softwateronly

The Duo Bayruf Seek 68S is a lot of fun when they are fry chasing in open water. scott

The sdj knot is a really simple and effective knot. You'll master it in a day. Now it's all I use to connect to my baits and hooks. My 2 bottom contact/jig rods are steez ags power pitch 7'2H/F and MC Days 360 6'6MH/F. They are so good at bottom contact that I've rarely even have anything else tied on. The power pitch is versatile though; swimbaits, swim jigs, big spinnerbaits, frogs, and spoons. It just feels so good w/ a 1/2-3/4oz jig on it that I rarely don't have one on. The Days kinda lives in the 3/8-5/8oz jig world and sinker less jdm baits. I have a conquest, xtasy, and older poison adrenas and the power pitch and days 360 just outclass them in sensitivity and action for me. scott

5/8 oz w/ a thin wire 2/0 and a 3" ned bomb just caught me a bunch of smallies. Finesse is the hook not the weight in my mind. I stand by what I wrote. scott

I'm less of a fan of elastomer on a free rig than I thought I'd be. I feel that the complete vertical stand up on the bottom doesn't look natural to me and doesn't seem to really help getting bites. I have used a 1.5g weighted worm hook to get the correct look of a baitfish feeding off the bottom and had success shaking and small hopping. When the free rig does best for me I'm working it similarly to cracking a tube, and the baits that excel at that have an interesting and unique swim up and weightless sink once the weight has contacted the bottom. The holy grail for this action is the dolive beaver. scott

I have and use a lot of their baits, they catch smallies in Lake Michigan as advertised. The juvy craw is a standout, both minnows are good, sneaky underspin is also great, I just need heavier options to keep it down in deep current. The jigs look good, but not exceptional at those prices and I definitely need to give the flat cat a chance on a finesse jig. Overall, I consider everything they offer as high quality but also set toward premium pricing. The thing I can't figure out about their offerings is how they ignore an entire deepwater niche of their terminal tackle. I caught a 20+lb bag yesterday on a cindy rig, but needed a 5/8oz 2/0 ballhead to keep bottom contact in the deep fast current of the harbor mouth. I bring my city bag of smallie baits to a mostly LM dominated inland lake and don't dip into too many of the GLF offerings when I'm up there. The thing thats odd about the GL smallies is that so much of their diet consists of gobies, that big fish spend a lot more time keyed in on really small 2-3" profiles. My takeaway is that fishing a cindy rig for LM in clear water is underrated and what too many of us overlook as a finesse option. scott

I’m a braid to floro fisherman and mostly fish in MI. My favorite worm rods are shimano PA 6’11 M+/F and Diawa 7’ steez M+/XF. So light powered MH or a bit more powerful M seems to be my wheelhouse. I fish worms mostly in thick grass and find XF tips are better for snaking standard to small trigs thru the slop and find a F or slightly stiffer tip to be best for 6-10” worms. Fishing a clean bottom probably wouldn’t matter in this distinction. scott

I often cast small heavy spoons up to 28g with that rod and an alphas 800s with pe 1.5 and 20' of 10lb sniper. It'll launch it as far as i am comfortable trying to hook a fish. When it comes to heavy jerkbaits, the nishine 115MD is my goto and weighs in at 3/4oz. The expride handles it no problem in the casting department. When it comes to imparting the action I prefer, the PA 6'11M+ has a stiffer tip section for creating the hard darting action at depth and is usually my first choice. scott Edit: I throw a 105mm shower blow on that combo all the time. It weighs 9/16 and it is perfect. Basically, I feel you can hit that 3/4oz mark no problem and only start paying attention @ 1oz in regards to casting.

I have a few jdm mets for over 4 years now and never ran into any of this until last week post spooling x-braid pe 2.5. My fix was definitely related to how the spool was installed and how side plate interacted with the spool when fully closed, ie free spool movement when the sideplate was only 2/3 closed, but choked off fully closed. Backing off the drag and spool tension completely were also in "my fix." It now bombs like no other reel I have tried, just like it used to. scott

Are you making me buy an FMJ.....because it kinda feels that way scott

I had an underutilized Plano hydro flo hanging box 3505 and decided to keep most of my line/leader in there. There is always enough slop and enough friction in the spacing to just leave the spool in there as I reel in the line with finger pressure and through my 1st rod guide only. I find the real trick is to make a couple bomb casts, I love a heavy hookless spoon with a good swivel on it, and to reel it in against the water pressure. It tends to set me up perfectly. scott

@Calvin123 I found this Phenix feather on amazon for $127. I have avids, exprides, and champions and think this rod lands just below exprides, but only barely. But for less than half the price, this is what I would buy. It's listed as a H but I'd say MH(+) would be more accurate. Great for what you want to do. scott Edit: I see your warranty concerns, phenix is known to be relatively good in that dept. I have never used it and phenix was bought by GSM about 18 months ago, so there might be a change in customer service. https://www.amazon.com/Phenix-Feather-Freshwater-Casting-Fishing/dp/B07BZPGFK8/ref=sr_1_15?crid=3N1AJCV9I291P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Tvimbm__kkoMb2KB_GtCiazH2JgyLWgZ-M0Gj2kMAwWq3VI_qxGRjVa6pcOwLidfyRTJOgJTHIC5E8tnDxozckxMsvT4Qh_ixHOM-DXlVME3FwHfqVbCU2y41_CUAX8fVyYP-CmuL1RRJ5IsWaW1Lt2Dfiq88km8yNqlTn0xuAOOOxrG6vUW0Aj3i1ZHkMTMlhttbv2rtTHvxOAG-sYPSxrRf3f-Oui6UHFAs7L8vH8.ciXWsPAixs64JfcReskBuC1DdyjnuuyNJtPZL4oDiHU&dib_tag=se&keywords=phenix+rods&qid=1775084144&sprefix=phenix+rods%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-15

