LrgmouthShad

I'd just like to add to the swim jig discussion. I experimented between a fast action rod and a moderate fast action rod for swim jigs. What I found is that whenever I was fishing a swim jig in thicker cover, I tended to hook and land more fish on a fast. When I was fishing in open water, the moderate fast action got the nod. Both are good, but I saw a marked difference when I switched to the fast in cover Spinnerbaits for whatever reason are different for me. I am a moderate fast 24/7/365 for those and I don't tend to lose fish

I want to post up my early season, at least the parts of it that y'all haven't seen. Not a lot of fish, but good quality. I've spent just about as much time graphing as I have fishing. Pic 1 is a fish I caught in Missouri before I left. Pics 2-4 show my best of the season so far. Looks like I need to break up the photos a little because of lacking storage. Anyways, Pic 5 will be another one in Texas, Pics 6-8 will be another one. All the Texan fish were on the same day.

Good luck brother! Stay safe in those winds

You are having a fantastic early season A-Jay! Hope it keeps up for you. Beautiful fish

At this point, I just do everything that I think I can to put the odds in my favor without unduly influencing the rest of my life, focus on learning my lake and learning the bass, and I let the cards fall where they may. If I skunk, I skunk. I'll get nadine one of the trips.

My goodness. Those look amazing. Why did you have to put the bait monkey onto us? He'll be around my house for days now.

I have no idea. Just want to say that I think your research and observations into your lake are really cool

Not concerned about a bass pulling drag that far. Never said that. As already stated, I’m concerned about IPT and the influence that frequent retying could have on how much line is on my spool.

You’re probably getting less than 50 on that spool. And why the heck does anybody want half or more of their spool gone on a cast? You lose so much of your inches per turn by that point. Having to retie frequently? That’s more of your spool gone. I just don’t think it’s a great idea. But shallow spools are popular nowadays so… whatever

Roger Okay Yeah it’s for mono. 30lb and a 15lb+ leader or no leader at all should work just fine for you

Wow My answer is… yes Take your pick

Also, how the heck do you know that? I ain’t trying to be hostile but I just don’t think anything other than braid is the right answer for OP. We’ll see what he says about his jigs

I wasnt aware that reels had ratings nowadays. What is his rod? It’s a Dobyns 743 Extreme. That’s a medium heavy rated 1/4 to 3/4 oz. Not a light rod. Still think 5-8lb test is a good idea? OP, what kinda jigs are we talking here? Small finesse ones or your typical run-of-the-mill size?

Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and jigs good choices for prespawn when I was in NY. I was not a jerkbait guy, but I was constantly talking to guys who were, and they would whack them fishing jerkbaits in the early season If you are closer to the spawn, I found swim jigs, creature baits, and senkos worked great for me

I ain’t catching nuthin tomorrow. That’s the winds Not cool man. Not cool ?

So because you have a shallow spool reel that you want to use, in my opinion you pigeon-holed yourself into using braid main line for this setup. Seems like you’re okay with that, so no problem. I’d go 30-40lb main line and if you want a leader, I’d go somewhere around 15-18lb. I looked up the specs on his reel. It holds 70yds of 10lb test. Now imagine something like 15lb test. 12lb is light for jigs in my opinion. Could probably still get away with it, but I would not be comfortable

? A-Jay it's no longer winter. You're okay man. The crazies are gone; they can't hurt you any more

I talked about this with @TnRiver46 yesterday. I think there's a decent chance I run into a 8-9lber this year in Texas. Lot of big fish around here, and I don't spend time on a lake unless it has the capacity to produce very large fish. I've got one over 7 so far. So my goal is one bass in the 8-9lb range. As I get more experience in Texas, my expectations may go up during however long I'm here.

I really should get back into using them. I strayed away from em. The good product of that is that I’ve gotten better at my ability to use the map and scale on my electronics to approach something, and then know roughly direction and distance to it. Sometimes I’ll hit an object on the first try that way

You were right. It needed rest to start with. Once that was taken care of, it was time for physical therapy. But I think after talking through things with you after my injury, taking a break whenever I could from painful activities was a smart thing for me to do. Taking a break from fishing was a smart thing to do. It might have granted me a lot more fishing time in the future. Thank you sir

Finished a swim workout this morning. First one since my shoulder problems. It went great. No issues. Swimming motions were the most painful thing for me in physical therapy. Amazing. I was convinced at one point that I was never going to regain full health of my shoulders. Now I’m convinced that I can get at least close enough

I’m not sure what it is but I have to watch this video series at least every few weeks. @Catt

That’s what Catt says too. I get what y’all are saying. I don’t have enough personal data to back up what you are saying. On that reservoir, it wasn’t like one day they would want the jig and one day they would want the TR. I tried both a lot. I’m talking… you could fish a t-rig there and you would catch one. I would fish a jig and catch three. Every day of the week, 24/7/365. But your fish on the t rig might be bigger.

Funny enough I used to fish on a reservoir where a jig got more bites than a t-rig, and they were usually small, with the occasional decent one. I agree it’s abnormal though. I have a theory based on experience that jigs are not a bad choice at all for me on lakes that I struggle on. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe because there’s not a lot of negative cues with a jig? Maybe because some anglers seem to shy away from them? Maybe it has to do with the types of cover (I’m thinking rock) that tends to be on reservoirs that are tough for me? Who knows

Nailed that one