bishoptf

Pick up a couple of the mini chatterbaits, they are smaller and lighter, this time of the year smaller seems to be better but they catch big ones. Ive been have luck with a small bootail on them and they have been nailing them. Most folks dont like bootails since it can impede the action but for whatever reason they like the combination right now.

I agree on the wood, if I see a laydown I usually am throwing the spinnerbait since its like a 4wd and pretty much comes through anything. However lately i have been theowing my bladed jig over deeper brush piles and just hitting the tops has been pretty good lately for me but its a balancing act with the bladed jig. Much more prone to getting hung up, that front arm on a spinnerbait really helps it stay out of trouble, I will throw a spinnerbait just about into anything.

Like you I was late to the party, I will say there are some days where they do not prefer the bladed jig and they prefer something else but then there are days that they absolutely prefer the vibrating jig. One other thing that has really surprised me is that I have had lots more success on blue/black with a dark blade then the white version. If you have a blue/black version that would be the one I would throw first, and like right now I am throwing the smaller version seems to be hotter right now.

I fish a lot of crankbaits and pretty much tend to point my rod at the bait and probably am doing this just out of habit. Thats a good point so I will try to more consistently to hold my rod at an angle when throwing them since I usually want them to go deeper and I am usually pumping my rod to get some movement. Will see if I can do it consistent enough to see if it makes a difference, I have also changed up my rod that I was throwing it on to a more stiffer rod, from a medium to a medium heavy and will see if that helps also, thanks for the suggestion. Funny thats actually the same thing I use, lol... Thats my guess also, they throw off a lot more vibration and for whatever reason its way different than a spinnerbait. For whatever reason I perfer moving baits and usually have spinnerbait, chatterbaits, crankbaits and swimjig tied on. I can roll through an area that I know has fish and try different ones and usually figure out what they are going to prefer for that time period. It's odd but some days they prefer one over the other. What has surprised me the most is that while I have caught decent size fish on spinnerbait, overall the fish that tend to hit the bladed jig are larger fish. Not sure why that is and it's my on anecdotal experience but I seem to catch larger fish on the vibrating jig.

Yeah it can be frustrating, with me Inseem to catch the smaller fish just fine, its the larger fish that I am losing. Just have to keep teying different things until I get it dialed in....

Anyone has any suggestions on budget or clearance rods let me know....but when I mean budget I mean well under $100, from that list of rods I do not think I have spent over $35 on any one rod, those evos were picked up for 25-30ea, the procyon which I have 2 were $15ea and most of the arids average were around $35. At least if I have a list I can keep an eye out for some future deals and look for specific ones...

Here are my rod listings for folks to get a chuckle at....again I am bargain bin guy but here is what I have.. Diawa Procyon 7', MH 1/4-3/4 not sure of power, I think its an Inshore rod... Diawa Arid-x 7', M Fast 1/4-3/4 Diawa Arid-x 7', MH Fast 1/4-1 Diawa Arid-x 7'-3", MH Fast 1/4-1 Diawa Arid-x 7', H Fast 3/8-1.5 H20 Premier 7', M Moderate 1/8-1/2 Falcon Evo 6'-8", MH Fast, 1/4-3/4 Falcon Evo 6'-6", M Moderate 1/4-1/2 Abu Vengance 7'-6" H Fast 1/2-2 Cabelas Tourney Trail 7'-6" H Fast 1/2-2 1/4 The MH Arid-x rods are pretty stiff even when throwing the full size baits, I think what I need to look for is a medium heavy moderate rod and those are harder to find at least on sale, lol. I think I am going to try the Falcon 6-8 MH rod and see how that does and then maybe the Arid-x MH but its pretty stiff. I keep my hooks sharp, thats not a problem.

So I get what folks are saying and it would dpend on the weight of the jig that I am using. I have some downsize jigs, 1/4 or 3/8 that I would probably use these same rods depending on cover which is not heavy. Right now I am throwing the mini bladed jig either 1/4 or 3/8 and its a compact size they are not heavy by any means and throwing on a stiffer rod leaves a lot to be desired. I am going to list out my rods that I have and see which ones may be better suited. I know for the full size bladed jigs I do have them on a medium heavy rod and I think they are all 3/8 but with a bigger zako trailer. That is what I assume H is for heavy...

For the rods I thin the ones i have that are Falcon are there evo line which I believe is similar to the HD line. Other rods are Diawa Arid x medium and medium heavy. All of these rods I get when on clearance and or deep discount. Im not convinced its a hook penetration issue, went out today and caught a few, the biggest that I caught was barely hook, just bately in the corner of the mouth. I think for whatever reason some times they are just not as aggressive and barely have the bait in there mouth. I could go with a trailer hook but Im always throwing into brushpiles etc so thats not really an option. I did tey today to give the fish more time before setting, not sure if that will help or not.

I'm a cheap angler all of those rods are waaaay out of my price range. I have a mix of rods nothing real expensive, but this has given me an idea about one of the falcon rods that I have may be a good fit, will try throwing that some tomorrow and see how it does.

