softwateronly

My experience with Northern LMB says don't be afraid to use big baits. They might be relatively smaller but their forage base includes panfish, perch, and rough fish and I spend a lot of time in MI catching bass on 6-8" swimmers and 8-13" straight tail worms. That said, there's plenty of times when a more finesse approach is best. This site plus time on the water has greatly improved my catch rate, hope you have a similar experience. scott

At least now it's clean and dry for a good light sanding and you have a visual of what coating free looks like. Probably feel as good as new when you're done. scott

I too am a fan of Nikola Tesla, and also hit jerkbaits in groups of 3's... scott

@clemsondds Swim jigs/paddle tails jig / beaver soft swimbait / paddle tails t-rigged worm I tend to upsize my baits as well. 5-7" swimmers, 8-10" bull worm or 10-13" curly tail, full bodied jig/beaver. I lean on the swimjig the most, with a slow but erratic retrieve. scott

I'd like to add, when dragging downhill, your bait often looks similar to small hops on a flat, or to put it another way, it's very easy to miss the strike zone while hopping your bait from shallow to deep. scott

For me, water displacement seems more effective than "noise" and I'm consistently surprised at how effective bass are hunting with limited vision. scott

I've seen summer boat traffic kill water clarity which in turn will start a die back, but not as drastic as what you're describing. I'd be leaning toward man made issues too. scott

I'm in the Tat 300 group, love that reel. scott

weedless - owner beast 4/0 1/8oz owner flashy swimmer 3/0 3/16oz for 4.3, like the 5/0 if around big fish or mostly 4.8 throwing blade runner weedless 5/0 3/8oz, my memory says more effective w/ 4.8 almost weedless - wobble head, 1/2 - 3/4oz, 3/0-5/0 wide gap hook open hook - dirty jigs TB swimbait head (large hook is ok on 4.3, fine on 4.8) 3/8oz most frequently but up to 3/4oz dirty jigs TB finesse swimbait head 3/8oz most frequently but up to 3/4oz owner round head w/ lockdown 3/0 3/8 and 1/2oz, usually wouldn't throw a 4.8 on this blade runner spintrix underspin 5/0 1/2oz I prefer baitcasting and throw all of these on a variety of rods, in general, M/F to MH/Mod-F are great for open hook and MH/F for weedless, but a MH/F can do it all. My favorite is a poison adrena 6'11M+ I usually fish 30lb braid to a sunline or maxima nylon or shock leader @ .35mm on a 7:1 reel. I use a dab of loctite super glue gel w/ keitechs and most heads. Most of this was taken from youtube or this site, but hasn't shown any glaring problems using it over the years. Burning on the surface, dragging the bottom, mid column straight swim, erratic swim, stroking, pendulum/coasting all of these retrieves have gotten bit. scott

Have thrown a lot of burritos on a Tequila bacarac. The zillion gets more distance on that rod than a Tat 200 or a bantam. Seems like 10-15' give or take. scott

Not much of a spinnerbait fisherman, but the screamin eagle is deadly on the smallmouth up here. Definitely worth trying out. scott

So sorry for your loss. May you find peace with what was and grace with what is. scott

I want a Darpa project working on quantum gravity and doing the maths necessary to rectify the standard model with quantum mechanics. They need money and some alone time because string theory is dead. I like your targets, but humans aren't getting anywhere and back spitting out of a nozzle, let the robots do the work for now. scott

https://petapixel.com/2022/07/11/comparing-hubble-to-james-webb-the-difference-in-detail-is-astounding/ Nice to see Hubble and JWST images next to each other too, and JWST was able to shoot this in 12 hrs compared to 2 weeks for Hubble. Gonna be a fun ride. scott

I use different braid but your entire spool looks too loose for my tastes. If you're fishing a slack line presentation, you might be getting bad line lay as well. I hope you're able to resolve it. scott

The big skinny dipper on a 3/4oz uoze has been a good one for me, so much roll and money. I second @Big Rick 's recs. I also really like scottsboro ( 6"& 6" Fatty) and gambler (Big EZ and Big GZ) swimbaits, and if you want a bluegill imitator the savage gear 4" LB and RTF have gotten vicious strikes and good fish for me, but not numbers yet. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Savage_Gear_Pulse_Tail_LB_Bluegill_Swimbaits_4/descpage-SGPTLBB.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Savage_Gear_Pulse_Tail_RTF_Bluegill_Swimbaits/descpage-SGRTFBG.html scott

I haven't used these on a freestyle, but they work well for 6-7" scottsboro swimmers. No screw lock or weed guard and have a nice swim even with the flat bottom. https://hogfarmerbaits.com/products/stand-up-swimbait-head-1?variant=8504426037299 scott

If the guide is still using his/her price structure from last year, I'd definitely be inclined to tip more to help offset fuel price volatility. scott

Might have been you @NorthernBasser, or others, but the 7'11XH is rumored to be quite a bit stiffer and beefier than the shorter versions. Making it sound like the perfect punching rod. The 7'6XH has turned into my favorite weedless rigged 6-7" swimmers and large heavy swim jigs. Perfect tip/backbone combo to sling it far and still drive the hook. It also doubles as my punching rod, but that technique doesn't play very often for me so it's currently more than good enough. scott

As a Big Texan, I'm gonna walk my tramp stamp over to the taco truck for some payback. scott

No, but the 7'3 and 7'6XH are perfect. I've gotten up to 2.8oz bacca burrito on them without much concern. scott

I make pictures for a living. It's obvious I leave my work at home when fishing. scott

Can totally understand. Skipping is so rarely needed on my water, it's not even a consideration. The only worthwhile cover to skip are 3 docks. One of them is mine so I just pepper my neighbors and then go to their's and hit mine. Maybe my beer drinking dock practice with a non ideal reel will make me the best, but a few years in now, I doubt it. scott

I have a JDM 22 Zillion HD on another rod and it kills, so now the reel monkey wants me to test the HD on the Steez. Not today monkey, not today.

Blasphemy I know, but an 8:1 Bantam has been my jam. Between the solid chunk of metal and that rod, I can really recreate the bottom in my mind. scott