MediumMouthBass

Take the same brand's yellow tubes, and put them in the same brands bag of white tubes on a warm week. Check daily so they dont mix too much though.

Theres a few places currently that have the Lews KVD CC5 (cranking rod) rated up to 2oz on sale around $88. This is what i use for 6" Magdraft/Daingerous/Whales paired with either a 1/4 or even a 3/8oz Owner Beast. Its 7'4" and called a "moderate" action, which is odd since its got a bunch of backbone. I would stay away from an all purpose rod that does double duty for swimbaits. Most rods rated up to 2 oz will suffer greatly casting and fishing lures 3/8-1/2oz, depending on how stiff and strong the rod is maybe even 3/4 too. I have a few rods rated up to 2oz, these things couldnt load a 1/2-3/4oz lure if money was on line. They can cast them, but its very poorly done. And for the amount of strength and power these rods made to cast bigger baits have you will be ripping hooks out their mouths trying to set the hooks on stuff like Chatterbaits, lipless cranks, jerkbaits, crankbaits, T rigs, etc.... Since the hooks on bigger baits are often very thick, these need alot more backbone to drive that hook into their mouth. Now all around fishing can be done with these type of rods, but it will be like driving a V10 Lamborghini all day on a road limited to 10mph traffic.... Skip this, aim for 2oz atleast. Or you will be severely overloading the rod if done many times. If the all around rod you have now is working for these i would keep that for them, and get a dedicated big baits rod in that 2-3oz maximum weight range just for swimbaits and glides.

Jon boat is my vote. Not a skinny one either, have seen these many times on the lake. Looks like they were built to tip over.... Go with 40" width at the very minimum. A plastic boat like a bass raider is nice for one person maybe 2, but it will get cramped, and plastic doesnt mix the best with elements either (hot and cold). Nor does it mix well with rats, had a guy in last fishing trip get rid of his kayaks because he left them out in the woods and the rats had ruined them. My dad and i have a 1040 Lowe paired with a trolling motor and a 2.5hp Suzuki. Good stability when seated and standing up anchored, drifting around, or using the troller. But when using the motor or there are bigger waves/wakes sitting down is the wiser choice. Have about 5 rods comfortably sitting on both sides of the inside edge, and can take several tackle bags too. Its a nice setup, but we really shouldve bought the next size bigger to take an extra person or dog... With/without seats its not very heavy either, can be pulled/pushed over grass with a single person and launched extremely easily as well alone. The most important factor to think about though on these smaller boats is the maximum weight of the people using it, its not only a legality but a safety measure. Make sure to check weight ratings as you may need to go up a size.

That poor bass has a fish stuck in his mouth😐. What a crappie day its having..... For OP, big baits catch big bass, they also catch small and medium sized bass. But the bigger the bait, the bigger the chance of catching a big one. Is it worth it? That depends on the person, and where they are fishing. I fish tons of lakes with 0 shad, i still throw white baits and lures. Guys also catch big bass on trout swimbaits in places without trout too. The number 1 issue with swimbaits is the time it takes and persistence you need to have. You have to make peace with throwing a big swimbait/glidebait for hours upon hours over and over again with 0 success while knowing at any time a jerkbait/crankbait/bladed jig/jig/Texas rig would actually catch more bass. But you arent throwing a swimbait for hours looking to catch bass, you are doing it looking to catch a big one. So to me its worth it.

I too think Kastking and Piscifun are a dumpster fire personally. Cheap knockoffs backed by very little customer support, reviews are split between awful-paid good ones. And they definitely spend more money on marketing than making higher quality gear. For instance does anyone remember the reels they were advertising for having 10 more bearings than the higher priced competition? And being sold on Amazon is a whole other issue, Amazon JP might be good for fishing gear, but here in America Amazon rods come broken most of the time since they are often shipped in a soft triangular box. And the reels can be sometimes used returns, even the wrong/cheaper one. Also heard terrible things about their line.... But i cant deny this, the guys on here/reddit that buy their Kastking rods and reels going into it with realistic expectations usually are happy with most of their gear. Of course a cheap Amazon special will never compete with the higher end, higher quality gear. But again, the guys who set out to get a Kastking are buying a reel usually between $30-75. They arent expecting the worlds best, they are trying to save money and try something much cheaper to have fun with or to test it out. Even though im not a fan of Kastking, i like how they make affordable products. Not everyone has a giant paycheck to buy whatever everyone else deems worthy. Like casts said its an inexpensive reel, the number one reason guys dont get into BFS is because of the price. Seems like they are offering something the bigger companies arent. Affordability.

