softwateronly

The punisher hair jigs have become a favorite thanks to @WRB and @A-Jay. Blue craw, PB&J, and hot mustard catch for me. When it comes to big baits, moonless nights seems to be the best time for me to consistently upsize. scott

The Steez power pitch is a fantastic rod. Might be my favorite overall, definitely my fave 1/2oz and up jig rod. Though I'm enjoying it most with a heavier reel, currently a bantam though a jdm zillion hd keeps calling me. scott

I second this, great reel. scott It always pays to be a middle man... scott

I would think that the 807 is comparable to the 867, but I don't know. Yes, but there's a possibility that a 6" hudd might be a little too light to get out there. The 806 was great for glides, just not my favorite with a single hook, bit too soft. I also sometimes work my baits with the rod, hence my love for the 7'9 size. scott

I had and sold the 806HSB. At the time, I owned a Fury 795SB and Champ 806HSB. If I wanted one Dobyns swimbait rod to throw 8" glides and 8" Hudds, I'd lean toward the 807. If I could have 2, it'd be a 796 and 807. scott

I've used asian portal and digitaka. Digitaka seems cheaper, better. scott

The tokyo rig seems to get through grass better for me. "Punches" pretty good too. scott

Football jig head, wobble/swing head, jika rig, tokyo rig, and free rig would be options I would try in your situation. Fishing uphill in rock is tough, good luck. scott

Personally, I'm a big fan of a swim jig and don't think there's any type of water that it won't catch in. But it is my favorite bait for clear, weedy water, with a panfish forage base. It gets in and out of where they live and can profile well for the biggest bass in the lake. What really pushed my confidence through the roof is how a swim jig w/ a paddletail can absolutely slay on the darkest of nights, when a swimbait, chatterbait, or spinnerbait only do ok. I like to play around between 3/8-3/4oz with 4-6" trailers and often have 2 rods tied up with the extremes. scott

I'm also a no in the swivel camp. I'll fish it baitcaster braid to leader, surface twitching, dead sticking, and bottom hopping. Line twist has been manageable. scott

I've had a few days that were not good. In my mind, operator error, bite detection, and tail grabbing were more the issue than the head itself. I've definitely spent most of my time with 1/2oz 8/0. scott

Same here. Alberto is my leader back up knot for light line floro, I sometimes struggle setting a fg on line below .3mm scott

I fish clearer water, usually 6-8' visibility, but it varies between 4-15' depending on conditions and the forage base leans toward panfish. A swim jig with a swimbait has been a revelation to me the last couple years. A paddle tail and a slightly destabilized head puts a lot of natural action in a bait that can be swam, pulsed, or dragged/hopped. I've left behind the craw style trailers and the rod tip shake for, in essence, a skirted swimbait because it's been so effective. Dirty jigs w/ a d walker or EZ is now always tied on. I add in a bladed jig when feeding activity is high or visibility has dramatically reduced in a short period of time. scott

I use the 7'7 exprideA for deep cranking. It's one of my least successful techniques, but this rod covers me when I think that bite is on. 6XD, cloud 9, River2Sea TB, MB deep6, and Azumas are what I throw. Also does well with scroungers, open hook swimbaits, wakes, small glides, gantarels, and heavy swimjigs in open water. scott

I have caught fish on fat impacts, gambler Ez's, largo shads, d walkers, netbait spanky's, lil/skinny dipper, and big bite suicide and kickers. EZ's and largos are my current usual, they seem to catch and last, in anything warmer than cold, cold water. But when the water temp drops I haven't found a replacement for fat impacts. scott

My top 3 were all early spring bites, late morning through dusk. April 9th in SW Michigan, 11:30A, 3/4oz swim jig w/ 120mm D walker @ 6.5lb February 8th in NE Texas, 3:30P, 1/2oz jackhammer w/ 4" swimmon @ 7lb February 12th in NE Texas, 6P, 5/0 flashy swimmer 100mm D Walker @ 9lb scott

I don't know the SC legend X, but my 904 does not in any way feel stout. The MBR action was quite a bit softer in the tip than I expected, but was pleasantly surprised by the backbone once I got into it and I get why there are so many fans of it. scott

I slightly disagree. Many times I'll work an area successfully with one bait till it dies. Usually, I'll try something similar in profile/speed and something bigger and/or slower/faster and pick a few more off. But you're sure right that the next spot gets worked with the initial successful bait first. scott

I agree and was probably unclear. weighing // no slack = best semi-slack = good full slack // initial fall = worst for feel, line watching and time to bottom indicate bites for me scott

1 - might be true for you, but not objectively true. That said matching thin braid and light lures require proper equipment, but isn't that true regardless 2 - not sure, but I have achieved professional overruns and picked more than most out. 3 - agree 4 - I fish semi-slack with braid to leader, don't think I miss loads of bites, though the initial jig fall bite is one of the hardest for me to detect if there is no swimming off. "Weighing" my jig is my most effective method. My straight copoly rigs feel slightly dead in hand and require a recalibration of feel that day. 5 - mono and braid are probably equally cost efficient imho, floro is the true outlier 6 - braid is definitely susceptible to sharp rocks/zebra mussels, wood. Leader solves this for me. Rod, reel, line are all working together as a system. There are many ways to organize your personal system and I am more than happy that there are options for me and everyone else to play around with. Sharing pluses and minuses allowed me to set myself up in a way that works for me. Lots of opinions on this site masquerade as facts. This paragraph isn't directed at you @Bass_Fishing_SoCal just my general gripe/vent with an otherwise great group of people and experience. scott

- 117 miles to lake house // 40 ish mpg and 1:45hrs and 13$ in tolls - mortgage on 2nd house - bait monkey s**t scott

I fish braid to leader with alberto and fg knots and have no problem with line diameter with the exception of thicker diameter braid to thinner floro using the fg. fg bites best when it indents the leader slightly and I'm unable to achieve it while setting it. In this case, I use alberto, really modified alberto. In practice, I would think 40lb braid to 6-8lb leader is where this would happen, but I never use that combo of line. scott

I might be in the minority, but I really like using a frog/flipping rod for baits this size and single hook. My personal favorite is on sale at ALF, but still out of range. ExprideA 7'6XH w/ 50lb braid to 20lb maxima UG or straight braid. I'm a fan of the Fury 795 swimbait rod for glides/trebles but not particularly for these type swimmers. Irod Genesis III 775, 754, or Dobyns sierra 766 might be a action/price point match to the expride. Maybe spend some time with it on your frog rod before making the plunge. Long casts, sensitive enough rod to feel the tail thump, bulldog any hooked bass, and persistence is my general advice. I also believe crappie are on the big bass menu, and think you're on a worthwhile tangent. Good luck! scott

XZone adrenaline craw and gambler stinger have caught for me t-rigged in grassy, clear water, but SK RB is my first choice. RI Beaver and RB are my preferred jig trailers. Hard to beat a RB if kicking is what they want. scott

X 2^^ Somewhere near/over 3oz feels a lot better on the 300. scott