BrianMDTX

Dobyns Fury 705CB. I bought it as a crankbait rod. It’s great for that. But truth is, I’m not a huge crankbait angler. I got tired of having a decent rod with a Tatula 100H on it that sat idle a lot. So on a whim, I tied on a Gamakatsu 3/0 EWG and a Neko Macho and tried it with a weightless Texas rig (Neko Machos and Fat IKA’s have enough weight compared to a lot of soft plastics). I was shocked/pleased at how well it casted those baits, and even more so how well it set the hook and played the fish. Even though it’s a MH power, it’s a MF action, and personally it’s more akin to a M than a MH to me. Even so, it set the hooks with power and the action made it easy to work the baits. I still use it mostly with lipless and squarebills, but it does do a great job with heavier soft plastics.

Sufix 832 and Seguar Smackdown.

I’m “lucky” in that 99% of my fishing is in waters that are C&R only. Even so, I would not keep a bass to eat anymore. Don’t care if others do so legally. I’d rather let ‘em go.

I really like the Crush 50X squarebills by 6th Sense. I think mine is Clown Gill. It dives quickly but rises quickly, too. I’ve gotten strikes on pauses as it floats up. Great baits.

That’s ok. Any bass C&R when this thread started ain’t likely to complain now!

From what I’ve seen, there’s no easier braid-to-leader knot to tie than this one. 30 seconds tops from start to finish.

I will say that I really like my Dobyns Fury 705CB for crankbaits and jerkbaits. Haven’t really used it for topwaters. But I did try it out a few times tossing weightless TR with 5” Senkos and Neko Machos and was surprised how well it did. It’s listed as a MH/MF. I get the MF. It feels more like a M than a MH to me.

@Unk I have been using the Lefty Kreh leader knot since I first started using braid-to-leader two years ago. I won’t say I’ve caught DD bass on them, but I have caught bass over 5 lbs and I’ve had zero problems. I’ve probably caught well over 100 bass on my wacky rig (20 lb. Sufix 832 to 8 lb. YZH leader) and it’s still going strong. I snagged a TR from the bank once and had to break it off. The leader broke at the Palomar knot; the leader knot held (I replaced the entire leader after that just to be safe). It takes 30 seconds to tie. You just have to cut your leader to length first as you have to pull the tag end of the braid and all the leader through the loop.

I watched this on my phone, so maybe I missed something. What I thought I saw was that initially he went around a point and started fishing across/near where someone was in a yak, then decided to come back around the point and head for that one spot he really wanted to fish. And as his boat came around the point, he noticed the other boat crossing the cove to that point as well. Which, to me) looked like they were underway to that spot before he came into view around the point. At least that’s what I think I saw. If so, I don’t know how they are in the wrong.

I have a Tatula and a Fuego. I like both. From my experience I can cast a bit farther with the Tatula.

I never thought that I would like using a leader. But I’d much rather replace 6’-8’ of leader a few times a season and keep all the braid.

Over 40 years of jet engines and gunfire. I’m with ya!

I use a Lefty Kreh knot on 20 lb. braid to either 6 or 8 lb. mono/YZH leader on spinning rigs, and 50 lb. braid to 10 lb. mono on a baitcaster. Spinning rigs have big guides, so no issues there. But the guides on my Fenwick HMC 76H-FC, while not (as far as I know) are true micro, are small, I have no issues with “knot banging”. I don’t even hear it to be honest.

I have to say, so far, I haven’t had any issues with the knot being wound back on the reel, either with spinning or baitcasting. But that’s probably a smart move in the long run.

Hey! I guessed right! ? Man, that’s a day! Good Lord Almighty!

6’-7’ mono leader. Lefty Kreh braid-to-leader knot.

I have baits I know will catch bass. Maybe not the biggest, but they will catch bass. They are Senkos, Zoom Tricks, Jelly Worms, Neko Machos and Fat IKA’s. See a trend? What I’ve been doing lately is leaving them sit and fishing other baits first. If I catch bass on a topwater, I’ll stick with that until the bite dies off. Same with a spinnerbait, etc. But as I really prefer the cadence and feel of fishing soft plastics, I feel I often revert to Old Faithfuls too soon. I’ve contemplated leaving all soft plastics at home and forcing myself to fish other baits exclusively. But why deny myself of something I love?

I have left and right-hand baitcasters. I use both equally well.

I am going to assume that most anglers who use O-rings on a 5” Senko are using ones with smaller than 1/4” I.D. Because that’s what I use, and I can roll an O-ring on a Senko in two seconds. And I rarely lose one.

I have used Yum Dingers and one day I used them as a WR was one of my best ever. But overall I’ll take the Senko. Excellent as a wacky rig, weightless Texas rig or a Texas rig with a 3/16 or 1/4 oz. bullet weight.

lol. I like that little bit of hydriila there. Must be a magnet for them hawgs!

Short answer- any blood containing platelets will clot. But it depends on the severity of the wound. Cut your finger and it will clot. Cut your carotid artery and say sayonara.

I agree with that. It’s like determining F.O.C. when building an arrow. It depends on what weight tip/broadhead you choose. Maybe I’m inexperienced, but I think many waste too much thought on rod balance lol.

I get it. I’ve bought several new bows over the years, but a few years ago I retuned my original compound bow (with blistering 285 IBO speeds lol) and set it up shooting XX75 2514 aluminum arrows (like telephone poles) with 125 grain Wensel Woodsman broadheads, to bowhunt semi-old school (true old school would have been using a longbow or recurve but my shoulders are past that stage). My goal was to use it to arrow a doe after I killed a buck, but that didn’t pan out. But I did kill a 4 pointer with it last year. It felt good to get back to my roots. So I can see your point with bass fishing. It would likely be fun to go fishing a time or two with some older fiberglass rods, old school mono like Berkley XL or Stren, and casting some lures that have existed for decades (Hula Popper, Jitterbug, Rebel crankbaits, Mr. Twister grubs, etc.). Maybe I should break out my Eagle Claw rod and Mitchell 300 again. Just need a pistol-grip 5-1/2” rod for my Daiwa Millionaire 3H lol.

It’s hard to beat a weightless Senko TR for that. I have a lot of partially submerged brush where I fish, and that (or a Zoom Trick) are top choices. I give the nod to the Senko as a stickbait goes through branches easier than a true worm on the cast (the worm itself can get wrapped around branches and twigs whereas the Senko tends to pass through). I Texpose baits a lot, but in those situations, I keep the hook point buried.