txchaser

I started out in agreement then I thought about: A-rig vision 110 drop shot senko chatterbait swimjig with no trailer If some new bait is working I'm going to guess they are doing everything they can to hide it unless they are sponsored. "I was catchin' 'em on soft plastics" But I get your point. I'm always hunting for the next lure that really is a knockout. Occasionally I do find one, but I'd bet it's 25:1 "I don't understand why did I buy this" to "wow this saved the say and these fish are huge". Heavy silent lipless was one of them. All five of my largest fish have come from baits that weren't standards a few years ago. I have this pull to really cut down on the number of options and presentations though. Maybe a good example here is tokyo rig. I carry some around but I can't really see a spot where I'd fish it; I don't fish a straight tx rig much though either. More likely to be on a bubba shot or a jig or a c-rig. I'm staring at you, too, topwater box. SO much stuff in there's it's two boxes, and I probably only need six frogs (white/natural/black, in regular and popping) and three buzzbaits (small/large, white, large black), a couple of spooks(small/large, black/white), and four poppers (small/large, black/white). The rest of the stuff is cool, but the big fish are coming on those baits anyway. I'll miss you, weird jdm topwaters.

You are going to be famous on youtube!

Do yall find that details on a swim jig matter a lot or a little? Jig A catches and Jig B doesn't? I'm thinking maybe the things are moving fast and details that might matter on a stationary jig won't matter on a swim jig. I've noticed I've started to accumulate what is probably too many different ones. I can see a case for some variations around GP and white, but I really don't know why I need all these, except for I wanted to try them out. I suppose some heavy hooks for straight braid fishing them, but other than that... If you regularly fish swimjigs, do you have a box full of different brands, or just get a few weights in a few colors and get on with it?

Congrats!

FFS, both in person and watching videos, is letting me see some things with my eyes and in real time. How do fish set up on a bit of cover, how often do you really have followers (all the time), what really happens when a pack of bass smash into a shad ball, how far they will come to get a moving bait if they want it, etc. Best I can tell when they are following they aren't very far under it, so the stop and go is a way shorter stop than I imagined. There's way more big fish around than I think I realized too. Point being, even if you think it's horrible, watch some videos with it onscreen, you might notice some really interesting things. Eventually the unpressured fish won't be unpressured any more, and it'll get harder. But every bit of side scan and 360 improved catches too.

I have both, they really live in different parts of the toolbox for me. Advance: is really inexpensive, really does have low stretch with the "I pulled on it then pulled on some other line" non-scientific test, acts more like flouro in the water than mono to me. Probably because of the HMPE which is the input material for braid. For the naysayers, it's not by a little bit, it's really obvious how different it is on stretch and you don't need a micrometer to tell. Treat it like a co-poly line. And yes KVD L&L really helps, like it does on most co-poly. But a little more like neutral than sinking. Every now and then a spool will get a weird shedding like string cheese, but it's so cheap relative to performance it's not that big of a deal. Throw it away or send it back and keep moving. Basically it sits where I'd want flouro. And that's what happened for me, I replaced it with flouro. Although as I'm thinking about it, it could be a great moving-bait single-hook line. Not-pro tip - double turn uni knot on it is great, SDJ is horrible. Can't explain it, but that was very consistent. I was yelling at the lake about breakoffs, and as soon as I switched knots it was rock solid. Also, it is so much bigger than it's marked weight it is almost comical - 12 lb advance is 17lb tatsu, in diameter. Armilo: It is the Tatsu of mono. Amazing, small diameter, etc etc. It is a super-premium line.

I used to be able to drink coffee all the way up until I went to sleep. I miss those days. So only about 6 8oz cups now. I love good coffee.

Some braid with an FG (terminal knot will always fail first) on either side to different lines, then on to a terminal knot on a hook sized for that line. Same knot on both sides. One end on a long door handle, one on a dowel. Safety glasses, and yank the crap out of it. Repeat three times. No way to get a poundage measurement, but I'm just looking for relative results at the same diameter anyway. Whichever line broke loses. If lines are close then my non-scientific acceleration will show a tie that looks like random failures. I'm not tying 3 (tests) x 27 (lines) worth of fg knots. I do believe that different formulations will have different knot strength. I did the above for head to head knot testing on the same line (skipping the braid/fg) and got repeatable results across a bunch of tests. As an example, Double San Diego Jam was consistently the winner over a single SDJ on tatsu and 3/0 hooks, I think on 15lb line. It's a lot of work but it's doable, and repeatable.

I had a few complaints about his testing methodology. As an example, he showed strength as a function of size (good), but didn't do the same approach for stretch, or for abrasion. Line memory shows Tatsu worse than Invisx on stretch...eh, no I have them both. Some of the results defy explanation though, like vanish taking solid scores on a lot of tests. If you skip to the last five minutes of the videos you'll see a screenshot of each of the tests. TBH I'm sure the spro line is great, but no way I'm buying 164yd spools. @dodgeguy better to look at the individual rating items than a composite score. But from eyeballing the chart it looked like it did ok on everything but stretch. But it also showed tatsu and abrasx with lots of stretch too. So anyway I'm trying to keep an open mind because at least he tried to make it kind of scientific. I really wish he'd bought by line size. Just because I don't agree with his results doesn't mean they are wrong. But one would think some of the more commonly used lines would have had results consistent with our collective experience on BR. On strength I care much more about knotted shock strength than slow pull and unknotted. If he was sponsored by spro, mission accomplished, TW is sold out of the Spro Gouken.

