DitchPanda

They look cool from what I saw. I always felt the original was a little to thin for me. Anybody know when they are being released?

I don't think your line is the issue...a lot of guys use that rod for jigs with braid or fluoro and I don't hear about them having an issue. I think the rod may be the issue. I agree with the assessment of the rod being to fast..to me that rod is more of a bottom contact rod..believe for a moving bait with the rod being fast you may be pulling the bait away from the fish causing you to barely skin hook them. What I use for bladed jigs, spinnerbaits and lipless is medium heavy moderate fast and I very rarely lose fish.

Mojo is a go to for me during summer..the hotter the better honestly

Nobody? Oh well only one way to find out!

Was gonna say I've had issues with a fenwick rod before...no issue with the customer service

BOSS stuff from fishingskirts.com and tackle warehouse and jigheads from siebert outdoors are what I always use. Been building my own skirts for a while now and I really enjoy it

Was gonna say without knowing where you are and what type of water your fishing limits tips. But I do have a couple suggestions for what I do in the hottest time of the year. First off I suggest fishing super early or up until and even perhaps after dark. For this I like a noisy topwater especially a buzzbait. Jitterbug can also work well. Secondly if your fishing during the day is suggest going finesse..even more finessy than a senko. I've done well with a ned rig in very hot weather but my favorite rig is a mojo or slip shot rig with a small finesse worm. I've literally thrown half a dozen baits on a spot without a sniff. I woulda bet my truck there were no fish in the area. Switch to a slip shot rig and catch 5 bass in 20 minutes. This has happened to me time and time again in the heat of summer.

I had my first realization of time flying by recently. Now let me say I'm by no means an old man...at 37 id still consider myself very young. But a few weeks ago I sat down and thought wow I'm 37. Then I realized I've been at my " new" job for almost 7 years. Also remembered that next month on the 10th me and my lady have been together 9 years. Then I pondered the fact that my parents have been married 44 years. Last but not least I thought of my grandpa (moms dad)..last grandparent I've got. I remembered him retiring at 59 from the post office and army when I was a kid. Just called me to wish me happy bday 3 weeks ago...he just celebrated his 89th bday in February. Holy crap man.

Not me..I rarely throw a trailer on a spinner bait never on a buzzbait ...I've never used a trailer hook on either. If I'm getting a lot of short strikes I'll throw a more compact bait or a bait with different style blades or maybe switch to a crankbait of some type. To me short strikes mean something isn't quite right to the fish. Plus I throw spinnerbaits around wood and have heard a trailer hook makes it much more snag prone. I'm lost

Also check fisherman's factory outlet...it's kind of clearing house for pure fishing. They are the parent company of Abu Garcia, Fenwick, Berkley. They often times have discontinued baits very cheap.

Smallie...no doubt

Sounds like our buzzbait experiences haven't been the same.I use primarily war eagle buzzaits...I had a black one that failed(threw the blade off) last season that was several years old and had caught dozens of bass..many in the 4 to 6lb range. I wouldn't consider that frequent replacement...to me that's surprisingly durable for a $5 bait. And believe me I was in no way discounting the whopper plopper. It is a cool bait that definitely produces...I've seen the results first hand. But for me where I fish it just doesn't fill a niche. I've got other baits already in my arsenal that do those things.

I'm a believer in general color patterns instead of true match the hatch. My local lake has tons of bait species...small carp, bullheads, crawfish, bluegills, green sunfish, perch, crappie, chubs, baby bass and shad. A lot of different color patterns there but I throw green pumpkin or brown for bottom baits and I throw bluegill with a heavy green pumpkin base, a shad imitator mostly white and black for moving baits. I think I get better results if I generally appeal to color preference and rely on reaction strikes instead of really finessing them slowly with exact color replicas.

Anything approaching 5 lbs is a dang good fish in my book. At 21 inches had you caught that fish prespawn she would have 5.5lbs id guess. So next year catch her in April or May and she can be your new PB! That said yep that's a nice fish.

I've used the razor shads and was honestly not very impressed. I've yet to use a zako...I'm not afraid of the price I just don't throw bladed jigs much. My best bait so far has been a 4 inch plain ol zoom fluke. I also like the looks of the big bite baits swimon and have heard several guys say great things about them. Back to the zako I have no doubt they will catch fish. Gary yamamoto is known for two thing...his baits are pricey and not super durable...and they catch fish when nothing else does. I don't think he makes a bait that doesn't catch em. Kinda like keitech... The paddle tails are soft and not durable...so there has to be another reason every pro is throwing them.

Anybody ever throw a trd on a mojo or split shot rig?

I think a plopper is a cool design..I have a buddy on here that I've fished with a lot over the past 10 years who does well with the plopper and I don't think he has really ever thrown a buzzbait. I do have three observations about the plopper that I don't like: 1) they are way to expensive for me...can buy 2 or 3 buzzbaits for the same price 2) they are more prone to get snagged on wood or weeds because of the trebles 3) they seem to be easier for the fish to throw being a big heavy bait with trebles. Number 3 isn't a deal breaker since a lot of this can be remedied with the right rod and line...kinda like throwing a super spook which I throw alot. I do like the idea of stopping it since it floats but I have other bait for that. Kinda like how some guys walk a popper...others think I want a popper to pop if I wanna walk something I'll use a walking bait. I'm not saying there aren't exceptions but for the most part im in the latter camp. Another reason for the buzzbait love is my results. A few falls ago I had maybe the biggest 5 bass bag I've ever caught...on a white buzzbait. I'm in Northern Iowa so a big fish here is 4 or 5lbs. On this particular day I had 4 bass over 5... My best 5 went 25 or 26lbs. It was insane.

I'm more than late to the whopper plopper party...I still don't own one! As far as topwater I caught my first fish of the year on topwater probably a month ago. Last Thursday I fished in the rain and caught 7 or 8 on a black buzzbait.

Thank you sir

Ha I don't think it's anything that cool Thanks man..I sent J Francho a message

I reacted to the post on swimming jigs that aren't swimjigs and when I posted my response it says it's a hidden message and it's highlighted purple. Why is this? Did I do something wrong?

Oh yeah now I get what your saying. I aim for a 3 per trip anything over that is gravy. Where I'm at a 3 is a good fish..anything over 5 is big...my biggest of the year is 7. State record here is only 10 something.

Ive watched an old video beyond the basics of swim jigs with Tom Monsoor..the guy many people consider the granddaddy of swim jigs. In the video he states that the first time he caught bass swimming a jig it was by accident just reeling in a flipping jig to recast. Saw Bill Lowen say the same thing about catching them on the Ohio River swimming a flipping style jig.

Wow this must be a heck of a problem to have. Wish I had a pond where if I caught a 3lber I thought oh God another one? Boring!

Too me that rod is more suited for squarebills and shallow cranks, smaller lipless, poppers and jerkbaits. Medium mod fast seems awful light to me to drive a single hook home...especially texas rigged. Gotta punch through the plastic then the fishes mouth...sounds flimsy for that.