GetFishorDieTryin

Some of my most used colors now, were once colors I avoided, either because they didn't match local baitfish or look very natural at all. I had bought a 110 Jr in MB sexy shad by accident. It sat unused for a few years. I was on a friends boat one day and I had lost 2 of 3 smaller JBs to pickerel. The MB sexy shad just happened to be one of the last smaller JBs I had on me and it ended up hammering them better than any other color used that day. Naturally, less than a few days after realizing its value, it too fell victim to a pickerel. Thats about as "safe" a color as there is. It's realistic enough to fish in clear water but has enough white/pearl to get a reaction bite. I would bet money it would be great color in general for cold water, especially during a die off. Not just shad, but all kinds of bait and some gamefish get that lighter washed out look with hues of blue and pink. Keep in mind you can always get it repainted if you really want to.

I always see people setting hooks and think man they dont need to be that hard. There are a few videos of me catching fish, but I dont think any actually capture the instance where I set the hook, so I dont know what it looks like from someone else's perspective. I always do my best to keep a razor sharp hook and that is key as I only set a hook as hard as I need too, if that makes sense. With braid, it doesnt take much pressure at all to sink a hook. Usually a reel set with spinning gear, even heavier SW gear. Back in the day when I used to live line bunker or chunk, I would really sock it to em once or twice as scales from the bunker can find their way onto the point surprisingly often. I'm glad to see circle hooks become mandatory, so reel sets are all that's needed. Mono and FC at distance, I swing pretty hard to ensure good penetration. The closer the hit gets the less power I use, with the exception of T rigged soft plastics and frogs. Even when punching through bulky plastics, the hooks, mostly straight shanks, I prefer to use don't need a ton of power to get a good set.

For smaller walking frogs I like a 6'10 or 7' MH. The shorter rods are better balanced which makes them easier to use all day and I'm a little more accurate with them vs a 7'3 or 7'4 H. For unweighted rage toads I find a 7'3 1/4-1oz MH with 15lb FC works well for me.

I would definitely go with a finesse reel, (<7oz) especially if your DS rod is 7'1 or less. When you put a Vanford or Tatula LT/Elite on a 6'10 it makes for balanced and super light outfit. The lighter reel increases "felt sensitivity" which is always an advantage for finesse fishing. Both companies make exceptional reels. as both are butter smooth with great drags. The Daiwa MQs are a little weighty for their size, when compared to Shimano and Daiwa LTs. Daiwas LT main gears are bigger than most other reels to begin with. With the MQ you compromise that .5 or .7oz for a giant main gear. That larger main gear gives the MQs as much a reel 2 or more sizes larger. The rigidity of the 1 piece composite body can handle extra pressure (within reason) without any flex. Makes them ideal for jigging or DSing in deep water. Vanford in a 2500 or 3000 is around a half oz lighter, which may not sound like alot, but I promise you its very noticeable on a lighter outfit. Daiwas have nice line lay, but the worm gear and slow oscillation in Vanford results in outstanding line lay. Great line lay helps with casting distance and reduces tangles. As good as Daiwas zinc gears are, AL gears are superior IMO. If you are willing to buy a JDM reel, you could get a Vanford for less $ or upgrade to Luvias if you go with Daiwa.

Not sure if my Exceler has the ATD, but Fuego and up have had since the LT line was introduced in '17.

I do it all the time on spinning reels, especially the lighter outfits. 70 yards is more than enough distance to cast. I just make sure to tie a good connection knot. Braid to braid the uni uni is incredibly strong and I use an albright for braid to FC/mono.

Both are fairly close in dia and the FG doesnt condense like an Alberto. The difference in dia is in .10ths of a mm. The height of the FG keeps the knot from rolling where the Alberto and Albrights can roll. If you dont cut the leader tag flush, the knot can roll and catch the line in the tag, causing line twists. With longer leaders that require the knot be taken into the spool, the tag catching the mainline during the cast creates a nightmare mess, ive heard people call it a "blow by knot." Its hard to cut the leader tag flush with scissors or dikes. So far nail clippers are the best tool IMO. As good as the FG is, its not as efficient in practical situations. I should probably commit to tying just FGs knots for a whole season. It would boost my confidence and increase my tying efficiency. I don't like an FG for really light leader. I think the PR is the superior knot with light line, but it isn't an easy knot to tie for me.

That would be great for stripers, but casting it would suck and trolling is like admitting defeat and its the least fun way to catch a cow.

