GetFishorDieTryin

Short answer is the rod.

I start fishing them in Oct and use them until I cant find any healthy grass to snap them out of. Trick is to use a light weight (Typically 1/32-1/16 with 3/32 being the absolute heaviest) and small (#1) hook so it clears grass easily without getting bogged down (1/0 will work in a pinch). I want a JH with a 90* line tie. I like darter heads as the weight is distributed a little more, which helps the bait glide. I will use ballheads if I am going to fish the worm on the bottom as well. Owner Darter Head Outkast Money Darter Blockhead 1/32 #1 Halfhead 1/16 Hayabusa Brush Easy Bubbling Shaker 4" or 5" GB Airtail cut down to 4"-5"

I favor a 90*eye Picasso smartmouth (gamakatsu hook) okashira zman finnesse eyes great head, but the wire keeper can cause you to go through more baits Owner Darter head

Sorry about the typo.. loading a plug or crank is when you drill a hole in it and fill it with a liquid or lead. Really I started loading the shallow shad raps so they would suspend on the pause, which turned out an outstanding way to catch fish here during the coldest part of the winter. A side effect of that is that it helps casting distance. Shad raps are hi floating and very buoyant, it takes far more then upsizing hooks or split rings to effect the rate of rise. You can cover the entire belly of the bait in suspend strips and all it will do is ruin the action because the weight is spread over the entire bait and it doesn't help casting because the bait wants to tumble. ME its best to have the weight just behind the lip, that way it retains action. Frittsides and flicker shads are similar, but they still have the same drawbacks as theyre light, flat sided baits that have lots of surface area relative to weight. Flap slaps could be what youre looking for. Ive only got limited experience with them, but they wor really well. Im just hesitant to load one as MB baits are generally precisely weighted and I dont want to ruin a 20$ bait.

Its a real PITA, but loading them works. I used to load them with lead to get them to suspend. If you just want to add weight to help with distance, it's not as tedious. Stil a good idea to tank test them so you don't add too much weight and make them a sinking SR.

I used to spam shad raps from late fall to march and have found a ML to be optimal. For the hell of it I tried using a 9' ML Dialuna, 4k with 8lb x9 to get better distance and it works good, probably about another 20ft avg in ideal conditions, but its just not a practical outfit for anything but sand or open jetty. I find 7' or 7'1 to be optimal. A longer rod will help with distance if the action is right, but in any kind of wind a shad rap loses its momentum so fast a longer rod doesn't give you much of any advantage.

A curly tail grub is essentially the original swimbait. I dont use longer worms as much, but they do work well. Right now a worm with a lighter jighead and light wire hook, ripped out of the last healthy grass on the lake catches fish when little else does.

The 7'1 M F Omen or Muse are really good soft plastic rods, a little tip with a lot of power for a M. The spinning Metas don't feel bad, they're heavier then Omen and considerably heavier then Muse. Its not a bad heavy, as its balanced well, kind of like a Dobyns. The best Value IMO is the Muse and you get a free rod. The Tatula XTs feel so much better then the last gen XT.

I use suspending traps heavy from late fall to early march. The 6th sense isnt bad, I catch fish on it, but I like the Ima's far more. The hooks on the 6th are good, but IMO theyre so big they look out of place. What the 6th does that the Ima really doesnt is shimmy slightly on the fall. The sink rate between the 2 is similar. The painted baits will fall slightly faster than the ghost patterns. In reality, rarely do I give the bait enough time to get to the depth where it completely suspends. At that point I think a JB is more efficient. Ive found the suspending traps to be the best litmus bait I've ever thrown. Since it can be fished slow or fast, horizontal or vertical, bottom or top, they can give you a good idea of what the fish want or don't want. Theyre wide baits and light for the surface area and dont cast nearly as well as a traditional trap. You want to use the right rod so the bait doesn't helicopter on the cast, that will help distance a whole lot. I like a M power F graphite rod, but to each their own

Greenfish makes an outstanding swimjig. The skirt is single layer handtied which gives it great flare. The hook is just the right size and dia for a standard swimjig, same with the brush guard.

Never fished either but have handled both. The Meta cranking rods are different from the Fate/Omen and defy lines. The diameter of the blank is greater and may be a little heavier in weight. Both of the actions seems similar in the tip, nice and soft. Hard to tell what the mid and lower sections load like in a store.

lol i knew I wasnt crazy. Its a conspiracy...

