Big Hands

1/2 to 3/4 ounce egg sinker, simple ball swivel, 6-8 lbs fluoro leader that's 36" to 50" long. My favorite bait is a four inch Keitech Swing Impact (Electric Shad) on a 2/0 rebarb hook, pinned with a shaved down flat toothpick.

The lake level is currently as high as I have ever seen it and there is one flooded grass flat (that's actually flat, which is rare here) and the bass were absolutely mobbing the shad against the bank in the devil grass at the water's edge. I threw a flash boost popper right into the ruckus, grass and all and was rewarded with a fat three pounder. My son remarked that he'd never seen bass go nuts like that. They were just thrashing with their fat white bellies rolling in the grass. TBH, they probably would have eaten anything you threw in there, which is why I chose something with some sticky sharp trebles. Tom, keep your eyes to the sky. The bat-signal should be appearing soon. . .

As Tom is my witness, big trout will indeed hammer the Karashi.

I'm gonna take your word for it. That could make it a no brainer that getting Megabass hardbaits zipped off regularly would get Mega-expensive in a hurry. Probably end up with hurt feelings over it too.

Just like the title says, at the end of the day, is it more expensive to fish soft plastics or hardbaits?

The bass can (and will) humble everyone, and old guys are no exception.

Excellent! That's one heck of a quiver.

Did you get "The One"?

Keep your line taut so the sinker isn't as likely to wander down into never-never land and that will significantly reduce snagging sinkers in rocky structure. Same goes for dropshotting.

Some people are ok with a little flex here and there. Others, not so much. I can’t say whether or not you’d even notice it. Personally, I wouldn’t worry about the difference between hagane and ci4 with line that light, but that’s just me. Each jump in price brings incremental improvements. We just have to decide when we as individuals, can’t afford any more incremental improvements.

The c2500 is the body size of a 2000 with a 2500 spool IIRC. At that point, it would be about the balance. I like the lightest rig that doesn’t feel unbalanced. Half an ounce is noticeable but not generally a deal breaker. An ounce might have me questioning whether or not I should consider a different reel. Maybe. If I had to roll the dice and wanted the 2500 spool size, I would be inclined to go with the c2500. I can interchange spools 🧵 n several of my Daiwa reels between 2000 and 2500. The arbor diameters are the same, but the skirts on the 2500 spools are just a tiny bit larger. But they will still function on the 2000 size reels, that’s how close they are in terms of size.

The 2500S Miravel holds 140 yards of 5 lbs Power Pro and 85 yards of 10 lbs Power Pro. So, 10 lbs Power Pro is about a 62% capacity reduction from the capacity of 5 lbs Power Pro. Apply that to the 2000S, and 62% of the 90 yards of 5 lbs Power Pro that the 2000S will hold comes out to 55.8 yards, which is 167 feet.

Absolutely. I even opt for super shallow when possible, but it's hard to reliably find them with SS spools in the sizes and gear ratios I prefer (I like 2000 and 2500 spinning reels and generally with high gear ratios). I think shallow spools are at least borderline too much depending on the line you use. When push comes to shove, I will sacrifice a super shallow spool for a shallow spool if it means I can get it in a higher gear ratio. I actually own a Fuego LT2000S-XH that I bought from a seller in Croatia on the 'bay'. I've had it for a few years now and have never wished it held more line. I have pretty much all of my spinning reels filled with 10 lbs braid. I'm sure they'd be fine with 15 lbs braid if I wanted to use it.

JDM 25 Ultegra C2000SHG or C2500SHG for about $122 plus shipping. The Procyon is also a solid deal at $110.

I have a very select few friends that I will spill every ounce of tea to (I would even show them on a map and give them baits if they don't have them), but ONLY if I have come across the pattern and spot myself. If someone else has given me me the 411, I may use it, but I feel like it's not mine to pass on. After that, I may or may not be inclined to offer help from someone that I think could use it or asks for it. I love to see people catch fish, but if I give someone else's intel away and the spot gets blown up, I may find myself outside their inner circle. . . and for good reason. Some stuff is widely known, like throwing a WW Senko at bluff walls. Maybe they need to find their own bluff walls though, LOL. I will try to help someone that is clearly struggling, especially if they have kids, or look like they might be beginners in a rental boat and look like they're not having much fun. We were all those folks at some point, and I have learned plenty from others. We do seem to have one end of the lake or the other that seems to be better than the other at certain times. If I am struggling a bit and I see someone I know well enough, I might ask them "Fish Arm or Ski Arm?" Bass fishing culture at it's finest 😉

The thinner ones are generally not rated for anything above 5 mph, and some of (not all) the thicker ones are ABYC speed rated. That may or may not make a difference to you.

Those certainly are possibilities. Would have been nice to get visual confirmation, but such is life 🥲

It didn't roll like a big catfish. It didn't take any long blistering fast run(s) like a striper or even a big carp would. We don't have smallmouth that big. I don't think it was the bass of a lifetime mostly because I don't think they live here anymore. But it fought similarly. The worst part for me is that I can't help but to hold myself accountable for the fact that I know the hooks on these baits are not super strong. I usually fish them on 8 to 10 lbs line partially for that reason. I had backed off the drag after it's first powerful surge. The drag was quite appropriate for the line, but not necessarily the hooks. I'll wander out to the garage today and pull the bait out for a closer look at the hook. In the pic, the hook point on the arm that bent out looks . . . suspicious in comparison to the other two. I'll be looking at that, along with trying to assess my actions that might have prevented this from happening. However, I have to respect that sometimes the fish just wins and that's how it's supposed to be.

It's almost 2 AM. I've been staring at this pic for several minutes (over half an hour). 'Honk' if you can relate.

Just when you think you have them figured out. Never use absolutes when it comes to bass. . . . and even that isn't entirely true ;~)

Some bass are done and gone before others are even fixin' to get busy. When I see bass fry in two or three different sizes, that suggests it's been on for a while. Some places beds are not hard to find. Others, you don't necessarily know it's a bed, but it just looks like a place where it could happen. Often, it's at the low side of a small drop off, like a boulder. Sometimes it's near a stickup, or even better, in between some stickups. Sometimes you don't see the bed, but you can tell by the fish's behavior that they must be on a bed. The rest of the year, a bass could just swim off to a different area when you even come near them. When they're hard on a bed, they'll just hunker down and not go far at all. You're right on top of them and they're staring right back up at you, maybe even appearing to flip you the middle fin. When they are eating again, but look a bit (or VERY) emaciated/haggard and look like they're ready for bikini season, they've probably had enough.

I can certainly relate to reel seats not agreeing with me. To each their own

After taking several years off from bass fishing due to "life circumstances", I started out with three different M/F spinning rods believing they were good for finesse fishing because they were a lighter action than my casting rods. They are good rods for what they are, and they were OK at it (finesse). After acquiring a Light +/Fast, a ML/F and a ML/XF, my three M/F rods stay home on most days. The 7'6" ML/XF is with me at least 90% of the time, far more than any other rod I own. For 5" weightless wacky Senko fishing, it's just ridiculously good at it. I have come to realize that I am not just going to have four or five rods and that will handle a wide range of tasks (everything I need to do). I have since found I prefer to have rods that are really good at techniques I use a lot, and then maybe some all-arounders to fill in the gap. These days, my more specialized rigs get most of my attention. At the end of the day, that's simply my experience and the preferences that I have developed, so who am I to tell you that you're doing it it wrong? Just offering some food for thought. Go fishing, do it your way and I wish you tight lines and fun.

Daiwa Aird-X