Big Hands

I'd say that LiveScope (or whatever version they are using) deserves at least as much credit for catching those fish as the bait itself. Seeing fish react that way in real time and being able to pinpoint their location is something the fish are not prepared to defend against at this time. I think over time, they will adapt and survive. But right now, people that utilize that technology to it's potential are able to fish very smartly and efficiently. Of course, it doesn't make them magically open and inhale.

Sounds like you are in a team tournament? Do you know the format/rules of the tournament? If they are having a traditional weigh-in and are following Lake Fork rules, that will mean the slot limit is in effect. Even in May, over the slot bass are going to be rare and you can only keep one above the slot bass per day. If you're just going to have fun, and not exactly trying to be competitive, then you may have a different strategy. If you're trying to be competitive, then catching 15" to 16" bass is going to be more important than a sack of four to five pounders. I imagine your BIL has let you know how he likes to fish that lake. You have a list of very nice equipment there (enthusiast level indeed!), and I think I can imagine how I would at least put at least some of it to use there. You have some of those rod choices that have a somewhat narrow focus like the Super Destroyer. I imagine that will see action fishing jigs in heavy cover/timber and skipping under docks. You want to impress the BIL? Get your dock skipping game on point! What I don't see is 1) a frog rod, because the frog bite at Fork was pretty good (as in really, really good) last year and caught a lot of above the slot bass there 2) a moderate/medium crankbait rod for smaller squarebills, lipless cranks, etc. 3) a jerkbait type rod. What might help you to have some versatility is to get some extra spools for some of those Metaniums so that you can switch tactics with a spool change rather than needing a separate rod/reel for each tactic or feeling the need to respool line the night before you want to use mono instead of braid for something that you found to be working in practice. Tossing a spool full of Smackdown two or three times could add up to more than a spare spool, and since you'll have three identical reel, you could do a lot of mixing and matching if needed. Pack some rain gear. You know what they say about the weather in Texas. . . . . If you don't like it, stick around a while because it's gonna change! And try a few of those little gold in practice. If I had a gun to my head and needed catch a Lake Fork bass to save my life, I would go jig one of those over a pile of fish in 20'+/- of water. It's not glamorous and you'll catch a little bit of everything, but bass will be in the mix along with barfish, sand bass, crappie, catfish, drum, and who knows what else, LOL. It's fun to chew the fat about my favorite lake and talk about spending other people's money ? on fishing gear.

'Need' is such a strong descriptor that I can say you are not likely to 'need' premium leader material to do well. My first 10+ lb bass was caught on 6 lb Ande monofilament, which is bargain bin for half decent monofilament. My PB at 12 lbs 13 oz was caught on 10 lb Ande mono. 'Need? Not in my humble opinion. 'Want'? Possibly, but again, I am inclined to suggest that 'regular' line will suffice for anyone that doesn't get paid handsomely to put fish in the boat. With a little cost/benefit analysis, I feel like paying $15 to $18 (plus tax) for 25 yards of premium leader material isn't going to benefit me as much as something like better main line or premium hooks (or any number of other things) will. If my disposable income was such that I didn't have to make such choices, what the heck, I would probably try some gold label to see if I thought it was noticeably better in some way. BTW, I do feel like switching to braid with a leader is worthy of making the switch. I also like tungsten weights, but I am in the middle of seeing if they should fall in the 'need' or 'want' category. Disclaimer: I am using the term 'need' in the loosest possible fashion, speaking from one angler to another and fully realizing that it's a good dilemma to have in life.

I have the Shimano SLXCX610M which is a medium extra fast rod. That rod coupled with a Vision 110 was responsible for my biggest fish of 2020 (8+ lbs). I like the extra fast action for getting it to start and then stop again without having to pull the rod back as far as you let off of 'the jerk'. I think a moderate action rod would make that noticeably more difficult and I would at least prefer a fast action if not the extra fast for jerkbait fishing.

I have tried a 3/8 oz Dark Sleeper. Not a LOT, but I have given it a chance. Haven't had any takers. . . . yet. I'll throw it until I lose it, but so far not impressed, and with the amount of nasty, craggy rocky shoreline, it won't likely be too long before it finds it's final resting place. Keitech Easy Shiners and Swing Impacts have been bite inducing fish-catchers from the first cast I ever took with one and have caught fish for me every trip out for the past four months (at least fifteen trips). I honestly thought they would be dink-attractors, but most fish I have caught have been in the 1.5 lb to 2.5 lb class, and others up to one that was 22" long (didn't have a scale to weigh that bad boy). It's quite likely that I just haven't homed in on the best way to present the Dark Sleeper where I fish because I know they work for many others. I usually have a few odd things to try each trip so that I can possibly discover some new (to me) approaches because it's likely that fish that inhabit my spots will probably get tired of seeing those 3", 3.5" and 4" Electric Shad Swing Impacts sooner or later, LOL. So, the Dark Sleeper will be getting some more time in the rotation before I move on from them.

