Big Hands

If ya know, ya know. Those big fish adrenaline shakes are for real.

Only been there once. We caught well over 100 fish in about six hours in intermittent rain. Mostly largemouth, but several small stripers, hybrids (I think) and crappie. Most were caught on either slabs (**3/8 oz, gold, from Joe Spaits down at Lake Fork) or several on Pop-R's and other topwater baits. If I could only take one bait, it would be one of those jigging slabs. They look like a hopkins spoon. Freaking slabs are super effective in that area. I caught my best Lake Fork bass on one too (8.5 lbs). I'd say to throw what you want, but if I had to catch a fish there, the slab would be my go to. ** EDIT: The slabs we used were 1/4 oz rather than 3/8 oz.

My nephew recently got one of the Irod Gen III swimbait rods and I was impressed with it, especially given the price. He paired it with a Penn Fathom and it is a sweet combo IMHO. Seems that a lot of swimbait rods have EVA. I certainly prefer cork, and almost never purchase a rod with EVA these days. But, I did get a Dobyns Fury 806 swimbait rod with EVA and I like the rod a lot, especially given the price. I have seen Gary say that the swimbait anglers generally prefer it and that's why he uses it for those particular type of rods.

Probably my favorite Zona (and Hackney) fishing video. I loved the ending segment. They definitely had fun.

When I email that to myself from the photos app, the size of the file shrinks way down. The one I posted above shrank to 383KB when I emailed it to myself, which is well within the size restrictions of this site. I have photoshop, so I can shrink it much further if I wanted (and I did), but I could post it easily with the file being that size. This one is 29.5KB and gmail shrank it to that size when I downloaded it from the email I sent to myself. And, no meta data is passed on when you use this method. The only thing it shows in the file properties is that the 'file' was created today, and the photo is actually from October 2022. If you are so inclined to use it, Microsoft PowerPoint also has a very powerful and fairly easy to use background removal tool for images. By importing a 1.92 MB file into PowerPoint, removing the background, and then right clicking it and choosing 'save as picture', the file size shrank down to 391KB.

Hold your finger on the subject in the photo and drag it just a little ways. You will see that part of the photo have like an . . . aura appear briefly. Take your finger off of it and a popup appears asking if you want to copy it. Select copy, and then paste it wherever you want it to appear.

If ya know, ya know.

The Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap has a pretty wide open throat gap compared to many 'dropshot' hooks. But I have caught some very nice bass (including my PB) on treble hooks on standard size crankbaits and the hooks on those are not especially huge even though there are three barbs on each one. All you need is for one barb to get into some of the soft tissue and then let nature take it's course. I would wager a guess that the majority of hooks bent by a fish come from the hook point not finding soft tissue to bury the barb into. A hook will bend out way easier if it hasn't sunk in very far. A bass can also clamp down so hard that you think you're crossing their eyes only to find out they can just let go or literally spit it out after battling them 3/4 of the way to the boat. There's a lot going on in there when a bass clamps down on a bait and there is at least some degree of random luck involved in how the hook is oriented inside the fish's mouth.

Your post is formatted in a way that makes it . . . . unpleasant. . . . to read, so I have quoted it so others can see it more easily. Pitching isn't really in my wheelhouse, so I will leave that to those that know more about it. Good luck with your dilemma. ============================================ Juankar: "I currently have two casting equipment for bass. Dobyns Sierra 703C rod with a Daiwa Tatula 100 HSL reel. My new equipment is a Dobyns Sierra 734C rod to which I have currently put a Shimano Citica C-201 (old model). What a reel Would you choose for that rod so that it is compensated and balanced and above all that it is a pitcher... in a range of 150 to 200 dollars. Thank you"

This is a rhetorical question, right?

Mine took about a week to turn around, and it is a VERY nice hoodie. Sizing is pretty true, but maybe just a tick on the small side. . . . maybe.

You just created a whole lot more questions than you answered.

If you have something special that you want to do with it, the SV might be worth it, but the CT Fuego shares many of the same parts with the SV TW, with the absence of the T-Wing and a non-SV spool design being the most significant differences. Personally, the T-Wing makes more sense on paper than it does in real life for me, and it can hang up on knots that pass through it. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if he Tatula didn't come with it, especially when it sells for half the price. I think that since I don't count on the SV TW to throw lighter lures, that I would rather have two Fuego CT reels than a single SV TW. YMMV.

Thank you! I have also caught a 12 lbs 4oz (I don't have a pic of that one), and this one was 12 lbs 14 oz.

I love the smell of a fireplace AND bacon in the breeze. Beavers, to put it mildly, can have a bit of a bad attitude at night, LOL. I don't mind fishing alone at night to say the least. Somewhere behind night fishing, I also love mountain biking at night. But I almost never go mountain biking at night alone. Even having my (then) young children with me made me feel much safer, which doesn't really make sense, but it is what it is. I have had some close encounters with wildlife at night while mountain biking, in addition to a poacher that was shining from his truck and told me the the green light on my light's remote switch (I was riding with the light off by the light of the full moon) looked like the eye of a coyote and that the main reason he didn't take the shot was because he only saw one eye. Then he looked puzzled like I should have thanked him for it. ===================== We have a coyote that will follow me along the shore where I am fishing for quite a while. If I stop to fish a spot, he will lay down and just hang out, and then move along with me as I go for up to a couple of hours as though he doesn't have a care in the world. I am very surprised at how close he will get and then lay down at the water's edge facing away from me and take a nap. When he hears a hooked fish jump, he perks up. Pretty sure he gets shore lunches (probably little stripers) donated to him on the regular.

