lynxcat

I have the 7’6 MH mod fast and it’s like a soft fast but not a full moderate so accurately described. I have not tried bottom contact with it yet. I’ve done swim jigs and chatterbaits effectively so far.

I use the Tatula Elite 7’4 MH/Regular as my primary Chatterbait rod. It’s been fantastic over the last few years and I fish Jackhammers probably 60% of the time I am on the water. I recently got the Expride 7’6 MH/Moderate Fast and I am sorting out what exactly to throw on it. I think it excels with swimjigs and it’s worked well with Chatterbaits as well. The length allows me to really get some distance on casts.

Closest I get to a mom and pop operation is an order from Omnia or SO’s. I’ve shopped Academy and Scheels but don’t really enjoy it. Tacklewarehouse gets plenty business from me.

Overall, there’s enough content out there already that I won’t find much interest in a pro-related series. I’d find more intrigue in them just becoming a part of the board as posting members than needing them to create standalone content.

I have learned over time that I am better off not laying into hooksets most of the time. Jigs are maybe my one exception. I’m a big guy and I’ve broken the line too often on intense hooksets. It feels good to lay into them but it’s totally unnecessary.

For my pond fishing, I’m going Jackhammer in some shade of white (maybe Spot Remover or Golden Shiner) that can work in clearer or stained water. I can fish that almost year around in Texas albeit it’s not preferred when we get deep into winter.

I’m 30lb PowerPro braid to 15-20lb FC, typically Invizx. I use a moderate graphite rod and haven’t had issues with it. I have gained a lot of confidence in my connection knot and I like the invisibility and little bit of stretch it provides me. I refuse to go straight braid unless it is chocolate milk. I also don’t enjoy throwing a reel spooled with mono or FC and use braid of every setup I own. For me, the benefits of braid apply to basically every setup I fish.

I’m a two handed roll cast for 90%+ of my casts. I’m very efficient casting…not sure about exact form. If I really want to lay into a cast, then it really becomes about hip rotation. Similar to a quarterback creating tork…that’s a safer way for me to sling it for distance.

Wondering about this…anyone ever keep the tags on once received and fished with it for a short bit to see what the experience is like? I’ve got a new rod that I need to evaluate the action (Shimano Expride). Plastic wrap covers the handle and there’s one tag on a guide that I think (while annoying) wouldn’t actually impact performance. I basically want to set the hook on a fish and make some casts with it.

One nuance I am testing right now. I have my back hook as a lightly weighted (I think 1/8 ounce) wide gap screw lock and the front one is unweighted. I'm thinking this will allow me to have two varying actions and fish a little different water column. Other random things I am trying are using Zman on one and another manufacturer on the other. Zman has so much buoyancy that two of them on unweighted hooks like to bust the surface more than my liking. Zman on the weighted vs plastisol on the unweighted gets me varying actions as well. In a nutshell, I'm experimenting.

I have a donkey rig setup right now. It’s pretty fun to fish and shockingly it rarely ever gets tangled. The two swivel setup is like magic how it untangles itself.

I just had my largest single order…ever? Omnia 25% off sale is about as good as it gets. I bought a Tatula SV 8.1, Tatula Elite 8.1, Tatula Spinning 7’3 Medium Extra Fast, and….this next one was a complete bait monkey want and not a need…Expride B 7’6 MH Moderate Fast. I’ve heard SO much amazing feedback on Exprides that this felt like a deal I couldn’t pass on. $290 regular and it was $217 out the door. I’m not 100% sure what technique I will use the Expride. I need to see how the action truly behaves. I kind of expect it can be a “do it all” type setup. I’d like to be able to do some bottom contact Trigs and such but also some moving baits like swim jigs and paddle tails. I am 6’4 so I don’t think the length will be too difficult to handle albeit this is the longest rod I’ve ever purchased. Planning to pair with Tatula Elite. Thoughts on applications?

I saw the same thing in my Academy last week. Looked like they were trying to run down all of the inventory to open up the space.

Use a credit card and not a debit card. The protection from fraud is substantially better.

I can confirm the smaller Swim On is perfect for the mini max. I’m trying a Zman Streakz tomorrow. Mini max gets a nice thump but I do worry that the hook is diminutive especially compared to the JH. I haven’t had issues yet but I also haven’t hooked a toad. The Zman Grubz works well on the mini max.

Yes.

Agreed. The lifestyle on the road is horrible. Living in campers and driving 100s of hours from spot to spot. It isn’t glamorous at all by “professional” standards.

I’ve been testing these lately and, wow, am I impressed. I love the action on the back of a Jackhammer and the two different sizes are quite useful. Smaller size is perfect for Mini Max and the 4.25 is great for full size JH. The Brett’s Bluegill JH paired with Kamikaze Swim On in Green Pumpkin Flamethrower look like they were designed for one another by the same company. The only watch out is the swirl has varieties of more or less orange from bait to bait (I used the more subdued GP ones today with great success). Durability has also been above average for a plastisol bait. Nothing matches Elaztec but these seem to last a bit longer than Rage Tails in the same use. I’ll see if I can get some pictures of recent color pairings for reference. In short, HIGHLY recommend.

Fogy has a lot more random left and right hunting action with deeper thump than the JH. I have a bunch of both but I go JH if I have to choose one. I use the Siebert swim jigs almost exclusively. He’s got a bunch of different kinds…swim jig and shot caller are both solid choices. Typically the differences are nuanced with slightly different hooks and shaped lead heads.

The same lakes get fished so much that these guys have way points accumulated over the years that are typically the key. I rarely think a pro has that much more knowledge when it comes to different types of baits; rather, how they read conditions, position boat, and present said lure is where they distinguish.

Any kind of bait that has multiple colors mixing in the mold will have irregularities. This isn’t a Rage issue…this is the reality with multiple pigments randomly mixing together in a swirl rather than a laminate. I’m currently putting a Big Bites Bait Kamikaze Swimon on a JH in the GP Flamethrower color and each of these looks a little different than the next.

I have had the 7’1 ML Cody Meyer spinning for a few years now. I’ve been very pleased with it. I mainly use it for drop shot and Ned rigs. I own three Tatula Elite rods. Also gave the 7’4 H Frog Rod with AGS that I primarily use for bottom contact and jigs. Also have the Howell chatterbait rod. I have the graphite model and it’s probably my most used rod because I favor that technique. I think it is a 7’4 MH Regular. The only thing I don’t like about the rod is the handle length is a bit shorter than I would like when I bomb a cast. I’ve had the rod slip out of my hand a few times over the years on casts.

Swivel helps the bait sink and stay down plus addresses line twist. That’s the two reasons I’ve used one before. Generally, I don’t use one.

Bought 6 JH and 1 Big Blade thanks to this thread!

Fall is so hit and miss. It can be so exciting as the fish destroy baitfish but it can be highly frustrating if they aren’t biting your lure (while blowing up around it). Overall, I enjoy Fall more than late summer in TX. We haven’t gotten rain in 30 days and it’s been 100 degrees for basically the last month or more. My ponds are down 5 ft from where they should be and the ecosystem is distressed. Fall will bring some normalcy to said ecosystems and I think the fish will flip a switch this year even more than normal.