JediAmoeba

Spring fishing, to me, is over once the spawn hits. Post spawn is summer fishing. I am currently in a late spawn to post spawn pattern. I love spring fishing - nothing is better.

I use a 7'4" l Dobyns Sierra BFS rod - I don't prefer spinning gear and this thing fits the bill nicely! Paired with my tuned up Alphas reel I can cast a mile... https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dobyns_Sierra_Ultra_Finesse_Casting_Rods/descpage-SSUF.html

Yes. Hinkle also has others, including a Trout.

I use 8/0 beast hooks on mine

I only paid 275 or something for my hinkle and honestly it isn't one of my favorite gliders.

The custom swimbait market is a fickle *****. It's amazing what they go for... but I fish them and usually don't pay over retail. This one was a custom one with a paint job I paid nearly $100 for...

Tatula 150 or a Cabelas Daiwa Arachnid(basically the same thing). I use the Arachnid and it's a workhorse...

My rigging station is the back of the van or the kitchen table.

Try the freestyles. I am not a fan of soft plastics that have a hook on the bottom. I also would have mended it. You can get a lot.of fish out of a magdraft unless the tail is gone...

Failures: Wobblehead. Jika Rig. Those weedless soft walking baits. The Walking worm.Christ on a stick was it bad for the amount of effort that went into getting it... Some electronic frog thing that took batteries. Some stickbait that emitted an ultrasonic frequency. Johnsons weedless spoons with a pig on the back for top water. I caught a few but there are better options. Mini Swim Whizz. There are many others that I purged from memory. Hopefully. Rage is my jam...

I recently lost an irreplaceable $300 custom glider to a Muskie. It sucks really bad but I wouldn't change anything...

I have always done well with T-rigs with an added carolina clacker.

They aren't really glide baits - more like a twitch bait, fished jerkbait style on lighter line(10 or 12lb test)

I fish in the Poconos, also known as land of the Pickerel. I lose a lot of baits to them - just the nature of the business. I have found if I change out my gear to guard against them, I decrease my bites significantly.

I fish both - for 50# braid silent flip is better. Silent Flip was maid specifically to be silent in heavy cover and pads - it does the job very well

I have 5 swimbait setups - 3 are 6.x.x and 2 are 7.x.x. I usually use the 6.x.x

I haven't had it fail in the last year I have been using it. It has excellent knot strength.

I remove all the split rings and use snaps.

Nothing smoother than Silent Flip by Cortland. https://www.cortlandline.com/collections/silent-flip?tw_source=google&tw_adid=617210317856&tw_campaign=18089545610&gclid=CjwKCAjwscGjBhAXEiwAswQqNGjBIIfKi78D6NJbXT637xE_WAulNgJJYuXPaw7NOHWRN_8prk6flRoCSeYQAvD_BwE

Berkley Fusion Weedless wacky are my jam. I have tried all the others and they have cost me fish

When you have a stack of 20 rods in the back of your van nothing makes me happier than being able to pull a rod out without hitting guides or getting caught in the line

I use an 8' MH Tatula Elite with a zillion 5.5 crazy cranker. With a long rod I can't remember the last time I lost a fish and you can launch up to 10xd's a looooong ways.

@WRB for sure. Although I wouldn't want to fish IN his shoes - he can keep em on and I will just fish next to him and learn about big baits and jigs. The two techniques I fish most of the time.

I will agree to disagree - when it comes to big baits I don't have a place for regular bullshads and I certainly don't think the biggest fish are hitting multi-jointed baits swam fast in the middle of the water column. Big fish don't waste their energy on futile goals. They try and pin their food against structure - the bottom, the shore, the surface or hard cover. Their most opportune meal is wounded, dying or lethargic large baits.

12# Fluoro and if you want to hit bottom that is 12' throw a lure that will go 16'. You want that thing to slam into the bottom - the fish usually hit when you pause it after hitting bottom.