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I believe it was the 2018 Challenge Cup in Louisiana that Ish won a round using a swim worm. I don’t know if you can find that video but he did an excellent job of breaking down the techniques he used. Basically he said the swim worm allowed him to fish 3 different techniques with one cast. He could swim it, drop in open spots in vegetation or wood and fish it like a t-rig worm, and I can’t remember the third (I think it was buzzing like a topwater). He was able to hit the entire water column. I believe he was using a Speed Worm but I’m not positive.

I have never used them but I did check the comments at Tackle Warehouse and they were good (priced at $3.99). I have two Plano Edge boxes full of jigs so that was the last thing I needed but I bought 20 anyway. I start Tackleholics Anonymous tomorrow...wish me luck.

Have I mentioned how much I hate this thread?

Tons of choices depending on the style you like: Tiny Paca, baby menace, rage Ned craws (or any Ned trailer for that matter), Z-Man Baby Goat, or anything baby, tiny, etc. Or you can cut down a larger trailer to match as long as the appendages are not oversized to the jig. That last part is my hang up...the fish probably don’t care.

I’ll answer your question a different way. The reason you can throw them on the same rod is because the qualities you look for in a rod apply to both techniques. I use an NRX 873 CRR for Carolina rigs but it is also an outstanding jig rod.

I agree...I will vary retrieves and impart action as well. I was just suggesting that folks should try to stay in contact with the bait and not throw slack as that can be a negative. I looked around for a video and found a good, 2 minute explanation. Google “How to set the hook with chatterbaits” and there is a great explanation by Walker Smith.

It depends on the situation. If they are schooling, I may tie 2 half hitches and leave a foot long tag ?.

I very much agree. I bought a Conquest 842 for $375 and it was in perfect condition. The nice thing about higher end used stuff is most of the people that spend that kind of money tend to take very good care of it. I know I treat my Conquest and NRX rods like they are Koby beef ?.

I wouldn’t pay much attention to individual opinions unless you know the application of their recommendations (dragging over pea gravel is different than dragging over heavy chunk rock). Line choice is going to be influenced by the structure/cover you are fishing and that applies whether it’s a football head or Carolina or anything else. I have 3 dedicated bottom contact baitcasters to cover all situations so they have to serve duel purposes.

I think a lot of people miss fish on chatterbaits for 2 reasons. They either half heartedly set every time they hit a weed and introduce slack or they set too quickly. Bass are notorious for swiping at chatterbaits so, much like a buzz bait, you have to let them get the lure. There have been a lot of comments about reeling up the slack and setting the hook but I’m not sure why there is slack to reel up. As several other posters stated, I believe the best way to pin a bass on a chatterbait is to keep reeling until the rod loads and sweep.

I use the term edges or transitions v. breaklines because it eliminates many of the disagreements around what constitutes a breakline. Ultimately in the context of locating fish, we are talking about the same thing. Edges can also include water temperature (I.e. the thermocline), water color/clarity (I.e. a mud line), water flow (I.e. an eddy), a shade line (I.e. a dock), substrate (I.e. chunk rock to pea gravel), etc. Basically it a transition that can influence bass behavior. Typically you will see weedlines formed based on depth changes. When working weedlines, I often set my trolling motor to a contour associated with the weed line.

I can’t remember if I shook it or not. It was well over a year ago since I used it. I’m usually pretty good about following instructions though ?. I have several reels that I don’t use that are spooled with fluoro. I’ll spray some on and take before and after pictures.

Can’t buy on G. Loomis site. Try someone like ***. Edit: Won’t accept name so Google G. Loomis and look for the site that says your G. Loomis Superstore.

I think this is pretty spot on. I typically use 15 lb fluoro but will go to 20+ in heavy cover. 3/8 is my most frequent weight unless punching or heavy wind and 2/0-4/0 hook depending on bait size. Like @Ogandrews, I most commonly use a 6 1/2-7” straight tail or cut tail worm, same knot, and leader length dependent on distance from the boat (shorter for close range and longer for further away to compensate for line angle).

I used it on 2 reels and didn’t like it. I use fluoro and felt like it made my line look cloudy (kind of milky like the color in the bottle). I had a few of my partners compare and they agreed there was a clarity difference. Might have just been a bad batch or user error but I’ll just stick to a good line stretch if I have memory issues. Edit: I use Sniper or Tatsu so I can’t speak to Red Label.

Unfortunately, there is research on both sides. I think survival after hook removal is influenced by skill and handling. I personally remove the vast majority of hooks by flipping through the gills except in rare situations where it will take considerable effort. If you are afraid of damaging the gills (low likelihood), you can cut the line with about a foot of tag and fish the line through the gills to flip. Some say the hook will rust or dissolve but there are a number of studies showing 75%+ retention after 4 months, even in salt water. At the end of the day, skill and care matter.

This is true...unless you overpower the weight. You can do the same thing by putting a kink in the bait. Another great thing about shakey heads is there is really no wrong way to fish them. You can drag, hop, shake, or swim and all can be effective.

Fair enough...I’ll own the misunderstanding as we are probably saying the same thing. At the end of the day, everything is technically a reaction but in my view, reactions can be bucketed based on a desire to feed reaction or a non-desire to feed reaction. Three examples to illustrate: 1. I would venture to guess that 99% of female bass caught off of beds are non-active feeders. 2. There are many times when the only time a bass will hit your lure is if it deflects off of something. 3. If there wasn’t a distinction between feeding v. non-feeding, it would be fruitless to winter fish as bass can go many days without feeding. Like I said, I think we are on the same page. I think the hang up is the word reaction and maybe it’s thrown around too loosely. I believe it was Ott Defoe during the last MLF tournament that said on camera that the fish had become inactive and he needed to trigger a reaction bite. Pro’s say that all the time, as do I, but I guess technically it is a little lazy. Edit: One last point to refer to your jig example, jig weight (rate of fall) is often changed to elicit non-active strikes.

I’ve always found fish mortality post catch to be an interesting subject. Hook location, hook removal, hook/bait type, etc. And then add in things like water temp, delay between strike and hook set, stress of the fight, care in the live well, to fizz or not to fizz...so many variables.

This^^^ As Ott would say, structure is the topography.

Lol...their neighbors Jack and Jim can be pretty helpful as well.

Awesome ATA...I’m glad everything worked out. If you have the will power to wait 40 days before strapping a reel on that rod to test it out, then you are the MAN. I think I would strap on a Zebco if that is all I had ?.