softwateronly

My favorite is G funk in non bladed, cali rig. For reasons I don't understand, it just produces for me better in the clear water I'm fishing. I also let it hit bottom, rip it up, and slow crawl it with sporadic reel chops. 7'7" and 7'9" rods definitely help me get the casts I want. scott

I've done relatively well with the Picasso pro in double willow. It's one that only really worked for me on a slow roll. Burning makes it track poorly. Recently a fat 40" pike destroyed my only one. Not sure if I'll replace it, but I will try the head as non-weedguard swimjig this fall. The TN shad head/skirt and a D walker silverside pair up really well. I like the vibra wedge and am about to get a couple more in 1/2oz. That's the extent of my limited experience. scott

I have a curado DC, 18 bantam mgl JDM, and 20 met mgl JDM. I use the Bantams for jig rods and Mets for worm fishing. The JDM bantam is around $245 on digitaka.com It's an incredible reel and I definitely recommend it if the weight is a good match for your rod, same weight as the DC curado. If the weight is too much and you don't want to spend $295 on the JDM Met, I'd lean toward the curado mgl. I don't know the diawas you listed, but I'm sure they're awesome too. The tat 200 and 300 reels I have, I really enjoy. scott

I keep forgetting to go back to poor boys. Their tubes and erie darters produced for me many times over the years. scott

I've caught bass, even a handful of 18-20", on both the Gantarel and the Gantarel Jr. I'd say half of those bigger bass were on the splashdown or the very first twitch after a 5-15 sec pause. The rest were on a very fast retrieve with frequent cadence breaks or pauses. That said the bait definitely shines in early spring and late fall/early winter for me. Which leads me to what it's best at doing for me, fooling decent to large northern pike in SW Michigan. Our lake is clear to crystal clear water with heavy weed growth. Most of my fish, both bass and pike, are on the last visible edge of the weed line, usually 12-15' deep with the weeds reaching between 5-7' of the surface. I think that's why splashdown/pause/1st move is so effective when they're positioned in the weeds, and burning/pausing is effective when they're positioned on the deep water side, or at least this is my best guess. scott

Just want to add that I agree w/ fishwizzard that the PA 6'11M+ would be a fantastic "heavy" rod for what you're talking about. I absolutely love how lightweight, sensitive, and responsive the rod feels. I never want to put it down. scott

I'm definitely not Mr. Swim Jig, but I do real well w/ 1/2 and 3/4. 3/4 stays 6-8' down at a good pace w/ a hard kicking trailer. Here's my recent best on a DJ Cali jig in Crappie from the prespawn... scott

I agree with MN Fisher and want to add that I feel like the big jump in "bottom contact feel" occurs in the next price jump; @$250. For me that was the Expride. The Fury rods I own and even the Champion rods, do best with moving baits. For me, Dobyns are a touch heavy and a touch "muted" in feel, but they are balanced and have a great action for fighting and landing fish. scott

Ive only tried and caught with mutsugorou and haze, didn't notice a huge difference but I think I lean toward mutsugorou. scott

There's a fall window coming up, but I have less experience pinning it down, time wise. In the spring, I can definitely say that the last week of March through April is when I do well. Most of my success is with a dark sleeper, 1/2 oz finesse football jig, and a 1/2 oz hair jig. Don't forget a net or use line strong enough to pull the fish up and out of the water. I know the water's clear but I still get bites w/ 14-20lb mono. 31st street harbor is most convenient for me, but have also done well at Burnham and Monroe. scott

looking at the building under construction in the bg, it was probably early in the day and very early 2021. scott

Mend it or super glue is a great addition too. Between rocks and the vicious hits, the front face like to open up, and the body slides down the weight. I've only caught smallies with them, but I've only really thrown it in the chicago harbors. My guess is everything will eat it, I'm pretty sure a goby or sculpin is on all big fish menus. The 3/4 is where I start with any water over 10'. 3/8 in the riffles/shallow eddies, pools sounds doable. scott

I've only fished this bait in a lake, but it fishes lighter than you think and bottom bouncing is where I get all my bites. My experience says to start with 1/2oz. I use 1/2 and 3/4 the most. scott

For me, the chatterbait is a big fish bait. Numbers are rarely good, but the big girls seem to find them. Now I upsize my trailers, using 6" spunk shads or 7" jerky J's which probably is a self fulfilling prophecy regarding the lack of numbers. I see you're in Pike territory, one good thing about night fishing with large profile baits is those toothy critters haven't stolen much from me this summer. scott

