MediumMouthBass

Ill be the odd one out. Years ago if you took away the fancy boats, 20-50 combos, 30 tackle trays, dozens of storage bags containing plastics, 0 electronics (except the trolling motor). And gave everyone the same equipment so it was 100% fair. You would have to guess the depth, use intuition to find bass. I would put money on the pros winning. They just had more talent, hours upon hours each day for years or decades to practice refining their skills, and the endurance to do it all day going full speed. But today if you take away their screens and required them to actually, you know? Fish. Id put double on the average joes. (talking the average joe vs average pro here, not the best of the best) Its worth mentioning that the average guys are always underestimated. Ive seen more average joes in beat up old sit in kayaks or scratched up jon boats catch giant bass more than any tournament angler (except Milliken, he might be a total idiot "influencer" but the man can fish on and off the screens). Id agree, to me average joes are the guys who have the older combos, have 0 clue what im talking about when i say what new bait im using. And look confused as to why i bring so much stuff with me i dont use. locally atleast, these guys look very plain, nothing fancy, etc.... These guys would destroy anyone that tried to outfish them at the local lakes/ponds/rivers, something about the older ways of bass fishing they got taught just catch alot of bass. Theres alot of really great, highly talented peopled, in this world. The person with the better personality, more money, who has connections will always go further. Even with an 1/8 of the talent. And i know theres people on this planet who are natural born bass fisherman, who have that ability to just catch bass most of us wont. But i doubt they have several hundred thousand to drop at their disposal to compete against a stacked deck. Which for most hobbies/professions money makes the money.

I understand. I have a few select favorite stores too, that id rather order from. Only really order from TW when theres a good sale. Side note, anyone elses Cabelas/BPS downsizing the fishing section displays? I went to the biggest Cabelas in the USA last night, theres no more clearance area for fishing gear, only about 6-10 Daiwa/Shimano rods and reels combined, 4 Lews reels and only the KVD rods on display. Theres a few Abu rods and reels too. I know they are moving towards over saturating the store with house brand gear, but even that wasnt much. I found 1 BPS Cranking Stick and one only. (there werent any open spots in the displays either so they were fully stocked) I know its just a display but i remember it being much, much bigger just a few years ago. You are very correct on this. Walked through all the aisles with cash burning a whole in my pocket and managed to avoid buying a single item. But atleast now i know what i want come the Spring Classic, which was the whole point of the trip anyways.

Any 6 speed reel would work for cranking. Only time you would need something special is for lighter/non aerodynamic stuff that can be hard to cast, and deep divers that need to be cast very far so they can get to depth, they also put a lot of wear on the reel from their drag. If you are fishing lighter cranks/non aerodynamic baits the SLX 70 with an MGL spool is phenomenal. Deep divers or big crankbaits a BB1 Pro, one of the only reels made for cranking and cranking only on the market currently. A bit out of your price range but you can find one on sale and have BPS price match it. Even for regular cranking applications this thing works great. I use mine mainly for lipless cranks and love it. For all around cranking a Shimano SLX A $100, SLX XT $120, Daiwa Fuego CT $120, Tatula CT $150, Lews LFS $100 are all good options at your price point before using the gift card.

TW now uses Paypal, takes all the risk out for the guys who got burned from them.

Im starting to really love using 7 speed reels for crankbaits. Aside from deep divers obviously, ill stick to a 6 for them. You said its only a 3-5' deep river, i dont think a 7 will do anything a 6 wont in that environment (and vise versa). If you find its not working like you wanted it too, just slow yourself down on the retrieve. When its about to get blown out get that thing cranking! Pun intended

Sapphire Blue. Black. Black with Blue flakes. Green Pumpkin. Pumpkin. Red. Okeechobee Craw.

Bass and walleye fishing are the most expensive hobbies a man can have I remember when i would fish for trout only years ago, when i first got into fly fishing i was shocked and laughed at spending $1000 on everything i would need, from rod, reel, line, flies.... I thought to myself i can make do with $200 in total, anything after that id be stupid! Several years later i now consider that pocket change compared to what ive felt "necessary" to spend for bass fishing. Are you serious? He would have to buy off brand Ramen noodles from Wish or Temu. With that being said i agree with him, go for it!

