GetFishorDieTryin

There are some brands that I could almost get away with, but theyre missing a bladed jig trailer or double tail grub, small subtle swimbait or floating worm. If Reins made a good bladed jig trailer I could get away with just using them. Same with Yamamoto. I wish they made a pintail bladed jig trailer, but I could get away with the D shads.

Its the newer one then. They cheapened the older bag by putting lesser quality zippers on it, taking out the inserts to make the bag keep its form and stopped lining it with a water resistant material. The newer bag is kind of a weird size. Its the same width as a 3500, but is nearly double the height. It causes the bags of plastics to slip under neath on another and is kind of PITA. Whatecer size bag I use I always fill to capacity. Those 3600 style bags get really heavy fast and dont carry large amounts of soft plastics easily, unless you store them in planos, which I dont. Personally the 3500 bags are the most effective and efficient, unless you want to carry something smaller and change the loadout to fit the day. Ill change some of the baits out as the pattern of the fish change by the seasons, but I always have more than I can use.

The older one has 4 outer compartments and has inserts and a coil lanyard with a clip made into the bag. No question the older bag is much better quality.

Is it the older 1 or newer one?

A 3600 bag is too big IMO if you really bank fish often and backpacks are ok, but often you dont need all that. You want to be able to fish with the bag on your back without having to put it down. ONce you put it down. I find 3500 bags are the way to go. I use an old cabelas bag that was called catch all. The new ones are way cheaper quality wise but are a little bigger closer to a 3600. They only cost like 14 dollars and are worth grabbing, Those bags fit bags of plastics well in the main compartment, which will take up the bulk of room IME. The front pocket will get a double sided plano and the side pockets will be filled with terminal, jigs in packs. Since space is a premium, I only bring baits I have supreme confidence in or am working on getting better with.

PIcasso makes a bunch of good spinnerbaits and theyre priced good for the quality/ Zorros are ok. I feel like the quality of the blade could be or at one time probably was better, but I still do pretty well with both the short and long arm aggravator. MegasBass SV3 is great. I wish they came with more blade color options, but as far as performance and quality go its a homerun. Molix's muscle turned out to be a great little SpB. It actually reminds me of the SV3, with the wide flat bottomed head. Its a very finessy bait, with a small profile, hook and very sparse skirt. The wire is thin but strong, and makes the double willow feel like a colorado blade.

Too many people overestimate the length of their casts, but 8-10" is a clear indication that something is very wrong. Even if the line was wrapped around the blank between eyes or going through a guide frame or 2 I would expect it to cast farther than 10". You should be able to cast that 3'16 much farther than you could throw it. I would suggest checking that line is going through all the guides correctly and wound tightly on the spool.

Gulp Alive is the same formula as regular gulp. The only distinction is the FW/SW formula. You can dump old Gulp baits into the jar and recharge them, but unlike the older fishmeal formula, once the new ones dry out, they will not regain the correct texture/size when saturated. Elaztech and elaztech like baits will actually absorb some of that liquid into the material. It washes out fast in comparison to the gulp plastic formula.

IMO one of the best follow up baits is a senko, You can throw them anywhere, rig them a bunch of different ways and they will cover th entire water column even when they are weightless. I do use small swimbaits, ned rigs, shakey heads and T/ rigs often to pick apart structure after fishing it with a swim jig, bladed jig, crank, or whatever.

A bladed jig has accounted for 3 of my 5 biggest fish and IMO the spring is the best time to fish them. When the water is in the low 40s i fish them just like a jig and speed up as the mood of the fish changes.

1/0 should do nicely.

The DJ casting jig has a lighter wire hook and thinner guard so you can set it at distance. Greenfish has the Tackle Badger Greenfish makes a HD version too. Bigger hook and recessed line tie. Picasso old school rubber dock rocket. Theyre expensive, but quality is great. Beast Coast Double wide if you want to throw into heavy cover. For whatever reason they're discontinuing them and there aren't too many around, limited colors. BC makes the some of the best skirts on the market, handtied with tinsel.

If youre throwing Braid you don't need a ton of capacity. A buddy of mine uses a Coastal 200 for FW swimbaits, SW plugs and jigging. I love the handle and grips on it. It has a ton of capacity, so you can run FC and or braid with backing. He also has a 200 Tranx I just saw a Curado 200m for the first time today and they're really nice. Its about the size of the 200 tranx, but palms a little better IMO. The Curado M is like a 200k and !50 MGL put together, very nice feeling. I saw the new SVs too and really liked them. I don't know if they have more distance then the older ones or not. The JDM has a Zillion HD that might be worth checking out. Never seen or handled 1, but I sure someone on here can fill you in.

