Bass Rutten

I almost always work in a trap in the mornings, will probably add a trigged finesse worm to the rotation. Yes, we need rain, was at lake Pan Wednesday, it's down 3ft. I picked off 3, partner skunked. Going back tomorrow, calling for sunny and hot with 1-6mph winds. It's going to be one of those grinders.

Just wanted to get an idea of how you approach post-spawn/early summer fishing. I've been doing very well with a drop-shot, with a soft jerk providing solid backup. What say you?

It was the Ott Defoe video with the loop to reel technique where it finally clicked for me, super easy now. If you haven't already I highly recommend op try this method.

It's worth it, but for me it was very dependent on the particular technique it's being used for. The only technique I swear by straight fluorocarbon for is the dropshot. I've tried fluoro with all manner of bottom contact and chuck and wind presentations and they all felt unnatural and unruly to me, but the way 10-12lb fluoro sits and feels in the water just works for me for dropshot and how I fish it, which is weedless rigging on casting gear.

Handle brand?

For anyone interested I purchased one last week and fished it for a little while yesterday morning. First thing of notice was that the 3/8oz version I bought weighs exactly 14.2 grams or a hair over 1/2oz out of the box, so someone needs to let Bill know their scale is broken, lol. KVD hooks, no need for replacement unless round bend is your preference, obviously. The name hammer trap is well deserved, it thumps harder than any trap I've ever used, I'd say almost as hard as a 1.5 squarebill, due I'm sure to the large surface area provided by the wider than average front lip area, which naturally makes it run high, great for ripping over and out of shallow vegetation. The sound is a little quieter, subtler, and slightly higher pitched than the original trap. No catches on it yet but all in all looks to be a winner, will be purchasing more in the future.

That's a storm largo shad in bluegill, they have some outstanding colors, also did well with a 3.25"strike king rage swimmer/ayu. I live in central Florida but was visiting a friend in Del Ray Beach who lives right on a canal connected to lake ida. Next time I'm there I'll be targeting snakehead, still have yet to catch one, the lone rod I brought this time was too light, I didn't stand a chance, it got down into the eelgrass and broke me off.

This little dude, 1/8-3/16oz underspins, are fast becoming a favorite of mine for not just bass but multi-species fishing. It caught or hooked largemouth bass, peacock bass, mayan cichlid, and bullseye snakehead on a short Easter weekend visit. The snakeheads were not landed because I only brought a med-light rod, and they're doggone powerful!

I’m clearly doing something wrong, I can cast the 4-5 gram range quite satisfactorily with my alphas 800 and a ray’s studio sv spool (8.8gm), I also have a kkr spool at 5.9grams and don’t care for it, it feels too wild to me, go figure. My bottleneck seems to be my rods tip but I rarely go lighter than that anyhow. In a happy place now, it’s nice to no longer have the need for out of the box bfs reel, I’ll probably keep my ss air tw because it’s so slick and light.

@NorthernBasser Forget all the confusing chatter about what is or isn't bfs, we're not tryna cast a 1/96oz trout magnet jig here. My simple formula to get started was to get you a bfs reel, the jdm slx is inexpensive and virtually the same reel as the curado, spool with 10lb braid. Even better and cheaper and easy if you're so inclined is to convert a reel with finesse bearings and an aftermarket spool (my preference), pm me if you want info & reccos. Slap it on a medium light casting rod of your choice and you're good to go. I do it all on a single 7ft ml/fast. Using the same lures and presentations you already know and have confidence in helped me a lot, just get you a few smaller (1/4oz-ish) versions of your current favorite/confidence lures.

That pretty much defines a bfs reel, but he said a true bfs reel so I assumed there’s a distinction. (fyi I’m just being a smart azz😁)

What makes for a true bfs reel?

bladed jig and lipless get it done here in Florida. Love a carolina/mojo rig too on those tough days.

I use both, the rage toad is more aggressive and makes more surface disturbance. It's bigger in all aspects, the legs and the body, which naturally means it's heavier too, making it cast better.

New rod en route, couldn't pass up $99 for a fenwick elite (610ML). If this rod is everything I want it to be it'll replace 2 of my setups #gunning4umonkey

FG and San Diego jam are must know knots imo Edit: fishin' fool is also solid

I think it's previous gen if that matters https://www.amazon.com/Abu-Garcia-Baitcast-Profile-Fishing/dp/B086MLXCH8?sr=8-4&psc=1

Great deal, I'd jump on it If I wasn't on team daiwa #fanboy

Abu Garcia Zata Low Profile Baitcast Reel and Fishing Rod Combo (LH 7ft mh) on amazon for $125

Did someone say weedless dropshot? Now you’re talking my language! It's by far my #1 most used and productive rig. I use pencil shaped round eye tungsten 1/4 & 3/8oz mostly, but like scaleface I also use a tungsten worm weight with bobber stop at times, I like this rigging because it makes the dropper length adjustable. Also some context like your setup, line, lures, cover, target depth, etc would be helpful.

The tatula 200 is 100mm with same knobs https://tackletrap.com/products/daiwa-tatula-100mm-gunmetal-handle-assembly

What differences from the original (& other brands) do you notice especially in regard to running depth? Is the 5/8 model good for rippin' around/over shallow vegetation efficiently?

I prefer the feel of fluorocarbon for worming and jigging in all but heavy cover as I feel I stay connected to the lure better, mono for chuck and wind lures. You shouldn't find much need for line conditioner with a good quality 10 or 12lb fluoro on the limper side like invizx. It's all personal preference, no right, wrong, or proper per se.

A manufacturer of any product cannot legally use "Made in the USA" on their product unless all or virtually all components are made in the US, or the amount of foreign content is negligible. That's why most kistler rods say "Assembled in the USA". The abrams rods blanks are made by composite forge in Texas and have fuji components. Edited for clarity.

Small order, mostly terminal stuff, nothing to too exciting. I am very curious though how the tat elite spool will perform in the newest tat 100.