Exactly, what I was meaning that with the 3/8 and the small blade you have to keep it moving pretty quickly, and acts like the larger with the 1/2. I like the smaller footprint this time of year and at least last week was getting hit. But last friday we started with another heat wave and it has warmed back up so no idea whats going to work tomorrow. But going to try some of what was working last week and hope that I can figure things out, going to be warm all week...more like hot, was 98 today.

This is something that I haven't thought about but I was and am fishing the mini, smaller blade but using a 3/8oz which allows me to keep it down but reeling pretty quickly. Maybe I should swap out to a 1/4oz and see how that does, appreciate the suggestion.

Yeah not sure but the mini on a heavy probably is a no go but maybe I should move up to a mh moderate and see how that does. Most of my reels are 6.3, I have a few 7.x and 8.x and will try to make sure I am using one of the 6.x ones. At least for me I am not a fan of all fluoro, just kink it one time and its done, why I tend to just run a long leader that I can replace, but obviously I am still having issues so I will keep it in mind, appreciate the information.

Yeah I have read about the glass rods, usually throwing either a 6.3 or 7.2 reel, just depends on which rod etc. Whats odd is its the bigger fish I tend to lose, not the smaller ones, obviously they are not hooked well so not sure if I should give it a second or two before setting hook or what the issue is. I do know at least for the mini version I wish the hook was bigger, the ones that I lost on friday all came on a mini. Heck I think friday it was just me and my hooksets, I also missed a really nice one on a swim jig, not sure how you do that but I did, lol.

I know I am very late to the party but picked up some chatter...hmm vibrating jigs late summer when they were on sale and have made it more of priority to throw them this year. I've actually been surprised at how well they do so I now usually have multiple ones tied on. They seem to be hot or not and still haven't learned when that is so I usually try to throw on when I am out just to see etc. My problem has been my hookup ratio, oof. I thought with the big exposed hook would be like a spinnerbait which I have thrown a good bit but found that I miss more bass on the vibrating jig and usually the bigger fish. I have searched and there have been other threads discussing this same topic so appears I am not alone. I have tried medium, medium heavy rods but for the mini I tend to go with the medium, have a moderate and a fast. I am always throwing braid to leader, pretty much for all my setups, usually 30lb braid with a fluoro leader usually 12-14lb. Last friday I lost 3 nice fish on the mini, one I had at the boat and it made a last effort fight right at the trolling motor and came off, the others were on a jump (which I try to avoid these days) and another one closer to the boat. The odd thing is most of the smaller fish appear to be hooked well and rarely have any issue with them or the dang catfish that hit my bait. It is one of the oddest things since I never seem to have the same issue with a spinnerbait, I may lose a few but its not at the same level as the vibrating jig. Just thought I would ask and see what I may try to get a better landing percentage when using a vibrating jig, I tend to sweep the hook set and maybe I need to go up more, dunno but frustrating to finally get a decent fish to hit something and then it shakes it off. Thanks

Old 18 fishing sale this weekend 25% off, see screenshot for details...

Yeah and its really sad since thats what the original founders started it for, they had a large fishing department when that started...oh well, still going to go one day this weekend and see what they have.

To bad that they have virtually no colors in stock at least for the DT series I mean sheez why even have the sale. Stinks since I would pick up quite a few dt6, 8 and 10 but they have almost none in stock online and my local store is even worse...

I was interested, kind of surprised me that they don't have the action listed, based on the review they stated at least for the one they reviewed moderate fast. I was thinking about picking a few up but when they want to charge me shipping I decided to pass. I would like some MH moderate rods at a good price point and was willing to try them out, website states free shipping over $100 but guess that doesn't apply to rods...for $40 I think it would be interesting to see how they compare to the Diawa AridX rods that I am using which are fast and again would like to get a couple that were moderate. Thanks for posting...

ALF has a 40% off select USED rods and reels...

Bait-Wrx bargain cove looks like it has some decent deals - https://bait-wrx.com/collections/bargain-cove

Not aure gow good of a deal, Amazon has Seaguar Tatsu 15lb, 200 yards for $35 - https://www.amazon.com/Seaguar-200-Yards-Fluorocarbon-Fishing-10-Pound/dp/B003OAVUHU/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=290TRBM0PRTV4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.i_FNZr3VfpTEaCsYVyE2-I86UdsMIHORslp28e6Xyqj9Ve11dPClPKD35POEU4sxBSo0lO7sm_4enQqN1jBm0IBr-FKRK3UgdigweltpaQW1q_wzrDnppjPILUom3WNqU3bTKLIWYYOLAMFCicGXoHZ3aXGyRu6IW0xMxFn6nDL0aU4JTQ7l8xlP855CfrgPCYprHgVlzNDYg17cMDN8WQ.i7Jtuu0K6Z4b6WVwm9BEQR3mjtYthnlGDLi25vMBWB4&dib_tag=se&keywords=tatsu+fishing+line&qid=1754183521&sprefix=tatsu+fi%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-2

I only use high vis yellow but they had none in the weight that I use...lowest price I had seen and would have bought several. Update, they had the weight in white so I picked up some, wish they had more of the lighter weights would have bought more, great price.

I stocked up on senkos and zakos when amazon had them for 2.50...that was a deal at least for those 2 items...I good for senkos for a looong time.

Omnia Yamamoto sale...