Finessegenics

All depends how you'll be fishing but a tube will shine in any situation on the st lawrence

Feels mushy? What do you mean by that? I don’t think it’s a sensitivity issue with your rods but what is the bottom composition ? If it’s around weeds and soft bottom then I’d say that’s a normal feeling. either way, If youre looking for a new rod in that price range I’d suggest the St Croix Bass X (which is basically just the previous generation of mojo bass with a new paint job) or the Fenwick HMG. Both are quality sticks for the price. Only issue is neither one is available in ML on TW at the moment...

Welcome! I did not know they had bass in Austria. Or do you travel around other parts of Europe to go bass fishing?

I think it’s Cheburashka rig. It’s identical to our swing heads.

Good day for me. None of my anglers are in the top 10, but 4 of them are in the top 25. I also have John Cox who is down there in the leaderboard but I’m not worried since I think something like 43% of players own him. Edit: I also changed my tie breaker weight at the last second. Bumped it up from 70-5 to 79-9.

Do you go straight braid or use a leader? Is it a clear body of water and/or highly pressured? I haven't noticed much of a difference. I used to go straight fluoro on my casting setups and I've always been about braid to leader on spinning gear. If there is a difference in my fish catches I'll have to dismiss it as seasonal changes. I was still using straight fluoro in the spring when the bite was hot.

Copperteuse from Zman is a good bluegill imitator. It has a green pumpkin red flake back and chartreuse belly. Your bluegill still have that noticeable orange patch on their chins so maybe a swim jig with some orange can do well. Let us know what kind of baits you plan to throw and maybe someone can chime with some really specific colors they use to imitate bluegill. Ultimately, we have no way of knowing what the bass actually see or feel but my guess would be that if a bass is accustomed to living in muddy water, then it will rely much more on its lateral line to hunt compared to a fish which has lived its whole life in gin clear water. It’ll be much more of a shock for those clear water fish when their water muddies up. In your case, what’s the typical visibility? What’s changed and how long has it been muddy for?

I’ve never fished a Chronarch but I say go with the K and save your money for a potential upgrade in the future. The K is a darn good reel but I have no idea how it compares to a chronarch. Just wanted to put my vote in.

Color is usually the last variable I consider when choosing what I think is the best way to catch fish under the circumstances. But I usually subscribe to the “match the hatch” theory. Unless you’re fishing chocolate milk, I don’t see the point of swaying from the basic forage imitating colors.

Storm Arashi Top Walker. The size 11 in Ghost Hitch if we want to be precise.

I actually don’t own either. But the Calcutta is basically new and belongs to a buddy who’s offering it for a really really good price. I didn’t even want to get a musky setup but he was offering the reel so cheap I thought why not spoil myself and try something new. I saw the Citrix for sale on Facebook. It also has a much better line capacity than the Calcutta so I might ultimately go that way if you say both reels will be able to handle the baits I plan to throw. It’s just that I trust a legendary reel like the Calcutta more than the Okuma. Not to knock Okuma or anything, I’m sure they make great products.

Caught my PB (which isn't very big lol) on a Berkley Juke. It's a decent bait and you can really do anything with it. Run it like a crankbait, slash it like a jerkbait or pop it on the surface. It looks a little unusual with the profile but it's just something different. Don't see any reason to dislike it. The stock hooks are good and the yellow perch pattern actually looks like a perch.

Thanks a bunch! This is exactly the type of answer I was looking for. I was worried about the double cowgirls on a Calcutta200 cause I know those things pull like crazy. But you're saying that the rubber lures would be a problem as well? I was looking at these specifically; https://tackleindustries.com/product-category/swimbaits_tubes/minid/ https://tackleindustries.com/product-category/swimbaits_tubes/reg_superd/ https://tackleindustries.com/product-category/bucktails_spinnerbaits/switchblade_spinnerbait/ - 8" and 10" Believers as well Much lighter than any of the "magnum" baits out there. So from the sound of your reply, the 200 wouldn't really be suitable for musky lures. What about an Okuma Citrix 354. I have the opportunity to purchase a used one in good condition. How would those fare with the baits I linked? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the response. To be honest with you, I don't expect to be catching a 40" musky anytime soon but a man can dream. I just want to throw bigger baits and see what lurks out there. Also, Im not really worried about fighting the fish; people have brought in 40"ers on finesse gear. I'm more concerned about the reel not having enough torque/power for the lures. I will definitely be using braid, 80lb for sure. It interests me that you mention braid being less forgiving on a reel. I assume that only really applies when throwing heavy baits. What exactly gets worn out on a reel when cranking on 4,5,6 oz lures? That's my concern with the calcutta.

