softwateronly

I've taken a heavy grass jig w/ a grub, 3/4-11/4oz, on a stout rod and stroked/ripped my way through the densest weeds. It's almost like horizontal punching. There are times when this seems like it can't be beat as far as technique goes. The double hop stroking method seems to be key because a lot of bites are on that first pull of the first hop. scott

These are the only finesse jigs I've thrown, but I have absolutely no complaints. The tungsten really ups the feel and that tiny hook always seems to find the roof of the mouth. The only negatives are cost and the possibility of angry smallmouth putting a bend in the hook if you don't loosen the drag immediately after the hook set. scott

To me the warbaits weedless seems to keep the same waggle as an owner beast rig. I'm probably wrong as I've never directly compared them, but it's the closest I've found. Certain times of year if I can't have it run 6-8' deep at decent speed or 15-20' crawling, I won't get bit so this opens up more opportunities for me. scott

I only tie 2 terminal knots these days and they've served me well. Mono, co-poly, and floro all get the san diego jam knot. Direct braid gets a palomar with an extra line loop through the eye. I use a handful of different snaps for moving baits, but am partial to the decoy egg snaps. So far haven't had one come unbuttoned. I snap to a split ring if I'm lazy or remove the ring if I'm patient. edit: when using tieable steel leader, I use a bowline because the bends/turns seem less prone to cracking the strands and I'm proficient tying it. scott

I fish a very grassy lake, in the height of the summer, trebles can be difficult to deal with in water less than 17-18', so I don't throw the Gantarel that often. The spring and fall have given me good fish on that lure though, a little less deep water weeds allows me to effectively work the edges. That said, I feel like the Gantarel is a pike magnet. I think it's due to the when/where I throw it mostly, but it seems like it's a 2:1 bass to pike bite for me. Fast retrieve with frequent stops has been most effective, but the 2nd most likely time to get bit is about 2-3 seconds after hitting the water. So I usually let it sit for a moment, then twitch a few times, then start a fast erratic retrieve. The gantarel jr rides higher in the water column and seems more versatile for my lake. I haven't noticed a decrease in size of fish either. If your water is like mine, I think the Jr is a better summer bait. scott

I don't know other than what one buddy likes about his and what I've read on this site, but I now have the 7'2 H/F on the way. $199 seems like a hell of a deal. scott

I throw full size jigs on a different rod more frequently, but when I'm dragging a finesse jig the 734 has treated me right. I think you're gonna love the set up. scott

I use the 3/4oz Scottsboro recon head and warbaits 3/4oz weedless in 6/0 for the freestyle with good success. I definitely trim some nose off for the recon, I think a touch less for the warbaits. I have less time with the warbaits, but i think I get a little more head waggle with it. scott

I've had good luck tying my AFW leaders with a bowline knot. Might give you the action you need, if you're worried about break strength might need to upsize the wire one or two. If I remember, I'll try it out soon. scott

Hasn't been great for size, but the numbers are fine. T rig worm, frog, stroking a 3/4oz jig, swim jig, and 1oz scrounger head w/ stc pintail shad have been doing the damage.... scott

I tried TB's crankbait with the burn pause method shortly after ice out this Spring. Doubt the water was warmer than the high 40's. Both times I caught fish, good fish and at a pretty good rate. Besides the pain of high speed cranking, there's the issue of braid and ice. Eventually I'd freeze up my level wind or completely ice dam every hole on my combo! Until I upgrade my gear, I've come to realize that speed cranking is only fun while catching. scott

I got out Wednesday night for 3.5hrs and got about 20 bass, most in the 2-3lb range. What was new to me, was how. I started with a spinnerbait, chatterbait, and magnum trick worm. I got a few slow rolling the spinnerbait. The water is up 18" in the last 5 days from storms and clarity has dropped down to 3-4' from 6-8'. Somewhere around 2:30 the clouds rolled in and I decided to tie on a swim jig. I went back through the same water, and I started catching on every/every other cast. I also noticed that I started fishing faster at least twice as fast as I was before. I guess this is a reminder to not be like me and take 2.5hrs before you try something without blades and moving fast at night in relatively high and murky water. scott

This isn't a direct correlation, but shore fishing for smallies on the great lakes is really difficult. In Chicago, I can have good to great days fishing the harbors in late March thru mid April. Usually not numbers, but large prespawn females almost always over 3lbs. Hair jig, finesse jig, dark sleeper, 3.3" keitech, traps, & jerkbaits have given me the most success. That said, once they bed up, shore fishing is a lot more miss than hit for me. I think it's because they choose different water this time of year. You might be in the same predicament. scott

3/4 - 1oz scrounger head w/ a jerky j, hogfarmer spunk shad, and Scottsboro sniper shad It's given me a lot more offshore options for locating some bigger summer bass. Its still new to me, but have already pulled fish from 12' - 30' of water. scott

I have 65lb maxcuatro to 12' of 30lb sunline FC shock leader. It's worked really well for me. The TB is the only megabass rod I own, but I do love it. I had a Bantam on there for awhile as well, but it works better on my heavy jig/frog rod. The TB felt really comfortable with either. scott

Definitely higher end budget, but I absolutely love the P5 tequila baccarac. 7' 3/4-4oz, extremely light, soft tip and mid that really stiffens up on the power hooksets. I've only had it this year, but have thrown and caught fish with magdraft freestyle weedless, 6" bucca shad, A rig, 3/4oz jig and trailer, 11/4oz punch jig and trailer, 7" Scotsborough swimbait on a 3/4 & 1oz jig head, 1/2oz spinnerbait with swimbait trailer, gantarel and gantarel Jr. I have mine paired with a Met 20 in 7.4:1. The tequila is so light that the Met seems perfect weight wise and the solid body seems to hold up to the abuse so far. If you can, you should absolutely get your hands on one and see if you like it. The most versatile and unique rod I've ever fished. scott

Bully Wa Frog - Black/Yellow 1/2oz swim jig w/ 120mm D walker - crappie/silverside 5/16oz T rigged 7" gambler burner worm - gold rush 6.5" Beast Coast creep alewife on owner flashy swimmer 3/4oz flippin jig w/ rage bug - hematoma/blue craw 3/4oz scrounger head w/ a 7" Jerky J - green shad scott

Best of luck and tight lines! scott

I have a few JDM 7:1 and still really love them. Very comfortable, and have a great "solid feel." I'm not sure if there's anything to be disappointed in other than I'll probably get a larger handle down the road. If the price works for you, I think you'll be happy. scott

catchers last weekend - 8" SK bullworm/7" gambler burner worm Trig 5/16oz pegged - 7" Jerky J on a 3/4oz scrounger head fishers last weekend - frog - 1/2oz chatterbait - 6" magdraft freestyle weedless underspin scott

I have thrown the 7.8 very briefly on a 1oz warbait head, the action certainly scales up. It moves great. I went away from it for a bit but plan on using it as a "ledge" search bait this summer, alternating with a scrounger/jerky j. I also bought the 8" gambler swimbait. Both of these are significant chunks of plastic, I'd expect that they'd have some serious dink deterrent. scott

Or even a s%*t hook... Yep, thread it up and just before you push the head flush onto the keeper, one or two drops on the lead. I keep it in place for about 10s by hand to let it set. scott

My experience says you'd be better off using a slightly overpowered rod for a 10XD than a slightly underpowered rod for a Hud. scott

I cheat and run to my place in MI, about 1:45hr away. I'm impressed you're finding water with decent fish! To be honest I can't remember the last IL largemouth I caught, its spring and fall harbor smallies for me. scott

Taken the other way, the swimming worm can be dropped into holes a little easier with the nose down approach. scott