Yeah, Im running out of Rockvibes as well. The fat rockvibes were ok, but my deal was the 3" rockvibes in Ghost Pro blue, Clear Pearl Silver, Pearl Black flk, straight pearl and baitfish They were like 6$ for 15 which is a good deal and theyre far more durable than keitechs. That body shape is real unique. The wide body had plenty of material and size for larger hooks, but the l limited height keeps profile small. I guess that shape is popular over there for some kind of trout in super clear water and most companies have a representation of it. Keitech brought their version to the US market last year.

For whatever reason Reins/Hayabusa has changed or DCd some great products. Their Baitfish and Bluegills colors used to be more opaque, which made them really unique as no one else offered a similar color that I know of. They got rid of the 2.5" Gtail creature, which is an awesome trailer for those micro Keitech jigs. Just like the larger 3", the thin body and limp tails have a minimal effect on the fall rate of the jig, especially when compared to other trailers. The 3" bubbling shaker is one of my favorite baits for winter and late fall. I like using the bluegill color on the bluegill mono spin keitech jig and it crushes em all year. Im really fond of the tungsten football weights too. The guy that turned me onto them hords them like diamonds. The Hayabusa Shooting Ball and Baby Shooting Ball heads were axed as well. The Shooting Ball is a football head with a med wire hook and light nulti bristle mono guard. They were my favorite hula grub head. The Baby Shooting Balls were like a litlle round/football hybrid head with a #2 hook, great for neds and any other little bait.

I like FG knots, strong and thin, but I don't have any rods with micro guide trains. I have a bunch of rods with semi micro guides and a well-trimmed Alberto goes through easily. I've put my Albertos to the test with gorilla blues and I've never had one fail unintentionally. I can tie an Alberto pretty fast, on a windy night without having to turn a headlamp on. I'll bet some people can, but I can't tie an FG in the dark. IMO, if an Albright or Alberto performs well enough than the FG isn't necessary.

If you dont want a silent crank and dont want to spend a lot, the KVD Shallow 1.5 would be a good option. It can go deeper than 1', but you can keep the bait by raising the tip and or using heavier line. The Ima Bill Lowen SB would really well for you. This SB is really versatile because it can dive to about 3' if you use light line and keep the tip down. They aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for. It comes with Owner hooks, good rings and a computer chip lip.

Hand down, bucktail. It may take nearly a lifetime, but the few anglers who come close or master the bucktail can consistently produce numbers and quality in difficult conditions.

Used to fish with so many different Zoom baits, now I use just a few. Sadly they dont sell nearly as well as they should and so color options are minimal at best. The super hog is a killer. I used to cut the skirts off 5" gycb spider grubs and 3" ktech spider grubs and use them on the super and tiny brush hog and they crushed. They still do great, but they cut the best colors, especially from the tiny hog like bluegill and alabama craw, shame.

Although I have not, nor will ever have the privilege of shaking his hand in this lifetime, BR has afforded me the privilege of making his acquaintance from the other side of the country. Tom was blessed to have been able to enjoy such a rich and fruitful life. His passion and devotion to nature encompassed far more than the fish of the waters, both sweet and salt, the beasts of the land and birds of the air. His tireless pursuit and drive to understand the mysteries of the sport, endowed him with a wealth of knowledge and experiences few will ever possess. Knowledge that he happily shared. I have no doubt that Tom is in paradise, banging em up with his son. God Bless Tom and his family God Bless BR

Very true. 1 or 2 brands controlling an entire market isn't good for the consumer. Instead of making the best product for a given PP, they only have to put a reel out with a slight advantage over the competitions reel, or even reels in their own lineup. Never had an Ark reel, but the BOGO forced me hand into trying their BFS reel. I wasn't expecting much too much in terms of refinement. They claim it can cast down to 1/64, but so long as it could sling 2 or 2.5 grams total it would be worth it. Not only did it cast better than I had hoped, but the reel runs ridiculously smooth. It's just as smooth as my Met Bs, especially my JDM Met, which came bone dry and with a janky bearing. I expect the Ark BFS to degrade a bit as far fluidity goes, but only time will tell.

