GetFishorDieTryin

While it doesn't work as well with Elaztech it does wonders for general plastics. It saves me hundreds of $ yearly. The only drawback is that it has a model glue like smell, but it wears off after a while.

I would suggest getting a few chatterbait customs or crosseyes from TW. As for hard plastic that are somewhat easy to use you have options. If you want to try top water get a whopper plopper. KVD 1.5s would be good too. You just toss them out and try bounce them off cover.

Yeah I like a compact SB as well. Give those Picassos a try if you haven't already.

I dont have any issues with the head grassing up, but I know what you mean about the arm lengths. The long arm is slow and the short arm is fast. I keep my spinnerbaits somewhat simple, I just use a few that happen to work well for me. When I want some vibration in a small but not quite micro size I really like Picassos Invizwire Thunder SB. The fish have been in a strange mood all month, either really aggresive or finicky. The water has stayed dirty too with all the rain and wind. Some days they chew the big Colorado SBs, but for whatever reason so far most days they slap the blade or dont bother with it at all. That picasso has really made a difference. I just wish they weren't 9$. I dont lose many SBs so it doesn't sting too bad.

I've replaced most of my saltwater plugs and metal with singles. It's much easier on the fish and the angler. If the fish actually eats the bait the hookup ratio is as good or better. When they just slap at the bait the treble is going to hook more fish. You either want the 1x VMCs or the Owner 1x, both are really good. The Owners may have a slightly lighter wire. For a start get a pack of Owner 1s from Amazon and go from there.

I have a good hookup ratio when I use offset neds, but I feel like I get more bites using a standard style ball/ned head with a small hook, especially in clear water. If your using shorter ned baits like the TRD or short robo ned go with the smallest hook possible. The Owner finesse ball heads in #1 are small enough that they dont overpower the bait. I haven't used them yet, but I would imagine the Zman offsets would work really well. I've tried Flatlands and Lifteds ned heads as well. Ironically I prefer the VMC 1/0 on the lifted head in comparison to the Gami 1/0 on the Flatland only because the VMC hook has a slightly shorter shank, so it matches with smaller plastics a little better.

Zorro makes a good single Colorado.

I've got trds that have been on finesse shrooms that have litteraly sat in a plano for years without rust because I dont use them nearly as much anymore. There may be a tiny bit of build up on the shank of the hook right where it exits the bait, but it doesn't damage the hook and you can wipe it off. I do soak my TRDs overnight for max buoyancy. That greatly reduces the salt content. Try that and see if it makes a difference, it should. Dont store your rigged or soaked trds with unused baits that are full of salt if you want to prevent rust. Also avoid putting them away wet if possible. Zman has some ned baits with little or no salt that work really well. The TRD hogz work great, but they dont cast quite as well as a standard TRD. I've used most of the earlier heads on the market, starting with the shrooms, grip pins, jewel and ned locks. I've actually come full circle back to the finesse shrooms. Although I really wish they kept the rounded head on the 1/20, they work really well. If you have the right gear and your drag is set correctly you wont have issues with hooks breaking. The newer hooks dont seem to have as much flex as the older ones. I actually much prefer a hook to have some give and bend then to be stiff and break. I did have one of the newer ones break when I grabbed my line and lifted a 3lb bass out of the water, but that's user error really. The Berkley Half Head is one you have to try. The hook size is really versatile and it's stupid sharp. The wire is thin enough for great penetration but sturdy enough to handle bigger fish with confidence. Good keeper, 90⁰ line tie and good head shape. What may be the best part is the price you get 8 for 5$ instead of 3 or 4.

I use MLs exclusively for shad raps. I have a 9' JDM sea bass rod that can get a shad rap out there in ideal conditions. The problem is no matter the gear your using you still throwing a bait with a large amount of surface area for its weight. I use them the most in late winter/early spring when the wind always seems to be blowing. It cuts the distance down dramatically no matter what gear you use.

I have the lower grade DCs, SLX/curado which may not be as refined as the Met DC system but I much prefer my Met mgl to the DCs for short distance and light baits. The DC reels are bigger in order to incorporate the braking system, which makes the reels less palmable when compared to a little reel like the Met MGL. The Met MGL also has a really good feel to it. Its light, but the design of the frame makes it feel really solid at the same time.

If you want to spend under 100$ or less then def take a good look at 13 fishing. I got an Ark Essence a few months ago and really liked it but 2 days ago a peice of the reel handle assembly came loose during a cast and it slides up and down the blank now. It's probably a fluke, but I contacted Ark and have yet to hear from them. I had to use my 13 Omen Black as a back up and I forgot how comfortable it is to fish with.

The ML Tatulas are great rods. I have the 7'1 and it's the perfect all around ML. I haven't handled 1, but a friend of mine that I used to fish with everyday when I was younger raves about the Phenix M1.

For smaller hooks I like the little DMT pocket sharpeners in a fine grit. For bigger hooks like jigs and chatterbaits a file is the way to go. I think a lot of people have issues landing fish on chatterbaits because they dont check the hook point nearly enough.

