Largies4Life

Lost mine this past weekend and was just about to order another pair for this upcoming weekend when you posted this video. Talk about perfect timing!! Great video as always!

Swim Jig - Keitech Swing Impact Fat 4.3" or Craw style trailer (Rage Craw, Rage Menace) Chatterbait - Gary Yamamoto Zako Swimbait Spinnerbait - Zako or Keitech

This was my 6th sense haul about a month ago, just been very busy and didn't have time to get the picture up. I wanted to try out their swim jigs because they have the screw lock and I have to say it does keep my trailers on longer, but the only downside is that the paint chips off the head of the jig pretty easily. If you are fishing rocks often, my vote may go elsewhere. The cranks have been nothing but amazing, but only have half of them left, darn Northerns! LOL

I have a brand new Chronarch MGL and I still haven't gotten mine dialed in yet. I haven't messed around with it enough to say that it's not user error. My main problem is that in the middle of the cast, as the bait is about half way in the air, my line acts like it's about to get into a huge birds nest, but then it all goes away by the time the lure hits the water, usually. I've had two really bad birds nests with it and that was casting into the wind. This reel just seems so hard to dial in compared to my Daiwa's that I have.

I will say that more expensive equipment does come with advantages. My brother has a baitcasting reel that he got for around $50, and a couple years later, it cannot cast more than 20 feet if you tried. And that's after loosening the tension and braking systems as much or as little as you want. This has obviously put a hinderance on his fishing capabilities, as we do fish a lot of clear water and without being able to make those extra long casts, I would say he is at a disadvantage compared to reels in the $150 range and up as we have not had any issues with those and have had them for years.

My vote would go to the Daiwa Tatula Elite Series. If you can afford it, I would go the AGS route, I absolutely love mine. I have the 7'4" M-F, but I know many others like the 7'1" M-F as well. Comes down to personal preference at that point.

With 3/8 oz. being the heaviest you throw, I would say the Tatula 7'1" MH-XF or the 7'3" MH-F are your two best options for that price point. Like @BassKicker42 said, check out other websites as you can always find the rod you're looking for cheaper. I would also suggest looking on eBay!

It appears there is sales tax now. I just checked my last order back in Mid-April and there was sales tax on that order as well. I'm not certain that there is sales tax for everyone now, but it does appear that way...You can always just put items into your cart and "proceed to checkout" to determine if there is sales tax or not.

Maybe it's because you purchase too much from them. I sure hope it's not based on where you live because I'm also from WI and have never had to pay sales tax either.

I recently got a Chronarch MGL and when comparing it to the Tatula SV I've had for a couple years now, I still can't put the Tatula down. In my opinion, the Tatula SV is the best at that price point and the Chronarch MGL was way more expensive. I've only used the Chronarch for a month or so, but my initial opinion is to get rid of it and replace it with more Tatula SV's. I have my SV paired up with a Tatula rod as well and the Chronarch is paired up with an Expride.

Crankbaits in general are my nemesis. I used a flat sided crank this past weekend and caught one on the first cast but kept getting hung up in weeds, so I quickly switched over to a lipless crankbait in the same color and everything went my way. Caught around 20 bass that morning and couldn't put down the lipless crank. 1st time ever really giving the lipless crank a shot and it paid off. Now I don't want to take it off my rod!

Here's my update after the weekend. The weathermen were right, it was 40 degrees and rain pretty much all weekend long and quite windy. Saturday morning I got out and stuck a few on a finesse jig, then switched over to a 6th Sense Quake 70 and absolutely took it to the fish. Caught around 20 bass with the biggest around 15". Nothing huge, but I was catching fish so I couldn't complain. The story gets a bit interesting as my morning was coming to a close...Had a small Northern cut my line on my last Quake 70 in a perch color, so I dug around in my tackle box and found a Red Eye Shad in a perch color. Made about 5 casts until I got stuck on a log, or so I thought...I was jerking my rod trying to get it unstuck until I noticed my line starting to move against the wind...I reel down and set the hook and all of a sudden my line just starts screaming out of my reel and the fish made a straight shot out deep, and up it comes out of the water....a giant Musky. I have caught my fair share of Muskies in my lifetime and I can confidently say it was at least 45" no doubt. Jumped completely out of the water and shook his head multiple times and spit the Red Eye Shad back at me. Unfortunate I couldn't land it, but that experience is something I will never forget. Sunday, we couldn't get a bite to save our lives. Same weather, 40 and rain and wind all day. I think Sunday they were way more lethargic since it was the second day of that crappy weather. My belief is that the first day of those cold fronts can be extremely good fishing as long as you can figure out what they want.