I fish them in grassy lakes throughout the whole year. Seemingly like everything else, Ive done the best with them in post frontal conditions late winter/early prespawn. One thing I have learned fishing with a lot of friends and club members is that using 1/16oz head vs 1/8 or even 3/32 in some cases makes all the difference in the world. The shape of the head, size and design of the hook are important as well. The Gami Tricky Head is my favorite for thinner finesse style worms over 4.5" or slightly thicker worms/stickbaits. The shank on the hook is a little long for your average 4.5" finesse worm, but I feel like i can get away with shorter baits that have a wider profile, like hula stix or big trds. Its hard to find a SH with a shank that isn't too long for those 4 and 4.5" finesse worms, but there a few. Bite me tackle makes a finesse shakey head with a very short 2/0 gami available in 1/16 and they're a steal compared to other SH prices. The keeper tends to tear worms up, and I'm not crazy about the horizontal eye in grass, but they work really well. Davis Baits makes a great short shanked shakey head elite. I just haven't found anyone who carries the 1/16 heads, so I have to order them direct from Davis. I like to get them in red. When im fishing slightly thicker baits or fishing in and around grass/cover, I use an EWG head, the finesse rugby head specifically. The standard rugby is a good option too, but I prefer the 90* line tie on the finesse rugby as opposed to the 60* on the standard rugby. For whatever reason VMC decided to discontinue the finesse rugby. There are several alternatives available and the BU EWG would be a good replacment.

Very little difference between Daiwa/Shimano supremacists, or any kind of brand glazer for that matter. Pretentious and dismissive of any quality item or product, lest it have Shimano or Daiwa written on it. In their mind, nothing

Is it going on the MB giant jig?

You mean the FW bass fishing bubble? Or the Daiwa Shimano fanboy bubble?

I love fishing a shakey head. A lot of guys went to ned rigs for a numbers bait, which I completely understand. What I think really hurt the number of guys who fish them is the Neko rig. The neko gives you bottom contact without having to worry about beating up your knot or leader. The neko also fishes much cleaner in grass and rocks when compared to the SH. Decoy and Ryugi make a weedless neko hook that works really well. Ryugi markets it as a backsliding hook. If you have you have trouble fishing a SH in grassy water, the first thing I recommend doing is fishing with a 1/16oz head. Even when Im not in the grass I dont use more than 3/32 in water <10". That lighter head wont dig into the grass or slime nearly as much, but gives you enough weight to keep a smaller straight down. Some of my lakes are loaded with milfoil too heavy to be efficient with a SH. A T rig gives a similar look, but for a finessey look I do something else. I take a 4" straight tail,(some guys prefer a 4" sickletail, its just preference) like a bubbling shaker, hit worm, cutdown airtail, fat roboworm/open pour swamp crawler and so on. A light (1/32-1/16) darter head (or ballhead in a pinch) (1/32 or 1/16) with a small lighter wire hook (#1 or smaller 1/0 but no bigger) work the best for me. I fish the grass lines, trying to get the bait stuck in the grass. It wont get too deep because of the light weight. The small light wire hook makes it easy to pop the bait out, almost like ripping a bladed jig or trap, just with more subtlety. This works all year, but really shines in the fall on those days where I cant buy a bite. As long as you can find some healthy grass, it works pretty well.

Had a winding check on an Essence break loose after a few outings. I didn't want to chance voiding the warranty by fixing it myself, as I thought there was a fair chance of another defect rearing it head with the way the check was glued in. I sent it back in mid-March and figured I'd have it back in before the prespawn wraps up in shallow lakes, which is the latter half in April. I got a notice from Justin, saying they received the rod and that they would go over it to ensure it a defect and fix it ASAP. He made a comment, commending me on how I take care of my gear because the rod was in mint condition. A few days later I got an email confirming that it was a defect and the rod would be fixed for free and shipped back to me promptly. After a few weeks had gone by I contacted them again asking about the rod status and was told "If it's not shipped this week, it will be shipped early next week." That was a game of tag that lasted until July, when I finally got the rod back. Getting the rod back was the good news. Whoever packed the rod, just stapled card boats over the tip and thew it in the tube without sufficient padding, immobilizing the rod or using the plastic sleeve to minimize and scratching or scuffing that may occur during sipping. The rod just bounced around over the 1200-mile trip from Florida to my house. Needless to say it wasn't in "mint" condition anymore. The stripper eye took a beating, knocking the insert loose and he blank had a bunch of scratches in it. I emailed Ark again and let them know what had happened. This time I talked to a guy named Louie. He said it shouldn't have ever happened and he was sorry and all that. He offered to send me a new rod, but I was so disgusted with Ark I didn't want it.

Tell me you live in a bubble without telling me...

Theres a lot of great products on the market, but in my lifetime, only a handful that had that "WOW" factor when you first get your hands on them. The Hundo is definitely up there. The reel is incredibly small, light, yet feels rock solid. They had just gotten a bunch of them 2 days prior and sold all but 1 lefty model. I was already over budget, but if that reel was righty I wouldn't have left without it. I too was curious how the Bates reels would hold up, especially the case of the Hundo. Most of the first reviews were wade/yak anglers who fish the gulf. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and still is.

Ark rods have some drawbacks as far as components go. The blanks are the most solid part of the build, as they use Torays.