Flat cranks are great, but a lot of the older balsa baits dont cast well in fair conditions much less poor conditions. Many of the newer baits have weight transfer systems or are just heavier so it doesn't feel like your trying to cast a peice of bread into the wind. The heavier weight/plastic also gives the baits a slower rise. In cold water that makes a big difference. I've spent hours pouring lead into shad raps trying to get them to suspend or just barely rise. What makes it harder is every shad rap is different, some need more weight some dont. It's nice to have a bait that you can just add suspend strip to and be done. The computer chip bills are a nice upgrade as well. I feel like they give you a little more sensitivity. They're supposed to last longer too, but I generally lose or retire a plug before the bill wears out.

When the chatterbaits first started getting popular I pretty much only used black or black/blue. I still use black and black/blue but it's either in dirty water or lower light conditions. Primarily I'll use a GP or GP/brown if viz is more then 2.5' and the wind isn't howling. White/pearl and shad colors work best for me earlier in the season. I will use pearl or sexy shad in dirty water on cloudy/rainy days. The white/shad colored baits are the only ones that I rarely black the blade out on. I honestly think that the retrieve and profile more important than color the majority of the time. So IMO keeping the skirt colors simple is the way to go. You can change the color of the bait with just the trailer as well. Get a couple dye pens and go to town

I haven't used the no fade but they make a great 4x I've tried most of them and I think the best bang for the $ is X9 or X5. I really like smackdown, but I've had some issues with it de sheathing.

I've had the 6'10 ml for a year and obtained a 7'3 m XF just recently. There pretty much the same rods action wise, especially in the tip. That makes the 7'3 extremely versatile. Theres definitely a different action in the Victory XF actions as far as the tips go when compared with other SC rods. I think what they did in the case of the 6'10 ML is they made the tip slightly more limber, but strengthened the mid section and lower end of the rod to even it out. I haven't had much time on the 7'3 but so far it fishes very similar to the ML. My biggest issue with the Victory is most apparent when I fish a DS. I dont get the feedback from my tungsten DS weight dragging the bottom with my Victory that I do with with my other rods and even rods that are close to half the price of the Victory which is disappointing. My bite detection has been great, but when it comes to subtle feedback I find the Vics lacking, in the case of the 6'10 ML at least. Time will tell for the 7'3. I'm not trying to say the Victories are bad rods, because they arent, some just have quirks IMO. Theres a channel on YT called punchfishing. The guy is a rod snob. Hes a big MB Destroyer and Loomis NRX fanboy, so his standards are high. He absolutely raves about the 7'3 M XF Victory.

BC makes good stuff. You can pitch and flip the lil mags.

Make an overhand loop where you want the split shot. Then put the split shot on the line and cinch the loop shut around it.

That 1s on the list, everything looked except TW didnt offer them in 2/0. As long as the shank isn't too long a 3/0 gap would be fine. My favorite all around head is Gamis Tricky Head but the shank is just 2 long IMO for a 4.5. Not at all, in fact I prefer SH w/o screw locks.

I've got them, the hook is nearly the size of a 4.5 worm. It works ok in stained water. I really prefer to fish these smaller worms jig worm style with a small #1 or #2 hook instead of a SH. It looks far more natural and I definitely get more bites with a little jighead instead of a SH. There are just some places that a jig worm either gets hung up or I have constantly sharpen the hook. Yeah, they're great little baits. The colors are so nice it's hard to limit myself sometimes. Great heads...I use them for bigger plastics like GB ATRs. They're just too big for 4.5 worms and they dont come in 1/16.

Just about all the water around here is shallow with a muddy bottom. The style of the head, line tie and weight of the jig you chose can really make life much easier. I like a casting or arkie style head with a vertical line tie does well with grass and wood. The blunt/flat shape helps spread the weight of the head out so it resists sinking into mud/slime sort of like a snow shoe. The location and size of the line tie plays a big role. A recessed line tie wont catch as much grass as one that projects farther from the head. Using 1/4 or 5/16 instead of 3/8 or 1/2 helps a ton. Your still going to get bogged down, but since it doesn't sink a quick snap will clear jig of grass most of the time when you feel the extra weight. If I could only reccomend 1 it would the Greenfish Chibi Jig in 5/16. The head and line tie design just stays clean and makes it incredibly versatile. It uses a short shank Gami that's super sharp and very stout. It's a great jig to pitch or skip. You can also really minimize the profile by trimming the skirt to the bend of the hook which can help catch more numbers.

I do really well with smaller worms on 1/16 SHs. Trouble is there aren't very many available with short enough shanks to fit smaller worms, like Hit Worms, 4.5" Robo Fats and so on. The only 2 that I've found that fit the way I like and are available in 1/16 is the Picasso Takedown in 2/0 and the Bite Me Tackle finesse SH in 2/0. Does anyone else have any SH recs that are similar?

I've got a couple dozen bass up to 5lbs on it and a few pickerel with one that was close to 4lb. So far it's been good, we'll see how well it handles bigger bass that arent so cold. I've got a 13 omen with a metal locking nut that comes into contact with the reel foot. The best material I've found are the patterned shrink wrap handle covers cut into small pieces. It's really thin but it's tough enough to protect magnesium framed reels.

Owner or Zappu work really well. I like the G finesse design but they really cost. Haven't tried the Berkley heads yet, but I bet they work really well.