GetFishorDieTryin

I flipped a fluke onto the 8th street jetty in Avalon just shy of 6lb the day before yesterday with a MH M1. I do it with smaller bass too. Its not like picking a dumbbell up, I can use the waves to get momentum. The SC mojo is true ML 1/8-1/2 oz. Check it out

The fuji keepers are like $3 and worth every penny. I put them on every SW rod, even if they have a built in keeper. I wash my gear after every use, but on some rods the keeper is really hard to keep free of corrosion right at the blank. I used to use asparagus bands for DS weights, but most of my DS rods either have the little Daiwa hook which is the best style of keeper for a DS IMO, or I put a fuji keeper on them. I keep a band on my blank anyway to use on the spool when I clean the rod after using it. Used to steal my GFs hair ties, they work well too.

Theres a video of a guy lifting 15lbs off the ground with a 7'6 ML F purple (OG gen) mojo inshore

When heavier braid breaks due to an overload it sounds like .22 going off. A good USDM 20lb braid will break closer to 30lbs. Its likely the rod or reel will give before the line. If you didn't have a crazy amount of pressure on the fish or were fishing rocks or bridge pilings heavily, the line lilkey had a weak point where it was frayed or the knot failed. PE lines are very slick. Clinch/Improved clinch, can slip fairly easily when tied direct. Uni and palomar knots work best IME. Braid is really when it contacts structure under tension. You can hear it from the boat, so think how loud it is underwater to fish that feel that vibration, which is why I favor FC for pitching and swim jigs. If you want to stick with PE for swimjigs, I would go with a 4 or 5 carrier braid, especially if you're typing direct, as its texture makes for good knots

I know what you mean. X9 is a good line for fairly cheap and its pretty easy to get in the colors I like locally. Its a thin PE and supple line, but the claimed dia is way off.

I use the Decoy Neko 128. As long as you rig the worm straight and dont try to burn the bait in, it doesn't have a tendency to spin. Gotta give Decoy credit, they include open eye barrel swivels in the pack.

Try a neko or something called a tiny child rig. They do much better in rocks than a jighead of any kind.

They might have something with TW, but as far as individual tackle companies go, they don't have any sponsorships. They have affiliations with R2S, DJ and Hog Farmer, but the amount of different tackle companies they suggest is dead giveaway they aren't sponsored.

Huh, thats strange. I went into multi hour rabbit hole on it last night and I know I saw it somewhere. When you ask google about 40g it says it uses polyurethane, but I didn't initially see it there, It was someone talking about it on YT, I thought it was the braidman guy, but it could have been someone else. I would be more inclined to beleive the FINS instead of google. The 40G sounded really interesting. It almost sounds like it fished like a thicker monotex with a braided core. Its almost 10 yrs old, but it sounds pretty cool. I can only find 300yd spools and they aren't cheap, almost $60. Im still curious about it. Does it soak up water and or stain? It comes in white which I really like, but white has tendency to get real dirty and turn brown. Does it ever get ropey or fray?

Fins uses a polyurethane coating. Or at least that's what they claim.

Just like going from lead to steel shot the general rule for single replacement is 2 sizes increase with a like dia. The exception is with Owner 1x replacements they run really small for whatever reason. Go up 3 sizes if you are getting owners. BKK makes really good replacements, but their lighter wire single, the Imp, is tin coated like Ichikawa's so be warned. I change all the trebles I can, esp on my SW plugs. When you change hooks, its not just the weight of the hook, but the resistance it has in the water, effects the action of the bait. Generally replacing trebles with a single replacement will tighten the action of the bait due to less water resistance. A lot of time I have to keep the belly treble and just replace the tail treble with a single, so I don't lose the action of the bait.

Theres a reason why most best braids in the world are made in Japan. YGK doesn't outsource its fiber, it makes its own as does Gosen. I'm not sure about Silky anymore, but its still made in Japan and I wouldn't be surprised if they produced their own or buy it domestically. Varivas is excellent, but I think they moved production to Vietnam. Im pretty sure Seaguar makes its own materials as well for its flagship PE. Not all braids are dyed. Im not sure what process they use to get the different colors, but the material is already the desired color before it is woven, that's how No Fade braids are made. Some brands will add wax to the braid, or wax over a PVC or PE coating. Its not really for distance, its there to protect and prevent the braid from being waterlogged. I want some kind of coating on my line, but either the coating has to last a long time or I want the braid itself to keep its shape and water resistance when the coating is worn. I think all braids are treated with some kind of process, either dyed and or coated. The only braid Ive ever used that felt as if it wasn't heavily coated off the spool was Viscous 4 carrier. You can feel the texture of the weave when its brand new, but its still got a slickness to it. I think Vicious is out of Taiwan or Vietnam. You ever try Gosen 16? That stuff is awesome. The #.8 is 20lb test and it comes in pink which I like. I cant find anyone who sells it in the US. I usually get a spool every time I get a JDM reel.

