Bass Rutten

Every body of water is different. I throw the swaver 120 & 168 (4.75/6.75”) on a local river and only the 120 gets bit there.

My casting and pitching reel settings are the same. Timing the release with the rod motion is the key, another factor I found crucial for me was how much line to leave out, most recommend keeping the lure even with the reel but I found it easier to create higher lure velocity with a little less line out, I pitch with the lure positioned about 6-12 inches above the reel, I'm tall with monkey arms (no pun intended) so it may not work for you, I'd also experiment with your reel hand position. It took years to become proficient, practice and experiment a lot and your hands will find their sweet spot and it'll become second nature before you know it.

For years I used dobyns mod-fast graphite rods with braided line for cranking, I have transitioned and now I'm breaking the "rules" by using a medium power fast action rod for cranking. I feel the extra sensitivity and power helps navigate the lures through underwater vegetation better in the weedy natural lakes I fish, it just works for me. For line I prefer 10lb yozuri hybrid.

I’d say usage is primary factor for reel size, I have this exact rod and use a daiwa exceler 2500 on it, I use it for twitchin’ to cover water and want the extra distance over a 1000, balance and weight is no issue for me. I also have the 6’9” from the same series for pitching jigs n plastics and use the 1000 exceler on that one.

I agree it's almost always user error. A heavy rod combined + an untested by me hook + powerful fish = heartbreak. I leaned on that fish pretty hard so I had it coming. That said I recently ran across a bassfishinghq video in which he mentions the exact same lure as one of his favorite topwaters and recommended replacing the hook due to having them bend out, sucks learning the hard way!

The tw 80 palms amazingly but if you’re talking about big hard charging hybrid stripers it might not be enough reel, it’s more of a finesse reel designed for lighter lures. The Tatula 100 has been a rock solid workhorse for me, more capacity than any of the reels mentioned, including the curado 200, I might even go with the tatula 200 for them big stripers.

Welcome fellow Chicagolander!

Rods that will be used for chuck and wind techniques like crankbaits and chatterbaits I'd lean towards the 6 ratio reels. The 7 speeds can be used for either chuck and wind or bottom contact and makes for a good all purpose ratio. The 8 speed reels shine at slow/bottom presentations or speed cranking. No right or wrong, just general guidlines, in the end do what feels and works best.

The hook is the jig, I just go straight to the best, owner and gamakatsu, both make excellent plain ballhead jigs.

Preaching to the choir, I have boxes of expensive full size jerks... megabass, duos etc, can't seem to buy a bite on them most days. Tie on smaller 2.5 to 3 inch jerks however and the skies open up and fish of all species rain down, I've caught crappie, bluegill, walleye, rockbass, perch, carp, drum, pike, and of course bass (black, brown, and white) on small jerks.

I usually skip docks/piers with people in their yard out of respect, but it's good to know your local laws should a confrontation occur, every state has laws against interfering with lawful fishing and hunting activities, in Wisconsin what the karen did here was technically a misdemeanor violation. https://www.animallaw.info/statute/wi-hunting-29083-interference-hunting-fishing-or-trapping

Been seeing some action on topwater, lost a pb pike last week that bent out a hook, had a musky roll on my lure yesterday, both hit a spook.

Last week I hooked what I think would have been my new northern pike pb working an evergreen justine (spook type lure) from the bank over shallow submerged weeds. I almost had her, after 4 or 5 strong runs she started doing that coasting sideways stinkeye thing right out in front of me when the lure just slipped out of her mouth, I examined it and one of the middle treble shanks had straightened out. I estimate her at approximately 38-40 inches and pushing 20 pounds, I got a couple of great clear looks at her and what out stood out most to me was how abnormally round and thick bodied she was, not quite the longest but likely the heaviest northern I've ever hooked. Even though I didn't land her I'm grateful for the experience, one of those that keeps you juiced up and raring to keep at it. Lesson: don't trust stock hooks.

I run 14lb sufix siege on my dobyns 706cb (mod-fast) for subsurface and topwater lures like chatterbaits, cranks, ploppers and spook style walkers, it's tough and handles great even though it's a bit thick for it's strength rating at .38mm. I also run the inexpensive and very excellent yo-zuri hybrid on some of my setups. I don't like to mess with leaders on casting gear, just personal preference.

Ok different story then, I have a 7' mh/f legend elite I've used for toads but never for frogs, but I'd guess that with braided line it'd work in light to moderate cover but if your fishing heavy mats it'd be less than ideal. Experiment and give it a shot, it might work for you!

This may be true but a st croix medium ain't going to cut it imo

Them husky jerks will catch them year round, one of my favorite lures right there, great deal you got, the pop max alone is $20

Great for hard baits for sure, full disclosure I haven’t actually used it with a beast hook rigged lure, it’s what I’d call a mod-fast taper but I think it would have enough power with braided line, however I wouldn’t feel confident using it with mono or co-poly for weedless swimmers, I have another stiffer dedicated rod for them if that tells you anything.

Wow 2 pages in and not a single mention of docks, interesting, it’s pretty much the only cover in the natural lakes I fish. Someone mentioned grass earlier but I’m pretty sure that’s technically structure not cover, isn’t being part of the lake bottom the definition of structure?

That’s crazy, how would you describe the taper? Looks to be pretty stout, it didn’t look like it was giving much even with that 9oz lure hanging from it.

Daiwa TTU731HRB-SB, ticks all your boxes. Been using mine over a year now and I love it, surprisingly light for the punch it packs. https://daiwa.us/products/tatula-bass-rods

That 7’ light is on my radar, would love to know how it performs as an all around finesse rod, especially compared to the 610ml.

Me as well, I've found many single lures lying about. Recently stumbled across a bps brand rod reel combo which looked brand new laying next to a picnic table. Thinking about it now if it was high end like an nrx I'm not sure what I'd do, I might take it to keep it from unscrupulous hands and list it on facebook to find the owner, perhaps leave a note there with contact info?

Probably not rigged quite straight, or it was a little deformed out of the bag, they can be finicky sometimes. If you want to kill two birds with one stone try fishing them on a keel weighted hook, I use gamakatsu superline spring lock hooks, the 3/0 with 1/16oz weight is perfect for the super fluke, the keel weight will allow you to work it a bit deeper and keeps it from blowing out or rolling even when worked aggressively, and the spring lock makes them pretty durable too. Another cheaper solution if you have any is to wrap lead tape (suspend dots or strips) around the lower part of your hook to give it a little weight.