This button right here. Mash it.

I asked about what rod you are thinking about because unless you are buying a really nice rod too, you should take some of the money from the reel and put it into a rod. I have most of the current versions of daiwa reels, or did recently. The standouts are Fuego ($75-100) for price-performance, it does great, it's like a small japanese four door, will probably run forever, pretty simple, always starts. The Tat SV (2017 or 2020 model, $150-200) is amazing for windier conditions, lower skill casting, light baits. Zillion ($225-$349) has almost all of the control of the tat sv but a better spool that doesn't choke the end of the cast. And it is as or more smooth than their flagship reels. Zillion HD (JDM) is amazing too, but a bit specialized. TBH they will all work just fine. I have a bunch of zillions and still use the Tat SV's, Fuego retired to backup, most of the other models sold off (Tat 100s, Tat Elites). Two good arguments for Daiwas 1) the only thing to fiddle with is the external magnet control and 2) the spool really is easy to learn and cast on, especially on the Tat SV. But one of the pieces of advice you'll get here is to spend more money on the rod, and that's good advice. The difference between a $100 rod and a $200 rod is "omg" - the difference between a $100 reel and a $200 reel is "that's nice". For me that continues on up the chain, although you get less benefit for each next $100 you spend on either. JDM is breaking the equation because of the exchange rate, more so for reels than for rods. I think that is because of rod shipping, and japanese rods are built for different angler expectations. In both cases buying used can often score a great deal, probably even more so on the reel, or on rods when they are high end.

Indeed. Thanks @WRB

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lake_Fork_Wacky_Hook__Weight_System_3pk/descpage-LKWHWTS.html These are my favorite by far. You get both a 1/16 or 1/8 weight, and don't have to fiddle with o-rings, saddles, or a dollar-a-dink when they shake them off a bare hook.

@WRB I'd love to figure out how to talk you into a zoom call or a video. I'd bet there's a ton of nuance and detail we'd pick up in your explanation.

https://www.amazon.com/Piscifun-Fishing-Spooler-Unwinding-Function-dp-B08HLVDCZW/dp/B08HLVDCZW/ref=dp_ob_title_sports For the spinning reels, this contraption actually works really well for spooling the line on with no twist. I didn't feel great about coughing up 30 bucks for it, but too many horror stories about BPS leaving people with train wrecks, and the price difference between good line online and in stores covered it quickly.

These are my favorite moving bait rods (except chatterbaits) anything in the "R" action built on carbon fiber feels just right to me. Not a glass fan. I did read somewhere that the rods are lighter than the old models, I wonder if they changed the SVF composition?

Winter. I have to go because <big fish> but it sure gets windy and I'm a little boat. And some days there's not much pattern or fish I can find, and catching dinks in the cold is... terrible. Better than catching nothing I suppose. On a fullsize boat with FFS, winter probably goes to #2 after prespawn as a favorite.

That spool is going to shine with skipping, light baits, baits with a big cross-section, and wind, or any combination of those. Something like a rattletrap is going to be the opposite of what it's good at. It's most definitely not a long-casting reel. Light t-rigs, small cranks like the curve 55, spinnerbaits in the wind, small topwaters like a rico. Given your cover, do the showdown with your Curado and put the loser on the next-heaviest rod.

Thanks yall, I hadn't heard of Ollies and it turns out they have some. It looks like Simmons in AL has some listed on the bay but I can't find a web site for them anywhere.

I've had great results from Amazon Japan. Have to make an account on that specific version of Amazon.

Chatterbait can get knocked out of a clip like that. Please don't ask me how I know, at least twice. Plus it'll catch grass, wood, pretty much everything. The diameter of the clip wire will materially affect the strength of your knot on flouro. Larger diameter is better. After at least 12 brands of trial and error, the paperclip-style clips are the clear winner. Tactical angler micro for smaller applications, rated to 25lbs. And p-line for heavier applications. Sometimes I even use the p-line on frogs when I'm trying to figure out what they want. They'll take full-body frog hooksets on braid with no issue. P-line looks like this. Get the size 1, the others are giant. And even that one is often too big, hence the recommendation for the TA micro further down. These are great on squarebills, larger mid and deep divers, frogs, rattletraps, chatterbaits, etc. IMO once you figure out the chatterbait color and weight you need you should probably just tie it on. And on the cranks, just cut the split ring off when it has one. Tactical angler sizing. Get the 25lb. They weight about what most split rings weigh and work great on small cranks, jerkbaits, small hooks (although really should tie those).

@Chase Ford what rod are you putting it on?

And they look really complicated to try to custom pour...