txchaser

I wonder if emailing a picture to TWPD that some "training outreach" is needed might get some attention on it. Not kidding, some of those TWPD guys are real serious about their fish.

moved to PM

My recommendation is above your budget, but it is for good reason. The poster above that mentioned buying fewer lures and upgrading your rod/reel instead is spot on - a better reel really will be more forgiving, and you are going to have it a long time. I still have my orginal fuego reel as a backup for frogging. Stuff's on sale everywhere right now because of overstocks. Probably even better at labor day. Tatula XT for $70 is a smokin deal as it's usually $100. If you can find a fuego on sale it should be around $70 too. A lot of good air-d feedback on bassresource, so I'd expect the XT to fish well too. And the fuego is one of the best deals in the market especially for a beginner because it is pretty forgiving. Also, check the flea market here - some great deals, and as long as it isnt from a numbskull on craigslist, I don't see much difference between used and new. Actually now that I think about it I'll sell you my RH fuego for $50 if you want it, I have too many backup reels. Can't ship till next week though. PM me if you want it.

As mentioned above getting something floaty will transform your opportunity set, and put you ahead of most everyone.

Chop chop, it's just wire

Bass here are familiar with freedom units but the metric system confuses them enough to bite. It really does seem wrong. I'm moving towards 17lb on a bunch of my reels which I think is the right balance. But I really can't go lower than that, almost everywhere I fish has a good bit of cover either weeds or wood. 12lb and 15lb were pretty scary. In fairness Tatsu is pretty small for its rating, but I'm very sure that it's not going as deep as it would go on lighter line. Thanks everyone for all the feedback. In summary, these hooks are "good" is not even close to the same as "I feel good about these hooks and split rings if I knew for certain I had a fish of a lifetime on the other end."

FYI there's probably a way to get voltage as an overlay or on one of the info screens. May help you see what's up. For what it's worth, the difference between digital variable speed transom mount motors and the five speed is something like 3-4x battery life.

One thought is to prioritize setups where you are reeling it a lot so you get more butter smooth time. Seems like a steez is wasted on a t-rig unless it is going to be in your hands all day.

A few things come to mind 1) you don't have to take the whole leap all at once, just go to some of your best bank areas and ... cast the other direction. You'll start to notice some stuff out there. 2) I've noticed a heavy worm or c-rig can tell me a lot - in particular in the places I've been fishing recently, I can find little rocky areas often no bigger than 3x3. Those spots will produce multiple fish for me. The comments above about finding what is different are spot on. 3) Figure out what the shad are up to and you can often find the bass setup near them. Example would be shad suspended over deeper water and bass hanging on the lip of a flat area that drops off. In that case, they aren't really active on the shad, but they are near them. 4) I often get better results not so much fishing the fish I think I see on my FF, but using it to figure out some sort of pattern/place/general types of setup. Are they hanging tight near dropoffs, off the dropoff but suspended, scattered about, schooled up, etc? There's a youtube video on what bass (vs other species) look like on a FF and it helped me a LOT. 5) Try turning your (power/intensity/forgot what it is called) down on your FF - you might get some better separation on those bottom fish - Tom noticed them immediately and I probably would have overlooked them entirely.

I like the way premium cork looks, but the lower grade cork seems like a much better grip to me. Just not junk grade with a bunch of filler.