Rods are kind of a personal thing. We all have our own somewhat unique way of holding and handling them and we have little quirks about us, and while we are pretty similar, we are unique. There are countless rods made that would be a great match for that reel, but the 'real' question is whether or not they are a great match for you. So many times I have convinced myself that a certain rod would be awesome for me only to find that when I actually put hands on it, that it didn't suit me well for one reason or another. Or there was another rod I hadn't strongly considered that actually felt better in my hands (and with 'the' reel attached that it would be used with). These days, I try to either bring my own reels, or use reels the shop has on hand to get a feel for a rod. I usually try several and go back and forth, some hand-wringing, some pacing, etc.. I am probably a bit of a PITA for the shop, but I usually try to bring them my business when possible because I view that as a service they provide that probably saves me money and time since I will make fewer regretful purchases. For me personally, I like cork. EVA often feels weird and the tactile feel doesn't appeal to me. EVA sections are often on the skinny side and I have. . . big hands. Skinny doesn't feel good to me. I prefer full cork on casting rods, but it isn't necessarily a deal breaker to quite the extent that EVA has become for me. Proprietary reel seats can be amazing. Amazingly good or amazingly bad as well. With all of that said (sorry, not sorry), my best guess is that you would probably be looking for a rod that is around a similar price point at your SLX XT reel (somewhere between $100 and maybe $175)? If that budget range is in your wheelhouse, I like offerings like the Daiwa Tatula (or Kage) 7'3" MH/F. You can have mine when you can pry it from my cold dead fingers. You might hate them, and that's fine. For some matching a Daiwa rod with a Shimano reel is borderline blasphemous, but that gene is not dominant for me. But I would suggest checking them out if that is within your budget range and you are able to wear Nike shorts with Adidas shoes without developing an eye twitch.

It’s probably best to have a chat with the boater the night before if possible and see how much room you have and how they feel about things. You could probably take ten of these and not irritate your host.

Reels are kinda like camera lenses. For most middle of the road tasks and situations, you don't NEED anything super special. Nice gear is generally nicer to use, but not always entirely necessary. But, once you're using them in more extreme situations, that's when they can really earn their place. Sometimes extreme casting distance may be required, or very light line, or super smooth drag. That's when all those little details can make enough of a difference and could move your requirements from the 'want' category to the 'need' category. I'm just going to say that if you knowingly put an emphasis on the color of the reel, you might not need to take advantage of the line lay characteristics of a Shimano Vanford over those of a Daiwa Revros. Nothing to feel bad about, it just is what it is and there are probably many, many reels that will be capable of doing everything you need them to do. If you were to buy something like the Vanford (or other similarly more sophisticated reels), you could grow to appreciate it and take advantage of those features more as your knowledge and skills progress. You can alter the line lay on your Revros by using different thickness washers under the spool. The reel may have included a little bag with some white colored washers in it. If so, that is what they are for.

I think that guy got more support for the 1000 size since he stated it was primarily for creek fishing where the casting distance likely has a lower place on the list of priorities. And many said that this would especially be true if he was jigging (i.e. fishing more vertically) when he fished a lake. Horses for courses. You mention wind resistance. If you're fishing a 1000 size reel with light braid in wind strong enough to make a 1000 reel have noticeably less wind resistance, that will be the least of your issues. IMHO wind resistance for your application is of low importance, but YMMV. The price points of the reels you mention range from $40 to $100 in a quick search. I can identify with not wanting to spend more than you need, but the quality is bound to vary a lot between the ones listed. They make shallow spool versions of both the Revros 1000 and 2000 for the Japanese domestic market, and you'd be hard pressed to compete with them for the money. The Revros reels are relatively heavier than more expensive reels but for the money you pay for them, they are popular for good reason. Maybe a ranked order of priorities would help vs what is available could be useful. Things like: Inches per Turn (IPT)/Gear Ratio Overall weight Line Capacity Drag capacity Drag Smoothness Switch for reverse (or lack thereof) Ergonomics Balance (with the rod they will be used with) Line lay (some reels come with various washers for tuning it to your liking) Reel smoothness Spool diameter Put them in some sort of ranked order and decide which are needs and which are wants. Figure out what you'd like to pay and what you'd be willing to pay. OR If you have the budget for any of the reels @bulldog1935 suggested, you could save yourself a lot of hand-wringing and time and just get one of those and know you have made a fine choice. If you can swing it, choices like that hurt the day you buy them, but you love them every day thereafter.

What does "with the kids" mean, and how do you see it altering your decision? Are you saying that your kids might be using it too? If yes: What age are they? What fishing experience do they have?