softwateronly

^^That's fantastic! I'm glad the state finally listened.^^. I always felt bad for you guys that a non scientific law took away some of the best time on the water when we already deal with winter. scott

Yeah, any camera doing that is always recording but not writing to the card till it's told to. Write speeds are one of the biggest chokepoints in digital capture. There is no real difference in file corruption, if you lose power before the clip get it's wrappers you might have issues. scott

When my bass are keyed in on fry to 1.5" shad, it's almost impossible to find something that works better than a spoon. Kastmaster, little cleo, and jigpara mini in 7 & 10g have been my main three this summer. Profile and rate of fall really seems to dictate the bite, I love to use the extremes of reeling it as fast as possible and then tightlining so it falls as slow as possible. I do most of my damage casting at schools but will get on top of them every now and then and catch them vertically. scott

I have a few champs, including the 735 and one xtasy the 755. If sensitivity is important, the 755 is far superior which makes sense considering the price tag. I agree with @Junk Fisherman and don't consider the champ series quite worth it price wise anymore. But I do think the Xtasy hangs with loomis conquest in terms of sensitivity, and the 755 has a really great feel in hand, perfect balance, great tip and sneaky, seemingly unlimited, power. If your Vet discount puts you in that ball park, I think you'd love it. scott

Hook size is probably it. For this particular case, I'm needing a 4-5/0 to match up with the relatively chunky 4.8" bull flat. That ned football head does look like a promising smallie option though. scott I will try this at some point, just need to get around to ordering it.

I'm with @casts_by_fly, the rocket shad has caught me a lot of fish once it got on my radar. To me, a split ring and your own hook is a must, factory set up is garbage. scott

Not exactly, but I have the 7'6MH and the 7'7H in the older models. When jig fishing in early spring before the weed growth really gets going, I prefer the mod fast action of the 7'7H. But by the end of May when it's pretty much topped out, I find the tip loads too much for me trying to negotiate the jigs through the cover giving me a feeling that I'm not fully in control of getting it through but not moved too far. So if I fished water that was only moderate in weed growth, I'd always prefer the mod/fast action. I fish braid to floro and might think differently if I used straight mono. scott

If you go Gammy superline, which I like, I'd think the 7/0 matches closer to the beast 6/0. I don't have a direct comparison available to take a pic, just remember the superlines felt a touch narrower/smaller. scott

I really like what Mike has in the jigheads and what you're tying up. A vertical line tie version of that jig would probably become my staple finesse jig. The flat eye just hangs too much for my water unfortunately. scott

I have the exact same issues. I was jig worming with it a lot this early summer and it was constantly catching, but absolutely one of the most “shearable” plastics I’ve ever encountered. I mean I’d watch a head shake at the boat throw the back 5 inches of the worm on every other fish it seemed. It didn’t just tear or rip, just split in half, almost brittle. Bummer because everything else about it has a lot to love. scott

Looks like winners to me. scott

Fair enough, not about to dispute a pro! That has always seemed like a logical hypothesis to me, a complex system that is greater than the sum of it's parts. The video entertained me because it ultimately says its not that AI is reasonable or logical but that in some significant ways we are less sophisticated then we believe ourselves to be. scott

In my mind the joint would be counterproductive in this instance. Each small pop and fall on a rigid jig combined with the gliding profile of the gill is what I think is giving me the swimming action. I'll try one out though, because I don't really know and I have the materials. I did just look on scottsboro's site and they make the prowler head in football and it looks to be the same owner hook as the hellfire. I might have just found what I want to try and can't believe I forgot that tw doesn't carry all their products. I appreciate all your help and open if someone finds a different place because if I'm paying shipping I'd like different weight options. @Jig Man gets the solution because he's definitely right about the super glue. scott

That's what I want too, it's a sourcing issue for me. I phrased my post poorly. Any manufacturers come to mind? scott

@Munkin @FishTank Those are interesting ideas and would probably be the deal with a bottom presentation. What was working for me was rod tip up, steadily bouncing the tip, and quarter turning the reel handle on each tip drop. The gill ends up swimming mid column over the weed beds and the fish just seem to load up as they come up and get it and I'd just reel into and lift on em. Very similar to a jig head minnow bite. A weedguard is fine but I'm not sure I'd want to try to punch through plastic on an ewg. These baits have so much salt and are so dense, they get beat up relatively quickly that loctite only helps so much. I'm hoping with all that plastic that the screwlock would handle it even better. scott

That's why you're the jig man! At least it's catching fish. I'd go for glue and mend it and ride it out, the price of success. scott

I don't own any, but @casts_by_fly is talking us all into it. There's a ton of info in here... scott

It's not perfect, but the TD guppy head has a smooth top on the keeper or a northland tackle smeltinator has the cones, either one of those with some loctite super gel keeps the plastics much longer and still has the same look/action. scott TW has some really cheap smeltinators right now, color and hook size seem arbitrary though.

Looks like marijuana, named after marijuana, seems entertaining enough to me. @Swamp Girl a wordsmith not enjoying colorful descriptors? You might or not enjoy this podcast.... scott

I'm positive you can, you catch loads of fish and have been doing it a long time. Like me, you'd know gobies, coho, northern, and maybe walleye, crappie, bowfin, etc too, depending on the lure and if you were around them often. I'm talking about the truly difficult bites, when you shake free off of a weed and don't feel it touch the bottom or when current pushes your line around a boulder in 20' fow. These types of pick ups or bottom navigation need above average sticks, floro (leader), finger on the line and metal reels for me. It's been a few years of good gear and been a few years since I've gut hooked a fish, I do think they're related. The "nothing feel" is my biggest need for sensitivity because more than likely it's now a fish. I forgot to add that this is hilarious to me; "they are great fisherman not great rod buyers". I personally want some help from my gear. scott

Such a loss, what a great teacher. Thanks Catt for all that you did. Prayers for his family. scott

If you're gonna have one from outside of chicago, it should be your first. It is extremely regional, like most Illinois can't do it. Hot and Wet for me. scott

In terms of sensitivity, am I the only one who thinks it's not to tell you there's a bite, any decent rod does this, but it's for feeling the bottom and cover so when it's not there you know you have a fish? scott

If it's safe and you can flip your clock; Fishing a few hours at night before work might change your mind. scott

Swimming a bullflat or dolive gill was the deal for me this post-spawn, and a football jighead does seem better at maintaining my depth. Now I'd love to extend the life of my plastics and think the screwlock is the way to go. Any insights appreciated. scott