatsu, decided to try 17lb tatsu and I like it more. It's smaller (yay) and it is still nearly impossible to break by hand on a snag, at least with a double SDJ knot. If I know I'm going to get abraided a lot I'd swap back to 20. As a bonus but not why I switched, 1000yd spools of 17 go on sale all the time, which is really nice. FYI 17lb Tatsu is smaller than 12lb BG, or the same size depending on whether you are reading the inches or mm. And in between 17/19lb armilo.

Trick worm t-rigged (3/8 in 10fow in a draw) was a lifesaver this summer on a tough day. I prefer the netbait t-mac, then roboworm. More likely to throw it as a bubba shot, but on this day, that was only pulling smaller fish.

How are you finding those Trash fish gills vs the keitech? Just got some. @ol'crickety did they stay on after pinching them down?

in fairness I'm using 17lb and 20lb in similar situations so less drag is relative

Late season, forage is grown up some. Might try upsizing the paddletail.

I live in texas, it's nearly cheating. And I'll grind 12+ hours in 105 degrees too. No one wants to be out, pressure is way lower.