Str8BraidPowa

Zoom Zcraw Jr., Zcraw, ol monster, 6" & 8" lizard, flukes & super flukes.....any one seeing a pattern. My go jig is a buckeye ballin out (98% of the time it has a Z-craw jr. on it), generally under $5 a piece. Honestly this is 85% of my fishing, why do I spend hundreds of dollars on the other 15% ?‍♂️

We have a lot of yellow perch and blue gill in my local lakes, this is a killer color for me on spinner baits and some other hard baits. I use it exclusively for those lakes and save the white for the tidal rivers I fish. Match the hatch if you will, best of luck!!

After 20 years of construction I am just happy to have snacks on the boat. That little extra fish and/or bait juice never hurt anyone. Also dude wipes on the boat are multi purpose if the hands are too gross.

The only pro I have really followed on his advice is Gerald Swindle and the "Ballin out jig" and can say I have had great luck with it. $4.50 a pop is well spent considering they get tossed in every brush pile I pass. Now if I could turn off Tactical Bassin and their rod and reel advice, maybe I could put some money in the savings account.

In response to the guys that haven't had any luck with the chatterbait, I can say the trick that changed my mind was adding rod twitch's and reel pumps. Can't say that I have ever caught one on a straight retrieve. I am sure many of you have done so but if not, maybe add that in if you have not tried it. Good luck either way.

Gonna have to back up @A-Jay on the glide bait, I have three or four of them with teeth marks on them but I never seem to get a hook up with them. Both S-wavers and Gantrels of different size. Going to lean into my jigs,T-rigs, and jackhammers this year, might look towards top water a little more as well.

I have several of the same models, and I would say Champion 701 spinning for some fun micro fishing, ned rig, rooster tails, 2.8 keitech's, etc. I keep one in the boat for the slow days, catching dinks and pan fish are better than taking a skunk home.

If it's clearer conditions it's a junebug or redbug Zoom Ol Monster, if its muddy it a black and blue craw or jig and craw. Just my best luck.

I have two setups for t-rigs and jigs. I use my Brailist for 1/2 oz t-rigs , and 1/2 oz. and up jigs, I really like this rod super comfortable and loads up great. For 3/8 oz jigs and anything lighter than 1/2 oz I have a IMX pro 893, this has become my favorite rod for 1/4 oz T-rig, super comfortable to use all day. With that being said i have a couple Exprides (frog rod and jerk bait rod) and I don't think you can go wrong here either. Good luck.

Hopefully yours has the lower body air flow device as well! I.E. wing windows turned all the way out. ?

No offense taken by either your first comment or the response after that (I tend to have similar responses on things I am more confident about). I enjoy the lessons of guys with countless hours on the water. My fishing partner has switched to FC on his jig and worm rods as well, after this schooling and his good results I maybe spooling up some FC in the near future. Thanks for the more detailed lesson.

Ever feel like the smartest guy in the room called you stupid..... I Listen to your advice on here quite a bit Tom, and will continue in my mistaken ways until I learn better. ? However OP listen to this guy he has more clues than most of us.

I would suggest use braid as a main line. Learn a simple connection knot and you can fish braid, mono, or flouro. I will tie a 6-10' leader most of the time and with a quick retie I can go from mono on a top water bait to flouro on a jig or or similar slow moving presentation that flouro is beneficial for.

The Chickahominy lake,I generally catch fish and there are some guys who regularly catch DD bass in it. The amount of grass in this lake gets super old to deal with. Once you get to July it's pretty much only top water fishing. I love frog fishing but I have also developed a love for throwing a jig, which is useless unless you like salad?

Agreed!! I have been mostly reading and learning for the last year, posting a bit occasionally. I have to say I have spent a good deal of time on other forums for stuff like weight lifting, paintball, and quads and I have never seen a forum as enjoyable with little bickering and personal vendetta between members. Just quality info and a little humor to make it enjoyable. THANKS GUYS!

I thought he was referring to the action taken when your fishing buddy eats your last sandwich at 12 on a dawn to dusk fishing day ??

Thanks for the reminder on the big worms! I was adjusting to a bunch of baits on a new river i was fishing Sunday morning with no luck and this thread popped in my mind. We only had an hour to fish before having to leave and I picked up the old trusty Zoom 12" Ol monster. I missed one, then knocked the skunk off with a dink, then caught a 4 a couple minutes later.

Not saying it can't be spooled, just that I don't need to with the slightly higher capacity to accommodate the larger line size (seems to be the sweet spot for where I'm fishing). Not to mention with a little more line on the spool you maintain the line input to go along with the higher gear ratio.

Curado DC HG for my vote, nice to be able to fling those lighter frogs way back in the pockets. The Curado 200 HG works better way get back in the junk, I am not spooling my reel when bombing deep while running 65 lb braid.

Instant credibility right there, my buddy and I caught each of our bigger fish for the day (both over 3) in areas like that. Will look more into the maps for sure. Thanks!

Will do! We tried the Pamunkey river Sunday, was also good. We are trying to broaden our horizons in VA and get off the lakes and river we grew up on.

I have had a good experience with both these rods. I currently use a champion 744 for my jigs (for now I got a Brailist inbound ?), and I have had a sierra 735 in the past as well as other fury's. My best friend fish's jigs with his champion 736, and my old sierra 735. While he does fine, catches as many or more than me, I think you will have a much better time with the Champion 744. Good luck!

I would run some 8 lb flouro, as it doesn't reflect sun light..... blah de fricking blah! I choose this name for a reason.

I had this happen to me, it was not simply the brightness setting. Had to have it warrantied by BPS. Luckily I pulled the boat up there, showed him it wasn't the brightness and that the front unit worked at the console location to confirm the wiring and all was fine. He ordered the new unit and I left with my boat so that I wasn't with out it for a month. Mine started every now and then and slowly kept getting more frequent until it didn't work at all. BPS tech said he sees one every few months, and that they have changed the model does this now. Hope you can get it fixed under warranty. Good luck.

My fishing buddy and i took our first shot at Lake Anna yesterday. It was pretty cool to fish in 5'-6' of clear water, we are used to the Chickahominy lake and river with little to no visibility. We caught 5 lost the last one, would have been the 6th and my best fish of the day. Most were only 1-2 lb, one of my buddies was close to 3. We both caught one on a brown jig, I caught two on a jerk bait, my buddy caught his second on a white spinner bait. we spent most of the day in the lower section of the lake. It was fun we shall return soon!