Finessegenics

I'm really not a picky eater. The only fish I ever ate that I can say was not good was a freshwater drum. My friend snagged one in the gills and we decided we'd keep it. The meat was a nice texture but it really didn't taste great. It was a nice sized one, somewhere around 15lbs if I remember correctly, which is probably not an ideal eating size. It also came from a muddy urban river which surely didn't help ?

Don't mean to hijack but I wanted to throw this question out there. How are you guys casting these 1/16 marabou jigs? Any old ML rod or are you using a longer one? or even a L rod? I've tried and I get frustrated because I probably don't have the proper gear for it but I really can't get much distance. Of course, going heavier is an option but I think the reason they're as effective as they are is because the jigs are so light they sort of float and glide in the water, which looks very natural.

Bumping this - Was hoping for some more responses

That's cool!

Only time I’d use a plastic with a bullet weight over a jig is if I was punching directly through the grass. A punch rig is more streamlined and punches through it without getting ‘tangled up’ in the stalks or leaves of the weeds. As for your approach, as I have learned thanks to the awesome people on BR, fish what’s underneath the grass, not the grass itself. When you pull up to a field of mats or weed beds, it literally all looks good and it’s so overwhelming. If you can find a few areas where there’s a bottom composition change, or a depression, or a drastic depth change, or just something different, like a patch which shoots out and disrupts the mostly linear weed edges, fish it. Also, learning the different types of grasses in your areas can be helpful as some prefer to grow on different types of bottom. Two of them in close proximity can indicate a change in depth/bottom composition. I’ve really struggled with that but there a few good resources online to identify plants: https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/plant-identification/ Also, make use of the Navionics web app (https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@6&key=kvfuGv_e`M) to get a general idea of what the depth is in these areas and go from there. I’m shorebound so I have to make a lot of use of my sight and “feel” of my lure but it is still doable to find those slight changes. Good luck! Edit: This was a great resource for me. Uncle Frank is the best:

It probably wouldn’t be my preferred rod for wacky rigs and docks, but I don’t how the rod acts so I can’t say that for certain. However, I think it would be great for ned rigs, small swimbaits on ballheads and in-line spinners to name a few.

Yup, I'd agree with the members above. Switch the 7 speed crankbaits reel with the 6 speed 1/4-3/8 jigs reel. Also, the 7 for chatterbaits for the 6 for heavy jigs. That's just my personal preference. I also don't mind having a slower reel for swimbaits so I might even switch the swimbait reel with the bubba shot reel. Another thing I noticed is that you've got some pretty big spinning reels. Absolutely nothing wrong with a 4000 but I think it's a little overkill for bass fishing. Unless they are super light, they probably make your setups feel clunky. A 2000-3000 is a lot more comfortable in my mind. They all make sense to me, but a lot of it comes down to the weight you're using and the ways the rods are powered, since there's no industry standard. For example, I'd throw wacky rigs on the 6'8 M and dropshots on 7'0 ML. Unless your dropshots are heavier, say 3/8-1oz and you're fishing them horizontally, then I understand why you'd want the M instead. You've got some nice setups though, don't sweat it!

Early morning bite is overrated. So go whenever you can!! I can concede during the hotter months, time of day might have an effect especially in warmer climates. I've seen it myself here come August but I prefer to sleep in Over the past season I've actually started to prefer the evenings, get there 2 hours before sunset and fish till dark. As soon as the sun dips below the tree line, I usually get a flurry of bites.

So far I've got: Blaylock Gross Wendlandt Livesay Kennedy Curious to see how much I will change it over the next month ?

It's all been said already but a ned rig and wacky rig is just about all I use as a follow up bait. A small keitech would work, but I prefer casting something directly over the fish and letting it fall vertically, so a wacky rig and ned rig are perfect for that. Of course that can be done with a small swimbait and any other plastic too, either weightless or rigged on a light jighead.