I think it depends on what kind of crank you want to use. I use a 7'1 M F for shallow running cranks and traps up 1/2oz. Once you get to cranks that dive over 5' and weigh over 1/2oz. a M power can start to feel under gunned. They usually top out at 5/8 anyway. Of course, there is no industry standard for action and power can vary too, Glass rods are heavy, but the newer comp rods are roughly the same weight as graphite. If you throw a lot of cranks or just really like to fish cranks its worth getting one IMO.

The 20 MetB? USDM is 150 JDM is 100 No, youre right according to I was always told it was 100, by a few different people. I stand corrected, my apologies.

No, it a 100.

Thats a tough one because you want a lower ratio for the bigger swimbaits in a 150 size, but you want some speed for throwing frogs. What kind of line are you using?

You can go cheaper on FC if you're using it for casting gear and want lower lb test #12 or under. I find that once you get to #15 you run into memory and management issues, especially if you fish in cold water. For me InvizX #15 24$(but I buy it on sale) is a go to, do it all line for MH gear. Red Label will work, but there's a noticeable difference in management and memory. Im sure there are great lines out there. I know a couple guys that I really trust, and they say P Line Tactical @25$ish is excellent. Another guy I know who makes a living guiding and fishing tourneys, swears that $ for $ Spro Gouken is the best value on the market @20$ and outperforms line double its price.

Im a big fan of Daiwas 7'1 ML F Tatula. The length action and power make it super versatile. DS, Neds, small JB, 1/16/,3/32 head, finesse swimbait, pretty much anything a light finesse rod needs to do. Not the lightest rod, but the balance and ergonomics are great, so it feels really good in hand. The 7" M F Tatula or 7'1 Tatula Elite is more equal in power to Shimano's ML. While you can fish nekos and light shakey heads on the ML the M would be a better option. It can still throw just about anything the ML can. The really small swimbaits 3" or less with a 1/16 might not cast as well as the ML, but it will still do it and handle slightly heavier heads and bigger baits.

Pretty sure this is in regard to post SW use or mid-season cleaning. If I cleaned every reel like that after every time, I fished I would spend more time cleaning than fishing. I clean my reels the same way, under a faucet, with cool water under low pressure. Ill use a hose, but I make sure to mist the reel, if its too much pressure it can just blasts the salt and sand deeper into the reel. Not a good idea to dunk the whole reel, unless you plan on complete disassembly, purge grease/oil, dry out, then re grease/oil and reassemble.

The Dobyns I suggested is actually 340$ sorry. Daiwa makes a 7'5 Tatula AGS that you try to get your hands on. Usually their tapers are faster, but @7'5 and being purpose built for FB jigs it should be great. There is a catch the guides are super light and sensitive, but they arent as durable as SS. As long as you don't abuse he rod and sock it when its transport or stored with a bunch of other rods you shouldn't have issues. I got a couple of their SW AGS rods last year. I wasn't sure about the AGS guides, but after a good season of fishing them with the on beach and jetty they held up really well. I don't know if they actually increase sensitivity or its just the lighter tip that gives the illusion of that, but so far, I was impressed enough to buy another.

I use a 7'1 M F for my keitech, picasso and Beast Coast footbals, but I dont go over 3/8. Maybe a Dobyns Champ 7'4 Heavy F or Brailist. I like Dobyns H blanks, they feel like a MH to me, but are balanced really well so they feel great in hand. The actions are bit slower than most, so the F has some tip to it especially when you get 7'3 or 7'4. Its just a matter of figuring out if you want the 1/4-3/4 H or the 1/4-1oz H. Water is really shallow around here, I dont use 1/2 often, so Im not positive on which one to go with. The Brailist is a purpose-built jig rod, but its got more of Japanese taper so its a slower action than most jig rods, they call it Med F. People either love them or hate them, so I suggest finding one and getting it in your hand before you commit.

The biggest game changer in FW bass fishing I've personally witnessed is undoubtedly the senko. They catch fish now, but when they were just hitting the scene, it was like cheating. The only other gamechanger that comes close in my mind is the introduction of Gulp in the NE SW game.

Other then a rod I got form Japan, ALF has had the best packing job. TW used to do real well, but lately theyre just taping the plastic wrap of the rod to the outside of the tube and covering the tip. The most recent rod I got from TW was loose in the tube because the plastic rod cover had holes at both ends, like WTH TW. I had to send the previous rod back because it had a huge gash in the reel seat, which I could see getting by the guys at TW, but Phenix should have never tried to sell it.

I think Daiwa makes a great reel, but IMO Shimano has better feeling bail, in terms of crisp articulation.