txchaser

Best budget line, tough as nails, tie off to the cleat strong - Big Game. Best mono - Sunline Defier Armilo, mostly reserved for bigger swimbaits. But I like Sufix Advance for general use better than either. It's goofy strong like big game, but the braid fibers in the formula make it low stretch compared to other mono. It is very noticable. Oh and it doesn't float as much as regular mono, and seems to be a little more sensitive. Can't explain why. IMO they'd sell more of it if they tripled the price, it's inexpensive enough to get ignored in a sea of random mono line.

Set the hook like it is a thick hook (which it is) being fished on braid (which it is), and don't let up.

The geary thing is reel specific. I know better now, if it isn't butter smooth just ship it back, not worth fiddling with. On 17 vs 20, I have five or so of each. Practically they are entirely interchangeable to me. If I get more it'll probably be the 20's since the smaller form factor is a win, but nothing is better enough for me to go through selling the 17's and replacing them. I thought I was going to quickly drop the 17's when I first felt the 20. One exception though - on bottom contact they are elites or 2020's, but that's mostly an accidental outcome, and when I'm trying to get my finger on the line it is a little easier with the 100 platform because it is smaller.

@WRB you might like Fins Sling Braid. Really tightly woven. For me it is noticeably better than every other braid I've tried, with the exception of Vicious no-fade, which feels on-par.

I read an interview with Gary Yamamoto where he said he got tired of obsessing over GP vs watermelon, and made this as a result. As a bonus, I think dark back light belly laminates more closely resemble a lot of prey anyway. And yamamoto makes GP/Watermelon laminate with red flake too. So now I just carry the laminate, both with and without red flake. All I need to know is do I want red flake or not (assuming I want something in this color range).

The value of cover (grass, laydowns etc) is magnified significantly. Focus there. You might also checkout any structure that's deeper than the light penetration.

Not quite categorizing, but the accidental bigger fish is a very different catch for me (more surprising, less satisfying) than 'this lure with this presentation in this place' with an expectation of a big bite.

From the TW description: Made to pull big bass out of heavy cover, I'm pretty sure my wacky hooks are #2. Not 2/0, but #2. And if you are t-rigging, the owner light wire 2/0 hooks are perfect for a spinning presentation.

1) if you are on a light spinning rod make sure you aren't using a hook that's more suited to a heavier rod. Shouldn't be using some giant 5/0 jungle hook. Can't tell the bait in the video. 2) If hooksets are free (they are), you can re-set the hook once you get the fish headed your way 3) For me, little fish and bigger hooks often cause a problem - there's not enough resistance from the fish to get a good hookset. 4) Unless you were trying to get the fish over an obstacle you don't need to have your rod up high and the fish in ski-mode. Try getting the rod to a 45 degree angle or even parallel to the water.

Check out the Tatula Elite Pitch/Flip. Nice big handle on it, and allegedly the spool is tuned for that type of cast.

I have the fenwick and I like it, although I don't fish it much anymore since I got a truck and can fit one-piece rods. The case it comes in sticks out where the reel would be, so it should work that way. I think you'll be fine with the MF tip on squarebills, in my case just about everything gets thrown on the MH tip, it's a little softer than many anyway. edit: I ended up buying it in spinning too. Same deal - decent rod, super portable, nice to have two tips although I mostly use the lightest tip on it.

Unless you are going to be in high winds, a 10lb kettlebell has worked perfectly for me in this kind of situation. Cheap on amazon. It'll still pull some weeds with it, but far less than the alternatives. And the amount of mud coming back with the mushrooms in mud or clay bottom - no thanks. I do carry another 15lb mushroom to add on to it when the wind is bad and I'm too hardheaded to just get off the water. I have a stake-out pole and it mostly stays in the truck, because I'm as likely to be at 8-10 feet as six feet, so it just seemed like extra stuff to carry. And half the time it'd come out when it was windy anyway.

GP/watermelon laminate, with black flake or sometimes with red flake. Almost always dip the tail, too many times where I've been lazy about dipping the tail and the bite turned back on.

philo TV has History, Discovery, Science Channel, AMC, etc and it is $20/mo with the DVR.

