PTasker15

Well there goes my luck. As much as I had done it and had to force the thick wire to bend, figured it would have happened. Wire snapped off by 1/4". Just removed everything and made it single colorado. Figure it'll be close to the same in function (just slow rolling by timber in 10-25ft). Will have to buy a dedicated dol. col. sometime. Will keep that in mind for future modifications though. Thanks.

Had to lower the quality, but here's a picture so you don't have to imagine.

Yeah im trying to rig up a spinnerbait just for this lake (key word is try, I made a post incase you might know. Im thinking a 3/4oz white spinnerbait with a 4 1/2" gold Indiana blade (or a 4 1/2" silver colorado, still undecided) and a 2 1/2" silver colorado blade for some heavy thumping. We will see if I can get it to work.

I've been trying to modify my Strike King Bottom Dweller Double Willow into a double colorado/ Indiana/colorado tandem. I started off with two 4 1/2" colorado blades, both as the kicker and main blade. The main blade thumped like crazy but the kicker just flared out and didn't spin or do anything. Tried switching my main blade out to a larger Indiana and a larger willow and still didn't turn. Figured 4 1/2" might be large for a kicker so switched to a dedicated 2 1/2" in colorado kicker. A little better as it tries to spin but still no cigar, regardless of back blade size or shape. Doesn't even spin by itself. While I could mess with things enough to find what works, I don't want to bend the spinnerbait wire out too many times. Anyone ran into this issue? Also for reference, this is what it looks like since the photo is too big to attach Back Blade Ball Bead Ball Bead Ball Hanger+Kicker blade

I've been having a short run of luck on anything above 4lbs. If I catch anything over 6, I'll let the whole lake know

I'll be hanging around the deeper east side as mentioned around points, humps, timber, and rip-rap as mentioned. Might check drains in creeks. I'll be there late January. Maybe then they might push up more on the west side if it warms up a few degrees?

I think I'll have to put up with 7.5 until I get a dedicated A rig/Swimbait rod. Everything else I plan to use this for is bottom contact and I don't like anything below 27ipt for that.

Yeah, I want to get a 735 for my general purpose heavy because I might feel more comfortable pitching with it as that is about my favorite pitching length (6'10 to 7'3) since that's what I will use it for 80% of the time. But also accounting A rigs, Carolina Rigs, swimbaits, and Football jigs make me sorta want to get a 7'6. Might have to flip a coin.

Alright yall, here's a rough idea. What about small A Rigs? The A rig itself weighs 7/16oz and I have a ton of 1/8oz swimbait heads with beefy hooks. When all is said and done, would weigh about 1 3/8oz, if I use all 5 hooks. Since my rod is just about rated for it, would be fine, yeah? Never snapped a rod (except for once which was a very cheap spinning rod), not looking to now. Also would 20lb test be a good fit for a small a rig?

Good point. Most of our North/East Texas lakes are 90% shad based, so I think I'll go in the middle and grab a 3/4oz tandem. I do have some blades laying around I can switch to if I need to. thanks.

H/F I think I'll do 3/4 oz. Feels balanced in terms of sinking speed, also since I'll be using a 7.5:1 and 1/2oz might be hard to keep close to the bottom. What about blades? I'd be fishing deep but 3-4ft visibility water, and I've been told a million things. Single Colorado, Double Colorado, Tandem Willow/Colorado. I would buy all, but BOOYAH Coverts are still a little pricey even with my endorsement with them. I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket quite yet. Lastly what color skirts might work there? BOOYAH has some 3/4oz with various blade types, good colors might be white/chartruse or blue/white/chartruse maybe since stained?

How big do you call big? Would 1/2oz colorado be good? Or might it fit better for a 3/4oz colorado? Also, what size do yall prefer to toss those thumping spinnerbaits around now? Most of my targets for it will be 8-25ft.

I checked the lake out lately on a depth map. Weird lake y'all have. Deep on the east side, shallow on the west. There looks to be really no river/creek channels but by the dam, and that one is small. There's a giant point by the dam, but was told it is pretty pressured. I found some nice stuff south of the dam, but still on the "deeper" side of the lake. A main lake point, a secondary lake point, 2 ditches, and a giant hump all in one creek, so that's my top choice. But since it is a huge lake with hugely varying depth and clarity, I would assume that makes the west side easier to fish closer to pre-spawn? Dirtier, Shallower, Warmer water.

