txchaser

A friend bought a daiwa spincaster (gold something) recently and only fished it once; they sent it back. It was bad enough that it might have been a counterfeit on amazon, but it was really junky. He replaced it with an Omega and fresh line and he's been happy.

Seconded. This is on my required reading list as it is filled with conclusions based on data.

Inside both the ringworm kit and the craw kit are the items you need for a texas rig. Go to the front page of this site and search for how to fish a texas rig. Should show you how to put it together and how to fish it.

Trashmaster jigs are pretty good in wood.

I've found that paying the extra $5 for two day gets it out of the warehouse faster.

FG is best, but it takes some practice to learn to tie right. Six turn surgeon knot is very fast and very reliable, but I haven't tested it vs alberto. Lots of people like the alberto.

Nice day and nice fish!

A fair point on the wear issue - doesn't seem to get nicked up or abraided much - my point was more about the knot itself. Seems like every that-was-totally-my-fault breakoff was when I left something tied on from the prior weekend and fished it.

I keep putting Advance on more and more of my reels as a general purpose line. It does have less stretch, so be careful with a lip-ripping hookset - it is unnecessary and you might break it off. And for whatever reason you really do need to re-tie at the beginning of a fishing trip, more so than some other lines. The low-stretch and high-sensitivity is noticeable, so I'll keep buying it.

Buzzbait, Frog, Chatterbait, Keitech on an Owner underspin, Senko. Likely fished in that order of preference. Or a jig if there's something to throw it at; lots of weeds here. Honorable mention this year to red/green trick worm on shakeyhead or red/green ring fry 4" on a slip shot.

If you really need a gaiter for sun from the front, the ones with some sort of chill dots are way more comfy. I always start with this hat https://www.columbia.com/coolhead-ii-zero-booney-1840121.html?dwvar_1840121_variationColor=591&cgid=men-accessories#start=22 It has both the cooling tech and a back flap that comes out. Fishing mid-day in texas heat is serious business and this hat looks like I'm someone's grandpa, but it sure works well. Buff goes on only if I'm getting sun reflected hard into my face.

Does anyone still make no-chip green pumpkin ones? SK used to make them, but I don't see them anywhere. It probably doesn't matter, but I really liked the matte GP vs black.

Everything you read about setting spool tension on a baitcaster is wrong on the Tatulas, unless it is specific to Daiwa. They work differently. Video below. Set it and you'll probably never mess with it again.

I have the OS3 and it is really well built. No complaints, and I'd buy it again.

For small ones, the tactical angler micro clips are really good. Rated at 25lb, always fish on line lighter than that. If I need something heavier the p-line are good - I like the bigger diameter as I think it's less likely to break a knot on heavier impact situations. Example here is on my Chatterbait rod I leave a clip on. If you get just one, get the TA micros from amazon. Be aware though, if you are using either of these on crankbaits take the split ring off or you'll go crazy trying to get the clip on.

Bit slow on the reply - I have a stack of the kistlers and at 1/2 off they are amazing. I'd buy them again for sure. Don't overlook the LMH version, it's a really nice rod. And a stack of Tatula SV (2020's) - I have the 100, 150, last model tatulas, and HLC Elite and P/F Elite. 2020 SVs are my favorite of the bunch; someone on TT suggested the HLC version of the elite gets a few more yards. The elites are nice enough that peope are talking about selling off their higher-end reels because they are too close. But with a couple of exceptions (heavy baits on mod or mod/f tapers like the kistler FNR) I just really like how much margin for error I get with the tatulas... a bunch of the places I fish have regular 20+ MPH wind, so I need all the help I can get.

Your hand is in roughly the same plane. Measure your knuckles and you have a good start. Or, print out that photo at life-sized for you, and then measure the fish

Unless you are really committed to learning and tying FG knots, just get some YZ Hybrid or Trilene Big Game (10-12 lbs) and get to it. It is cheap, and really forgiving on knots, nicks, and kinks from backlashes. And if for some reason you decide you don't like it, you are a few $ in, and little wasted time. Also get some line conditioner, it'll improve your experience.

