softwateronly

Congrats! I think I watched that episode. scott

Just reading this thread made me buy another Zillion. scott

I found some saltwater spoons that do well for me and they come with bkk assist hooks and they stick everything real well. I would find it hard to believe that they could make a bad hook with my limited experience. scott

This ^^^ is everything. I have about 6 weeks a year that I'm probably 25% 4lbs or more, and 60% of the others are 3lbs or more. But that's when they're aggressive and I know where to find them, also my lake is relatively healthy for "big" bass. Plus, when it's the right time and even the wrong time, I'll leave 2lb bass for another spot, helping my percentage out. The other 314 days include some skunks, some ice, dinks, and much more volatility in locating active "big" bass. I did 25 months straight of at least one open water bass that ended in April of this year (because of work schedule), and at least 9 of those didn't include a 4lber. I'd love to do one calendar year with at least one a month. January, Feb, March, Sept and December are my toughest nuts to crack. scott

scott

Try a skirt on a br head/br fish..... scott

Noooooooo!!!! My childhood nemesis meets my favorite jerkbait maker. I don't know how to feel. scott

I use clips but if I were using a loop knot, I'd consider a SDJ that isn't cinched all the way back. You can get the movement and still have a very reliable knot. scott

I don't think so if you're 1/2oz and up. I have 30lb braid and bounce between 16 and 25lb mono and floro. It's really versatile and feels like a heavy+ to me; pitch jigs and free rigs, swim jigs, swimbaits, spoons, and carolina rigs. scott Edit: I'm talking about the 2018 PA 7'6XH/RF. I haven't held the new one which have slightly different actions says folks on here.

While I love the tip on my 904mbr for swim jigs, it is a touch too soft to really shake it through the heaviest of cover. When the jig hangs on the weeds, the tip loads a bit too much for me to retain control of it as it pops free. So i usually stay around 1/2oz in these situations. This might not bother you and you will certainly catch fish with it. Just my preference, my two jig rods are Steez perfect pitch 7'2H/F and MC Days360 6'6MH/F. 2nd gen Poison Adrena 7'6XH has a tip that I like more for jigs in heavy cover. Still soft, just loads deeper so the jig doesn't rocket free when it finally lets go. Feels like a 904.5 in a lot of ways. When I do pitch, this my choice. scott

My water is really clear, usually 10' plus, fishing pressure is moderate to heavy, recreational boat traffic can get extremely heavy, and I'm currently without a trolling motor. So I often use the wind and anchor to position myself in key areas that allow me to work the deep weedline and also reach the first major breakline. The contour lines between 5-20' are very compressed, so roll casts and long casts from one spot gives me a lot of info on how they are set up that day. It also reminds me that even if the day is all about the deep weedline (15-20), I'll still throw up at the high percentage 5-10' areas before I leave because not all fish are doing the same thing at the same time. scott

Less than 10 miles from the Elkhart border. Real close. scott

I don't enjoy trolling. Just not the way I want to fish. scott

@DinkDonkey30 my time fishing says you're onto something. I fish Michiana mostly, and until a few years ago never knew how effective a bigger profile can be. Throwing big baits isn't a cure all, but it definitely revolutionized my catching. scott

I stay more now than I used to. I do love the Clash though. scott

I don't really pitch often, but have caught dozens, hundreds?, over the years on the initial fall as it swims to the bottom. I haven't used those swim jigs before. In 3/4-1oz I've been happy with dirty jigs cali and northstar baits Flip N Swim. Well made, heavy duty jigs. scott

These are my favorite clear water swim jig colors... If you're staying beast coast, big fan of scott

Time's are tough. I'll be your lineman on the Lund, just say the word. scott

None taken.....I might have been trying to convince myself as I was browsing amazon's low prices. scott

It was a thing for me, all things considered, but the alphas has been bomb proof and is slowly changing my mind. scott

I'm still finishing off bulk spools and currently have 30 & 50lb pp across the bantams and 50lb on the zillion hd. Similarly, fc 100 shock leader in 16lb & 25lb. When I plan for it, 50lb to 25lb is preferred. scott PS - totally my opinion that isn't well researched, I'd think you'd be pushing a met dc with these intentions.

I have a few curado DC's and find them best throwing heavier baits and prefer other reels for jerkbaits. I would take it off your list if it were me. scott

I definitely prefer the zillion hd and the bantam for that sized glide. The 300 size reels are less comfortable palming and weight for me and would rather stretch out one of these little tanks. I use braid as a mainline so line capacity hasn't ever really effected me. I would also go to a Tat 200 before moving up to the 300 size reels. scott

Are you working open, deep water with these weights or hitting/bumping/ripping the deep weedlines in 15-20 fow? I almost always have a 3/4oz swim jig tied on, and swimming a 1oz swimjig and a 1.25oz bait is frequent enough. I usually prefer a long rod, 7'6-ish, for casting distance, fish braid to leader, and have numerous variations available to me for this. It's also one of my favorite things to do, so my "high end" rods went to this. loomis 904mbr (conquest) - 3/4oz swim jig in cover; open water heavy bait 5 power dobyns (XP735 & DRX755) - 3/4oz swim jig in cover; open water heavy chatterbait Expride 7'3XH - up to 1oz swim jig in the heaviest cover, ripping thru deep hydrilla. beast of a rod with a great tip and light weight for all that power. Poison Adrena 7'6XH - fishes slightly softer than the expride, but can still bulldog thru the slop. Better for the open water bite with the extra length and give at the tip Expride 7'7H - Excellent open water rod for those weights. Sweep set that mod/fast action and they stay pinned all the way to the boat. Major Craft Triple Cross - This is a 2-piece, 7'9MH, salt rod that I was hoping would be a car version of the 7'7 expride, and luckily it has been exactly that and more. Lighter tip, similar mid section, and slightly more powerful backbone to the expride. I actually like it a little better. Also the cheapest at $160 ish. All of these rods are versatile to me, covering jigs, deep cranks, small glides, big worms, spoons, etc. scott

I'd like to figure out August and September on my home lake a lot better. My structure/cover fishing during the day really falls apart with the pressure and boat traffic. I'm a couple years into chasing the open water fish without electronics and have been able to narrow down some water, but need to refine my approach. scott