Previously, most of my chatterbait bites were working it like a jig, ripping and dropping out of the weeds. Hookups were solid. Now I'm getting bit reeling in just fast enough to feel the blade, hopefully staying 7-10' deep. With this slow rolling, my bait's just getting destroyed. Going from slow steady chatterbait thump to complete nothingness, followed by frantic reeling for what feels like 5-7 seconds just to feel any resistance so I can keep reeling, sweep the rod, and hopefully get a good hookset. My odds are down enough to need to switch up stuff. First was moving up to the 7.1 reel, now I think I need a rod that loads up more. I'm gonna rearrange my baits and give a 734 or 706cb a shot. The 2 bass I lost recently were incredibly angry jumpers pushing 22" right at the boat. Either one would have been my largest bass in the last 2 months and I don't like this trend! All sorts of memories are coming back to me about why some people like glass rods for these fish. scott I definitely understand that and its great advice. Some swimjig bites are real similar and I have defintely found the 7'6" rod has treated me real well. scott

I've recently changed my mind about this, as I've had more recent success with a slow steady retrieve at night but I'm getting so much slack in my line from vicious hits that I'm having trouble catching up with these angry bass and getting a good hook set. Burning a 7.1:1 reel and full sweeping hookset is the only thing that keeps them stuck. I might need to drop down a power in the rod to help even more. scott

I have both a curado 201k and a tatula 200HSL and really like both of them. I've heard good things about the SLX. I really don't think you can go wrong. For me, I've pretty much adopted braid to leader for all my setups and tend to like shimano better because the TWS doesn't play nice with my fg knot until the 300 size. scott

pre turnover, mostly night- swim jig w/ paddle tails- 1/2, 3/4, and 1 oz depending on depth flipping jig w/ craws - 3/4oz both dragging and stroking bladed jig w/ pin tails - 1/2oz jackhammer honorable mention - shower blows post turnover, I start adding these into the mix and get out more during the day - 6-8" glides A-rig 5-7" paddletails scott

Night fishing is definitely the best use of my limited fishing time these days, here's a couple decent ones from Friday. Landed 4 3+lb fish but lost the best one at the boat. I guess I'll try again.... scott

I'm not claiming this will work but I'd add a 3-5" swimbait (depending on the size of the forage) to the mix both open hook and underspin. Seems like your catches are when they're feeding on baitfish, maybe a more subtle baitfish lure can get the job done. Slow, steady retrieve with a good tail thump and they'll find it in dirty water for sure. scott

I was torn between a GLX 843 and a PA 6'11" M+ for awhile. Finally decided/found the PA and have no regrets. Paired with a JDM 20 Met is the lightest, most sensitive combo I own. Don't want to put it down when I'm on the water. The GLX has a better warranty for sure, but I feel like this PA punches way above it's price point. I'm also a huge fan of the Expride 7'6" MH. I've abused that rod like no other and it holds up to nearly everything. scott

I'm probably gonna muddy the waters here, but these are also great ideas. I use the 795SB and have heard nothing but great things about the Genesis III series and on my short list for my next big bait rod. Either series would be great for Arigs/168's. I also see that you're thinking stripers might be a target? Getting a 12lb+ striper on a Zodias in open water sounds like a fun fight, but if there's cover involved I can see that turning to heartbreak real quick. I'm not in striper water often, but I remember nearly every time I hooked into one. They are beasts! Here's the bait monkey's opinion, in the end, I think fishing is way more fun with at least a H jig rod and SB rod. How you attack which is first is just a choice, the monkey wins regardless. scott

This might be too late and not applicable anyway, but my snapped expride in May was back in my hands in 10 days going through tacklewarehouse during all their covid restrictions. I was impressed. Maybe that was all tacklewarehouse's doing, maybe not. Sure is a bummer that Shimano is costing you 9 months of use and it certainly seems like terrible service to me. I would not be happy. scott

When fishing a 3 hook // 2 dummy Arig w/ 1/8-3/8 jigheads, I prefer to use a 7'7" H expride. I would think that it compares relatively similar to the Zodias, probably a touch softer. I fish the 168 S waver on a lot of different rods, my favorite is Dobyns DC 706cb, but the 7'7" expride is in the next choice tier. The Zodias could also double as a H jig rod. If you don't have a H jig rod, I think you should get the Zodias first. Then as you start to want to throw more big baits, you can get a proper swimbait setup. In my opinion, 2-3 swimbait setups are needed anyway if you decide you like it. I think it's nice to have 7' ish for up to 3oz trebles, a 7'9"-8' rod that handles up to 5-6oz treble baits and a 7'9"-8' single hook rod that handles up to 5-6oz. Some glides can be worked with the rod and excel in short accurate casting situations, the 168 is one of those. At least the Zodias can do a lot of different things on the 1+oz side. If you already have a H jig rod, you should just throw these baits on that first see what type of feel you prefer with them. scott

Bummer. The 7' would've been a better match for my needs too. This 7'2" will probably end up pushing me to sell something to find a versatile Trig/light jig rod that can do moving baits ok. scott