So I fish a lot of 6th Sense crankbaits, and the hardware has held up to some real bruisers. But this Jackall in 4 and 5 meter depth sizes has been a real winner for me as it is a lot more subtle than most cranks, and I'm a big fan of the square/coffin bill as it is pretty good through cover. I originally bought this to fish some submerged treetops. I've caught a lot of fish on these, up a little over 8. The 8 was hooked on a single hook point and it was definitely starting to bend out, but she came with some weed slop too. Plenty of fish nearly that big with no big issues; occasionally needing to bend back the #4's on the 4m. The 5m have #2 owner ST-36 hooks on them, so I thought to myself "these are good hooks, and probably good split rings too" so it was never a priority to replace. And I fish cranks with the drag really light - probably 3-4lbs on 20lb Tatsu - a 4 or 5 lb fish surging at the boat will definitely pull drag. Anyway, I was fishing the 5m this weekend, on a deep (17ft) tapering flat that dropped off into 30+. Thermocline at 23ft. Big fish zone, smaller ones were more around 12-15FOW with the shad. I got into a big one. Heavy heavy on the line, and a big, slow head shake. Running for the deep. "This is the one" I thought to myself, be gentle and just work her back to the boat. She (it?) surged at around 10ft out and 10ft deep, no problem.... and then dead air on the line. "DANGIT I didn't keep her pinned!" And then I got my lure back to the boat and it looked like this: Not only is the front hook bent out but the back hook is completely gone. Broke at the split ring. Who knows, maybe it was some monster catfish or a turtle? Maybe it was the catch of the year. If anyone has any ideas on how a fish pops the whole split ring out w/o breaking the line, I'm all ears. Lesson #1 - unknown split rings are ...unknown. Lesson #2 - ST36's are 1x. The very first time I had a fish bend one I should have replaced them all; I live in Texas so bigger fish are just one cast away. I have some STX-45 Zo-wire hooks on the way, I think they will be a good fit. If you have a favorite round bend big fish hook I'd love to hear about it. Ps: if you decide to try one of these out, fish it slow. I'm regularly rewarded with bigger fish when I slow down as much as I can without it starting to rise.

New JDM Zillion HD has all the things you are looking for. 270 on Amazon.co.jp, maybe less on other JDM sites.

A few things that were being discontinued. That I stopped fishing about the time I stocked up.

Sounds like y'all haven't had the "talk" about prespawn priorities yet.

I bought a couple of fenwick HMG travel rods and loved them. Both casting and spinning came with two tips, MH/M and M/ML, respectively

Chatterbait and a keitech drug through the channels. Chatterbait often will pull them out of the weeds, sometimes takes a few casts. If you haven't tried a popping frog, consider that. Or slowing way way down with the regular frog. And a punch rig if you need it to get through the weeds, otherwise a pegged beaver/bug on a t-rig. If you have a mat, moving the bait around just under the mat is sometimes the deal.

I'm really diligent with line snips as it is mostly flouro so takes forever to degrade.

This is the way. Pretty much any H/F rod will get it done. My preference is the Kistler Helium, it is light and super sensitive. If there was anywhere in your kit to spend money, I think it's bottom contact.

If you find a deep spot spend a little extra time throwing texas rig and mid-column swimmering baits deep into it. Sounds like there's very little pressure there, which sure makes for a fun fishing experience.

Spotlock for sure.

Bout 12-15 different kind of Ned Heads trying to figure out what I liked. Some thoughts below. My recollection is that the flatlands 1/0 was a bit smaller. Of the EWG it seemed to be the best. But it was certainly long. Also, this one, while not EWG, it is weedless and is definitely smaller than the owner. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Picasso_Aaron_Martens_Weedless_Rhino_Ned_Head_3pk/descpage-PRWRNH.html At the end of my ned journey I ended up happiest with https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-HAYABUSA.html?from=basres In 1/16 oz. It's a #2 hook. It is light enough that popping the line always got it unstuck for me, I think all traditionalist ned users were right. The small hook just can't get hung on much - it is close to the head and the head deflects much of what would get stuck on the hook. On heavy line/cover/fish: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Bruiser_Baits_Ned_Rig/descpage-BND.html This one is great, as I have no hesitation about the strength of the hook or having to fight a bigger fish out of a bad spot. I wouldn't want to try to get hook penetration on light line though.

If I recall correctly you get ten hours of mapping w/o the zero lines card. I tried going without it, and I suppose it might have worked if I had done nothing but mapping for the time. In my mind it's more of a demo feature without the card.

There's a fishing store online who's headquarters is in AL that seems to get a lot of special run zoom. They are on the naughty list on BR or I'd share the URL.

For what you described, Daiwa's 'regular' action MH rods are A+. Really forgiving tip. The tatula elite 7'4" version is a go-to for me for deeper squarebills, spinnerbaits, etc. Throws topwater really well too. Pretty sure that same action exists across multiple price points.

I know the real answer is "the fish will tell you" but any good tips on when to go with or without a skirt?