For the way I am currently carolina rigging, if my pockets were deeeeep, I would settle on braid to a monofilament leader. Mono is cheap, braid isn't especially cheap, especially the good stuff, but that isn't what I am referring to. The problem for me is that I have been using tungsten weights, one ounce tungsten weights. Those suckers are not cheap, and braid is strong in some ways, and weak in others. It is subject to breaking due to abrasion on rocks, wood, and maybe shells if you have them in your lakes. I average losing at least one per outing to as many as three. They run from $5 to $10 each (including tax) depending on where you can buy them and what is in stock. Yesterday I lost two of them on consecutive casts (my fault) and along with all the other stuff (another $2 to $3 per setup), it adds up. I can go through $20 to $30 of tackle in a day of fishing. I am still refining my setup and trying to strike a balance between being most effective and somewhat economical. I'm not sure how long my current carolina rig bite is going to hold up. Some type of carolina rig could be effective all year. . . . or not. That said, all Carolina rigs do not need to be like mine to be effective in every lake. I am making bomb casts of 120 feet or more because most of my bites are coming from the first third of my retrieve, and I am often dealing with wind along with mostly subtle bites. I used to (decades ago) fish a lot with a much more finesse-ish version of the carolina rig where I used mojo slipshot sinkers on straight 6 lb mono using a rubber band tied to the line below the sinker to act as a stop. Two totally different versions of the same type of rig. There are so many variations of rigging AND technique for the "carolina rig" that it's kind of pointless to try to make a blanket statement that one line or another is THE line to beat all others for the c-rig because many of us like to make potentially simple things into complex things, LOL. However, YMMV. It could be simple, if you're not necessarily trying to be the most effective in a given situation. Then you can just adapt the one rig fits all mentality and send it. And that might be plenty good enough for the water you fish and how you choose to fish it. Your call. No right or wrong, it just is what it is. . . . .

2.5 to 4 lb bass can maul all of the baits I listed. You may be surprised what a bass will try to eat, especially the smaller versions. Jerkbaits come in all sorts of different varieties as far as buoyancy is concerned, and you can 'tune' them on your own to alter the buoyancy and angles they suspend at by changing hooks and split rings or by adding weight (using suspend-dots or even wrapping the lead from lead core line around the shank of the hooks among others).

Hard to beat a Megabass Vision 110 generally speaking, but if you're open to something other than a jerkbait. If the price of the Vision 110's are a deterrent, there are some offerings from Lucky Craft like the Pointer, or the Jackall Rerange that are still good, and a little easier on the wallet. There are also a plethora of 'soft jerkbaits' on the market as well like the Fluke that are even more budget friendly and potentially weedless so you can get them right down in the salad where the fish live. However, I think with 6" bluegill and nice fat shiners like that, I'd be going with swimbaits. The Gantarel and Gantarel Jr are excellent bluegill imitations and are not that expensive. The Gantarel Jr. can be thrown with regular bass gear, but you'll want a heavier duty setup for the full size Gantarel. An S-Waver 168 or 120 could be a decent shiner imitation and can also be thrown on regular bass gear.

Netflix has a documentary (with a few made up scenarios here and there) called The Social Dilemma. It features several former tech employees from companies like Google and Facebook that talk about how these apps are designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible, kind of like TV, so they can monetize their content by selling advertisements. The thing is, TV was never able to monitor everybody's individual habits and react to it on a person by person basis like they can now. And the apps react in real time to keep you engaged. All this to say the thing I found most telling is that virtually all of the people interviewed monitor and severely or completely restrict their own children's access to cell phones and social media as they know first hand exactly what the dangers are.

Dragging a bass on the grass is not good, BUT, if you're fishing 15 lb braid, and using a heavy enough hook, you can literally water ski a 3 lb bass on it's side all the way to the boat.

About 2 miles to the 'lagoon' (Castaic forebay), and another mile or so to the ramp on the upper Castaic Lake. When the upper lake is full, I can see the water from my bedroom window. Pyramid Lake is about 25 miles north, Lake Piru is about 20 miles to the east (7 or 8 miles as the crow flies), and Lake Casitas is about 60 miles to the west.

IMPORTANT: Public Service Announcement

Ferris Bueller and Jules Winnfield are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions.

The Big Lebowskiing Jeff `The Dude' Leboswki is mistaken for Jeffrey Lebowski, who is The Big Lebowski. Which explains why he's roughed up and has his precious rug peed on. In search of recompense, The Dude tracks down his wife's kidnapper by searching every golf course, erm. . . . . water ski venue in North America.