I really don't care where it's made, the spool has an American flag on it, so i assumed it was made here, but you know what they say about assuming. I was just curious because I noticed that you get 300 yds for $25 and the claimed dia is very thin. Never tried FINS, but have heard mostly good things about it. The sling braid looks great on paper, but they don't have it #10. How do you mean? Like it feels rough? I really liked Plines TCB. Its a super slick and light braid. Its coated in teflon, supple and with the teflon coating it casts and handles great. The problem is like any other heavily treated/coated braid, the performance degrades as the coating wears away. It has tendency to get ropey after 6 months or so of hard fishing, yet its never failed me. Thats why I might give EndurX a shot. I grabbed a spool for my buddy and was waiting for him to spool it up so I could see what it was like, but his wife's really sick and he hasn't been able to fish really since April. I'll probably end up getting Xbraid. Might try the sinking braid for the first time.

Anyone with experience with this PE, what do you think of it? The claimed dia is very small for a US braid, is it accurate? How does it compare to PP or 832? Does it rely on a heavy waxy coating, and does it wear quickly? I like trying new braids and its either going to be the new no fade Pline, or this Beyond Braid. The BB comes in 300yd spools for $20, seems to be good to be true. What do you guys think? TYIA.

I use a loop knot on most baits I'm going to swim or stroll with a 90* line tie. So long as the loop isnt too big, it allows the bait swim free and look a little more natural. I like to vary the retrieve with my ned baits, so I really like loop knots. The tag has to go through the correct side of the loop, both times to get the strongest knot and have the tag point down so that it doesn't pick up grass or slime.

The BBB and BPS heads are probably very close to the same heads, maybe even made in the same factory. They both use the lower grade bronze wire and singler vertical lead barb. Those hooks are fine so long as youre fishing for panfish or smaller bass. Just trying to move a bigger bas would open those hooks a bit. ACC makes some nice heads. The hook is Mustad instead of Eagle Claw and they have big holographic eyes. It all depends what I'm doing with it. If Zman were to offer all their jigheads in 90* eyes I would say that I could get by with just them. That swimbait eye head is a great inshore head if youre fishing on the beach or level with the water and the TT lures darter heads are great as well, but they use Mustads instead of VMC. Mustad must be Norwegian for dull. The points are serviceable brand new, but a few incidental contacts with shells or rocks and they lose their bite real fast. If I had to pick one head for bigger baits it would be Outkasts Goldeneye head. Its very similar to Picassos smart mouth, which is outstanding it its own right. Both heads have big eyes, use outstanding Gami hooks, but Outkast head has horizontal lead barbs and a wire keeper on the bottom, which makes them great for any kind material. The 90* eyes gives you outstanding depth control allows the bait to look natural. he head design is effective on the bottom as well as for swimming. For strolling tiny baits, I love Hayabusas Beat Roller. It was on the market years before FFS came onto the scene, so its kind of an OG. It uses a tapered aspirin head and weighted collar to achieve the action. The hook is a #2 limerick bend, which makes the hook very strong for its size. I really like that Hayabusa doesnt require you to sell an organ on the black market to buy a good amount of them. For neds smaller baits one of my favorites is Berkleys Half Head. Its a perfect head for swimming or dragging anything that will fit a on a #1 hook. It uses a fusion hook which are very sharp. The only negative is that the wire is stiff. They will bend, but if you starighten one that was bend pretty good, its likely to break under a good load. The best part is the price, they were 3.50 per 5 when i fist started using them and now are closer $5, but its till better than $3 per head which some companies charge. Berkley has other great heads too. The new hybrid head is really nice, but if they were to offer them with a 2x hook they would be one of the most versatile heds on the market. The swimbait heds are great too if you want a 60* eye. A newer head to me that Ive been using for inshore and bucktail tying is the Bladerunner Inhaler head. They come with a rather stout hook, a hybrid mushroom/ball head with an effective lead barb keeper. I dont know what kind of hook they use, but its better than any Mustad I've used, as the point holds up very well. It has a 90* eye that sits slightly forward its COG, but once you put a bait on it, it stays horizontal very well with a proper loop knot. I like to glue big eyes on them for gulp and bucktails.

I get what you're saying and I somewhat agree. Most people don't use gear heavy enough or fish for fish big enough to really put everything to the test. That doesn't mean that they don't exist. QC isn't perfect especially on certain plugs and companies. Bigger fish will expose weaknesses you never considered. Anyone who has chased trophy fish long enough will tell you to change out stock rings, hooks and retie often to give yourself the best chance at landing a trophy. I've had a half dozen open catching average sized fish, never to the point of failure, but continuing to use a ring that has 3mm of gap is asking for heartache. Ive bent loads of trebles on FW bass with M power gear and quite a few heavy hooks on bigger game in SW. My gear is quality, but things slip through the cracks. I straightened a Gami EWG 3/0 on ML gear a few years ago and I NEVER would have assumed it was possible. It must have been a defective hook, but ultimately it failed. I dont like clips at all. I think theyre bulky and unnecessary if you can tie a knot, but for chatterbaits they're useful. I think the fastach is almost impossible to open up by accident, sheds grass, doesnt foul and Ive seen them hold up to pelagics, so I know they're very strong. Decoy, VMC, Ryugi, Spro, TA all make good terminal. Even the tiny snaps are rated to 50lbs. Theres no way that you should be able to generate the 70+lbs of pressure it takes to bring a decoy snap to failure. If it was a fluke it wouldn't happen so often. Evergreen is charging a premium for those baits meaning they should look elsewhere if the failure rate is 1 more than 1 in 50. Personally, I got on chatterbaits very early, like pre pro mod. 2 early. I've always thought the major weakness of the bait was the blade. Some baits there hardly more than a MM of material connecting the blade to the eye and that has to stand up to all the pressure put on the bait. Having said that, Ive never had a single bait fail and the bladed jig accounts for likely 3/4 of my biggest fish caught. I need to take them out when the gorilla blues are around. A 12+ blue will find a weakness if one exists on its first run.

