GetFishorDieTryin

Black

Definitely. Seemed like bladebaits were really trending a couple winters ago. Every YTer had vid or 2 dedicated to them. Vaults and Binksys were tough to get for a while.

I noticed they only used Daiwa reels in the Victory Promos. They were actually selling BG combos from their website earlier this month.

The Tatulas are nice rods. I honestly like my Tatula more then a few of my $200+ rods.

It seemed like frame rigidity and function took president over being lightweight and smooth. They also were relatively easy to learn how to clean and service which comes in handy if you dunk the reel. Being a little heavy isn't a big deal for salt water guys especially when you need a sturdy reel, but not many people want a trout size reel that weighs close to 10oz. Not to mention they weren't exactly the smoothest operating reels either. Recently Penn must have put some serious effort into getting a good spin fisher on the market again with the vi. They put a really nice AL main in the smaller vis and brass in the bigger ones which made a world of difference. They eventually addressed the heavy reel issue and came out with the Conflict and Clash lines designed to lighter in weight, but still rigid and salt resistant. The Conflict didn't really take off, but the Clash proved to be a good platform and the Clash 2s are even better. Now dont get me wrong, you can absolutely use Penns for FW if you don't mind a little extra weight. The Torques and believe it or not the remakes of the older reels called the Zs are made here. I thought I had heard they had a limited run of SE Battle that were made in the US. Take that with a grain of salt though I could be wrong.

What's old is new again. It seems like quite a few companies came out with new tail spinners in the past year.

I fish a tiny pond that fills up with grass like that in the spring. It can really limit what you can use unless you want to pick your bait clean at the end of every cast. T rigged plastics and swim jigs will come through it pretty well. Just go with the lightest weight you can.

Carolina Crawler I think? I used to bang em up on that worm as a kid. I was using them the first time I had one of those days where you just beat em down. Black with the blue tail on a 1/8 slider head. I would have fished it more, but it was later that summer that I first got my hands on a goofy looking bait called a Senko. After that the power worms took a back seat.

I caught all of those fish on both baits in about 40 minutes in the same exact spot with the same 1/20 jighead and rod/reel. I made the comparison between the 2 baits because the conditions were as close as possible and I fished it the 2 baits the same way with the same gear. I was in the NW of a small lake fishing off the bank. All bass were caught in 2-4.5' FOW. I really like Reins, they make some really good baits. The biggest drawback is the cost per bait. I don't mind the cost so much as long as the bait produces. If you use a jighead that doesn't tear the bait up when a fish pulls it down the shank you can get a surprising amount of fish per bait with the RND neds. The one that I have rigged up now has caught over 20 bass and a few pickerel.

Since the water has gotten into the lower 40s and the fish have started to transition into the winter pattern the breakout bait so far for me has been the Reins RND fat. It kind of surprised me because its not particularly buoyant and the profile is a little smaller then what I would normally use for a bait that length. I had caught 2 on a trd in a particular corner that I knew was holding fish. I had a bag of them in pocket so I figured I'd em a try. I went from 2 fish in about 12 casts with the TRD to 7 in 10 with the RND. I guess mostly the profile of the RND made the difference, because the colors were very similar. I was throwing a black/blue TRD and RND in bluegill which is kind of like a slightly translucent black with gold/blue flk.

There isn't much of a difference between the 2, in terms of practical use other then weight. The head shape is a little different, the hook on the guard is a slightly bigger #2 compared to the #3 on the mono which gives you a little more room for a thicker trailer. You get a few more weed guard fibers with the guard spin, but in reality if your counting on guard to stop the jig from snagging your going to lose a whole lot of jigs. I fish them on the bottom on, but I actually swim them just as much so my trailers reflect that. My 2 favorites are both made by Reins, the 3" bubbling shaker and the 2" G tail twin creature. There are other great trailers I have used like the tiny brush hogs, 2 1/2" swing impact and ktech little spiders. I really like the ktech spiders, but that skirt on the grub can really hurt casting distance with lighter weight particularly if there is any wind. The ring craws are about as big as I go before there is hardly any gap left on the hook. I fish them on 8 or 10lb braid 10-12' of 6-8lb FC leader. They are really small, but I can honestly say these little jigs absolutely smash em. The limerick bend makes the hooks very strong for the size and wire gauge.

As long as your line is wet there is always hope. If your fishing from the bank, concentrate on hard structure like bridges and spillways. If you can find steep banks in close proximity to a bridge or spillway its a safe bet that at some point in time during the day its going to hold fish. The cold water really slows everything down so they don't have to eat very much at all, which shortens that feeding window compared to warmer times of the year. If your just looking to get bit, I recommend downsizing considerably from a pit boss.

The weight of the jighead is really crucial. What weights are you planning on throwing?

They're too thin, they just stretch out or melt together and set.

The Duo trebles in #6 would sub for the G finesse #5s pretty well. The gaps are about the same size, if there is a difference its not more then a mm or so. The bends are very similar as well. The gami has a longer point with a really small barb and the Duo has a shorter point with a much bigger barb. The Duo has a thicker wire then the G finesse and MB outbarb hooks, but they're still really light. I don't think my scale will be accurate enough to be able to measure the difference in weight between the 2, but I could try if you want me too. As far as being sharp the Duos are are great. IMO Duo has the best stock hook on the market.

That's pretty cool

I like Zmans tubes, but the skirts are prone to kinking and deformation because of the nature of elaztech. See if you cant get some of the max scent ned tubes when they become available.

I honestly don't like warm snaps in the winter. More times then not it just destabilizes the bass and puts em in a strange mood.

I decided to give Ark rods a try and got an Essence because I really like full grip rods for certain things. TW has again sent me another rod that would be on a blemish rack, so its going back which is disappointing. There's a couple nicks and sizable scuffs that stick out like a sore thumb, but the 8" vertical split in the cork is unacceptable. From just handling it, I'm somewhat underwhelmed by it overall. I like the blank, handle thickness and reel seat design, but the actual material the reel seat is made of feels just like the cheap plastic on 100$ and under rods like SLX. I really want to like it. Hopefully the next 1 TW sends me doesn't look like it fell out of a truck and I can get it out on the water.

IMO wide gaps hold better then round bends if the fish actually eats the bait. I think round bends do better then EWGs when the fish are slapping at the bait. For lipless I like to go with an EWG on the front hook and a round bend on the back. Its worked pretty well for me.

I like to have plenty of line on my heavy gear, usually about 250yds of braid and a mono backing underneath it. Odds are most of that line wont used often, but if you do hookup with a fish that can really run you'll be happy you have it. If your casting lures I would go with 30lb, if your just soaking bait then going with a heavier line wont be a big disadvantage. If you don't have a whole lot of experience spooling up braid, your better off taking the line and reel to a good tackle shop. That way you know the line is going to be spooled good and tight.

If the fish are eating the bait off of the bottom I like to have the point facing down towards the weight. The position of the weight never changes with a neko rig no matter what hook I use. You would rig it like it is in this picture. Yep

Lol...My friends and I did the same thing except with senkos at Dicks

I'm pretty sure Decoy suggests you rig it with the point facing up. If its getting eaten off the bottom and not on the fall I actually like to have the point facing down, kind of like a SH.

I'm excited to use a new rod I've got coming. I've never even held and Ark before so I'm anxious to check it out. Its a good hook. The hook up ratio of some of the better neko hooks, but its not a fair comparison. The 128 is designed like an offset worm hook instead of an octopus style. To me its worth losing a fish or 2 then snagging up and spooking the fish to get the rig back.