JediAmoeba

I just never fish a mojo, split shot or Carolina rig. I bought some of the ZMan Floating Wormz a few years ago just to try on a Carolina rig but never have.

Whoa, don't do that - that will mess the rod up changing the action, the flex and how the rod works.

The zakos weight and bulk are what really set it apart I think - you can bomb casts to the other side of the moon and it gives it a really good feedback to the rod/line. The others really dont do that but look ok in the water.

I will second the Zako. Other honorable mentions are the blade minnow by strike king or the zman razor minnow.

My dad has a wotta frog I think. I have never used it but it is all beaten up and could use some TLC. I should ask him if I could use it! The only old reels I ever used were early 80's Zebcos...

Some people wade in...this is diving right on in headfirst! The monkey approves!

Those boxes are nice but I would need about 15 of them to store my jerks. I will just stick with the 3700 box and the shake and take technique.

I would return it. I have this rod and it's really only good for small cranks and stuff. Anything over 1/2 oz is overpowering the rod. Also, it has little backbone for hooksets so, again, really only smaller treble baits.

Other things you could try are taking out the pawl on the worm gear. If it still makes that noise you know it is a bearing or the main gears. It's possible the main gears don't mesh well and a small abrasive polish like traditional toothpaste could smooth it out but I wouldnt go that route. Sometimes you just get a bad bearing too - you can get decent abec 5 bearings for relatively cheap from FastEddy or ebay.

What gear ratio are the reels? I have found my 8.1:1 Tatula is far noisier on the retrieve than the others of different gear ratios. It casts great and is very free but has some gear noise exactly as you describe.

I know they were killing the stripers with a-rigs a few weeks ago but our little boat isnt safe out in the middle. Lol

The kind with a wire arm coming up from the head that has 1 or 2 blades attached that spin.

Continuous moving baits - mostly a buzz bait or plopper style.

We tied it on already and threw it for an hour! Full send, as they say! Hooks come in many flavors for kids and cost a heck of a lot more than any feathered trebles I have seen. Lol

This thing is bigger than 90% of the bass I catch

Got my newest, most expensive swimbait. This thing costs more than either of the rods I will be throwing it on. ?

Well every frog we have in our area has a white or yellowish belly...that dictates my decision

When you were clearing the backlash did you take the cast control knob off? It's possible the metal back piece fell out if you did.

@A-Jay congrats on your first Rat Bass!

Considering I never catch big fish or lots of fish, I would take either or....

I really dont need a size 30. I have a bunch of subsurface baits and some top water rats. What I do need is a Bull Rat or a Johnny Rat! I throw my 50 size rat on a 7'9" heavy with a Lexa 300.

Let's talk about those swimbaits in the background.

I am sure you could but I dont think it would be optimal. Make sure you glue the ned worm on too.

A lot of talk in here about sales and buying stuff. I expect to see your spoils over on the bait monkey thread.