I'll add one that I used to fish a lot and for whatever reason don't anymore - swim senko. Could have covered water with it and had a nice drop in the holes too.

Situation - weed flats but many of the weeds are reaching the surface. Weeds growing about 8-12" apart. Fish not on weed edges, nor to they appear to be feeding on the bottom. Clear water. So here's the question - What other presentations would have fished well in that kind of grass/weeds? I feel like I forgot to fish something. What else should be on my list in a similar situation? These worked: 3.8 Keitech with an owner willow underspin did surprisingly well 4x4'ing across the tops and between the weeds. Fish would come up from deep enough I couldn't see them (maybe hanging 8' deep, in 12 FOW) and smash it. Running it reasonably fast - 1-2 feet under the surface. This ended up being the pattern for the day. Slow presentation didn't work, except when it was up on top of the weeds like a frog. Caffeine shad did ok, and caught a few, but they were smaller. Frog with orange belly - did ok, but not great, a few fish here and there. These didn't: Chatterbait was tough to fish, weeds were a little too thick, and they weren't biting that today anyway. Rattletrap - too many weeds. T-rig and jig - I could get them through but it was slow going and they didn't seem to be feeding in the bottom 1/3 anyway. Swim jig - just kept coming back with weeds, although I didn't try one with a really pointy head. 6.8 Keitech - no bites. Worked ok though. Senko - no bites, navigated fine, but without defined spots to throw it at, not very useful as it appeared I needed to cover a lot of water. Didn't try a toad, but it was on my mind.

I've been hoarding my jackhammers like TP lately, as the colors I'm using most are very hard to find. I haven't gone swimming for one, but I've worked pretty hard to keep them, so I'm noticing an issue as I get more time before I lose one. The Red/GP one has a black blade, or does when it comes out of the package. The one I have tied on now is a train wreck - blade is mostly silver now. Looks like enamel over un-prepped or un-sanded blade. Is this just the way it is, or is this one defective? I suppose I'll just hit it with some rustoleum if they always do it.

Bought the Tatula Elite Howell MH "regular" (seems in between a mod and a fast) for chatterbaits, I prefer braid/leader for spinnerbaits and chatterbaits, so I like it better with some give in the tip. I'd recommend MH/F or H/F on mono/flouro, although as you get up in lb test it matters less - I had 20lb flouro on a cranking rod and decided to throw a chatterbait on it, worked fine. Here's how I figured out where to start - I just started throwing a chatterbait on a bunch of the rods I had. The combos that felt mushy to me were any combo of rod with mono or flouro that was a slow action too. And the combos with braid and a fast tip were ok, but a little jarring, for lack of a better word. Maybe a little give is nice in how it rips out of weeds. I think this one turns out to be personal preference on braid/mod or flouro/Fast.

Well, this red thing turned out interesting, at least for me. Red bite is still on in Texas in the hyper-clear hill country water. Hooked a stump with a chatterbait this morning, turned out to not be a stump. Have switched to a delta red rage menace to make it brighter red... haven't experimented enough to tell if there is a real difference between that and the falcon red. Of course, it's all worked well enough long enough it's hard to go back and test whether they are caring about color at all anyway. Reddish and orange-ish jig trailers have been winning the days over GP too.

Trashmasters are great - spent the day today dragging them through nasty laydowns and brushpiles. Closest thing I have to a complaint is that because of the wire ties you can't change out the skirts without a lot of committment. Fin-tech title shots are pretty good too, skirts pop on and off easily, but it seems like they are about one hook size off for the weight. As an example the 1/2 oz is a 5/0 as is the 3/8oz. And the 1/4 is a 4/0. Just seem a little big for me in practice. But I'll keep buying them because there's no good alternative. The owner ultrahead (have them too) are really slider head. Presentation will be flat on the bottom vs a stood up presentation like the two above. Hook diameter is like a slider too, just upsized. Probably medium wire.

That's fair, my desktop is a PC, and is running fine for many years... the difference I noticed is in the laptops.