GetFishorDieTryin

2 weeks is a small concession considering the possibilities. Don't rush the mend, Get Well.

The safest option IMO would be to exchange it. Odds are its a superficial crack, but if the blank is damaged and you have issues with it down the road an exchange may be more difficult. SLX right? I got 1 last year because I wouldn't have been able to get the levante or zodias I wanted for a few months no one had them in stock. I got the 7MHF, not a bad rod, but Im not crazy about it. Even with the heaviest SLX its really tip heavy.

What kind of swing heads are they?

Jerkbaits catch fish all year. Sometimes fishing them from the bank can be difficult if the water is shallow.

Usually bass are pushing towards the banks in the fall looking to pack on weight. Shallow running square bills are a good option to cover water. Ultra clear water along with bluebird skies and no wind tend to minimize the effectiveness of SBs in my experience. Smaller swim jigs can be more effective in those conditions. When the bite is really tough DS and ned rigs are great options to pick apart specific spots. If I want to cover a little more water with a subtle bait the most consistent bait for me is a small swimbait. 3" and 3.5" easy shiners and standard swing impacts are tough to beat.

Lucky Craft silent 1.5-come in a ton of great colors. They run about 18"-3ft depending on line and rod position KVD 1.5-good colors, actions are consistent. Run a little shallower then the LCs. Rapala Shallow Shad Rap- Tight wobble, consistent action, deflects very well. Not the best bait for long casts

Im not the biggest fan of SK, but they have some really nice colors. I like how they use smaller fleck with the soft plastics, it gives an iridescent the baits an iridescent look. The coffee scent is good, it lasts a long time.

Alberto knots that are tied and synched correctly are really strong. If you synch the knot correctly the color of the braid wrapped around the leader will change. Check out Tackle Advisors Alberto knot vid on his YouTube channel.

The Met B sits a little higher on the reel seat then the Alde. The Aldes' frame is slightly smaller then the Met B. Both are really small and are easy to palm. The biggest difference between them is what kind of role they are filling. The Met B is more versatile IMO. The Alde isn't as versatile as the Met B, but its an excellent reel for finesse and lighter duty techniques. If you want a reel that can do a little bit of everything the Met B is the way to go. If your specifically looking for a finesse reel the Alde may be the way to go. Keep in mind that the Alde has been around for a few years, so there's a possibility that Shimano may rollout a new Alde in the next few years,

My favorite time to fish is October to March. Fishing pressure is dramatically reduced when the temp drops. The fish stay fairly active until the water gets in the lower 40s. The fish spend less time in shallow water looking to feed the colder it gets. A good bite can be challenging to find in mid Winter. However, if you can figure out what kind of cover the active fish are staging in before they go shallow, you can really get into them. In my experience the fish don't deviate a whole lot from that initial pattern which provides consistent results.

If its submerged grass like milfoil SBs are great for that. SBs don't to well with grass on the surface. When the fish are on schools of bait I want the flash of an underpin to make my bait stand out in the school. With smaller bodies of water you have the time to really pick apart the bank with T rigs C rigs SHs or what ever you think will get the spookier fish to hit.

Just about all the water I fish that isn't tidal is on the smaller side, with varying amounts of pressure. The fish had been slowly pushing in and chasing bait. Last week we had consecutive nights in the mid and upper 40s and the number of fish that are pushing shallow in the 2-4 lb range has dramatically increased. Just like normal the LMB are keying in on smaller baitfish. Crankbaits and JBs usually produce very well this time of year, but the water is abnormally clear and the JBs and shallow cranks aren't as effective. Ive been doing really well with finesse swim jigs and mojo rigs around points and cover with close proximity to shallower water.

Im pretty sure the mojo and the avid actually use the same quality graphite in the blanks. Whether they share the same blanks IDK. I have a couple mojos and a couple older Avids. Surprisingly the Mojos weigh less then an Avid of similar length/power and the difference is more then a couple grams. Even though the Mojos are lighter, in hand the Avids feel about the same weight because they balance a little better. The components on the Avid are better then that of the Mojo. I prefer the Avid over the Mojo, but that's just personal preference. I bought a 7'1 M F Muse on a whim last cyber Monday. I regretted ordering it until i actually got my hands on it. I actually like it more then my Avid. The 13 Omen Black 3 @ $130 uses the same 36T blank as the Muse so there light, sensitive, great actions and a comfortable reel seat. If your set on a St. Croix, see if you can find a dealer that has the Avids and Mojos so you can compare them. Good Luck....Tight Lines.

