walleyecrazy

My all time favorite lure would have to be a jerk bait. If I have a chance to fish one I am using one.

The Daiwa Tatula 7' M power Regular action is a good one for those applications in that price range. It is actually labeled as a top water, and shallow crank rod. I use mine for smaller shallow cranks, and jerk baits and it has done great.

The Magdraft is very finicky about retrieve speed. You really have to concentrate on finding the right retrieve speed with them or they will not swim right. The freestyle is much more forgiving being that you are generally fishing them keel waited which keeps them swimming the way that they should at almost any speed.

I have and enjoy rods from both lines, but if I had to pick between the two I’d go with the Tatulas.

Decided it was time for a new reel for my jerk bait setup. Went with the JDM Tatula SV. I like how they still use the color coding for the gear ratio that the US version ditched with the new SV’s

Pretty much everything south of the Adirondacks should be open now. The Adirondack ponds and lakes are slowly starting to open up from what I've seen in some posts on the book of faces.

For strictly youtubers I'd say Creek Fishing Adventures seems to love the fishing that he does. Two of my favorites that seem to absolutely love fishing though are not strictly youtubers. B-Lat and DC both seem completely addicted to fishing.

My picks would be the Tatula 7'4" frog rod if you like a fast tip, or the Sierra 735 if you like a little softer tip.

I recently picked up a few of the Rozante 77's to try them out. They have great action to them, and should kill the smallies up here. I however was not prepared for the sound of the magnetic casting system in them on the first cast with one. I heard that snap and immediately thought I had snapped the tip off my rod lol.

The Tatula rods are great for the money, and fish pretty much spot on with their ratings in my experience. If you want something in between a fast and mod fast anything in the Daiwa lineup that is listed as "regular" action is pretty much what you are looking for.

For what you are looking to do I would remove the Sierra from the list. They are great rods, but for me their actions are just a little too slow for bottom contact baits. I use my Sierra casting rods exclusively for moving baits because of their actions, and they seem to excel at those presentations.

I think you need to add a wrap or two, and make sure to try and keep the wraps neat when you cinch it down. The only time I’ve ever had trouble with the improved clinch is when the wraps kind of bunch up. If I see it do that now I cut it off and re-tie it. The knot should look like a neat stack of coils or wraps on the line when it’s done.

I’m a Seaguar guy for my fluoro, and have generally used a mix of red label, invizx, and abrazx, with the abrazx being my all around favorite. I recently switched my jerk bait rod to 10lb Tatsu, and wow is all I can say. It’s expensive, but after using it I think it’s well worth the asking price. I likely won’t use it for every application, but for things like jerk bait fishing where you have some slack line most of the time I think Tatsu will be my new go to.

My favorite finesse jig trailer is the Baby Bizz bug made by Bizz baits. It’s 3.25” which is about the perfect size for most of my finesse jigs.

In general I try to fish the wind blown bank on days like that. I generally fish as close to parallel with the bank as I can, but will fan cast out if I'm not having any luck. As far as baits, jerk baits and chatter baits are my two go to baits to start with in those conditions.

I use the Daiwa Tatula 7' M power Regular action "shallow cranking" rod for those applications paired with a Tatula SV. It has been a great combo for jerkbaits and small squarebills so far.

My latest offering to the monkey. I’m absolutely loving this new combo so far.

I use mostly Seaguar AbrazX. To me it offers the best balance of abrasion resistance and being soft enough not to effect the baits action.

It's straight braid for me unless I'm walking a treble hook bait or using a prop bait. In that case I add a mono leader to keep the braid from fouling in the bait.

Decided to see if all the good I’ve been hearing about this is true. I got to use it briefly today, and can confirm that it truly is as good as everyone is saying. Now I’m just waiting for the new rod I order to pair with this to show up so I can truly test it as I intend to use it.

I’ve heard a lot of good about the Duo Realis jerkbaits, so I decided this year I’d give them a try to see how they compare to my current favorites the Vision 110 and Provoke 106. Also grabbed some other baits to try and some stuff I needed to restock as well as a bunch of terminal tackle. I’m a sucker for glide baits so I also picked up a new 8” model that Golden Belt Customs just released. In summary the bait monkey is very pleased right now ?

A lens with an amber base and a green mirror is probably the best you can get for a fishing lens.

I use this one that a guy in some of the Facebook fishing groups makes. It slides down your line to the lure, and I t’s built like a tank.

I decided I want to try some soft plastics from some of the smaller bait makers this year to see what they may be able to come up with. I saw these flat worms from Next level baits, and couldn’t help but order some to try them out. I got a single pack of the red shad, and a bunch of packs of the perch color. I think this perch color may be a winner for my drop shot fishing in my local lake.

If the rod isn’t currently being used I put a sleeve on it. It’s a little bit of cheap protection for what can be a quite expensive piece of equipment. Plus the way I store my rods in the house is horizontally hanging from the ceiling, and the rod sleeves help keep the guides from catching on the rod holders then I put them up there.