AlabamaSpothunter

Yeah my bad. I get it, if I ever found a place where I could catch those type of fish, I wouldn't even tell my mother. Ironic that it all happened in CA, as it was truly the gold rush of Bass fishing. The fact it happened on a 2000 acre lake is mind boggling.

Yeah it takes a second to get used to the noise of the boost spool if you really bombcast something. I find the SV TW and TW HD to be equally user friendly, and by that, I mean you can go from one reel to the other and besides the awesome huge handle and grips on the HD, you feel you have the same reel in your hand with the same performance and incredible smoothness. I could standardize with just these two reels and be happy, but atlas there are so many other cool, and awesome reels in the universe that need trying. One small thing that was a big thing for me on the SV TW vs TW HD.....the SV TW has some kind of plastic/composite star drag knob....whereas the one on the TW HD appears to be AI. Nice upgrade there imo.

Pricey, but I'll do like you recommended in the future and backfill with some cheap mono. I'm used to 100/110yd sized baitcasters which is all good as it gives me two good refills per spool. The Certate 3000 held a ton of line even being the JDM model. 3/4ths of the Spool, so now I have a nice bit of leader left of it. Won't make that mistake again at $20+ per spool ?

To be fair you are unique among your own generation of epic big Bass hunters.......I never read about you growing up like Bob Crupi who was constantly plastered across Bass rags in the grocery stores growing up. I think Bob Crupi and Josh Jones are quite comparable as they parlayed their fishing successes into profitable guide services. I know Butch Jones does it for the love of the game, but even he was promoting baits especially by Huddleston and was sponsored. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you never earned money from catching the big 5 in your avatar, correct? I know you said you have tourney fished some, but I'm specifically talking about the period of your fishing career where you thought you were pursuing the WR. If that's correct, you are the only person with that level of big Bass history who hasn't capitalized on in on via guiding, sponsors, starting a bait company, having a huge Youtube channel with Adsense, etc. That's quite the noble and purist path, ultimate respect, but again you are very rare in that regard.

I truly thought that was the case until I spooled a new Certate with that 8# Invizx. It's so manageable.

Yeah it would be perfect for that, but it's perfect for many, many things. If you love the SV TW, you'll love the HD. @T-Billy Don't you use yours to haul pigs out flipping and tossing jigs on yours. I throw mid sized big swimbaits with mine around cover. I want another one for T-Rigs and Jigs.

Those are the coolest baits, so much thought and detail put into them. Jackall baits have ridiculous action to them, as noted this bait will turn 180 and look a following fish in the eye with a twitch of the rod.

I have no doubts these same things were said when flasher sonar hit the scene. I think folks who dislike FFS are more in line with Trout fisherman or Fly Fishing honestly. If you are just now being bothered by tech advancements in Bass fishing, then you aren't being honest with yourself. How is using GPS to lock a boat down in 15mph wind directly over a bunch of boulders you identified on Side Scan and Down Scan sonar any different than scoping structure or fish in front of you? The only thing that regresses the sport is killing the fish, giving 13lb+ fish to the state of Texas's ShareLunker program is progress imho. For every FFS monster fish these guys catch, an untold amount will be created in the future with it's DNA. Josh is a victim of his own success when it comes to FFS. People view FFS under the lens of Josh, not the dozens of local guys in my high end tackle shop talking about how they waste half their fishing days staring at FFS. The majority of anglers don't even know how to effectively utilize their Down/Side Scan. There is a handful of anglers in the world that produce stunning results from FFS, I think the big fish are safe for now. I say all this as somebody who fishes out of a $500 Jon boat, a 50lb thrust TM, and a Garmin Striker 9SV. I understand your opinion, but I can't agree with it.

I think the Keitechs are great, but I think I prefer the fish tail/straight tail/rhythm tail swimbaits more. They are also very fragile. The 3 and 4" Damiki Armor Shads are just awesome and my favorite. Largo Shads are great as well. Really lots of quality offerings out there these day. Rage Tail swimmers. Jackall Rhythm and Wags are fantastic as well. Lastly Lake Fork Live Magic Shad are great when used as a trailer on everything I've found. Fluorocarbon line prices range bigly, but I prefer to spend the money on the higher end Seaguar Invizx because Flourocarbon plays a little less nice with spools, and I want the most manageable Flourocarbon I could find. It's great stuff though, very tough and manageable. No line twisting. 15lb Flouro and above I use the P Line Ultimate line, and for the 12lb stuff I like the Seaguar cheaper red label line. Really any of the ones made in Japan are going to be fine.