There are some similarities between the Tokyo rig and C rig, but IMO I don't think 1 can totally replace the other. The local ponds and small lakes that I fish have slimy or grassy bottoms for the most part, so Tokyo rigs tend to bog down in slime and grassy bottoms make it harder for the fish to key in on them. C rigs and mojo rigs are IMO better for those conditions. I like to use Tokyo rigs on when the bottom is a little harder. Both C rigs and Tokyo rigs are good in pea gravel. The Tokyo rig has the weight right under the bait, so when you drag it kicks up sand like a nervous craw and I think that can cause a bass to react or at least check it out. There is a time and a place for both rigs.

I prefer braid with a 10 or 12 foot fluro leader. The are 2 important reasons to use braid IMO. Braid is more sensitive then mono or fluro so you have a better idea of the bottom composition. If you use a tungsten head you can feel just about everything. You don't always have contact with the bait which makes it harder to feel subtle bites. Braid allows you to see whats going on even if you cant feel it. 3/32 or 1/10 is about as heavy as I go. Right on. Wind dictates the weight of the jighead far more then depth.

A glass rod takes longer to recover then a F graphite rod. So the glass rod keeps tension considerably longer then the F graphite rod. I think that's he means, but I could be totally wrong.

The study I read said Blue was the easiest color for them to see, even at depth. It also concluded that LMB may not be able to distinguish the difference between White and Chartreuse. The tests they used seemed logical to me, but at the same time Ive seen a Watermelon Brush Hog dipped in spike it out fish a Watermelon Brush Hog that wasn't dipped by a considerable margin.

I know what you mean, a lot of lakes in my area used to be streams surrounded by woods. I have to be careful where I throw JBs and traps. In the winter I like to yo yo TN60s in the stump fields where the fish can stack up. I just put a 1x VMC treble on the belly hangar so if it gets snagged I can bend the hook and get my TN60 back. Doesn't work all the time but its saved me some money.

There's a few companies that do that still. Rapala is the first one that comes to mind. The hooks on the Shad Raps and Husky Jerks aren't to good. The Shadow Raps and X Raps seem to be a little better quality as far hooks go, but Im not crazy about them....As a young kid I don't remember seeing VMCs anywhere. It wasn't until my mid teens when I remember seeing them. When did VMC hit the market? The MB outbarb trebles aren't bad at all

You ever try weedless ned heads? Ive tried a few and I really like Lifted Jigs heads. Its got a VMC #1 EWG that fits a 2.75 TRD perfect. I was surprised that the TRD stands up just well with the EWG as it does with the standard head.

Better hooks can be the difference between a fair and an awesome day especially with JBs. When the bait is sitting still on the pause you don't have contact with the bait. If a fish takes a shot at it during the pause, the sharper hooks catch on the inside of the mouth whether he tries to spit it out or not.

1x is basically a standard hook diameter 2x just means its a heavier gauge wire. Heavier hooks on a crankbait just make it rise lower. Some Jerkbaits can be more difficult. Some suspending JBs are balanced so precisely that hooks a gram heavier then the stock hooks will cause it to sink. Every company is different, you just have to fill a bucket with water close to the same temperature that the watery our fishing is going to be. Use a set of tongs to put it halfway to the bottom and see what happens.

Rattlesnakes are good rigged any way you can think of, but they excel on a wacky and neko/chicken rig. If you like to use 2 O rings so you can have the hook perpendicular to the worm for a better hook-up ratio the rattlesnakes can be a bit tricky at first, but its well worth the effort.

The majority of the time I like a 1/32 or 3/64 because most the lakes are shallow around here. A couple years I went fishing with my buddy on his boat and had forgotten to put the lighter Owner Wacky heads in the little tackle bag I had brought. I had a couple 3/16 so I gave em a shot and did really well. I think the faster fall made the react.

Was the test done with T rigged or wacky rigged stick baits? With the right rod you can really bomb a 4" or 5" senko. I got a Penn Prion Combo for Christmas when I was a kid. That 7' Prion was the best weightless senko rod I've ever used. Had the perfect balance of tip and back bone. The Penn could nearly double the casting distance of my St Croix...The GB Snake Os cast a little better then the Rattle Snakes, but the Rattle Snakes are dynamite wacky rigged.