After doing well all summer and most of the fall on dropshot, that bite went away and the Carolina rig bite took off. I fish mainly on two bodies of water. One is a deep (over 300' in some places) mountain reservoir, with steep rocky shoreline, and the other is the forebay below the dam and it is mostly relatively shallow (>30' in a lot of it) and has lots of hydrilla like weeds. Oddly enough, the bite in both bodies of water went the same way. I first happened on it in the forebay by sloooooooowly dragging the c-rig in and around the weeds in 20' to 30' feet of water. Went to the upper lake, and found the same thing worked on the rocky slopes and and the few flats we have in 20' to 30' there. There are scattered stickups in those areas too (but no weeds), and working the bait through those is where I have been finding fish. I have been at least 15 times and only blanked once (I got bit, just didn't boat 'em) on the c-rig. For winter fishing and not having to fish deeper than 30', that's pretty good in my book. The dropshot hasn't been nearly as productive by a VERY wide margin. I have been using 3/4 to 1 ounce tungsten flipping weights on 30 lb braid with 4' of 8 lb mono leader, and BOMB casting way out there up to 150' away. The majority of bites come from the first two thirds of the cast, so distance has been key for me. The blessing of this setup for me has also been the curse. The sensitivity of the braid paired with the heavy tungsten sinker is superb, and makes detecting most bites possible. Very rarely is a bite thought to be merely a tick from hitting a rock and I LOVE that. The downside being that the braid can be frail in stickups and rocks. In a full day of fishing that c-rig all day, I might lose 1 to 3 rigs to the braid failing, and I do find paying attention to fraying and retying helps avoid unnecessary failure. I can usually pull the flipping sinkers through cover without too much trouble, and the failures seem to happen when I least expect them too (often times not really pulling that hard). At $4 to $5 per 1 ounce tungsten flipping sinker, that starts to add up. I have been contemplating going to a 12 lb or 15 lb mono for the main line, but I know there will be a price to pay in stretch and sensitivity. For me, keeping tension on the line as I drag really helps minimize snagging. I keep the rod tip high (about 11 o'clock) and slowly turn the handle rather than using the rod. If I feel it come off of a rock, I try not to let it fall into crevices by lifting the rod just slightly and can usually feel it land on the next rock. If the tension builds too high, I first give a slight 'pop' to the rod and if that doesn't do it, I will slightly back off the tension and pop it again (all in one motion) and that usually frees it. . . . until it gets to the next potential snag. It takes a good three to five minutes per cast to work the rig back to the boat. But, the bottom line is that deep water c-rigging in rocky terrain flat out works and has been through the winter (or what we know as winter here - surface water temps high 40's to low 50's) for me. I know guys that c-rig all year here with good results in both bodies of water. We have both largemouth and smallmouth here and I find the mix to be fairly even and catch both in the same areas. You might have make some tweaks here and there, but I'd be willing to give it a heck of a chance before giving up on it.

Just so you know, the ABU Silver Max is essentially a Black Max with the 'Rocket Cast' feature. If you don't think you'll care about that feature, you can save money to put into a rod by going with the Black Max instead. That said, I would recommend the SLX rod/reel combo mentioned above and it can be found (if you search google for: 'Shimano SLX rod and reel combo') for less than $160 including tax and shipping. The SLX baitcaster is a noticeable step up from the Black Max/Silver Max reels. Even the ABU Pro Max is not on par with the base model Shimano SLX IMHO.

If salt is in play, I would go Lexa or Tranx. They are designed for that environment. I'm generally a Daiwa guy, but I went with the Tranx. The physical size alone was a big factor in that. My 400 Tranx is the the size of a 300 Lexa. If I had it to do over again, I might go with a round reel or a Tatula 300 or a Curado 300 (and a lighter weight rod) since I have no plans to expose that rig to saltwater. Maybe I'll add a lighter duty rig to the quiver with that size reel and a rod that isn't quite the stud-stick that my Phenix PSW869H is. That big gear with a magnum swimbait will wear you out.

I'd have to assume it's pure marketing and nothing else. Question: If I want to fish a jerkbait, such as a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait, what rod should I get? Answer A: A 6'10" or so Medium/Fast or Medium/Extra Fast Answer B: A Megabass Vision 110 Special, of course. If you're looking at Shimano rods, how would you know which Poison Adrena rod would be ideal for jerkbait fishing? If you know, you know. But if you don't know, you may want to go with the 110 Special just to be certain. You don't have to have a lot of experience to figure that out when it's named after a technique or even after a very specific lure. A lot of rods now have both the length/power/action and the various techniques often associated with that type of rod. Something for everybody ? My current favorite rod is a 7'3" MH/F and the technique it's designed for is also printed on the rod: "All Around" LOL. It's so confused, it just does what I ask it to do.

You won't be able to see the forest through the trees on the river during spring break.

That's not a zero-adjust on the Tatula CT 100, so the bearing tension will be adjusted as they have for many years (it's not the 'set-it-and-forget-it' system like the Tatula 100 is), and you may have to adjust it slightly for different baits. The Tatulas are generally very good casting reels, so I expect that you'll be able to adjust it to cast a 1/2 ounce spoon a long ways on a setting closer to 4 or 6 without too much trouble.

\/ \/ This \/ \/

n + 1 is where it 'ends'. n = the number of rods you currently own.