I wanted to get a single setup for targeting large pike and musky from time to time. I'm not going to throw myself completely into that world as it is just something I want to dabble in. I usually just used bass gear for targeting pike which is just fine, but I want to try throwing some large spinnerbaits and bucktails too. So simple question; would a Calcutta 200 be able to handle lures in 2-3oz range (spinnerbaits, bucktails, smaller bulldawg-type swimbaits)? I can imagine those double bladed bucktails create a lot of drag in the water and I'm worried it would trash the Calcutta over time.

They sound cool. I give a shot to almost every senko knockoff I come across because senkos are darn expensive. I’d definitely give those a try but I haven’t seen any in stores here in Canada. Not many zoom products manage to get up here for one reason or another. The original senko is hard to beat but the best knockoff I’ve fished is the Xzone True Center stick. When t rigged weightless it shimmies just as well if not better than the senko. I seriously believe in that so for now I just use my senkos for wacky rigs. If I’m t-rigging a stick bait it’ll be the Xzone. I also have Dingers and Ochos and I’m not really a fan of either. I know the dingers get a lot love so I might catch some heat for this I think the action (or I should lack of action) of that bait is absolutely dead. It doesn’t have that wiggle or if it does, I can’t notice it. Just drops like a log. Maybe it’s just a mental thing but I seriously can’t throw a dinger knowing I have better options in my tackle bag.

I'm 37th in our group and participated for every event. There are only a handful of players below me who also participated in every event. It's been pretty crummy for me. So I went with a few anglers who have low ownership % for this tournament so if I do move up, it should be a big move. My predicted winning weight is 70lbs 5 oz.

Just make sure they're polarized. Mine were not "made" for fishing but they are made by a brand called Suncloud. I believe the exact model is called Highride. The one thing I would be wary of would be those made by Berkley or Strike King. I bought them because they were cheap and made by fishing brands, but it was a mistake. Poor quality and they did not reduce glare as I hoped they would. Stick with a brand that actually makes glasses.

The Supreme XT is a good reel. Very light and the drag is insanely smooth. You’ll be happy with it, especially if you can get a deal on it. Im looking for a new M spinning rod. I currently use a Fenwick Elite Tech Walleye 7’2. I’m not the biggest fan to be honest. The rod is well built but I don’t find it to be that sensitive. The cork is good quality, so are the reel seats and the guides but there’s just something missing in the rod for me. I plan on replacing it with a Mojo Bass 6’8 M/XF or maybe even the 7’1 M/F. I was really impressed with my ML Mojo so I want to get another one. Only problem is none of the tackle stores in my area have them in stock. They’ve been cleaned out since Covid and it didn’t help that the longshoremen here went on strike for a month. It apparently backed a lot of orders up for big box stores. I need to head over there and look one of these days, their order may have come in and I don’t even know it.

This has been mentioned dozens of times on the site before but when it comes to fluoro, most reviews are negative. You see that often... well because it’s fluoro. It has high memory compared to mono and braid so naturally people will be disappointed. I don’t have experience with sniper but just wanted to throw that in.

Looking ok for me so far. Kennedy, Weidler and even Swindle, by the skin of his teeth, made it into the top 40. Hopefully Kennedy can jump into the top 10 tomorrow.

I missed that. Only saw the first few minutes of the weigh in but thats incredible!

Anyone else see David Mullins weigh in a smallmouth? I thought that was cool

A. Gross B. Lester C. Kennedy D. Swindle E. Weidler i have the winning weight set at 82lbs 5 oz

It doesn't look like a creek chub or fallfish to me, which are the usual suspects. Common shiner maybe? This is a good resource to use for identifying species so if you've got time to kill you should check it out. https://www.roughfish.com/