After going through three or four regular spools, I just bought two 1200 yard spools because I like it that much. With the exception of when there's a very specific need for flouro, I use it on about everything. Little bit more dense than mono. Like other posters have mentioned, the line is oversized for its rating. Advance Mono 10lb is 0.30, compared to tatsu 12 at .285 or 15 at .330. A little smaller than Big Game, at the same rating. It is actually lower stretch than mono or flouro (flouro isn't low stretch, that's straight BS). A tip/warning - improved uni is really strong on this, SDJ breaks at half the line strength.

The bump from many knots bugged me a little, so I decided to try a three-turn surgeon knot. You have to pass the spool or the reel through a bigger loop than usual, but other than that it's easy, and it is the tiniest knot I could find.

I know we've wandered a little into knot land, but for what it's worth the San Diego Jam knot has been far better for me on flouro than anything else. And on tatsu 15 the double SDJ is stronger... I had to know so I tested it enough times to be really sure - tied both ends to a 3/0 hook, single on one end and double on the other, and the double won every time. Maybe just the way I tie it, so YMMV, and it is important enough to test. One trick I picked up for the SDJ - use the tag end to dress the knot, not the main line. It'll be much cleaner. Then work the not-yet-all-the-way-tight knot down to the hook, pull on the tag one more time for some final tightening, again on the main line, and your done. Sounds like a lot of fiddling, but it's really just pull, slide, pull, pull. You'll know it is snug enough when the part around the hook binds and won't rotate.

I have a fuego and a bunch of tat sv's in 2017 and the new model SV TW, some elites and some 100's. None of them are exactly the same, but you shouldn't need to crank down the tension adjuster. However, I've noticed that the magforce seems to really really hate whippy casts. If I backlash, it's because I'm not following through on the swing - stopping it dead partway through the arc. A power cast is the same deal, still needs the follow through. Assuming your backlash is in the first third of the flight, try just gently casting it with the setting around 15, and on every cast add a little more power, but keep up the follow-through. At some point it should be obvious that you can start backing off the mag brake. If taking out the whip or dead stop from the cast doesn't solve it, send it back. They really do ship grumpy reels sometimes.

Tatsu mostly, and invisx sometimes when I think I need more stretch. Mostly eliminated flouro when I don't need slack-line sensitivity though.

@MIbassyaker Ok first, please make more posts like this. This is absolutely outstanding. Second, can you talk a little about how flake would interact in bass vision system? I'm guessing that a chart flake in white or a blue flake in black would make a bit of a spike in the level, and thus be more distinguishable than simply a color change. Third, how should we think about gold and silver in this context, both the colors themselves and the reflectivity? Finally on an overcast day are the rods also working, or likely not and is still just cones.

If you are really going to be throwing 1/4oz baits, this will do quite well.

Menace (delta red), Rage Bug (falcon craw), and tomorrow I'm trying the orange zako.

Tom do you find the bigger fish are also in that same depth zone, or often a little bit deeper?

there are probably three spots on that lake that are the best cover/structure on the whole lake, and they are small spots. Next to deep water etc etc. Not a lot of elbow room around, and the big bully fish can and will run off everyone else. So if you are on normal size fish it is unlikely you are also on big fish. It's almost like it gets taken to an extreme in little water - big LMB behave like a different species, and they are mean and territorial.

None of this is terribly useful without knowing the questions above.... but maybe a starting place. 1/2 Oz GP/Red jackhammer, with a falcon lake special (Gp/red) rage menace, fished slow; or normal if you are on a warming trend and they've seen it shallow; alternatively a fire craw or a bluegill presentation depending on water clarity regular jig, slow flat-side squarebill, slow snack-sized bluegill swimbait mid-column if they haven't see a lot of keitechs, a bigger fat impact if they are spooky or sleepy: Fat Ika finesse jig Texas waters are likely a little different, but the list above accounts for most of my bigger fish in 10ac or less waters. If you can get a jon boat or a kayak in there I'd expect your chances to go way up. But put it in place, drop the anchor, and be really still. In something that small assume every bit of noise, including walking around the bank, is heard by half the pond. Might not matter if it's really low pressure, but if not making a couple of casts from way far away from the bank may make a difference.