Too much investment even for the good ones. Just to spool my one reel with good quality flouro it would cost about $20 atleast. Then would last about a half year to a year before needing to be replaced again. As well as needing special treatment/conditioner frequently, or the mess and disaster i mentioned happens with the line. Hybrid costs me $6 on sale to buy 600 yards, pickerel bite offs are the same ratio as when i used fluoro. Also lasts longer in rocks/zebra mussels (my experience), casts far, no conditioner or special care required. No issues with the wind, nor does it bunch up and leave a bunch of knots. Has the perfect mix of sensitivity and that little bit of stretch to set the hook and keep the big ones pinned. After 2-3 years of having it on my reels i finally changed it, not because it needed it. Only because after fishing the dirty Susky the line was brownish yellow. Then theres fluoros biggest issues. #1. The knot has to be tied perfectly, you cant cross the line. Or say goodbye to that lure on the slightest hang up or big bass bite. #2. It breaks so easily compared to everything else on the market. When i fished for trout i would respool my reel monthly, at the end of the month the spool would be at 50% full or empty depending on how you look at life. Break off, after break off. Even after buying better stuff, doing the correct knot, etc.... If this happened with good stuff, then you can imagine how absolutely terrible the Berkley Vanish i used went. And at one time i actually thought i was getting it for a steal for the $15 i paid for the big bulk spool on sale....

I use 7 speeds, because they are all i use for everything thats not a crankbait. Then ill use a 6. I couldnt tell you a thing about IPT. I just cast, reel, and fish, so far that 7 speeds working well for my Texas rig and jig fishing. I could see using an 8 speed if i was in very bad areas of the lake (filled with tons if vegetation, that if i hooked a big bass it would run to it fast)

To me fluoro is nothing more than a marketing scam, along with a huge mess of a line. Vanish is among the worst of the worst and caused my hatred for all of fluorocarbon line. - Former Vanish user.

Always considered Aliexpress/Temu/Alibaba/Whatever else they come up with next nothing more than a cheap knockoff scam site, is it actually legit? Talking about the product being really whats shown, then customer support if something goes wrong, and being safe to put a card # into?

I really want to get a 24 Tatula 100, its the only thing Daiwa has left i dont own from them that interests me. Im very temped to get one from Japan, seems like a great reel. You are definitely right about it being better than anything Lews makes around the similar non sale price. The only thing in that range would be the LFS-LFS MP, and while they are very durable reels, they arent very appealing... At all. Both kind of look like Walmart specials. So glad they just redesigned the LFS, but it still leaves alot to be desired.... Whereas the new 24 Tatula 100 Daiwa hit a home run with its looks. But the BB1 Pro, Custom Pro, Custom SLP, SuperDuty LFS, Pro SP, KVD, Tournament Pro that are on sale or go on sale frequently around $100-180 i would put up there with being the same as any Daiwa-Shimano i own in the $100-220 MSRP range (actually $375 since my Zillion is the US version). As from my extensive amount of time on the water with all 3 brands just hasnt really given me any reason to pick a favorite. They are all in the same ballpark to me, now one reel might do this or that better than the next for certain applications, but as a whole each brand is equal to me, theres really not one thing this one does that blows the other out of the water.... (These arent reels made in Japan, just Thailand and Korea so maybe that makes a difference?). But at this point the only thing i care about is the reels looks, comfort and price. Which is why going forward i will only be buying Lews reels on sale in the US, and Daiwa/Shimanos from Japan. Because i can get some absolute steals from both. Who knows, maybe the Japanese reels are better like everyone says, ill have to try it out myself. But to stay on topic for this post you can get some really good steals of a deal from Lews buying from the US, and even Daiwas/Shimanos too (although since they are big on not letting sales happen on certain items they wont be as much off on price). Now if bought from Japan you are getting a super deal on the big 2. Whereas Abu stopped this, for the past year or 2 they only ever let their stuff be sold for MSRP or maybe just a few bucks off at most. The sale they are having now is surprising, but thats probably because their sales dried up. When you compare MSRP prices, Abu is more expensive than all 3 other brands. And they stuck to MSRP up till now. Again with the composite framed reels i mentioned, $50 more for a base model Abu than the base model Daiwa....

Really depends on what you are throwing, idea of what weigh range youll be using? Best thing for bigger baits when it comes to reliability is an Abu Ambassadeur. Big reel, no modern tech, etc.... But very simple to use and work on too, parts are everywhere. Easy to modify. If you want a modern reel than its very very hard to beat the Tatula 200 for anything that doesnt require a 300 sized reels. Goes on sale alot for around $150 too. However the Curado 200k is also a good option, looks much nicer too. But much more cost.

A real shame too, im currently stuck with a $275 Legend Glass unsure what to do with. Past return date, if i sold it id lose a bunch of money having to heavily discount it, and even more when i go to pay income tax on the sale. Going to a fishing show today to try and hope someone will let me trade it for a rod or reel in the $180 range.... Its a really nice looking and feeling rod. But with how St Croix's current reputation is on snapping first cast, if mine did from what ive read it would cost $110 to replace it. Just for the same thing to happen again. For $10 more than the replacement i can get a Kaden rod on sale currently....

