Finessegenics

Round Bend or EWG are both fine in my book, I believe the key is to have a thin/normal gauge hook. Sets much easier than a thick hook and since you usually have so much line out with a Carolina rig, the thinner hook penetrates easier at distance than a thick one.

I'm thinking about going ice fishing this sunday...Haven't wet a line since October ?

Does anyone else skip ned rigs? I’m talking with a 1/16 head. For some reason it skips really well. If not a wacky rig is real easy to skip too. On a casting rod, I still can’t skip properly ?

Tail down so the plastic doesn’t hook itself onto the hook point during the retrieve

I stopped myself from commenting on this thread when I first saw it, but I don’t understand why some people are getting so worked up about this (no one on here). From some of the comments left on zaldain’s Instagram post announcing that he left megabass, you’d have thought he committed high treason. I like certain pros regardless of their affiliations with certain brands.

Those are both really nice reels. The Ultegra doesn’t seem to get a lot of fanfare on here though. I prefer light spinning reels so I’d go with the Ultegra. I’ve had spinning reels that felt too heavy for a 6’6 rod I once owned which drove me to buy a lighter reel. Most people complain about setups being tip heavy but in my experience, spinning combos easily become bottom heavy with too heavy a reel. Of course, it could’ve all just been in my head. The way you hold the reel has an effect on the balance too.

What part of the country are you in? What kind of lake? Smb, lmb or spots? Jig worms, swimbaits retrieved slowly, jigs should work anywhere for any species.

It’s not so hidden but the old Mojo Bass 7’ MH/F (SCII blank instead of the SCIII) is the perfect spinnerbait and chatterbait rod. It’s more of mod-fast and balances well with my Curado DC. Love that combo and can sling those baits all day long. I even use for it squarebills.

I'm just a fisherman!!! ?

That's tough. If I understood your question correctly, then I would say I find it hard to stay with one type and lb test of line. First off, are you open to learning how to tie leaders? If so, then braid mainline on all your rigs would be fine. You can change leader strength and material according to your presentation or ditch the leader completely. 40# for baitcasters and 10# for spinning in that case. If not, I'd still 100% go with 10# braid on a spinning rod, so I'm not giving you much of a choice ?. Much more manageable than mono or fluoro for me. If I was restricted to one line on baitcasters, it would have to be .33 mm mono or co-poly. Fluoro sinks, so topwaters would be annoying to fish with. Braid doesn't do well against wood like the tree stumps you described because it frays easier than mono or fluoro. Mono would be fine for everything, it's what everyone used for everything up until not too long ago. Not ideal to frog or punch because of the supposed "stretch" that comes with mono with but many people still do it. So mono on the baitcaster for its versatility and braid on the spinning for its manageability. Good luck ?

I’ve noticed something different but your post made me think of it. It seems like every season there is a bait which is “hot” for a specific lake/river but wasn’t a producer for me the prior season and the “hot” baits of the prior season sort of fade off. Example, last year a weightless stick worm in 5” or 6” was incredible for me. This year, not so much, I don’t think I caught more than 3-4 on a weightless stick bait, in the exact same spots. Same spots as the stick worms, I tried and tried with spinnerbaits last year and nada. This year, the spinnerbait was my hottest bait of course all in these same spots. So I do believe that bass can be selective but after all they are opportunistic. They don’t think like us so it’s hard to say what makes them prefer one thing over another. I think angling pressure contributes to this but the river I fish does not have a lot of bass anglers, most just casual fisherman soaking night crawlers. Sorry if that was a little off topic but I thought it related to smallmouth being picky.

A buzzbait. Not that I've thrown one much but just hasn't worked for me, for any kind of fish. And I have yet to catch a smallmouth on a chatterbait, but have caught largemouth.

I know bass fishing is pretty popular in Spain and Portugal as they are apparently numerous there. I’ve also seen a lot of Croatian anglers online on bass fishing forums and such so they must be pretty widespread there too. edit: forget Zimbabwe too, there are some giants that have been caught there.

I generally get tight and then set the hook, even if I noticed the bite while my line was slack. It's just the way I was taught so it became a habit. And logically (at least my own) you'd get a better hookset when your line is tight. What are the advantages of setting on a slack line? Is it just a timing thing, where you know the fish has it so it's better to set the hook right away? What do you mean by "weighing" it?

I generally use the same rod for both (a M/F spinning). The only exception is that I sometimes use a casting MH/F to throw the beefier soft jerkbaits (the old power jerk Shad) which have a firmer plastic that requires a little more oomph to get the hook through the plastic when setting the hook. It’s a little hard to cast at times but i add a 1/16 nail weight and bury it in the head of the bait to make casting a little easier. For the standard super fluke with a 3/0 EWG the m/f either spinning or casting is fine.

Just to get some discussion brewing…. What are your strategies for drain the lake this year? With 9 elite events and the classic, there will be 10 tournaments so we’ll have to pick 80 unique anglers. I had a bunch of free time the other day so I listed all the events by date and began adding anglers which I 100% wanted for certain events. For some of the events, I already have 6 or 7 names listed.

Keep hearing that too but it seems like everyone I know uses them

War Eagle Screamin Eagle 3/4 oz. 4lb 2 oz smallmouth

I’ve got a few and depends on the technique too but I like the XZone Finesse Craw, 3.25”.

My thought too. The mouth doesnt look like a typical shiner's mouth

Looks awesome!

I've thought about this as well. I have always had the impression that stiffer lines feel like they'd hold up to abrasion better. No way of proving it and it's not an element I consider when choosing line. The problem with overly stiff lines is they become a nuisance to cast. Stiff has usually equaled bad memory problems for me. I like Big Game, but only in the thinner diameters, 10# and 12#.

All love for the carp from me too. Asian Carp are a different story and while even the common carp is technically an invasive species, it has been here so long (hundreds of years) that the ecosystems have adapted to it. They’re fun to target.

You’ve got a good selection, don’t worry. 2/0 is a little big for what I like in a dropshot hook but those Houdini Shads are big. The 2/0 Gammys will fit them well. The split shot/dropshot gammys are the only hooks I use. also I should add that since you’re shorebound and dragging the dropshot, leave a longer leader between your bait and sinker. A 12 inch leader can become a 6 inch one due to the angle you’re retrieving.