softwateronly

I’m in the “no light till a fish is on” camp. My lake does have homes on about 65% of the shoreline. That makes it easier, for sure, but I think trying to let your eyes adjust is the best method. I’ve blown up my reel a few times, but adjusting to sound and feel only, actually seems to limit my overruns. I throw top water, wakes, jigs, and my number one bait, a swim jig. Regardless, the most important thing to have in terms of fishing gear is a an open and easily accessible net. The biggins sure seem better at last second surges and jumps that make lipping impossible for me in the dark. scott

Pretty sure this Zillion bug is highly contagious. I have that and a bantam crossing the pacific as I write this. scott

Saw that. Pretty funny timing. I blame the pike. scott

The easy shiner fishes small to me as well. I'd be inclined to try the 1/0 flashy swimmer on both. scott

This girl shredded my front treble, looking for a replacement. Open to 2x or 3x if I can still get a decent wobble/flash. I usually fish it on a softer MH, .35mm floro leader. Thanks! scott **Sorry mods, wrong section. Not enough coffee**

@Bass Rutten I love it. Unfortunately, work has been eating up most of my time since early July. So I haven't really spent multiple days in a row with it. I have it on the MB TB and it's a perfect match for me. Feels made for that rod as a tweener swimbait setup. Love how smooth it is, the power in the larger handle and round knobs feels sneaky, and it casts great. I have 65lb maxcuatro on it, which I think is around .36mm. I have only thrown 6" burrito, 6" STC swimbait on a 1/2oz head, and a 1.5oz nichols spinnerbait and haven't caught with the Scottsboro. The reel has from the drop, cast and handled line with out any backlashes and almost zero fluff/line lay issues. Summer nights were spent fishing not fixing overruns and I'd call myself an average caster. I'd say best casts with the burrito are 35-40ish yards? Spinnerbait definitely less. On the long burrito casts, I definitely rely on feel for the tail thump in terms of moderating my speed to stay consistent as the spool fills up over the course of the retrieve, but I'd trade that for a comfortable set up any day over spool capacity. I have jdm 20 metaniums, and 18 bantams as my reference for quality reels and this slots in right at the top. Highly recommend. I'd think it would feel right at home on that expride and treat you right. I keep looking at jdm reels I don't need with the way the dollar is. Might be an expensive winter. If you're a hands on person and are ever down in the city, dm me if you want to meet up and put it on your expride. scott

For me, it's the hookset. If you're already moving the bait with the reel and go to hit em with an upward power jig hookset you've probably stopped reeling and therefore you're not moving much line at all in relation to the direction the bait and bass were traveling. I like to keep reeling and sweep the rod. I'd fish all those baits on a M or MH. scott

Fluke? Specifically a z-man w/ the EWG or swimbait hook rigged a little further back so it falls level and slower. I have no experience w/ speckled trout, but this is what I've done for bass with some success. scott

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Azuma_Timmy_Horton_Z_Boss_Crankbaits/descpage-AZTH.html They pull less than a 6XD and seem to get to the depth they say they will, but my cranking experience is limited. A good anchor is probably the best solution. scott

I have a bantam on a steez power pitch. Am I doing this right? scott

When the big bait bite is on, especially glides, it's probably my favorite way to fish. In clear water, oftentimes you watch a big fish shadow stalking from underneath and get to watch her decide to eat. It's a truly unique and fantastic way to have all your senses engaged for those brief moments and to use your skill to try to trigger the bite before the boat or bait sends her back to her home. That said, my heavy duty swimbait setup doesn't come out with me all the time. 6"-7" baits, mostly soft swimmers, gantarel, bull shads, 168 glides, are year round companions. These are big enough for me and my waters to target the larger panfish eating bass. Also, I can and prefer to throw these on a 7'6XH/MF, 7'7 H/MF and a 7' XH/R because these setups are more enjoyable for me to chuck around all day. I've also found more success w/ bladeless A-rigs and light jig heads, so I usually find the 7'7H to be the sweet spot. If I were to do it all again, one high end big bait setup, and 2-3 versatile "almost" big bait set ups, they double as frog, flippin and deep cranking. I'm fortunate that I have this many rigs so I can see how this might not be helpful. scott ps - savage gear, storm, river2sea make some really affordable and successful big baits ps2 - tatula 300 is also a great option, jdm is $206 ps3 - large swimbaits haven't given me a pb or even a lake pb, but they have given me better fish on average

Others solutions are probably better, but I've found using these on nose down suspenders to be very versatile to adjust to conditions. It seems like the buoyancy changes fastest at temps that I like to fish jerkbaits. I have a bag of different clipped lengths. I haven't seen any issues in hook up ratio. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Nishine_Lure_Works_Original_Outer_Weight_3pk/descpage-NOW.html scott

