Bass Rutten

In order to drive that 10/0 beast hook through plastic and fish I'd seriously consider going up a power over most recommendations, you're going to need it as most swimbait rods have a moderate to mod/fast taper and are designed to deal with trebles not meat hooks. I'd look at heavy or xtra heavy rods where the total lure weight is near the lower end of the rods weight rating, for dobyns that'd be the 806sb (2-8oz), or the daiwa dx heavy/fast (2-6oz). St. croix has a xtra heavy/fast rated 2-5oz in their new victory series. Any of these rods paired with the new shimano 300 size reel will come in somewhere between 300-500.

Knife file and scissors, just over 2 inches long, I keep it on a lanyard around my neck, small, light, cheap and always right there, very convenient.

A River2Sea s-waver 120 in bluegill slowly reeled past the end of a pier brought my biggest of the year.

This. As a bonus I’ll share my super duper secret fishing formula; all you have to do is select the right lure, in the right color, in the right weight, and the right size, and then present it at the right location, at the right depth, at the right speed. Simple! ?

I personally find braid to be more versatile than mono or fluoro and will enhance sensitivity and hookset power, it's like upgrading your gear. You can do a lot with what you already have.

Smash-tech weedless shiner/perch, es flat gizzard shad. Thanks Santa!

I spend the majority of my rod/reel budget on the rod. It’s the heart and soul of the combo, if I had 500 to spend I’d use at least 300-350 of it on the rod and go cheaper (slx?) or maybe even used on the reel. You’re clearly shimano centric so I’d look at expride (rumors are all new line up coming in spring), or poison adrena. Merry Christmas!?

Haha funny you say that, it is in fact simple. A good friend of mine who happens to be a bonafide crappie junkie turned me on to twitchin’ for crappie many years ago, a technique used for locating spring crappies. The rig catches plenty of bass too. Rig: 7’6”+ rod, weighted foam bobber, a 1/64 to 1/16 ball or insert style jig, and a 1.5-2” tube jig, no slip bobbers, fixed float is a must, play with leader depth and colors. Fan cast weedy flats in 4-8 fow, twitch and pop the bobber a short distance, pause, twitch, pause, reel in gobs of crappie and bass, be happy, repeat. Works a charm in northern natural lakes, not sure about down south. It’s on deck every spring, all spring.

A plain ‘ol plano does the trick for me, I tried the edge jig box and can describe it in two words… heavy & inefficient.

A bottom oriented lift-drop retrieve seems to be the norm with blades, does anyone do well just straight cranking? I’m intrigued by this lure but I fish mostly weedy natural lakes.

Did you ever pull the trigger on the whipsnake?

Anyone know where to get a dobyns champion for the same price ($190ish) as the current tw sale?

Are you fishing or peacocking out there lol

Don’t tempt me lol, that’d probably catch some steelhead and salmon over here on Lake Michigan.

Charlie brewer 1.5” grub on a 1/16 jig. White 2” tube jig w/insert under float. Gulp 3” minnow, split-shot rigged.

All jokes aside the curado mgl looks killer with that weird green on the st croix legend elites.

Greenish tint, but dark enough that a black dress or eyeliner won't clash too bad, in case you were wondering ?

Cody nailed it, I thought for the longest time that a heavy power was a must for skipping for the winching power but putting the bait where it’ll get bit first is priority imo. I use a 7’ mh/f legend elite. The only thing about that daiwa 6’9” skipping rod that facilitates skipping is the length, it’s got no tip. St croix is clearing out avid x rods on their website right now for $175, they’ve got some mh’s left.

Got a st croix avid x incoming, ordered direct for $175 shipped and wasn’t charged tax either. I selected the 7’ medium/fast baitcast, going to pair it up with my shimano 71 mgl and 10 or 12 lb fluoro, should make for a great all purpose utility rig.

I remember, a friend turned me on to the mojo-rigged gitzit tube in the 90’s for fishing weedy flats, I should have utilized it more but it just didn’t fit my style of fishing at the time.

My way of showing the fish something “different” the last few years has been to go big and this rod has been absolutely perfect. I don’t pitch with it as I prefer 7’ rods for casting, pitching, & skipping conventional sized lures. The smallest plastic swimbait I’ve thrown on it was a 4.8 keitech with a 1/4 oz keel weighted owner hook, it’s doable but doesn’t have enough weight to load the rod much, once you go up to the 5.8/6.8 it’s perfect.

Carolina rigs, magnum mojo rig, 1/2oz+ jigs, 5-7” weedless boot-tail swimbaits, 7” senkos.

I will gladly pay your $29.95 plus another $100 for your trouble but first please transfer to me $200 then my cousin, a very rich Indian prince, can refund to you the difference so very promptly ?

The 7’ st croix legend elite mh is an excellent pitching and skipping rod (jigs or plastics), I also use it a lot for 4.8 keitechs rigged weedless with a 5/0 flashy swimmer hook, it does a lot of things really well.