Hi friend, fellow Shelby native For what you are throwing, which is what I throw a lot of on 7ft M to MH rods with 2500-3000 sized reels, I've never felt the reason to go away from 8lb test, and I just find Fluorocarbon hits up a weight class vs. mono when talking about strength and abrasion resistance. Not a braid guy so I can help there. Single hooked baits are better used on Fluoro vs Mono imho. Mono shines for Cranks, but outside of that Fluoro gives you the best of both worlds when it comes to mono and braid. I used to think Fluoro only shined for "low viz" applications, I don't fish clear waters at all, but use it for different reasons. Some will talk about knot strength and shock which are real but overstated.

Got a week of straight 60 days, but more importantly 50 overnight temps for that week. I'll be fishing 50-60hrs during that week......come on White Whale

It's been so cold these last two days, I'm reminded once again that I simply couldn't exist much farther north. I already believed in Seasonal Affective Disorder because we still have a true winter in central Alabama and I hate it lol, but now that I'm learning about how many of you fellow die hard Bassers have to shut down during the winters, I see there are levels to that game. That said, lots of people oddly love the winter, snow, etc. To those who don't though, I can empathize with the darkness that northern winters must be like. 10-20 temps ain't nothing for most of you Yanks, but again I'd rather be homeless in FL or CA than experience much more of what we are experiencing ?

Heck yeah!!!!! I've always jokingly said that when it's my time to go, I hope a big cat eats me. Now the new joke is going to be: " An Alabama man was eaten alive today by an Alabama Bass when the man fell overboard, officials with Alabama's department of Game and Fish estimate the Spotted Bass sub species to be around 400lbs. At this time the fish has not been dispatched, and the public is warned from entering the waters until further notice" ??? Had a 6.2lb fish "deglove" the skin on the front of my thumb this summer.....it was a very impressive injury. Bigger Spots, and LGMs of 5lbs will "bite" the bleep out you when you go deep to get a hook. I usually get bitten like this digging out a 4/0-5/0 EWG T-Rig setup. I'd rather deal with trebles and big Bass, than a single heavy jig/t rig/bladed jig hook and big Bass. It's a sign of accomplishment in my book, but Bass can shred your hands before you even notice due to adrenaline and excitement.

Here is some background on that fish, and a pic.......these are the several guides who are plugged into Josh Jones I was talking about earlier in the thread. I'm thinking of booking Nick for two days during that time frame. He does Fork and OH Ivie.

My fishing confidence would be the size of an ant without Spots ?

If you come through BHAM, give me a shout, I'll buy you a brew. Wheeler is where it's at right now.....had a good friend just go and caught 40+ fish in a day. I think it's exploded because they stopped killing lots of the grass IIrc., and in return the LGM have had a boom

Awesome brother, that's a big old battle wagon there now. Just shows how special the Largemouth Bass is, you're likely catching Billfish on the reg, yet you are on a Bass fishing forum, not the Hulltruth or something ? Bass are my favorite thing to fish for, but nothing compares to bluewater saltwater fishing for a variety of reasons.

He's still charging less than what it costs to go out with a run of the mill Charter boat captain in the Gulf fishing for a limit of Snapper and Groupers which is amazing if you think about it. Most good guides around here run $1k for a full day. For a thousand more you can fish with the sport's most exciting angler. Given his uniqueness, and how many days he actually can guide......$2k sounds like a really good deal oddly enough. His last guided trip I can recall was a couple months ago where he put a client on a 8lb+ SM. That's what's crazy, he can put clients on trophy fish on multiple bodies of water it seems. He fascinates me as much as the big fish he's catching do.

You captain a boat down there? What boat do you fish out of? Love Sportfishermans Was a deck hand growing up. Catching the fish is a blast, dealing with the boat when the day is over will make you yearn for a cane pole, a bucket of worms, and some bream.

Cats fascinate me like apex predator gamefish......always been a cat guy.

Some awesome people on here! Setting it up is a real pain for a new person like myself a few months ago.

Don't you go rogue on me Braided Wonder.....there's a reason you were branded with a Bass where the sun don't shine ?

Muskies just seem epic in every aspect. I didn't think people could catch that many in a day until you were posting all those multi fish days. The rarity, and size of these fish is what I grew up romanticizing about. The whole fish of a thousand casts. In your case it's the fish of a dozen casts ?

That's odd, usually JPL is the more expensive place but you get the free lure I've found. Either way prices have gone significantly up over the last month. Still great deals, but the end is coming based on the moves of Japan's central bank in recent weeks.

Freaking SWEET! Been waiting for Digitaka to get them in for a month or two. I was waiting for some reviews, where do these reels shine?