Just seeing what you guys might toss on a combination like this. Trying to designate more uses for this combo and think out of the box besides the obvious pitching, jigs, and small swimbaits. TIA. For reference, this rod is equivalent to a Dobyn's 735, Lew's 7'3 Heavy, Daiwa 7'3 Heavy, etc. 3/8oz-1 3/4oz, 12-25lb test.

Found some info through 13 Fishing, because Issac L. is the coolest dude ever. There is a decent difference between their cheaper blanks, META blanks, and high-end blanks. Cheaper blanks fish close to described, META fishes a little softer than described, and high-end fishes almost perfectly as described. The reason for META fishing softer is because "GMan prefers somewhat softer rods". I own a 7'4 MH/F meta and now that they mention it, it does seem somewhat softer than your average MH/F. I personally like this because, as mentioned, I tend to drop my rod during a fight and then sweep my rod to pin the fish and prevent it from jumping and to better control the fish. The fact the 7'3 MH/XF fishes a bit softer than XF soothes my mind, and I already know the META blank is very sensitive and dumbly light. Additionally, I don't know about y'all, but I am more at peace having a $150 rod bouncing around the bottom of my aluminum boat than a $260 one. So 7'3 MH/XF with 20lb test it is.

Well I do plan to pitch and short cast as pow as 3/16oz Texas rigs, makes them about 1/4-5/16 after adding the lure.

Well that was my intention, get them out of heavy stuff, Better control, maintain bottom contact with even lighter weights, etc. Maybe I'll hop on it, that or get a Heavy/Fast. Let me talk to the manufacturer and see because we don't have high end 13 rods here.

Well as mentioned to Catt, this would be paired up with 17-20lb and be used as a Worm/Jig rod only. Pitching, Dragging, Skipping, all of the above. The concern I have is that I've always used a fast for this, just concerned that it would be such a broomstick and that I'd tear the jig hooks out or something.

I am honestly terrible at explaining my thought process. My biggest concern about using XF is whether or not I can actually pin a fish under the surface and prevent it from jumping, while also not tearing the hooks out or bending the wire. I would plan to pair this MH/XF with 17/20lb and use it as a dedicated worm/jig rod-from dragging 3/4oz football jigs on points to pitching 3/16oz texas rigs into brush.

Anybody fish a MH/XF? Wanting to pick one up from 13 for a dedicated worm/jig rod. Never fished a XF, are they really as unforgiving as described? I like my longer (7'2-7'6) MH/F rods for the reason of being slightly forgiving so I can drop my rod to the side and pin a fish really well to keep them from jumping or tearing the hook, but 13 only makes a single MH/F. All other models in all other series are MH/XF. I guess I can also ask if anybody fishes with 13's "Extra-Fast" and if they fish like a true XF or closer to a F?

Anyone fish Sandlin around now and in February? I did some looking into it and it's very different from my home lake of Wright Patman. Much deeper, also claims to have a clarity of 2-4ft, which is the same for our lake (20ft deep at most) but for such a deep lake(I read between 60-80ft), seems low. Certain patterns they may follow? Areas they like? Presentations they like? Not trying to find y'alls honey holes or secret baits, but looking to get set in the right direction and find some guidance before I put the boat in for the first time.

Do you still like that? I have a MH/MF with 12lb Fluoro that I'd like to use for open water/light cover spinnerbait fishing.

Lastly, If i cannot find a MGL 150, do you think the SLX MGL is worth my time? Maybe a DC SLX? Or should I try my luck with the 200K? Of course all up to opinion, but just curious what you/others think. New to this who shimano thing, so many choices.

Do you think its worth picking up a used MGL 150? If not, I'd probably have to shoot down to a SLX MGL due to my budget. I always find 200 K's on sale but rarely notice any other Curado go on sale.

I'll keep an eye out and try to snag one. I also throw 3/4oz football jigs and 1oz Carolina rigs from time to time, so I assume that it will hold enough line for a decent cast (around 90-100ft)? Also admittedly never heard the saying "split the baby". Looked up the meaning and origins, quite a rabbit hole I found myself down.