I wont be buying anything else from Rapala anymore, i loved 13 Fishings lures. Truly amazing lures, the paint on them was unmatched too. I cant understand how they are keeping the (honestly) garbage rods and reels that many will not buy. Look at the reviews, these things offer Amazon house brand quality at Daiwa prices. But they got rid of the lures, the only thing the brand had going for them😂 The way they are conducting themselves for reel parts and replacements isnt too surprising, since they are now owned by Sycamore Partners (private equity), the same company driving Abu, and the other Pure Fishing brands into the ground. Really thought private equity wouldnt get into fishing, as they ruined video games, aftermarket performance car brands, and numerous other things..... But here we are.

I can do many things for bass fishing, some bad, some marginal, some decent, some good, some great. But what i am best at is being persistent. I fish many small lakes, these are very high pressured. After everyone else gives up im still there casting over and over again, sometimes even hours in the same spot. Although my 2nd best thing is distance, i can cast farther than anyone else at the local lakes when i am bank fishing. And i speak from experience when i say this, because getting an extra 5 yards from the person there before me has given me many bass catches.

I think skill matters, until it doesnt. Luck and timing are the #1 and #2 things in my opinion, there were many days i would spend 1 hour casting a lipless over and over again in the same spot barely moving. After several hundred casts i would catch a new spring PB, this happened several times. Were the bass there but just not hungry until 100th cast? Or were they not there but i stumbled across an area they travel through and was able to cast at just the right time a bass was passing by? Who knows. It wouldnt have mattered if i were the best fisherman alive, they werent biting until that moment. #3 Being able to avoid modern day pressure, these bass have lived a long life, and had to survive a lot of different things. They have seen many, many of the same baits in the same group of colors time after time. Throwing something different, whether it be shape, size, movement, or color i think is another great thing. Because they didnt grow 5-10lbs biting every green pumpkin bladed jig that was thrown infront of them. After finding a place that can and does hold big bass, figure out what the locals are throwing. And do something drastically different. #4 Primary source of food. (this is more a CA/Northern states thing, doesnt apply to the southern states with their strain of bass). A lake with bluegill may hold big bass, but how many? Maybe just a few.... Whereas the states that stock trout have had numerous big bass in them, and some giants too. In PA our government stocks trout like an addict who won the lottery, and every place i fish even though small in acreage and not very deep holds many big bass, some giants too. CA is probably the greatest example of what trout can do to grow big bass. #5 Yes, big bass have been caught on finesse presentations. But i truly believe the best chance we have at getting these fish are one of 2 ways. #1 fast moving baits, again these bass have lived a long time and have seen many lures. #2 bigger stuff, like swimbaits or glidebaits. Especially trout ones.

Always check google first, they will price match almost all the big names. Who are always lower.

If you want the cheapest Strike King Rage plastics on this earth in bulk than this is for you. DSG has buy 3 get 3 free on the Strike King Rage Swimmer 42 piece kit and the 42 piece Rage & Perfect Plastics kit too (you can mix and match between the 2 kits aswell). It would be $60 for 6 packs, which would be 252 pieces. Coming out to around $0.23 per bait. I did this years ago and still have several kits left, was a blessing for me when i was wanting to get paddle tails on a budget and couldnt justify $1 Keitechs.

Its 2 in the Bass Mafia's, they go on sale alot around $8-10 a pack. Check out the newish 6th Sense Whale if you want to save the most money, pack of 3 on sale currently at a few places as low as $6.

The Daingerous (Bass Mafia), and the Whale (6th Sense) are my preferred 6" Magdraft alternatives. I too think the original is way overhyped, overpriced too. Which is why i like these knockoffs better, so much cheaper and they swim better. Keitechs are an option as stated, but i think they completely miss the point for 6"+ swimbaits. They are just too thin in profile. But it really depends on what a bass wants at that time. 6" Freestyle/Unloaded's both come in at around 1.2oz from what i could find, before adding a 1/4oz Beast. I throw mine on a rod rated up to 2oz, wouldnt want to throw them on my other rods. Because they may be able to handle them, but i wouldnt want to break one of my all around rods.

Use this. I use my C3 for swimbaits 1-8oz.

It can be done on some 100's, my BB1 Pro is the size of Daiwas 100 or Shimanos 150. However the spool is deeper and its built for deep cranking. You may or may not know that deep cranking puts a beating on a reel, as these deep divers create alot of drag. However the average all around 100 sized Daiwa/lews (or Shimanos 150) may handle 1oz just being casted and retrieved given the bait doesnt have alot of drag. But 1.5-2oz would probably cause nothing good long term. I have all 3 of these reels, i wouldnt want to throw anything 1-2oz on them. A reel like a Daiwa Tatula 150-200 goes on sale frequently around $120-150 and would be your best bet. If you really have to use what you have, throw them on the Black Max. More than likely it can and will ruin it, but these things are somehow super durable and cost $30 to replace..... The nice thing about specific, or purpose built reels for these bigger baits is that they have a deep spool. Using 1-2oz lures majority of guys will use 20-30lb line, a average sized spool wont hold much of this.