I have a feeling that you're not the only one....

X2. It can take some time getting used to doing this, but it will save you money down the road, which means more money for the Bait Monkey!!

I'll be fishing during the front, so I won't have to worry about those bluebird skies. I'll be up in the Rhinelander area where it's dropping from mid 60's and sunny down to the mid 40's and rain this weekend. I completely agree with you about the bluebird skies, it can make fishing very difficult during those days. As a fellow Wisconsinite, I'm sure you've experienced these conditions MANY of times before!

Oh the weather isn't going to stop me! I was just hoping to get my hopes up to be prepared for a big couple days this weekend. Either way, I'll find em some way some how!!

I have had some of my best fishing occur on cold front days during the summer. Specifically, a couple years back when I was up in Northern MN and it was 70-80's all week and then a big cold front came through. It was our last day out on the water and I'll never forget it. Everything was biting that day. Got my PB smallmouth and my second biggest Largemouth to this day. Even caught a 27" Northern on a wacky-rigged senko! It was a magical day. My question to you all is, there is a big cold front coming this weekend and was curious to see if you all would expect something similar to happen? The only thing was, that cold front happened in August, and this one is in May. Will the bass most likely be much less aggressive since it is so early in the season? Only one way to find out and that's wait until Saturday, but wanted to get everyone's input on this. Thank you!

I was looking at those as well. It came down to those and the Gore-Tex pair at Cabelas and went with the ones at Cabelas because I didn't want to pay for overnight shipping since I need them by tomorrow morning. If the Cabelas pair doesn't work out, I'm going to return them and go with the Simms pair. The Cabelas pair seems a bit heavier, but I also have nothing to compare it to!

You never mentioned anything about the boat or the rod & reel laying there.

I'd love to get a pair of Huk Bibs, it's just that my legs are so long that I've never been comfortable ordering online because of the chance that they will not fit very well. I suppose I could always order a couple pairs and return the ones that don't fit? What kind of Huk Bibs did you go with? I may have to overnight them to get them by Friday now.

I went to Cabelas and tried on their Guidewear Xtreme Bibs with Gore-Tex and I really liked them. My main concern was how warm they felt, but they were super comfy! I might go back and try on some other kinds today as well.

What kind of Frog Toggs do you have?

Makes sense! I am in a bit of a time crunch because I do need a pair by the weekend before I head up north as they're predicting rain all weekend. I do only need the pants/bibs since I already have a jacket. Or maybe just get a suit so they go hand in hand? I feel like a complete newbie when it comes to rain gear because I've never looked into it before. All of the bibs look exactly the same to me! LOL

My biggest problem is, I don't really know what to look for in rain pants/bibs. So the Gore-Tex is considered top of the line? I don't necessarily need to the best of the best, but would like to get a pair that would last years to come. Would you say it is worth the investment?

I have magically lost my pair of rain pants over the winter months somehow. I have no idea where they went and the worst part is, my rain jacket is always with them, but I still have my rain jacket! Anyways, I'm now in the market for a new pair. They were just your basic rain pants from Gander Mountain (when it was still called Gander Mountain), but see a lot of people wearing bibs nowadays. My main question is, do those bibs get to be really hot during the summer? Is there an advantage of having bibs over regular rain pants? I live in Wisconsin so I experience it all, warm weather rainy days, and cold weather rainy days. I'm sure anyone in the Midwest can relate. What's your preference on rain pants vs. bibs and why? Thank you in advance!