BrianMDTX

I certainly have deer hunting but not fishing. But, a few months ago I was bank fishing and a woman walked by and asked if had any luck. I said yes. In short (long) order I learned: She was 76 She had cancer. Twice She no longer had boobs Her husband died. In 1975 She married a man 25 years younger He had cancer Her daughter lived in Seattle (she didn’t have cancer) She was a God-fearin’ Christian woman looking for an over-70 Bible study group I’m sure I’m forgetting something. I’ve never wished for a Lake Placid gator to show up as much as I did after 30 minutes of that torture!

I somehow made a bad cast and my first-ever and brand-new chatterbait ended up about 15’ up in the branches. I was fuming. I untied my frog off my frogging rig and tied on a 5/0 EWG with a 1/4 oz. bullet weight and casted it over the branch and after wrapping the 50 lb. braid around the handle of my yak paddle, I pulled the offending limb down, down, down until the previous chatterbait was within arm’s reach. I probably looked like some hellacious goober yanking a tree branch down with one hand and trying to extricate the severely snagged chatterbait with the other. Almost fell out of my small inflatable. Almost impaled my hand with the hook, but I got it out. Also got the hook and weight back, too. After that, I decided to cut bait and keep fishing!

I really like mono on most of my baitcasting reels. But the days of mono on my spinning reels has long passed. No more coiled loops of line was the bell ringer for me. I haven’t had any issues with either Sufix 832 or Seguar Smackdown (all 20 lb.), but of the two, the Smackdown is more supple, makes less noise and seems to lay a bit better in the spool.

Does it have Sport mode in auto? It may be staying in lower gears which will raise your RPM’s. Sounds like a PCM issue.

But…did you go fishing? ?

It’s 5” long, And shaped like a stick its known as the Senko, If not, a Zoom Trick!

Yay! My Fuego CT arrived today. Nice and smooth. Will be spooling line on it this week. Going to go with 15 lb. Sunline Shooter Defier.

I haven’t abandoned any lures, but if I did , dropshot and Ned rigs would be top of the list. One bass each and they are constantly fouled by leaves and algae.

Tom, Back in Maryland in the 1960’s-1970’s it was common to drift crayfish along the bottom for bass in reservoirs. Pretty much everyone pinched the claws off as it greatly reduced the chances of the crayfish climbing into rocks and getting snagged, as well as (so we were told) inducing strikes.

I’ve seen some big crayfish. I don’t any of them would last a NY Second if a 5 lb. bass decides it’s supper time!

I’m a head biter! Senkos, Zoom Tricks, if the head gets ripped, I’ll bite the ripped head off and re-rig it. Not so much with Neko Machos. Too fat with the head gone!

Gamakatsu 1/0 circle octopus hook is what I use. Lift rod tip up, reel in and hook sets itself. I just bought some 2/0 to try out.

Unlike us, who prefer food that looks appetizing and pleasing to the eye, wild predators are looking for the maximum reward with the least expended effort. A raggedy soft plastic likely looks like prey that was bitten, injured and escaped being a meal. Ergo, an easy target.

This thread may or may not be Bait Monkey approved, depending on the final results! ? I don’t keep a log, but my best guess is between 25 and 30. Felt like 5. My wife probably thinks it was 364.

Man, tough choice between a T-rigged Senko or a Zoom Trick. My last big bass (over 5 lbs.) was on a Zoom Trick, so that’s my pick.

Your vorpal hook went snicker-snack!

Is it Fruminous? ?

@Jrob78 At that price, it’s a steal. I’m glad I decided to step up to the plate and upgrade.

@MidwestBassAttack I’d say my two best rods prior to the Helium is either my Falcon Lowrider or Dobyn Fury. Neither has a reel that has ever been spooled with braid, so it’s not a true comparison. I normally do not use braid on baitcasters for Texas rigs (mono or YZH). But still, I use braid on all my spinning rigs and never felt anything close to what I was able to detect this morning. By a long shot. Your Z-Bone will likely be outstanding!

I may have made a huge and costly mistake buying this Helium. I took 4 baitcasting rigs out this morning for about two hours. A Daiwa Aird-X MH/F with a chatterbait, a Dobyns Fury 705CB MH/MF with a Zara Spook, a Falcon Lowrider All ‘Round Fast MH/F with an X-Zone True Center Stick on a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG with a 3/16 oz tungsten bullet weight, and the Kistler Helium MH/F with the same hook and weight. I started on top but no action. I switched to the Falcon and got no bites, but was keying in on what I felt. Then I switched to the Helium. At first with a blackberry Mann’s Jelly Worm, but soon downsized to a 4” #956 Senko. Now, I can’t say it was an accurate comparison as the Daiwa Fuego on the Falcon is spooled with 15 lb. Sunline Shooter Defier mono and the H2O Ethos HD on the Helium is spooled with 50 lb. Seguar Smackdown and a 12 lb. YZH leader (it’s off my frogging rig until my new Fuego shows up this week). But regardless of the sensitivity of braid or not, I felt things unfelt before. So much so that I felt the bait hang on a sunken limb and then felt two small taps. The line did not move one iota, but I felt the bite. Not a giant, but nice to catch a non-dink as my first bass on a new rod. So what’s the mistake? I may have to make the Bait Monkey very happy after getting our tax refund!

I still use them frequently. It’s still a great plastic worm. Not bad for a lure that came out in 1956!

it just set a new record for wind chill. -108°. That’s what 127 mph wind gusts will get you! ?

Likely to devolve into a political exercise and get the Goodnight Irene hook quick. But yes, I hope we recover it and find out exactly what penetrated US airspace from coast to coast.

You’ll get my Jelly Worms when you pry them from my slimy, fish-stankin’ dead hands! ?

What does a bass naturally eat with the scent of anise? Makes you wonder why anything other than a natural bait scent would attract and hold a bass. No doubt it works. Darned bass are mysterious!