Drawdown

The rod has arrived! Feels great in the hand, and I like the taper of the blank. Only thing I’ll have to get used to is the skeleton grip. Seems if I put all but my pinky finger above the reel, my thumb is likely to slip during a hook set motion. But if I have 2 fingers on each side of the reel, that problem goes away, and my middle and ring fingers make more direct contact with the blank itself. Can’t wait to fish it!

I love the Z-Drop worms. I think the color I used is called purple smoke, and the North Georgia spotted bass seem to love them. As for the Bait Monkey, I really have a frugal mentality, so I am in agony when I buy tackle. Really I try to keep myself to $15, give or take, whenever I buy at Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, or my local shop (minus say, the cost of spooling bulk line). This is one reason I avoid hard treble hook baits like the plague. Can’t afford them with this philosophy…but I’ll give in someday. Probably after I get a new job. Rods and reels I’ve only bought when I get extra money.

Anywhere location you need to be able to cast by flicking your wrist, regardless of technique (e.g. creeks)…spinning all the way. For spinnerbaits, casting gear. Used to break off spinnerbaits while casting with spinning tackle.

On iPhone, once you select the pic, tap where is says “actual size” and pick “medium.” Then it should work.

I’ve snagged both, I think, but I have a better time getting loose from rocks by changing the angle, or even just letting the line go slack before snapping back. So it’s the weight getting caught in the rock, and whether I get loose depends on whether I can change the angle, depending on what the bank looks like. Those thin wire finesse hooks seldom let do from logs, however. Though I have broken off some tree bark with a the 5/0 hook on a structure jig. Permit me to ask this: does the direction I run the line through the hook eye on, say a skirted jig, affect snag likelihood? I know while drop shotting the direction of the line matters hugely for the orientation of the hook…but I wonder if since I began drop shotting I’m more likely to go through the eye in such a way that I’ve become more snaggy than I used to be. Since I started fishing a drop shot, Neko rigging has been near impossible. I snag so fast. I actually always go through the “front” of the hook eye since I started drop shotting—obviously this is irrelevant to round ball jigs, or any other bait with an eye that faces left and right of the hook shank, instead of “north-south.”

When fishing from a boat obviously this is less of an issue. Pretty much always can get it loose (though we probably spook fish changing the angle on the lure) unless it’s hooked solid into a semi-soft material like wood. I’ve tried 1/8oz and 1/2oz—but not pegged it either time.

As in, use mono instead of the little wire that most Tokyo rigs sold at the store come with? I’ve never fished a Tokyo rig.

Especially when fishing soft plastics “uphill,” working a lure from the deep to shore, I struggle to keep it off the bottom. As a result, I lose a lot of bottom contact lures, whether or not the hook is exposed. Should I be raising my rod tip when I think the bait is getting close to a sharper “incline”? I try to “pulse” the bait by gently twitching my rod tip, but that alone doesn’t keep it *just* off the bottom when going “uphill.” I’d also love to be able to confidently bounce the bait off the bottom (as opposed to dragging it, which is a recipe for a guaranteed snag), but it seems like even letting it fall on slack line can get me immediately stuck. I know snags are inevitable—I’d just like to reduce the number of times I’m forced to break off a jig, Texas rig, or round ball head. Another thing I *just* started trying in a snag-prone area was rigging a 7” Stick-O like a Child rig. Guess you could call it a “man child rig,” lol. Had to be 7 times the number of casts before I eventually snagged it, too. Just need to figure out how to work the bait. It’s like a mix between a Neko and a weightless Texas rig.

I’m intrigued by this style of soft lure. How do you retrieve it?

I do drop shot on a ML Shimano Convergence. MidwayUSA has them for $70.

…And the trigger is pulled. I’ve ordered a 13Fishing Blackout and some UV Speed Craws (which I am excited to try, for the first time—the forum and rave reviews on vendor sites helped convince me they are worth it). SG had the Blackout on sale for $54 (member pricing). Got to use the $20 coupon from the trouble last time—so in the end it (hopefully) all worked out.

Trigger finger is beginning to hover over a 13Fishing Blackout.

The ML XT I had shipped to me from Sportsman’s Guide was $67–so, right or wrong, I hate to pay much more than that…but most importantly I just wasn’t crazy about how it felt compared to my Shimano Convergence ML. The tip seemed freakishly thin—and I do fish from the bank sometimes.

Same goes for my local DSG (Chattanooga).

To quote Bernie Sanders: “Once again I am asking for your support…” because my second consecutive order for a 7’ Medium action spinning rod has fallen through. Since I haven’t looked at sales in nearly a week, if you see a decent rod at a discounted price of $70 or under (or $90 on TackleWarehouse, or $80 on Sportsman’s Guide). Background:

Man, I’ve got no luck—called TW after the rod never shipped. Somehow they messed up on their end and their warehouse no longer has a Shimano Convergence. They’re offering a refund (obviously) and up to 20% off depending on brand…so maybe third time’s the charm? I also have a $20 coupon from Sportsman Guide from the first debacle…

I shouldn’t even give advice, but I’d try a ball head swimbait at various depths and retrieves parallel to the ledges/weeds to see if something ambushes it. Then, if that’s not working, I’d swap the swimbait out for a trick worm on the same ball head (probably 1/8oz with a #1 or #2 hook). Try swimming by, then try actually landing on the ledges without getting hung up—I usually can finesse even an exposed hook through thick pond weeds, by alternating giving slack and applying gentle pulses of pressure. Then I’d try a skirted jig + pit boss just because I’m stubborn. If they don’t want any of that, I’m not sure they want anything.

It’ll be a real game-changer when the Ned Banjo comes out. Guaranteed dogfight every cast.

Asked the guy at the shop, who stood to gain if I did decide to respool. And he asked how many wraps I had left. Hadn’t thought about it before he asked, but when I did and told him it was at least a dozen, he said I’ll be fine. Funny you mention this, because I think it doesn’t cast *quite* as far as it did before. I wondered if it could be because I gave it an even longer leader than last time. Or if it was the amount of line in the reel. But it’s not enough to matter—when I eat up the rest of the leader I’ll take it in to respool.

When I make a cast on my spinning reel with 15lb braid, I see the metal of the spool. My local fish shop was running low of bulk spool the day I got it set up, and a couple weeks ago I had a bad wind knot lose me a good deal of line. I’d hate to get spooled. But should I just wait until I run out of leader to re-do it?

Cast a jig + pit boss in the brush during the heat of the day. Didn’t weight but it was definitely 2-2.5lb at least.

Seems tricky to find for some reason now. TW and eBay are the only places that seem to carry it, unless algorithms are messed up.

I’ll consider it next time I’m in the market. Another rod I had thought about ordering at one point, before I ordered another Shimano Convergence, was an Okuma Reflexions B.

Decided I’ll return the Tatula XT. I went ahead and just ordered a Shimano Convergence Medium action from TackleWarehouse. Have absolutely loved that rod in Medium Light since I bought it earlier this summer.