Yeah, the Essence is an oddball. Once you get to 150$ and up Ark has trouble competing with the competition. I really like my Essence, but I got for much cheaper then msrp, 130$ I think which is a good deal. I feel like a guide train upgrade would cut some weight and IO look a nicer when compared with the clunky look of the fazlites. 13 was actually coming out with a 180$ PP rod (widow maker, i think) which looked great but it just vanished from the internet. It was essentially a Meta with some improvements. It was supposed to be out next spring, but they may have dropped it.

I've gotten to handle them. They're not bad but they're a little weighty. The reel seat is nice for the money, it doesn't an exposed blank, but I doubt it will effect sensitivity much. I don't know that I could buy a Meta over a Tatula or Invoker Tour. I have an OB3s and a Muse Black both are fished hard. Both are good but I think the Muse is outstanding. I like how 13 doesn't skimp on guides and they do actions well. 13 has excellent customer service, if you break a rod they replace it np.

Although I'm not a huge fan of the lower $ MQs, I would take the Tatula MQ over the other 2 mentioned. Their benefit is the amount of torque they provide in comparison with the size of the reel, which comes at the cost of added weight. The LTs had oversized main gears and had plenty of power. An LT 2500 main gear is a hair smaller then many 4000 size mains. My biggest issue with the newer MQs is that the main gears are all cast zinc until you get to Certate in the USDM.

That's a hard question, they have so many great colors and just came out with some new 1s that look great but I haven't tried yet. Bluegill Flash and Electric Shad are tied for first place as they're almost interchangeable Gizzard Shad and pro blue red pearl are my go tos for a white or pearl base A lot of the fish here especially bass have a pearltruese tint and Ayu represents that really well.

Got to handle the raw frame and a production reel. They're unbelievably light, feels like an aldebaran but it's solid like Metanium. Not to mention the size, it made a Tatula 70 look huge. The model I handled was a lefty as it was the last 1 they had. If you get 1 in you're hand it's hard to walk away.

I got to handle a few of those Metas. They felt decent, but at that price point comp is really steep. 13 was going to put out a rod at 180$ PP that looked really nice but I think they shelved it, all mentions and pictures of it are gone.

Hes a YTer, but he's one of the more credible ones IMO.

I dont have a tharp I have an Essence, but the blank and guide layout are similar. If I were you I would wait until the new gen Tharps or Invokers come out in November. Ark cut weight and improved the ergonomics, unless you like a thicker handle. Limited experience with Tatula 7'3 MH F, so a comparison would be pointless. IMO I think you get more for you're money with a Tatula or Ark then a Fury at the price point. A 734 would be the rod to compare to the Tatula or Ark.

Spec R would be great

This one is a winner. The size, profile and plastic density helps doesnt make the bait rise like some other trailers. Another good is A3s crazy tail shad. Its like a thinner Hf pintail if it were elaztech.

It depends on the bait. I swap out trebles for singles wherever I can, its better for the fish and angler. The displacement effects action far more then weight IME. Take an SP for example, when you swap out the trebs the action become much tighter. I really dont mind the tin type hooks at all, in fact I prefer them around rocks. They will roll and dull easier, but you can get them needle sharp in no time compared to harder metal hooks. As far as replacing them with nickel coated or more traditional FW trebles, finding a hook to match the size and weight wont be an issue. Keep in mind that flagship hook material like Zo wire, TGW and so on is very light in comparison. Try to stay with more traditional steel hooks, Mustads, mid grade Gami and Owner.

Did the same thing as kid, miss those days. If I were you I would just go with a 7'3 MH F that has some tip. That would a do it all rod that can handle chatterbaits/spinnerbaits much better then a shallow cranking rod. That would cover you for jig T rigs and other single hook baits. $ for $ Ark makes a great 7'3 MH F 40T blank. I find a M F casting rod to be more versatile then a cranking rod, which is important when you can only bring a couple rods. The right one will handle shallow cranks/JBs, weightless plastics, topwater, and lighter T/free rigs. The length will determine the amount of tip. 6'10 will be more crisp where longer rods (especially M power) will have a little more tip. I use a 7'1 Muse for this and it does very well. SC has some great M power actions too, you just have to find one that would work with the baits you want to throw.

I would try to stretch it and get a Zodias, nice actions.