Spinning: Daiwa Aird X 7' ML + Daiwa Revros 2000 (6lb YZH) Lighter jerkbaits, crankbaits, topwaters. Daiwa Aird X 7' M + Daiwa Revros 2500 (6-8lb YZH) Wacky rig, weightless Texas rigs, tube jigs. Daiwa Aird X 7' M + Shimano Ultegra 2500 (8lb YZH) Jerkbaits, topwaters, lipless cranks, Mini Max Chatterbaits. Sixgill Fast Action Akylos 7'2" M + Shimano Sienna 2500 (10lb Power Pro braid) Ned rigs. Casting: Daiwa Aird X 7' M (or Abu Vigilante 7' M) + Daiwa Tatula SV TW 103 reel. 7.3:1 gear ratio (12lb YZH) Jerkbaits. Lews Team Custom Pro 7' M M/F + Shimano SLX MGL 70 reel, 7.2:1 gear ratio (30lb 832 Suffix braid) Lighter jerkbaits, crankbaits, paddle tail swimbaits, topwaters, lipless cranks. Lews Team Custom Pro 7' MH + Daiwa Zillion reel, 7.1:1 gear ratio (12lb YZH) Football jigs, Texas rigs, swim jigs. Lews TP1X 7' MH + Shimano SLX A reel, 7.2:1 gear ratio (12lb YZH) Football jigs, Texas rigs, swim jigs (alternate). Lews KVD GC5 7'2" MH + Daiwa Fuego CT reel. 6.3:1 gear ratio (65lb Power Pro braid) Spinnerbaits, heavy/deep swim jigs-chatterbaits-lipless cranks. Lews Team Custom Pro 7'3" MH + Lews BB1 Pro reel, 7.5:1 gear ratio (15lb YZH - 12lb YZH) Lipless cranks, chatterbaits, jerkbaits, paddle tail swimbaits. Daiwa Aird X 7'3" MH + Daiwa Tatula CT reel, 7.3:1 gear ratio (12lb YZH) Lipless cranks, chatterbaits, jerkbaits, paddle tail swimbaits (alternate). Dobyns Fury 7'3" MH + Shimano SLX XT reel, 7.2:1 gear ratio (12lb YZH) Lighter football jigs, finesse jigs, Texas rigs. Lews David Fritts Perfect Cranking rod 7'6" MH Moderate + Lews LFS reel, 6.8:1 gear ratio (12lb YZH) Deep/heavy crankbaits/chatterbaits. Daiwa Aird X 7' H + Daiwa Tatula CT reel, 7.3:1 gear ratio (40lb Power Pro braid) Frogs, spinnerbaits, flipping/pitching/punching, chatterbaits/hybrid hunters in the grass. Lews KVD CC5 7'4" H Moderate Cranking rod + Lews BB1 Pro reel, 6.2:1 gear ratio (20lb Big Game) Up to 2 ounce swimbaits, 6" Daingerous/Magdrafts. And big top waters. Daiwa Beefstick Salmon/Striper/Steelhead 8' MH rod 1/4oz-4oz. Daiwa Tatula 150 reel, 7.3:1 gear ratio (20lb Big Game) Up to 4 oz swimbaits, 7" Daingerous/Magdrafts, and glide baits. Ugly Stik Tiger (or Berkley Big Game) rods + Abu Ambassadeur (30lb Big Game) 1-4oz/3-8oz swimbaits.

I only have experience with lead wire, as i "borrow" it from my fly tying shelf. Havent tried suspendots yet but have heard good things about it on here, however i trust lead wire much more. Since the dots can and will fall off eventually. I havent noticed or heard anyone talk about the action changing since the bill/design of the bait is what makes that happen, only thing that i know will change is how fast it will or wont sink. Theres many different sizes for lead wire, and since each lure is made differently, and some jerkbaits are sinking/floating/suspending among some going down faster/slower in different water temps theres no 1 size fits all approach for it. Only trial and error. I find that many deep diving jerkbaits arent to my liking, they are either too expensive or not the best looking.... Adding lead to my mid diving favorites seems to be the way to go for me.

Xrap Deep size 10 varies from 6'-15' depending on what line used. Husky Jerk Down Deep varies from 10'-20' depending on what size you get. The others i mentioned have much nicer profiles and colors so when adding lead wire around the hooks or something like a suspend dot you will have a nice jerkbait much cheaper than a Megabass that goes to that 12-16' range.