Group Angler Place Points A Buddy Gross 61 153 B Luke Palmer 13 251 C Bryan Schmitt 86 103 D Joshua Douglas 69 137 E Brock Mosley 2 300 Wasn’t a good one for me, DTL was decent however

That’s awesome I switched Jocumsen for Douglas after watching HellaBass on YouTube…lol. I still have him in my DTL though

That’s a tough range because it also depends on the weight of the plastic for me and the gauge of the hook being used. Not all swimbaits are made the same, they may be the same length but one may be much beefier/thicker, so heavier, than the other. Am I overthinking and over complicating? Probably. If these are light wire hooks then I’d go go with a 7’ M spinning rod, 1/4 oz -5/8 oz rating or around there. I throw 4” easy shiners on a 1/4 oz ball head on that setup. I wouldn’t be afraid to step it up to 3/8 oz if I needed to with similarly sized swimbaits on light wire hooks . I’m using a 15# braided mainline to 8# mono. Now if it was a thicker plastic say like an XZone Swammer, especially the 4” one, and/or a heavy gauge hook, then I’d for sure step it up to a MH baitcasting rod, 3/8-1 oz range. 33mm diameter mono or fluoro for me. That may be 15# or 12# depending on the brand.

So the one I’m looking is a gen 2 then. It’s rated 1/16 - 5/16. I was thinking about it for neds. My mojo Bass 6’10 ML/XF is fine but I just wanted another option. Thanks! They’re pretty popular around here as they are always popping up on marketplace. Mostly casting rod but this is the first time I saw a 2 pc spinning

Haha in my neck of the woods, Montreal. I think will go pick it up this evening. Thanks for the input!

I think I will. I was looking for a 2 pc to use as a back up or for urban trips

Hey all, I know these rods are relatively old. Research told me 2011 ish? I saw a 7’0 2 pc ML spinner on Facebook marketplace. The rod is IM-10 construction. Anyone still own these models of the crucial? Thanks

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-OKUMARLS.html?from=basres 2500 is out of stock but maybe you can find it elsewhere

I believe Drew Cook used it to target fish on beds at the elite series on Santee Cooper Looks like a good bait to me but I’ve never used it. Reminds me of a rage bug.

I don’t really throw red, I do use some orange soft plastics and orangey-chartreuse moving baits. For me, they’re an all year round kind of thing, especially the soft plastics. A green pumpkin orange TRD is awesome for me. A lot of my skirted jigs also always have two or three strands of orange in them. It’s just something that works for me

Two styles of finesse jigs in my mind, the actual finesse jig, think light (~ 1/8 oz) with a small, thin wire hook. Something you’d throw on a spinning rod. The other is just a regular jig with a smaller hook and a skirt with less strands and/or cut with that lion’s mane. They call those finesse but they have some heavy wire hooks and come in weights that standard jigs do. I’d still throw those on a MH or H. Not finesse to me but I get the point. Don’t wanna argue semantics with anyone If you want a true finesse jig I’d suggest taking a look at the Keitech Mono Spin Jig. They are really small, they pair up nice with a TRD Crawz if you cut just a lil tiny piece off: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=30&searchtext=Keitech+mono+spin+jig+ The other style of finesse jig I mentioned, my favorite is a War Eagle Heavy Finesse Jig. They come in a two pack for 6.79 so that is nice: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/War_Eagle_Heavy_Finesse_Jig_2pk/descpage-WEFJ.html

For bass, i guess not my one of my first choices. But as a general multi species bait spoons are pretty high up there for me. I’ve seen a lot of good smallmouth caught on daredevles meant for pike. I’ve also experiment with the moss boss from Northland for bass but have not gotten a fish on them yet.

Swingheads for sure, and bucktail jigs. Jigging a bucktail around grass for largemouth is a great technique.

Ned and swimbait on a ball-head is all I would need. Those two probably combine for 75% of the fish I catch. If I had to choose another it would be a senko rigged weightless.

Thanks guys! I think asking if they were legit was wrong, the website did look legitimate, was wondering more how reliable they are as a company.