txchaser

I live in the same area. I have too many jigs in too many colors. Jig - Green Pumpkin and Black/Blue is a great place to start. 3/8 and 1/2 oz. Trailer - Get GP, Watermelon Red, Texas Craw (green with some orange), and Black/blue trailer. I'm choosing these trailers because you can carry fewer jigs. Sometimes our waters a little orange is a difference-maker - last craw I saw in a throat a couple weeks ago was GP/orange, and a GP jig with a gp/orange trailer was about perfect. And there's something about watermelon red around here too if they are on a craw bite vs a bluegill bite. If it's bluegill the GP or B/b depending on how dark the gills are. Rage Craw or Saw Craw or anything like that will do. For now, if you need less action just cut the claws off about halfway down, less stuff to haul around. Consider the Trashmaster jigs, they are a really good transition from a texas rig, they crawl through about any cover, and they are easy to rig. This is their GP, I like the two-tone.

I don't recommend that 20lb braid, it's really thin. That's spinning rod or BFS territory. Try a tight 8-carrier braid like 40lb fins sling braid or vicious no-fade. I'd hate to see your glide go sailing off into the sunset.

Here's his web site. https://www.pondboss.com/Home

Oh yeah check out the podcast "Sitting Dockside" - it's biologists and pond guys talking about all this stuff.

I've replaced 30+ jackhammer snaps with one similar to OP. You have to put the snap through the hole then push the wire all the way through and lay the snap almost parallel to the blade. Then push down and in, until the small bend on the end of the wire goes through the second hole. Scratches the blade pretty much every time, but that's how I know you have the whole snap pushed down far enough to get that little wire bend in the second hole.

90 minutes is about the max for me, otherwise I'll try to stay overnight.

Defintely big enough for some bass. https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bob-lusk.html Call Bob, he's the real deal.

Watermelon red flake, but that's kind of a 'Texas in the grass' thing. Behind that it'd be GP black flake. I have some of the white/silver ones, I think they will make a great dying shad, but haven't had the moment where it seemed like the right thing to dig out. The best hook, by far, is a 4/0 Hayabusa WRM 958. They have them at tackle warehouse. Nice wide gap, just the right length. Replace the screw lock with a size large owner CPS. I fished a single IKA across at least 15 fish one day this spring, and the only reason I had to change it out is because I ripped off a bunch of the arms clearing some grass. It feels like a 4/0 owner beast hook but in a smaller wire and a little less gap. Also it is a coated hook which I think is a major plus.

This is really good to know! I had this with a tat elite too, smooth before disassembly, noticably geary afterwards. Never did figure out why. Were you going one tooth at a time to find the spot and got lucky? Seems like it could be 50 or more tests? Could you tell one way or the other before you put it back together?

Mostly not there, but thanks to the thread I'm hearing it now too or... thanks to the military.

Spirion is closer in action

Last half-hitch gets a couple of extra turns, snip, wet fingers to protech the line/knot, hit the end of the braid with a lighter. A tip that has helped me a lot - you can twist the braid in your fingers a little and it will help the hitches lay very tight, both with each other and with the mainline braid.

Not new but worth reinforcing: -anchoring or moving very quietly -punching (IMO there are a bunch of unpressured bass under those mats, techniques that are harder or more technical get less use) Also, be mindful of the color of your hat and shirt, how much you are moving around, etc. I recall that the georgia guy that caught 100's of DD's was careful with how much his arms and elbows moved about when he was throwing buzzbaits at night. He might have been overdoing it, but between color and motion, don't give them any extra cues or clues that you are there.

Almost always, because I'm trying to learn what else they might bite, can I upsize fish, etc. Last weekend was one of the few times I didn't for very long. I could get a consistent bite on the outside edge of pondweed, but only on that kind of grass. Slither rig with a space monkey, GP with a dipped tail. THey'd bite almost nothing else, and nowhere else, except for white chatterbaits on millfoil grass points, and those chatterbait fish weren't very big. It was clear very quickly that they weren't interested in much else, so I spent all day just flipping the pondweed. Usually it is the opposite, I can find something else they will bite too, and it is often much better and or more fun - wacky senko at outside grass lines is terribly boring, and catching small fish isn't as fun as big fish. I do find that having a bunch of rods really helps with switching up - if I can just pick up another rod that's (as an example) mid-column but faster it is easy to try out whether a swimjig gets me a better bite than a flashy swimmer.

I have a few of this skirted jig style and they are really good in pondweed and other vegetation that is tough to snap off a chatterbait. The skirted one is a pretty big presentation relative to this.

Same owners or new crew?

How'd these turn out on the water?

Are you by chance trying to tie this without the braid being taut? Tie it to your belt loop or the reel handle and it will stabilize the whole operation.

Thanks TT, this explains why this Deps 250 (even on the correct rod) is leaving me wondering how this is even possible to do for more than an hour.

How are you choosing between the various flavors?

I think it is because it is pretty quiet, and has a tight wobble. I fish them pretty slow. Don't buy the black though, big fish around dark gills will never ever bite it

It's that smooth...

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/6th_Sense_Crush_Flat_75X_Crankbait/descpage-6S75X.html First choice by far for big fish.

I sent an AGS rod out locally and got back a standard fuji guide /facepalm. So I'm in triple check mode; last few repairs I did I just sent guides from the manufacturer.

If I'm trying to figure them out, happier with no music. If I'm on a pattern, or fiddling trying to improve a pattern, earbuds in "transparent" mode.