T-Billy

Yep. Time on the water and diversity. Most of us fish a handful of local waters. Those guys fish a wide variety of lakes all over the country, and learn to break them down quickly.

Same here. Pike and Musky love it as well. Landing a big Esox with a face full of Bama Rig can be interesting to say the least.

If you haven't purchased the rods yet, I'd suggest picking up a couple Ark Lancer Pros. Lighter, better balanced, and far more sensitive than either of the rods you mentioned. They're having a BOGO sale on their website right now. You can get two delivered to your door for $120. It's an absolute steal of a deal, as these rods are an outstanding value at full price. You'll get lots of suggestions on reels, and they'll probably all be good ones. Hard to get a bad reel at that price point. Definitely consider JDM. With the current exchange rates, all of Japan is on sale, and Digitaka has been fantastic for me. I've recieved my reels from them in 3-4 buisiness days, and it's an easy shopping experience. To say I've been impressed with my JDM Zillion HD 1000's is an understatement.

Not done yet, but it's been a good year size wise. Numbers are below average but only because I focused on catching bigger fish. 3 LM over 5# so far, and 5 over 4#. That's a pretty solid year in my neck of the woods. Got off to a slow start. Didn't get one over 4# until june. No big smallies yet, but a few between 3.5 and 4. Put my wife on her PB musky at 44" a couple weeks ago. That'll be the highlight of my season no matter what I catch going forward. Caught several nice saugeye including my PB at 6-14. Overall, a really solid year and the water's still mid 50's. Looking forward to it dropping into the 40's. Every swing could be a monster in those temps.

Hooksets have cost me a few rods. Set into a bridge, an unnoticed overhead limb, and lost one to a high stick. Also had a musky bite me off on a sweep hookset, and the rod unloaded into the trolling motor.

Another option that's absolutely on par with the XT is the Ark Lancer Pro. They're having a BOGO sale right now, and you can get two shipped to your door for $120. An absolute steal.

I'm beginning to see a trend here. LOL. The old saying hooksets are free ain't zactly true. They've cost me several hundred over the years.

I don't know if there's a better Crankin rod out there for the money. The 7'3" H is a pretty good chatterbait rod too.

Same goes for bass. I was just trying to make the point, these guys did nothing wrong or illegal killing that fish, and don't deserve to be shamed or disrespected for it. I'll leave it at that, I don't want to paticipate in taking this thread any further down this road.

He ate my 6-4. If I ever get a LM over 7# he'll eat and mount it too.

Do you think that's the case? I'd bet there's hundreds if not thousands of SM that size swimming in the great lakes. Plus that fish has passed it's genetics on multiple times already.

Legally caught. Legally kept. If I'd caught it, same thing would have happened. It's a bass, not a sacred cow. My hilljack taxidermist would have ate it and made me a beautiful mount.

Wait a minute... Didn't you just get a wetsuit? I'm looking forward to the report on how they were torpedoing a whopper plopper as it chewed it's way through the skim ice!!! ?

Brother, You surely made @Log Catcher proud of ya with that one. ? We've all been there. Sometimes ya hook 'em just right, a little off center, and they even run sideways on ya. That was a dandy on the second swing.

You know...... @TnRiver46 caught one on a spinnerbait this year. Never say never... ?

When it comes to embedded hooks, the plastic matters. Nearly all factory baits are soft plastic with lots of salt. Easy to drive a hook through but not very durable. The baits I make have no salt and are made with medium plastisol. Much more durable and they hold a hook better. Harder to drive a hook through though. Still, the only one that really requires a HARD set is the Sweet Craw. I can fish that sucker through anything though without exposing the point, and it's accounted for every bass over 5# for the past two years.

Ark Rods is having a year end BOGO sale on the Lancer Pro series rods. 40 ton blanks for $50 a pop is a steal. I received a pair of 7'2" HF today and I'm pretty excited to go pitchin with 'em. Stout rods for sure with a 3/8 - 2oz rating, but not the pool cues that my 7' HF Veritas is. These Lancers have some tip to 'em. They'll be seing lots of use.

Why worry? You ain't gonna change it.

I believe it was caught on a spinnerbait. ?

7 bass that size is a decent day in my neck of the woods. Congrats on the article. I enjoyed it.

Agreed. I don't have any high end, but my curados and scorpions will launch a bait. Your thumb better be paying attention, and your casting technique better be on point though. No herky jerky allowed or you'll have a mess on your hands.

Amen Brother. I've only placed three orders with 'em, but all three have arrived within 3 or 4 business days. Lots of sellers here in the USA don't get me my stuff that fast.

What an absolute pleasure to fish with. I bought two, and I'll tell ya, if I were starting over, this reel would be on all my moving bait rods with the exception of finesse stuff. I like my MGL 70's for those. Not super small, but very comfortable, long casting, not the least bit finicky to adjust, and butter smooth. LOVE those handle knobs, wish all my reels had 'em.

Since getting turned on to BFS gear by you minions of the Bait Monkey here at BR, spinning is for crappie fishing.

LOL. Visibility was 6'-8' at the lake I was fishing today. I pitched into a beaver hut and a half dozen bass came rocketing out of it. Spookiest I've ever seen 'em. Impressive hut though. Those industrious rodents even installed a toilet!!!