Buy a 315 Boga, send it in for IGFA cert and be done with it. No batteries and truly hard to damage with a lifetime guarantee. You could beat someone to death with it and would still be more accurate than most scales on the market. Theyre also better for the fish because you can land with a boga or take em right out the net and have a weight immediately. The only con is they are only as accurate as you can read them. The 315 goes by 1/4lb increments so every increment represents 4oz, meaning its pretty easy to get the weight to the ounce.

8lb invizX fished like 10lb Blue label, except its not a dense and its more prone to bite offs. Most of the time Im using for winter DSing or fishing under bridges. A lot of time fish will run against a piling for cover and chip the line to where I have to cut off 6 or 7' of leader. As good as Blue label or Premier is, rubbing against concrete will compromise it in lower lb tests. Its not even about the money as much as it is how fast I go through the spool.

My buddy is an avid tournament angler and back in the day he SWORE by them. It was probably the first gen as it was 07 or 08 at the time.

I know Major Craft makes some great products, but I'm only familiar with their suzuki rods and have no idea how well their weight ratings run in their FW bass lines. First off, the reels are about perfect in terms of selection and ratio. A 7 speed baitcaster and 6 speed spinning is about as versatile as you can get. For a spinning rod I would suggest getting a rod in the power with a 1/8-1/2 weight range in a F action. Depending on the company that can be a ML or M, but if it can handle 1/8-1/2 you can fish baits under 1/8 and up to 1/2 which means you can fish anything from 1/16 ned rigs to 1/2 Jerk baits. I would suggest a 6'10 or 7' or 7'1. With the casting rod I would suggest going with a rod that has a weight range of 1/4-1oz(usually medium heavy) and a length of just over 7' like 7'2 or 7'3 with a fast action. That way you can cover small swimbaits and ned rigs with a 1/16 head all the way to 1oz with some overlap in the middle. Unless you plan on using baits 1/2 and over with the casting gear I would highly recommend a MH over H as its much more versatile blank. If you were to add a 6'8 or 7' M power casting outfit to those 2 rods so that you could run cranks, smaller jigs, unweighted plastics in cover and heavier JBs you would have a lineup that could do just about anything.

If it was me, Tatula all day. Tatulas have been decent reels, but I never liked that oddball shape, it made the reels feel bigger than they were. The new Tatula 100 isnt just much more ergonomic, its butter smooth. Your thumb effortlessly finds that recess at the top of the frame, giving you a solid connection. The 80 is really nice too. It doesn't have that recess, but its so small it doesn't need one.

I use #6/8/10, Blue Label/InvizX or Blue Label/Red Label or Blue Label #8 X9 The leader depends on the situation and weight I'm throwing. If I'm throwing a 1/32 ned head in somewhat open water, Im going to be using #6 Blue Label. If Im using 1/16 or fishing close to cover Ill bump up to #8 BL. If Im in my small boat, yak or friends boat and only have 1 ML, I use #8 InvizX because I might be changing baits often or using a DS and that chews through leader material really fast. Light Shakey heads or jig worms usually get #10 BL if there are pickeral around if not than #8 BL or #10 Red Label will work. I would suggest giving #8 a try. Its not so much for the visibility, but the action of the bait. Thinner FC helps keep the bait down and doesn't effect the action like larger dia line. Ive never fished Sunline leader material, but I know if it was Blue Label or Premier, you wont have any problems with 8lb breaking on a ML, especially one as tippy as SCs newer 6'10 ML XFs, as long as the knots hold anyway.

The LTBs feel nice, but so does the Victory. The LTB has better components and a faster blank, but its a heavier rod when compared to Victory. The weight is balanced really well so it gives it more a 'solid' feel than heavy. Victory is balanced well too and when you pick it up after handling LTB for a while right away its feels lighter. I want to say its .5 or .7oz difference if memory serves.

Ive FC and mono break from getting pinched between the frame and spool, but I have a hard time believing that could damage heavier PE to the point of failure. 131 is supposed to be a flagship product, so one would think QC is pretty tight, but who knows. Check all the eyes and line guide with a cottonball or swab. Even a small crack or chip in the guides material can be razor sharp.