Scott804

You n me both buddy. My TackleWarehouse wishlist is endless.

Assuming the spillway is in Japan, it is probably ultra pressured. There's a reason the wacky rig, free rig, and now this all come out of Japan. They have to get mega-finesse-y.

Fluke with a swivel a 6-8 inches in front. It makes a big difference.

Rain to me means topwater all day long!

I only apply if it doesn't have a scent in the first place. Although it feels like a majority of them do come with out of the bag nowadays. I have had a lot of luck with those KVD chapstick style scents. They made a new set that is supposedly 4x stronger but without the garlic or anise. Haven't tried those yet but they seem interesting.

As for topwaters, what WRB said. Really no reason to go spinning in that regard. For jerkbaits it is a little bit more nuanced. I have both a casting and spinning jerkbait setup and if I had to pick and only have one it would probably be spinning. A lot of the modern jerkbaits (specifically the MB Vision 110) use very light wire hooks and lend themselves a lot better to the spinning gear when hooked up. I also like that I can throw tiny jerkbaits on spinning because imitating the size of the baitfish is really important in finesse jerkbait fishing. It is also worth mentioning that with a spinning rod it is far easier to jerk "up" and I have gotten a lot of strikes off of doing 2 normal jerks and then an up jerk, especially pressured waters. It should be noted, casting has it's advantages, however just because of how long and flat most baits are shaped they are really a pain to throw on casting gear. I have a purpose built setup for jerkbaits that alleviates some of that pain and a lot of baits nowadays have very good weight transfer systems that certainly help. Generally the casting setup plays more of a role in the warmer months when the fish will whoop up on you on light spinning gear or when fishing around structure/cover that I might need to muscle a fish out of.

Hammered all day. I don't know what it is, but they have always just worked way better for me.

I like using the Spike It blade dye on silver/nickel chatterbait and spinnerbait blades. Especially in a pressured fishery. Have never seen anyone else who uses the blade dye, but it sure seems to work for me. You can also use it in place of painted blades when you still want flash but still want to stand out against other spinnerbaits. Hologram blades are cool too. My favorite will always be hammered blades though. I have always had a ton of success on hammered blades. Although I suppose that doesn't really count as a blade color!

I used 15lb for jigs n rigs for awhile. It was OK. Nothing special but I never got any break offs or fraying it certainly ain't bad.

Blade dyed pink + pink skirt for smallmouth was the best buzzbait bite I have ever been on. Now if smallmouth are present you can guarantee I am throwing a pink buzzbait. Never seen anyone else throw one, but boy does it get wrecked by big brown ones.

I've had some seriously good days catching them on a jerkbait on sandy spots. I have no idea what it is, but they just appear out of nowhere and kill it immediately. Mostly largemouth, but I have caught smallmouth in the sand too.

It's been hard to pick up anything else since I got it! So fun to fish and it is beautifully crafted too. Definitely one of the best looking rods out there. I like the whole reflection deal with those Yo-zuri wakes. I am gonna give one a go and see how it does soon.

Full sized spook was the two hits I got, but that fish came off on after a big second jump. The rest came from the wakebait. Also threw the new Heddon Boyo Spook with no luck. Whopper Plopper and Buzzbait didn't seal the deal either. There was a Jr size popper bite working too. Honestly I had a little trouble getting onto the wakebait at first too. I thought for sure that they just wouldn't be able to see it/ignore it. Compared to other topwaters it seems very muted to an extent. Spooks crash back and forth, poppers pop, buzzbaits buzz. But the rattle of the wakebait really gives it a presence.

Just took a tournament win with a wakebait so now I feel qualified to answer this thread haha. I throw my wakebaits on a St Croix Legend Glass 7'2M with Sunline Crank FC 12-17lb. As for the reel, it helps to have a ~100 size spool from my experience. I like to use the KVD2.5 Wake. Some of the other replies have stated that the KVD2.5 Wake doesn't cast well. Using my setups I have never had issues. I plan to try some other wakebaits soon but what really stands out about the KVD to me is that it makes a very loud clicking sound with every wobble. Called up some big ones for me! Lots of wakebaits will dive about a foot under but generally I want my wakebait to be on the surface and obviously making a big wake. I point my rod almost 12 o clock and reel at the speed the situation requires as long as the bait isn't diving or waking incorrectly. The line should barely or not touch the water at all. Generally calmer water helps, I have not have much luck with fishing them in rough water. Ideal conditions for me would be light rain + calm water.

One time I got to watch river otters chase a 3lb largemouth while wading and that was basically the moment I realized that if a fish wants my crankbait he will get it, even if I am reeling as fast as I can. There is no "too fast" in that regard. Incredible how fast fish can be when in immediate danger.

As long as you can stay out of the grass with them it should be a pretty good tool. I had trouble getting peacock bass to fully take the lure last time I was in Florida, but I think a hair jig would work well for that.

I have a REVO IKE reel and it is a good reel. Solid and I got a good deal, I wail on it pretty hard throwing buzzbaits and it has held up. However it is surely no Shimano. I am going to give Lew's higher end reels a try soon, but as of right now I can't say I would buy another Abu, mostly because they just really aren't anything special. They do have some cool reels, I just can't see myself buying them over Shimano or Daiwa consistently. But the REVO Rocket, Winch, and Toro Beast reels are all pretty cool.

Good un! Congrats on the new PB. The ol' jig is a deadly weapon!

You should try the keitech tungsten jigs. They are amazing, super high quality. I used to use the bitsy flip but I just like the keitech jigs so much that I have fully switched to those.

Hair jig & walking bait did some damage for me this summer. Spring was all about the shakeyhead & the jerkbait.

I like to slow roll those on the bottom. Good way tool for the early summer/mid-spring. I would use it from 1ft down to 15ft. Just as versatile as any other spinnerbait.

The Bass Pro generic brand curlytail grub comes in a Smokey gray color and I have caught some huge smallmouth on it in super clear water. It is a very natural color that still has the slightest bit of pop to make it stand out from the surrounding underwater terrain and vegetation. As for the worm part, the roboworm has some pretty good smokey colors.

I would go 7. Although, at 6'9 I can't imagine the difference would be crazy. Flukes and Jerkbaits would certainly benefit from 6'9. As far as the Expride thing goes, I fished with a friend of mine's Expride in a similar model to my Zodias and wasn't really impressed in comparison. It honestly felt like the same rod with a different handle, and I liked the Zodias handle more, so that is the one I felt was better.

Agree! It is a fantastic warm water jerkbait. Filled a big hole in the jerkbait market, and the hardware is good too. I dig the slow fall, works really well on non-stop jerking. However I will say I wish they changed the front packaging, I accidentally bought a 112+1 the other day because it only tells you it is a +1 on the side or if you are directly paying attention to the size of the bill. Guess the bait monkey wants me to go deep.

If you are going to run fluoro on spinning, I recommend backing the majority of the reel with braid and then just thinking of it as a really really long fluoro leader that goes down to the reel. It is way more managable when you only have 2/3/4 layers of fluoro instead of an entire reel fighting to get out and explode everywhere.