You are absolutely right. When i got big into bass fishing i was a Lews hater, i will admit it. Everything being sold in my local stores was their plastic overpriced Mach or Smash series junk. And i still hate on this garbage to this day. However Lews is now my #1 go to for rods and reels. I just picked up around $700 worth of really nice Team Lews Custom Pro rods for $200 taxed all together at DSG a few hours ago, got the LFS for $22 too (DSG's current price, since its no more after being replaced by the new Speed Spool Gen 3). The sales many websites run on Lews gear is insane, i picked up a few BB1 Pros and a Superduty for $100 each awhile ago too. Unlike Daiwa and Shimano who are often excluded from sales.... Abu used to be the exact same way, dependable rods and reels that were sold for very huge discounts. Sadly thats not them anymore.... I love my last gen series of SLX reels, and my Tatula/Fuego CT's too. But the new SLX's arent getting great reviews, and my last few higher end Daiwas were complete disappointments. Mainly the overpriced and overhyped Zillion and Tat SV.... In the older days i would go back to Abu, but the darn things cost the same if not more than the big 2 like the OP mentioned. My only option left was Lews, and so far im loving it. The stuff is on sale year round for half to a quarter of the price of the rods/reels from the big 3. And lets be honest, in a post covid world (excluding Japanese made reels) theres no difference in quality from brands anymore. All you are paying for these days is the name. And thats not a good enough justification for me.

Preferred knot to connect?

Ehhhh, theres a few guys i know and even more online here/youtube/reddit/facebook that are echoing St Croixs not what it used to be. Reel seats breaking, coming loose, rods snapping easily after a few casts. Replacements they paid for doing the same when they get them. Along with cheapening out severly on the guides for certain expensive models. But its a hit or miss situation, some guys are getting rods lasting over a few hundred fish without issues. And with the customer service lottery (either getting a new rod for free or paying 50% retail for a replacement) I for one (current St Croix owner) am waiting it out to see what happens before buying any more St Croix's going forward as @padlin probably is too. Hence the not going through them for a new one. Oddly enough one of the rods i was looking at was the new LFS rods. Its too new to get any feedback or reviews on it as not many guys have bought any yet. So its too soon to tell how it feels or if there will be any issues with the series. its currently $104 in cart at TW across the series for their sale this week, but knowing Lews will probably be around $80-90 in the future for sales. Its an unproven rod and you @padlin will be there first batch guinea pig. Im becoming a bigger and bigger Lews fan with each rod or reel i switch to from them but honestly i would pass on this one for the time being unless you really like it, then go for it. But i think for the similar price a Dobyns, Shimano, Falcon, or Daiwa with the same sale would be money better spent.

Really good reel from what i can remember about the people on here commenting on a post i had about it last year. It was for sale at $100 and the masses said buy it now. At $75 i would do the same^ Dont quote me, but im pretty sure a few guys compared it to the Zillions they owned.

Theres big money in hockey, even bigger money in golf. Fishing theres just pro tournaments, college tournaments, and your buddy who put a facebook post up for guys at the local lake tournament. Most of these you either sink a bunch of money in it, or break even. Money is only there at the pro level, and compared to most other hobbies and sports they are only making pocket change. Which similarly reminds me that i was just thinking about pro motocross a few nights ago, super physically demanding sport. Tons of work and dedication just to qualify for a lesser event. Super hard on the body, and theres a big chance of severe injury constantly. And if you arent sponsored, you will sink every dollar you have in it and again lose money or break even. The guys at the top level may make a few million, while most wont even make a few hundred thousand, or a million. (not talking about careers but a season/year). But if you can throw a ball youll get signed for 10s-100s of millions? Makes 0 sense to me, but thats where the money is! Bass tournaments on the lower level seem like a good time, and alot of fun. On the big stage however (IMO) it seems very boring, like watching paint dry. It went from what used to be a hyped up bunch of dudes, with interesting personalities (kind of like showman, or a bands frontman) going out on their boats blasting through the place to get a spot, and actually fishing! All luck, skill, etc.... I wasnt alive back then but from what ive seen it looked like a blast to watch. Now its a bunch of guys who dont have the same vibe, just silently standing there staring at 4 screens all fishing the same technique. Add on theres a new scandal each month (what it feels like). Hard pulling in big crowds by the masses on what i just described, so wheres the cash pouring into it? Its just not there. Most of the guys i talk to on the water wouldnt even think professional tournaments that are televised are still a thing..... And myself and they are big bass fisherman. Maybe one day if things change drastically it will get more attention and money will start getting dumped in like bigger sports, and then you can hire me to be your coach. I need a 2nd job for this tackle addiction

If im not mistaken, fluoro no matter the size is a no go for preventing bite offs. 100lb might reduce it a bit or a lot but not prevent it. Tieable wire like @WRB commented will. I finally just picked some up last night because im sick of these pickerel and pike taking my hard earned money, after i took it first to buy new lures!

