Bass Rutten

Shhh, don't tell anyone...

Haha yeah everyone pronounces it wrong, keitech too, no one says that one right either ?‍♂️

This rig completely replaced the t-rig for me several years ago, it just flat out comes through everything better, and looks more natural. Also jika means direct in Japanese, “ji” is pronounced as the letter z, so “zee-kah” is the correct pronunciation.

It’s a versatile rod, I’m not surprised this worked for you. IMO this rod becomes even better and more versatile with braided line, I was losing fish using mono on it. I haven’t yet used it for plastics but have fished small swimbaits on jigheads and swimjigs without issue and have been thinking about and planning on using for for bubba shotting finesse worms but I just haven’t got around to it.

True but if a rod was as you described it'd be an extra-fast action, about a 85/15 or likely faster from the looks of it, very far from moderate which is what irks me when people say "parabolic" rod or action because they're actually trying to describe a more moderate even bend deeper into the blank, a parabola is a fixed never changing shape which is why it makes no sense to use it to describe something which is constantly changing shape. Anyhoo... sorry for the derail.

The dobyns fury 705cb makes a great chatterbait rod and can handle small to mid divers, it'll throw up to about a dt14 or 5xd or just under an ounce, any bigger would require a different rod. [?rant] On a side note, if a fishing rod was parabolic it would not be usable, a parabolic rod would be in the shape in the pic below.. A parabola is a mathematically derived fixed shape curve. I really wish people would stop using that word to describe a rods action. Moderate is the word you're looking for. [close rant?]

So it’s been almost a year, how you liking them? Or more importantly how is your local bass population liking them? Would love to hear your opinion.

If you can up your budget just a bit I find the best bang for buck range is $170-200, this’ll get you falcon experts, daiwa elite/ rebellion, st croix victory/ premier, shimano zodias, dobyns sierra (champion on sale), etc

4 rigs I always have at the ready: 1) jig-structure or swim 2) jika rig-worm or creature 3) swimbait-plastic boot tails 4) swimbait-wakes or glides

That feller hasn’t been on BR since 2013, but if I may add my 2 cents as someone who fishes lakes with crazy amounts of vegetation, shakey heads are really limited to fishing sparse or no weed areas due to head shape, to get down in thicker weeds a little more without getting too hung up try a slider head with your worms, my favorite is the owner ultrahead (pic below). Comes through the jungle really well, when it hangs up just a little pop usually clears it off. If you’re still unable to fish effectively you’ll probably have to resort to a punch rig, or a heavy jig or Texas rig.

These spoiled rotten kids today I tell ya, back when i was knee high to my daddy i had to row a thousand pound jonboat ten miles to my fishing spot, uphill both ways… ?

If you make the leader the length of the rod the knot will always fall between the reel and first guide.

Lake Delevan Wisconsin circa 2010, Fishing with a buddy on the west side of the lake I spot something kinda snaking its way towards us across the surface about 40 yards out, I kind of keep my eye on it as I’m fishing, a minute or two later it’s about 5 yards from the boat where I can finally get a good look at it and realize it’s a northern pike swimming along with its head above the water which proceeded to dart off right next to the boat. The strangest thing about all this though is that we seen the same thing a couple days later, bizzaro!

The line you use is going to be dictated by depth, speed and the cover you’re fishing more so than the lure itself. I have two rods I use for boot-tail style swimbaits, one has 15 lb fluoro for open water, the other 20 lb fluoro for fishing docks, laydowns, bank cover etc

I used to but now I find the jika rig to be superior coming through cover and more realistic looking for worms in virtually every situation where I fish.

It’s my primary mono and fluoro knot as well. Making sure the tag comes out at the very base of the knot (pull on tag straight back), and the wraps around the lure/eye lay next to and don’t cross each other are key to a well tied trilene knot.

Nothing special, believe it or not a 3/0 works just fine on the big one, it looks huge but it’s really not much thicker than a 5” senko.

SIZE DOES MATTER!!! lol I'm diggin' these gila monsters.

Any thoughts or advice? Is there a quick cheap fix or does this involve parts replacement?

I could be wrong as I'm no reel tech but I don't think the rotor or any of its parts has anything to do with this particular problem as the friction is felt when the rotor is not even moving. The problem seems to lie at the two points where the bail arm attaches to the rotor that rotate when opening it to make a cast.

Just acquired two older used shimano stradic mgfb 2500 spinning reels, both have bails that are not very smooth opening, they feel stiff like there is friction when opening from rubbing against something. I opened up the bail assemblies and oiled the areas that looked like there’s contact but they feel the same after re-assembling them, any ideas or help appreciated.

Weightless trick worm (killing it right now!), BIG bluegill wake bait, swimjig.

Forget colors, all you need is a dark one and a light one, it’s all about the when, where, and how.

I heard through the grapevine that the kage line of rods are built on the same blanks as the tatula elites with different aesthetics and hardware so brick and mortar stores could have a line of rods exclusive to them to avoid online competition. The 7’4” daiwa kage’s specs is virtually identical to the ish frog rod, other models specs match up too, makes sense, they’re about $20 more than the regular elites so probably not the best value. I own the 7’ mf all-around spinning rod, and don’t regret buying it, that whole silver surfer aesthetic ain’t doing it for me, I like the ninja look of the kages.

My favorite wacky hook is the VMC neko hook, I don’t know what it is about those long shank hooks but they stick them and keep them pinned.