Yeah I've definitely lost a few chunks at the boat on their lake without a net. Lipping is doable, but challenging, if they're pinned really well I lift the line first and hold my breath. This one was ornery, and made a handful of runs. The cooler water has 'em fighting. scott

I love the jdm 22 Zillion TW HD. I have mine on a Tequila Bacarac and throw medium size swimbaits with it; ie, 6-8" 1.5-3.25oz. It's handled it all beautifully but doesn't feel like a swimbait reel, very compact and comfortable. Casts great, smooth as anything I've ever held, love the round knobs more than I thought I would. I'm not personally familiar with the Alpha rod lines or a Steez, so no direct comparisons from me unfortunately. Can't imagine the Steez being anything other than amazing. If you go the cheaper route, you'll own a great reel. Good luck! scott

Hadn't been out in 4-5 weeks and was finally able to put a few hours in. A couple pike, a few decent jerkbait bass, and this one picture worthy gal. No scale or tape measure with me on my FIL's pontoon, but real glad I brought my net. scott

Below are what I lean to currently for mostly non-elaztech baits. There might be better, but these don't suck. I like these for 4" and less swim baits... https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Round_Head_with_Lockdown_Keeper_5pk/descpage-ORHL.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dirty_Jigs_Matt_Stefan_Guppy_Swimbait_Jig_Head_3pk/descpage-DJSGH.html For 3.75" - 4.25" https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dirty_Jigs_Tactical_Bassin_Finesse_Swimbait_Jig_Head/descpage-DJTBF.html For 4.5"+ https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dirty_Jigs_Matt_Allen_Tactical_Bassin_Swimbait_Jig_Head/descpage-DJMASWH.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-SCOTTSTCO.html?from=basres 4.5"+ weedless https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Blade_Runner_Screw_Lock_Weedless_Swimbait_Jig_Head_2pk/descpage-BRSLWS.html Swim jigs that I have and use with paddle tails, 3.5"-6.5" https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/products/swim-jig https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dirty_Jigs_Swim_Jig/descpage-DTYJGSJ.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Megabass_Uoze_Swimmer_Swim_Jig/descpage-MBUS.html Hopefully, you can try some out before the ice shows up this year. Swimmers work really well for me in the late fall/early winter cool to cold water. scott

I have the 7'6 MH/F Expride A. One of my first "higher end" casting rods, and I absolutely love it. The A is labeled fast, but fishes slightly parabolic to me. I've really beat this rod up, throwing all sorts of things with in and over it's weight range, and it's handled them really well. I've come to really like the 7'6 length for moving baits, my lake isn't based on pinpont short casts to cover, but mostly working long breaks and deep weed edges in clear water. The extra length and longer casts seems to put me on more bites. Swim jigs, spinnerbaits, keitechs, chatterbaits, preacher/chicken jigs, and scroungers are my most used baits on it. Football jigs, grass jigs, and t-rigs are more secondary uses because I do prefer 6'11-7'2 lengths for those techniques, but will happily use tie em on if bringing less rigs with me. scott

I'm really happy with MI from April till November. I'm trying vrbo's in the winter as often as I can, East TX treated me well last Feb, but work this winter looks like it won't leave me an opportunity. scott

I'm braid to leader or straight braid. Made that switch 15 ish years ago and have stayed with it. Works for me. I think as my rod/reel arsenal increased I bought rods w/ actions and powers that worked best with my line choices. My biggest downside is windy days on cold cold water. Frozen guides are terrible. FG and SDJ knots usually, modified alberto and palomar when appropriate. scott

The Zillion HD, 20 Met, and 18 Bantam (all jdm) are by far my favorite reels and most expensive reels. I think the Met would be too light to balance for me, so I'd lean toward the zillion or new bantam. But if you're happy with Lew's why change. Comfort in hand is really important to me as well and you know the lew's feels right. scott

I didn't get a lot of time in with them this year, but the hits/fish I did get, absolutely hammered it. Prespawn till post spawn, straight retrieve from shallow to deep was where it shined, usually the first deeper water ambush cover. The swim is subtle but a little nose up, which seems off to me. They do stay upright on the bottom, which might make them a cold water creeper. scott

I'm consistently surprised at what a bass is willing to eat in terms of size and what's nice about that mattlures bg is that the profile is shortened a bit in height, meaning hookups on 3lb ish bass is a little better. I currently use the SG 4" RTF pulse tail because the size is more versatile and the price more affordable. Gold gill looks like a good match. That said, a dirty jigs swim jig in 3/8-3/4oz w/ a gambler or d walker is my favorite and most successful panfish imitator. scott

That's what I use for lake smallies, usually high and fast in the water column. scott

I have a nichols 1.5oz double willow w/ a 5" gambler big ez that has been effective when slow-rolling deep weedlines. Otherwise, I'm usually 3-4" baits. scott

^X2 scott