I think there's a higher chance that the fish aren't where you're fishing as opposed to not eating what you're throwing. Do you have other shore options to try? scott

The KTP post? Expertvoice? Not exactly sure what you're saying. scott

TW has Phenix rods 20% off till 3/30. The feathers @ $150 are really hard to beat price for performance. They usually feel like they're overrated by one power if you're new to them. scott

In finesse sizes, I like the 3-3.5"" easy shiner and 2.5" mayor. I grabbed a few packs of owner juster shads last year when TW had them half off, and at that price the 3.2" was also great. Seems like TW doesn't want to carry them anymore, just one size and color available now. For my swim jigs and for large profiles, I really like gambler 5" big ez and 6.5" gz. I also really like River2Sea D-walkers in the 120mm size. Both of these seem to hit the sweet spot for kick and head shake at any speed once the water is in the mid 50's and they are durable fish catching machines. scott

Yeah that's a good way to think of it. The main difference is I rarely fish a tailspinner all the way to the bottom, I mean I have, but it's most often a mid-column approach to me. A vast majority of my bites come on the tightline sink. scott

The Met is like a racecar, very touchy and unpredictable, but absolutely bombs when it's dialed in and seems to live on the edge. It also seems to hate any notion of a snap in your casting stroke. Good luck! scott

They are a staple for me late summer till winter ice when targeting open water shad eaters. They don't always elicit strikes but they are always given an opportunity because when it's what they want, it's incredible how effective they can be. Most of my success is tightlining them to the depth I think they're feeding at and yo-yoing above and through that depth range. Usually, I throw 1/2-3/4oz fishing 20-35' fow, and the Jackall Deracoup is my default. My deepest caught bass followed one all the way down to the bottom in 35' fow and hit it just as I lifted it off the bottom. Various M/F to M/MF rods are my choice, I have personal favorites, but it's really not too important to me as long as I can bomb it and my drag is set properly. I'm blind casting for offshore schooling fish without much electronic help, I need to cover water. Side note, it's got a great hook up ratio on 3lb and up bass, the tiny treble always seems to find a way to lodge behind a bottom of the mouth gill raker. scott

Hag's Tornado *** - this worm moves an insane amount of water, lots of plastic and ribs, floats the tail off the bottom, and is pretty durable. If I were canoodling with giant mexican bass, I'd be throwing an *** in storm chaser at them trees. Xcite baits maximus worm - I love this worm for the gnarliest weeds. It has an outsized presence while still being able to slip in and out of the cover relatively cleanly. Also floats well off the bottom. KVD 10" bullworm - Yet another straight tail worm that is a "big for me" bass magnet. Magnum baits mag stick worm - A 10" stickbait in junebug seems like the perfect mexican tree bass bait. I own all of the above, but haven't fished the stick bait yet. They are my goto in May/June up here in MI. scott

The typical spring weather of changing and blowing winds has kept my city water blown out, but my indiana casino water was in good shape Saturday morning. I ended up with 7 total, all bites came from about 8:30-10:30am, best 5 were in the 18lb range with the 3 I weighed at 3.9, 4.2, and 4.33. I caught one little guy on a 1/4oz underspin and all the rest on a 3/16-1/4oz 2.5" tube. The water was still in the high 30's. scott Last one....

If you decide to go all in financially, this rod should meet and probably exceed your expectations. It has for me, though I was fortunate enough to pick it up used a couple years back with a decent discount. Diawa Steez AGS 7' M+/XF 1/8-3/4oz "The Sensor" scott

I don't but I'm a big fan of the 7'1 M+/XF sensor and the 7'2H/F power pitch. I bough both of mine used and feel like they are totally worth it, ranking up there as my most sensitive rods. At full retail, my enthusiasm wanes a bit. This is probably more about my personality than the rods. scott

I also run 20-30' of leader and reel right it in with an fg knot. I got there mostly because of a deep, current filled, zebra covered breakwater that I fish from, where my 10lb shooter leader has significant abrasion resistance compared to my pe 1. But I also see benefits working finesse bottom contact with a longer neutral density leader and much appreciate the situation @A-Jay describes where my connection knot is well inside my reel as I try to lip or net decent sized smallies in their last gasp for freedom. scott

I played around with 2 packs of 6.5" boosa worms last year. My limited experience is that they're great at eliciting strikes, they seem close to neutral buoyancy, move water, catch and release air, and have subtle action while dead sticking. Unfortunately, this formulation of plastic is unique in that it is "brittle." The worms sheer like no other plastic I've used. They are much more affordable than the bubble shakers, they work better for me right now, but I would hedge and say they are equal, but they are fragile, maybe even moreso than the rein's. scott edit: my experience was shakey heads, jigs, and free rigs, not as a bladed jig trailer.

If you do the split ring or a large ring weight not specifically designed for free rig, I've had a lot less line twist and better action by using stops and even a small bead to keep the large ring from hanging on the hook eye or bait during the cast and retrieve. If you're in a weedy environment, this is a much less effective method compared to rock/clean bottom. In the end, I've converted all my weights to proper free rig weights, but this got me through the transition. scott