jglerum

Thanks all. I had moved line from spinning reels and put 8# on one baitcaster and 15# on another. Daiwa Tatulas. Worked beautifully. Casted like a dream. Until suddenly it didn’t. One spinnerbait launched into Lake Huron - gone from this life, and one jerkbait floating 100 feet from shore that made for a cold swim. I just ordered 30#

Why's that?

Welcome, from Grand Rapids! I grew up and Kalamazoo and have fished a number of the lakes you mentioned fishing.

Thanks, everyone. I fished a couple of times out with the 14# mono and then switched over to 15# braid. I'm much happier with it. The rod has enough give in the fiberglass upper half to keep a fish pinned with trebles but the braid helps me feel more and pop the weeds off better when needed. It's MUCH more responsive. Fishing a couple of tournaments in the next week and will see how it performs, but my time out yesterday was great.

Thanks, everyone. We started on the flats I marked, but they were so choked with slime that we couldn't pull anything through them without fouling up (not even a Texas rig). In fact, much of the lake had developed slimy coatings along the shoreline and we struggled. Everyone did, though. We weighed *** pounder. Eight of the 26 boats didn't weigh anything at all. Hoping some of that slime will clear out before the next time we are there.

I'm going to be fishing my first tournament soon on this lake. I don't often fish lakes this large (mostly smaller inland lakes) and I'm wondering if someone would be willing to help me with lake breakdown and strategy? What I'm thinking: There are a couple of places on the east side of the lake where there are flats 4-6 feet deep off of points and I thought some lipless or swimbaits across those would be good. Maybe some wake baits or walking baits depending on conditions. The wind will be SSE, so pushing onto those points. On the west side of the lake, there are some shallow inlets that I think will be spawning areas. Outside of those areas are some docks and bridges that are really close to deep water. I was thinking that it would be worth hitting that cover with some wacky rigs and jigs, hoping to catch fish as they travel from spawning areas back deeper. Any thoughts? Advice? TIA

Great, thank you. I misspoke - it is the XL, not the XT. Sounds like good confirmation of my choice to start with. Thank you. I have a 705cb glass that I have 12 pound mono on right now and I use that for small to sm/med cranks and I have a 683c that I have 10 pound on and I use it for misc. whatever. The 5 power in the cb glass doesn't feel like too much stick, to me. However, I don't use many diving cranks (usually not much below about 8 feet, at most, and usually in the 2-4 foot range) given where I fish most of the time, so they have worked out pretty well. I'm not sure the 765 would have been the next rod on my list, but I found a great deal - the Champion XP 765cb glass paired with a Tatula for $240, shipped. Couldn't pass it up. Find I like it a lot! Thanks for all of the responses. I think I'll leave on the 14 pound right now. My next rod is likely to be a Dobyns 734c, which would then be a braid rod for some of the techniques that need that.

I have a Dobyns 765cb glass that I've been using primarily for lipless cranks but will likely use for medium-sized crankbaits, maybe a chatterbait now and again. I'm wondering what your suggestions are for line to do all of that? I know it's asking a lot. I'm thinking braid, given the need to compensate a bit for the glass rod when using lipless, but I don't want to go too heavy and interfere with cranks and bladed jigs. Am I trying to do too much with one setup? (currently using 14 pound Trilene XT)