Triptych

If you only need to catch one big bass to win might as well use a big swimbait. 8" plus. A bait that you can cover a lot of water with. My theory is that if the big girls ain't biting, keep moving til you find one that is.

A few things I've accumulated over the past couple of weeks.

Teckel Bladewalker. Oops didn't notice someone posted a video.

Fedex dropped off something from Japan! I can't wait to give these a try.

Corvette yellow! .. and 106F bent minnow. Thanks hookup tackle.

I only got 1 hard bait.

Sweet! They only mentioned soft baits in the $200 JDM box. I also ordered an Evergreen combat stick (7'0 MH Glass Casting) from them a few days ago. It's arriving Saturday. I'm excited to open the JDM box now.

Oh right. I thought your username looked familiar. You're the one that hinted me on the availability on tackle tour. I got my bfs spool a few weeks ago. I weighed it and It's about 8 or 9 grams. I can't remember exactly. Casts pretty nice.

Ali X has diy spools for the 80.

I usually pair the heavier reels with the longer rods to move the balance point closer to the reel/lock nut. Balance is more important than overall weight to me. Tatula 200's on the 7'6 rods Lews on the st croix Chronarch on the Fenwick I like and own a zillion SV tw but bang for your buck would be Tatula 103sv Tw. I just ordered one from Asian portal for 140ish. Feels just as good as the zillion which I also ordered from the same site last year. I don't own any shimano reels so I have no input on them.

I own a steez A HLC. It is as they say, wild! I cannot use it for any regular techniques. It is designated as my 1 oz spoon reel now lol. I own several Daiwa reels and even a couple with lighter fixed inducter aftermarket spools, and compared to all of those, the HLC is wild. Good thing I bought it new from Japan for $350 a few months ago. If I could do it over again I would have opted for something else at the time. The other Daiwa reels I have: alphas 800 tw, zillion 1000, 2018 zillion HD, Tatula 300, Tatula 100, Tatula 80 w/ 8 gram diy spool, Steez A with ZPI M spool, Tatula 103 sv tw, Daiwa SV103

I'm good at dodging flying lures. Sometimes I'll fish a single hook bait even though a trebled hook bait would be ideal. All for the one goal which is... I haven't hooked myself or anyone else for 20+ years.

I like the baitsanity explorer and baitsanity antidote. They won't cost you an arm and a leg and have a very good glide to them.

I have straight braid on everything. I bought a 3000yd spool of 30lb chartreuse j-braid grand because it was on sale. Put it on all my reels. I used to black sharpie the last 3 feet or so but I have gotten lazy and have not been doing it and I still get bit. My theory is that fish don't run away from strings lol (think about it... All the broken fishing line in the water, the hair algae, dead plant stems..it's all a part of their environment now.) The ones that want to bite will bite, the ones I gotta work for by using 6lb mono/fluoro aren't worth my time unless I'm not getting bit at all.

I recently bought 5 or 6 different paddle tail types similar to the keitech fat from x-zone, 13 fishing, etc. to replace the ever getting expensive keitech fat swing.The best out of the bunch was the Jackall Rhythm Wave, but I decided there is no replacement for the keitech. I'm going to put the jackall rhythm wave into rotation next year, but will mainly still be using the keitech. I figure if it works then why change it.

Megabass 6'9" P5 Super Destroyer. It does everything I need it to. It has amazing balance, it is sensitive, it's comfortable in my hand. I mainly use it with a keel weighted keitech, and it has done an awesome job of keeping them pinned with enough power to horse them in, so it will stay that way. I am not afraid to throw my keitech in the thickest of cover because I know I will get a good hookset and be able to horse any fish out.

I used to think I was a great bass fisherman and could compete against anyone. One day I decided to join a kayak bass tournament. I got spanked hard! I finished 17th or so out of 30 anglers. It was a humbling experience. This was not even pro level stuff just a bunch of locals. I instantly demoted myself to ameteur bass fisherman after that and because of that have been learning so much more about where the bass are, what lures to use, etc. since that event a couple of years ago. Now I get lucky and usually finish in the in the top 10, but still get spanked by the local hammers! So if you're soaking a senko and catching bass while the guy next to you is throwing a frog getting skunked and think you have what it takes and think you can hang with the pros, think again. It's another level. Oh yeah, the adrenaline rush you get when you hook onto a big one that may cash you a check is way different than if you were fishing for fun. You panic and fidget way more than usual which sometimes causes the fish to come off. Then the emotions hit you and you start side tracking switching to lures and techniques you think will get you another big one, and then you end up catching nothing else and it's time for lines in. The pros fish and practice so much that they don't worry about that stuff anymore. It becomes second nature for them about what to do next and how to land each fish without making mistakes.

I tie on an Owner Flashy Swimmer keel weighted hook to my swim bait setup because I guess that's the juice. My fishing experience goes as so... -The blade catches all that hair algae and I have to spend 1 out of every 3 or 4 cast picking it out. -The blade keeps wrapping around my fishing line, sometimes fraying it. I have to spend 1 out of every 10 casts fixing it or retying at times. -I can't throw it and retrieve it out of weeds cause the blade will catch all that grass and I have to spend time picking out the weeds from the blades. -The blade will sometimes get all wonky and misplaced such as between the belly of swimbait and hook and make my presentation spin. Then I retie with a Gammy Keel weighted hook with no flash and don't have to pick weeds out of the blade, can throw into the thickest muck I want, don't have to be thinking my setup is spinning and whether I'm wasting time on that cast. Way more efficient and more time to cover water. My thought is that if I'm going to use a flashy Swimmer keel weighted hook, it's going to be in open water. If I'm fishing in open water i'd rather use it on an open hook underspin. The moral of the story is not the owner flashy Swimmer itself, but that sometimes I overthink it and pick a lure that's new and shiny, instead of one that's effiecent at covering the column of water and type of cover that I'm working that day.

I'm not against Megabass (actually I am a fan), but Megabass can probably come out with a clone of the rabble rouser, call it something crazy, and people would gobble them up.

This! You can find them almost anywhere locally and they are IMHO the softest frog on the market (the black colors are probably the softest period). You will catch your first frog fish on it.

My Google lens couldn't find that one. Best match is lucky craft pointer but it looks slightly off. Maybe it's an older pointer bait.

?. Sorry. It's a feature on the photo app of my Google Pixel Phone. I can click on the "Lens" option of a screen shot or picture I took and it will identify locations, products, etc. that are similar to the photo.

My Pixel Lens found it. CTF Lures EOC 3.5 Small Stickbait Emerald Shiner by Chasing Trophy Fish

To keep it simple, all my baitcasters use 30lb Daiwa J-Braid x8 Grand except my frog setup with 50lb J-Braid x8 Grand, 1-4oz swimbait setup with 50lb J-Braid x8 Grand, and punching setup with 65lb DJB x8 Grand. I switch leaders depending on what I'm doing but I'm mostly use straight braid.

Scum Frog Launch Series for farther/easier casting. The original trophy series or painted trophy series are also great. ;However the Scum Frog Trophy Series should have a slightly better hook up ratio than the launch due to the launch series having an extra weight wrapped around the "keel" of the hook. I haven't found any to be better than the other for hook up ratio, they've all been the best frogs I've ever fished regarding hook up ratio. The black colors are the softest and are my go to. Must be the resin they use. You can try it out yourself. Buy a white, painted, or yellow one and a black one. The black one will be softer.