Bass Rutten

Edge is not affiliated with Shimano or Fenwick to my knowledge and is owned/operated by Gary Loomis and uses his own NFC blanks. Would love to know how they compete at their price point.

The hover rig deal was a short lived epic failure for me. May revisit it someday.

Hear ye dropshotters, the smaller 4 inch caffeine shad makes for a tremendous dropshot lure, it's got a very similar tail section as the dreamshot but a thicker body. It's killer rigged weedless which is how I caught my pb.

Cool, I ordered a klx 7'3" heavy/mod-fast, it's the a-rig/deep cranker rated for 3/8-2oz. Planning on using it mostly for chatterbaits and swimbaits, but I'm curious if it has enough power for punching and frogging too. It's funny but lately I never know how a rod will end up being utilized, sometimes they wind up being better at something I didn't anticipate. Supposed to be here Saturday. My last one was the helium 7'3" hmh, I'm loving it. I also have a helium ml/f and a lmh/f, both 7'0" casting.

Nice! This will be my 4th Kistler. Which one did you get?

Couldn't resist, $148 on sale, Kistler KLX incoming...

I don't buy into the technique specific deal (with a few exceptions-punching etc.), I could make due with any medium/fast rod from 6'6" to 7'0" for jerkbaits. I did a guided trip with him about 5 years ago with 2 friends. I remember him throwing a rogue jerk at one point, and using a witch doctor rod. It was really tough post frontal bluebird sky day. Really great dude.

The caffeine shad has a higher salt content and therefore heavier, with better action on the fall or after you kill it. The Yamamoto D-Shad is the lovechild of both, a higher salt content/faster sink rate with the fluke size and profile.

Maybe they're busy trying to sort out their gearing issues [stirs pot vigorously]

I’d use large diameter wire clips like below, or put a big ol split ring on that lure.

Fished Crooked yesterday 8-4pm, we caught about 15 total fish, most being around 1.5lb, biggest being around 2.25 lbs. Caught a few in the morning right away on lipless, but most all the rest of my fish were caught flickshaking small worms, partner pulled in his share speedwormin’. Fished lots of dead water, then found them stacked up in small stretches. I'm east of Tampa.

Lucky craft lvr mini lipless

I have a st croix avid x (7’ m/f) I use similarly as an all-arounder for hardbaits including topwaters as well as soft plastics and I’ve been through a bunch of lines including the ones mentioned here and have settled on yo-zuri hybrid (12lb). It’s a co-extruded blend of nylon and fluoro which has better durability than monos, less stretch, 100% water absorption resistance which weakens monos, and is widely available at a great price point. Choose based on diameter, not stated strength, it runs a bit thicker and stronger than other lines. Below is their spec sheet with IGFA tested actual break strengths for each line size.

Headed to Crooked Lake Sunday, any tips?

My buddy live on that canal. I wound not having much time to fish on my visit but I managed to catch 3 peacocks off of his pier, they were running small, around 10 inches or so. He tells me clown knifefish are very difficult to catch on artificials, live/dead bait is how they are primarily caught.

Lake Michigan trout and salmon are routinely caught on spoons, rattle traps, and minnow/jerk baits.

I think a few folks here may be conflating different techniques, flipping is done with 1.5 rod lengths of fixed line controlled with your non-reel hand, the reel itself is not used or engaged while fishing. If we are talking about flipping and not pitching, punching, or skipping, then the more line out the better, you need the reach of a long rod which is why 7’6” has been the flipping rod standard length for many decades. If your just pitching there are still numerous advantages to a longer rod; pitching distance, hook set speed/power, fish and line control. Shorter rod advantages: cast control and accuracy, easier to manage and handle, lighter, more leverage (lifting power).

No argument there, it was the length of the rod that I meant might be an issue, I can’t see flipping effectively with a 6’8” rod.

Are you actually flipping from a kayak? I used an nrx 804c for a few years, fun little rod, great for pitching and skipping but flipping might not work so well.

Follow the wind… Unless your fishing partner had Taco Bell last night.

That’s awesome, love me some peacocks. Fled tampa yesterday due to hurricane milton, staying with my friend on Lake Ida, hope to catch a few. Caught this guy last year, they are very aggressive and tons of fun.

More specifically, the SK rage blade.

No maybe about it, that was unexpectedly awesome.

My partner is pretty good with a speed worm, I never could gain any confidence in it. He doesn't seem to swim it like most do. Got any tips?