softwateronly

Here in the midwest, I love throwing the gambler burner worm w/ 3/16oz weight post spawn till midsummer. It can work fast/slow and low/high. The bigger profile seems to protect the dinks. I'm sure it can work more often than what I'm doing, but it really comes in handy when I'm not sure what part of the break the fish are set up on. Dragging, hopping, straight reeling, they all work for me. I will say if the bite is happening on straight reeling, I usually switch out to a swim jig. I'm more confident that it gets bigger bites. scott

Sniper has held up to zebra mussels better than invisix for me. scott

This is the only jerkbait I can work properly at 15-17'. scott https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Nishine_Lure_Works_Erie_115_MD_Jerkbait/descpage-NEMD.html

I love throwing swimjigs, but I'm usually bomb casting in clear water with heavy vegetation. I'm in love with a 904 from Loomis and a 5 power Dobyns for this. Great tip/backbone ratio for me on the long casts. Expride 7'3XH and PA 7'6XH if I'm banging 3/4-1oz jig heads in deep cover. scott

I'd put the 2 reels in a competition and see which casts best with your favorite frog. Both distance and accuracy are paramount for me when frog fishing. scott

I prefer them for these reasons; small subtle movements when paused and hook up ratio might be improved if they're not taking headshots. scott

Nishine erie 115 top water minnow is a 5/8oz 4.5" floater. The suspending SD, same weight/length, is one of my favorites of all time, but I haven't personally tried the TW yet. Pricey, but catches. scott

@Jmurphy87 The TB is a blast, it can do so much. I hope you love it like I do. scott

I think I like the alphas 800s more than the met and the zillion. I'm a weirdo though, I only own shimano and daiwa and don't have a strong preference for either yet I don't even want to try a different brand. So there's that. Here's my jerkbait combos, all braid to leader; MC Day 6'92M/F alphas 800s Expride 6'10M/MF zillion Poison Adrena 6'11M+/F metanium Every reel you listed can do the job, pick the most comfortable/affordable. scott

@scmlfty Thanks dude. I lost my MD gunmetal to a pike last fall, down to SD and MD in hologram smelt. The MD's are the deepest diving jerks I've ever tried. With a slow sink and slow cadence, I can drag up weeds in 16-17'. Sometimes I'll throw 2 weights on the SD, then the rips come up in the water column in a bit. Seems to trigger on certain days. Good luck! scott

I'm a big fan of Nishine jerks and love the customization of the float/sink with the outer weights. I own a couple 3 packs and use those weights on other jerkbaits because it seems smart and simple to me. Changing one weight or partial weight on the water is just more efficient than swapping hooks before fishing for me. With vision 110 jr +1, I've had best luck with attaching a #6 power swivel to the front hook. It just happened to be with me last fall and is giving me that super slow sink in mid 40ish degree water. It's slightly visible in this last pic. scott

Modified alberto is what I use with tieable leader. FG needs to bite into the leader coating to work as well as it does, I don't trust it with metal. I've only lost one swimbait to a northern in 6 years, it was a gantarel fully pinned flat in her mouth. I had forgotten my net and had hands on her when her last boat thrashing snapped my line. She was a definite double digit and at least 40". Felt terrible for days that I left her in that condition and lost my $25 mostly because having a net wouldn't have led to that outcome. My bigger problem is all the jigs I lose to northerns. The tieable leader is a grass magnet and limits all my bites, still looking for a best option other than luck and 20lb mono as a leader. scott

Maybe I'm ignorant, but I don't see why it's strictly finesse. Most of my reels are 70 size and cover pretty much everything outside of swimbaits and deep cranking. But I get where you're coming from in terms of price. The upper upper end of shimano/diawa are diminishing returns. What I really want is for digitaka to carry left handed 22 bantams. scott

This rod keeps surprising me at what it can do. It's quickly moving up my list as a favorite big bait rod. I've lob/launched 4.5oz 8" spro swimbaits no problem, but I really dig it for the 6" burrito, more than enough backbone to thump em when slow rolling. Even flipped and frogged a bit with it last summer, super versatile. https://www.digitaka.com/item/29/6/5/4573236260358 scott

I've had the same experience as @NorcalBassin with the 795. scott

@ol'crickety that's smart for sure. We had sustained 25mph out of the N at times today, and I was about to tie up to someone else's pier and walk home. My canoe goes sideways fast with both a trolling motor and a paddle. Luckily, the wind and snow died down for a bit and I was able to get back safely. It was a wild mix of weather today that didn't affect the bass one bit. @MIbassyaker it's the water not the fisherman. I can't be too far from you, we're around 131 and 12 give or take some miles. DM if you wanna take a trip. scott

Yesterday was 2 hours of skunk, today in an on again off again blinding snowstorm had the jerkbait working. scott

I completely agree with this review, ended up selling it. 7'2 Steez power pitch and 7'3 XH Expride are better versions of it or what it wanted to be. scott

Lots of great suggestions above that I have done well with, but my best jerk bait days ever have come on the nishine eerie darter 115sd and 115md. Lots of body roll and flash, great hardware, and the only one that can consistently work 15'+. If they're deep and active, a double weight on the SD can get that upward fleeing on the jerk and seemingly make them angry. scott

normal spool - https://www.digitaka.com/items/4/4/2/ALPHAS+SV+TW shallow spool - https://www.digitaka.com/items/4/4/2/ALPHAS+SV+TW+800S The country of origin sticker is in the pics. Thailand for this model. I have 2 of the shallow spool alphas, absolute best bang for the buck reel that I own. scott

@Jig Rookie Congrats!!! What a tank! scott

Set your drag properly and all line types and rods will work. It’s just gonna be a preference thing. The 735 is a good action for worms and jigs, soft tip with good backbone. You will catch fish. scott

I've been very happy with the regular san diego jam. Just curious if that knot was in your repertoire before you moved to the double, and if so, what prompted the switch? scott

I have a champ 735 and throw mag worms on it. I have too many rigs so this is one I leave up at my in-laws, meaning it's not my 1st choice for the technique, but it does just fine. When I have all my rods with me, I tend to lean on the poison adrena 6'11M+ as my worm rod. I also fish braid to leader. scott

@king fisher I have no idea how to target large prespawn Mexican bass. Here's my simple thoughts, since prespawn extends for a few months for you and your water, my guess is that you are either missing the water they swim in or you need to present a bait that better resembles what they target when they need to bulk up. Since you know how to get on them, I'd hedge on the bait. I'd pick bigger Tilapia imitating swimbaits and rip those around your known spots. Reality is, I'm just guessing, but I'd really love to see one of your 27"ers all filled out in a pic scott