Rapala X Rap Deep Rapala Husky Jerk Down Deep Rapala Mavrik Deep Strike King KVD 300 Deep Yo Zuri 3DB Deep Berkley Stunna 112/110 +

Clear glass, or grey/copper polarized lenses are the same price, for the options i had it wouldve been $250 either way (bought during one of their sales that they have every so often hence the lower price). The nicer polarized lens colors wouldve added an extra $120. I havent noticed a difference in water visibility with sunglasses, polarized ones, and just my regular glasses. Maybe other brands are better, but no other brand offers the several different points of protection that these do. Edit, their regular lenses still offer UVA and UVB protection too.

Most Walmarts are selling Vengeances now around $20. But dont expect it to last very long, i got mine for $15 and if i get a season out of it i will be thrilled. For the price they are on clearance for country wide the bad reviews dont even matter, especially since you can get the 2 year warranty (insurance) from Walmart for $3. Make sure you check the rod out good, the one store was bent guides and crushed tips for every rod. The others looked like they were brand new,

Of course the only Academy stores in PA are closed since they are currently being built..... I can only imagine the deals that happen in store

That rod should be fine for throwing most stuff under 2oz then with those ratings. My main actual swimbait rod is a 7'4" H Moderate Lews KVD rod, i use it alot to throw 6" Daingerous (Magdrafts) with a 1/4-3/8 Owner Beast. Its rated up to 2oz as well. When i go up to the 7" however i can feel the rod being overloaded a bit and my casts result in a loss of distance. It doesnt feel very good so i usually cut it off and go back to the 6". The 7" with the hook and weight added pushes the 2oz mark. Only way to know for sure if the rod can handle it is to tie something on it, and test it gently a few times. If it feels odd, off, or not right i would suggest cutting it off and going with something lighter, if not you should be fine. But for your question i wouldnt, a Chad Shad weighs 2.4oz. Thats really pushing it, but again it really depends on your rod. Some rods are very under rated and can handle much more, others cant.

Ive used 3 rods over the years for jerkbaits #1. Sixgill Fast Akylos, favorite rod ive ever used for anything. No longer made😌 its a 7'2" M Fast. Now my primary ned rig rod instead. #2. Will be from the same company, its a 6'9"ish? MH Fast action Cypress that i got with it from them years ago. The handle nut wont stay tight and its too short for my liking so i threw it in the corner and use #3. #3. Is the one that speaks to me, its a 7' M Fast Daiwa Aird X. I like my rods a bit stiffer than most, and i dont like short rods at all. I would prefer this rod to be 7'2"-7'3" but it works good for me and i really like it. Its got a slight bend to it but has lots of backbone if needed. For reels i have always used Shimano Sienna 2000's-2500's. Or Daiwa revros. Really depends if the rod it would go on was red or black and gold with some metallic light blueish grey accents. This year ive gotten a Shimano Ultegra spooled up with 8lb Yo Zuri Hybrid to put on this Daiwa Aird X. I know some guys will hate this, but its what god wanted. The colors match almost perfectly.....

The 3DB (and deep version) are really nice. But for OP, i recently decided to get into nicer jerkbaits, and i went off the rails. I bit the bullet and got a Vision 110 Jr, and 110 Jr +1 the other day for practically for the price of one, but before that i bought many jerkbaits on sale that even if i paid msrp it would still be cheaper than a Vision 110, however most of these i paid between $5-12 for as recently as this week. Heres what i got and really like so far: Jackal Rerange/Rerange MR Lucky Craft Pointer 100 Lucky Craft Pointer 97 Duel Hardcore Minnow Flat SP 110, on sale at TW around $8. I got the Ghost Pro Blue one and its the nicest looking jerkbait, actually lure ive ever owned. The paint job is fantastic. Berkley Stunna 112 (112+) is a thinner knockoff basically, works great and comes in some great colors too. On sale at Midway now for around $9. 6th Sense Provoke, comes in 2 sizes. Heard great reviews about the current ones (older ones sank like a rock) but havent got one yet since i missed out on the sale they had on them.... Strike King 300KVD (deep model available too), picked up many of these at the local shop for $5, love the colors on these as well. Heard the 200 size works great too, avoid the Elite version since the reviews arent great. Rapala X-raps. Rapala Ripstop/Ripstop Deep. And if you can find any left for sale, the 13 Fishing Whipper Snapper. Academy has a housebrand jerkbait that looks very similar shaped, and BPS has a few house branded ones too that are decent.

7'4" what? as long as the baits are in that rods ratings you should be fine, if its over depending on the rod it will either be fine or it wont. Theres plently of cheap swimbait rods out there, look for catfish rods if you really want to save money. I have 3 of those for swimbaits that i purchased all together costing around what one actual swimbait rod for bass would. I wouldnt suggest throwing 1.5-2oz on anything thats max ratings arent atleast slightly above that more than just a few times to try it out though.