RRocket

Welcome to the club!! I've only caught a couple pan fish this year and nothing else. Still too cold for us guys in the North IMO.

Yes, I think you've got it.

I too prefer certain brands and will buy them most anywhere. But I will definitely avoid the big brands that steal an innovative/unique design from a small tackle company and subsequently make a knock off or copy of the bait and call it their own.

I had some of those concerns prior to my purchase. I needed something easily stored, exceedingly stable..and able to stand. I settled on a Scout 365 and couldn't be happier! Sets up in 15 minutes and packs down into a single bag. 60lbs. I run a 2.5 Suzuki, so all in weight is 100lbs. Fits in the hatch of my car, too. It runs 10MPH and sips the fuel. The casting bar is an excellent grab rail..and you lean into it (facing front or back) to fish. Absolutely stable. Thus far, extremely durable too. This isn't a toy and is a "real" boat. Just thought I'd share.

That has not been my experience here and I've had to contend with these hammer handles my whole life. It REALLY depends where they get hooked. Hook them in the tip of the mouth, and I rarely have issues. But hook them further down and to the side and they pretty much have all their teeth available to slash the line while head shaking. It's their long mouth and random hook set area that's problematic for the reasons you point to (they can miss wildly, even on straight retrieves). I've even seen these fish eject themselves from the water (like Air Jaws) when chasing a straight retrieve. Here's an extreme example. Long nosed gar though. But I hooked this guy right on the tip of the mouth. Now imagine much further down, near the crook of the mouth. One head shake and its over. I see the same thing with Northern Pike. And man, do I ever get bit off from Bowfin as well!

If you're throwing a Texas rigged Senko, that's already one of the best weedless presentations there is

Tough to beat a dropshot at any depth when bass are lethargic. I'd also throw a flat bluegill bait (Deps Bull Flat) on a Free Rig or Texas and see what happens with that.

Please update this thread after your Surflon experience!

I have no experience with anything that heavy, so I'll defer to someone who knows the answer. Sorry!

Tieable, COATED, wire like AFW Surflon. You can run it as a short, tie-in leader. There are several grades but I believe the 7x7 Micro Supreme to be the gold standard for a tieable leader. Though the other grades (1x7, 1x19) may appeal to you. There are those here who have used it for the exact same reason: pike/toothy fish biting off their expensive hardbaits. And, apparently, the Surflon does NOT affect the swimming motion whereas a traditional leader may.

My current favorite hooks are Owners with a "super needle point". Wonder what makes it "super" over traditional needle hooks? LOL 😆

I dig this! I don't use jigs but I think this applies to bait color as well. Gorimiso Black is one of my favorite colors. It's black/blue on top and brownish/purplish bottom. Maybe this is JDM PB&J? Either way, I throw this color a LOT. Dirty water here. And I believe in contrast where possible, however dark. Love this color!

I believe the lense being polarized vs. mirrored is of much more importance to you, since it's the polarization that cuts down on glare. In addition, the filtering of specific colors helps with clarity. I'm old-ish and use thin line, so I prefer having readers built in. The Kastking Ellijay bifocal fishing glasses are nice without breaking the bank ($50).

Hayabusa Spin Muscle #1 Truly the best wacky/dropshot hook I've ever used. Bonus: it can be Snell-ed for dropshot rigging, similar to the Nishine DS hook. Absolutely perfect hook orientation every time.

I use Neko, but more to get a deeper, more pronounced "flap" of the hanging appendages. I put a nail weight in each appendage. Not a worm, but I wacky rigged this Raid 2Way with a .9g weight on either side yesterday.

This is a somewhat difficult question to answer..at least for me. For my part, I did a "World series of bass rigging" that took about 3 seasons to complete in which I learned to fish ALL relevant bass techniques for a minimum of 40 hours each..most longer. I don't think this is a truly practical or cost effective way to do it...but it was the way I had to do it. For me. As such, I was able to determine which techniques best applied to my area: some techniques worked better here than other areas and vice versa (vegetation is quite pronounced here for example). But more importantly, I was able to determine which techniques worked AND I enjoyed fishing. After I figured out which techniques worked best for the area and my enjoyment, I then decided to find which baits and tackle excelled for the presentations I use. Of importance to me (which might not be important to others) was baits and tackle that were multi use. For example, a single hook, weight or bait that could be used across multiple presentations for multiple conditions. I wanted to distill it down since I'm more of a minimalist. Now even though I have my "base" setups figured out, I still try new baits or techniques as they present themselves if they have merit. For example, last year I tried night bass fishing since there are plenty of devotees here. Sadly (very sadly! )it was a total and complete bust. But I needed to try it nonetheless. I do this as new/interesting techniques or baits pop up. So this is a difficult question to answer since there are so many variables so unique to each of us! If I had to counsel a new fisherman, I'd say figure out a few simple techniques to comprise your "base". 1) Topwater (self explanatory. Some prefer Ploppers, some buzzbait, some frogs or toads, etc) 2) Search bait. For example, I prefer a Chatterbait for this. 3) Your "bread and butter" presentation. This is what you'll throw the bulk of the time. Texas rig, Dropshot, Free Rig, etc 4) Pressured water or "tough" condition bait. Maybe it's a wacky with an interesting color? Or a drop shot with a downsized bait? Just something you can throw in pressured areas or otherwise tough conditions when nothing else seems to be working. Once you comprise your "base", it's pretty tough NOT to catch fish. If you can't catch fish with a good "base", the fish probably aren't there or won't be caught anyways! So I don't know if there's truly an intelligent or effective methodology to figuring all this out. I don't think my way was either of those! But I wanted to see and try everything for myself because that's what I felt I needed to do to be most effective. YMMV.

I've tested those and they are indeed excellent baits! However, here's my "opinion". I prefer the OSP Dolive Stick, which I think most people don't know much about. First, the weightless action on the fall is incredible. Not only does the tail wag, but the body rocks as well. It's extremely impressive as it "swims" to the bottom. Next, there are rigging dimples for hook exit on the underside to "tune" the fall should you want to. And finally, when jerking/swimming the action again is very, very good. I personally use the 3.5" but they do make a 3". And it can be rigged weightless Texas, Wacky, Drop Shot, hover, swim, chatterbait trailer etc. A bit more versatility IMO. I think this is an exceptional bait that's under the radar for most people. Here's a video of some underwater action, albeit from the larger size..but you get the idea.

3" Zako. The Sexy Shad color is excellent. It looks fairly muted, but in certain lighting the colors pop! See image. That bait in no way looks that purple when just handling it. But in certain light? Wow! Another I use (but regrettably have no photo of) is the Big Bite Baits Kamikaze Swim On. More tail flap than the Zaco, but far less hunting/zagging than the Spunk Shad. A keen eye!

Not the Mini! The Minimax! But yes, 3.5" Here's a few I had rigged with different baits. These are all Minimax. Sorry for poor quality

At that price, you could pick up some Siebert skirts and make some truly custom colors...

What's noteworthy about the Minimax is while the hook is small(ish), it's very robust. Definitely not fine wire...and can handle large pike. Is the profile size of the Minimax too small? I LOVE these with a Spunk Shad

There's a place in Canada that has a nice little selection. And the strong U.S. dollar might be compelling? Hopefully I'm not violating any rules by posting the link? https://ptboprotackle.ca

Free Rig with DoLive Stick/DoLive Beaver

Give me your address and it's yours! Truth be told, I am rather unlikely to use this....and would much rather see it put up proper use! Was either the Spunk Shad or the Zako. Blue looks like the Zako I think?