I know theyve got sales going on all the time, this was different. Not exactly like the Spring Classic, but similar. All of their Magellan fishing gear (clothing which i love) was on sale, their house brand rods, reels and baits/lures too. I just cant remember if it was in the winter, spring, or summer. Wasnt sure if it was a one time thing or happened regularly. Sadly theres no Academys anywhere near me, so clearance deals i always see guys talking about i miss out on😌

This is a very sad, but highly realistic outcome. Think about how old these fish are, anywhere aside from CA/north of TX, AL, GA, LA, FL, these big bass take a very long time to grow to these sizes. Thats a very hard life to live too, constantly struggling to find food in the never ending fight against larger panfish, birds, big trout, smallmouth, walleyes, pike, pickerel, musky, catfish, and other big bass along with the smaller ones. Lakes being treated with chemicals, being over fished/underpopulated or under fished/overpopulated, oxygen levels changing, etc.... Then the stress they are put under being caught, the 5-10 minutes they are held out of water waiting for the local youtubers cameraman to get the perfect shot, and then tossed back in. Plus the much colder winters too.

Fishbrains website wont let me copy individual catches, so i will just link the lakes i can remember people posting 5,6,7,8lb+ bass from. Not sure if theres any 10's posted on these lakes so if anyone finds any let me know! Lake #2 had a few posted but its no longer on Fishbrain, the other 10lbers ive only seen in person, so no way to add them here. You will have to take time and scroll through each one to find the big ones, some are recent some are at the bottom, others in between here and there. Click largemouth/smallmouth to filter out the panfish. (while im not sure if theres any 10lbers here, theres many very big ones that come close in weight, along with being very impressive for a northern state in mostly small and shallow waters) Lake #1 https://fishbrain.com/fishing-reports/aiLRvdlx?species-ids=SCQyR-cP Lake #2 isnt on Fishbrain anymore like i said above, but this guy posted a few bass he caught here and lake #3. https://fishbrain.com/anglers/jgiordano6201 Lake #3 https://fishbrain.com/fishing-reports/2Pol7SOU?species-ids=SCQyR-cP Pond #1 doesnt have any big catches posted so i wont link it. Some additional places Lake #4 https://fishbrain.com/fishing-waters/GjwFr-f5/beltzville-lake Lake #5, small largemouth but some monster smallmouth and trout that are more of an achievement than a DD largemouth in my opinion. https://fishbrain.com/fishing-waters/cZnmdl3J/harveys-lake This is PA's largest natural lake in the state in volume! Reminds me alot of the lakes @A-Jay fishes, especially the massive sized trout and smallies. No pike however. Although the catches on fishbrain are mid sized, the ones on facebook and in the news are giants. Lake #6 https://fishbrain.com/fishing-reports/W6eSsKsb?species-ids=SCQyR-cP Lake #7 https://fishbrain.com/fishing-waters/kQrsFaRR/briar-creek-reservoir Lake #9 doesnt have many big ones posted either. But heard many stories about huge bass being in it. The local shop owner was telling me once he caught one about 6-7lbs that had teeth marks going down its side from what he thinks a perivous pike encounter.

The most notable one is from 2012, i believe its unconfirmed by the state and looks a lot smaller than 10lbs (looks smaller than my 5lb catches tbh). But pictures can make something look bigger or smaller, so who knows. Personally if i caught any sized bass over 4lbs i would just take a picture if i had my phone with me and leave. I dont blame the guy who caught it or anyone else who didnt chose to kill these very rare and majestic giant bass just to get it confirmed by the state. Honestly i couldnt stand myself if i killed a giant bass who had a hard life and beat the odds/statistics just to boost my ego and for my own vanity. Another thing to think about is most anglers dont bring scales with them, and most of the people ive met fishing who have caught some real big ones are mainly older guys who are big old school fisherman, who dont take pictures and get the bass released immediately for the sake of its survival. Nor would they ever call the PAFBC to brag. Anyone younger like me however i see taking measurements and pictures of any bass above 1lb. So i can only imagine all the giant bass caught that we will never know about. And all the potetinal state records that couldve been. I can only count on one hand the 10lbers ive seen in this state, whereas for ones ive heard about from different forums, tackle shop owners, people at the lake talking are much more (but i take those with a grain of salt). But im becoming more of a believer because there is potential for bass growing big here. I mean one state over, (yours) just had the record broken by a guy from PA at 12lbs 6oz! And another record broken for the 9lb smallmouth too. So northern states are finally getting recognition for being able to grow these giants.

Only caught 1. Saw/heard about the rest. For the others im talking about i used fishbrain to see posted local catches, which make up the remainder of the big bass im talking about. I cant share them as they arent mine but i can post a link to the fishbrain catches locally of big bass if @Glenn allows it. (not sure if outside links are allowed?)