ElGuapo928

These should be a Grade 5 bolt, not a Grade 8. Grade 8’s have a tendency to fail/break under a shear load, where a Grade 5 will bend prior to failure.

Same here. Got a Flag 150 sitting on my desk, just haven’t had the occasion to throw it yet.

I wasn’t too fond of the Nessie’s action. Didn’t fish at all like a glide, only wanted to dart in one direction and rolled over bad. The only retrieve I could get it to work with was just burning it.

I bought a pack of the Berkley weedless wacky hooks (3/0) and tried a splitshot rig for these in the brush. Worked pretty good with the small baits (Atom Bomb here), but wouldn’t be enough hook for the bigger ones.

I’ve put a lot of money into this fight over the years. My favorite are the Flambeaus with the removable cups instead of dividers - fairly cheap and really easy to work with. https://www.amazon.com/Flambeau-Outdoors-WP5015TT-Terminal-Slim/dp/B0C6B87ZTJ I was using the Ryugi “Hook Keeper” accordion things for a while, but found that they are better suited to the bank/pond bags than the boat - me and ziploc type seals just don’t get along, leading to too much time lost. I’ve also put together a little 3500 size box with just a few of the hooks/sinkers that I use all the time and keep it on the front deck - much faster than pulling out the big boys and less likelihood for disaster when the wake boats decide that I need to do a remake of “The Perfect Storm”.

Dobyns Fury 705CB has probably the best action/feel of any crankbait rod I’ve ever owned.

https://www.mikesreelrepair.com/vx318-02-handle-assm/?srsltid=AfmBOooqSU5fuZYyzGEEBLPuuu63P-W56QhBJ4MhXGv-ThrbhyyPO_1j There’s quite a few other different parts suppliers as well, I just like Mike’s website for easy searching by part number.

There’s quite a few different vendors with replacement knobs available. I’ve had mixed results replacing the knobs - sometimes they work great, other times they never seat quite right (or fall off while reeling in a fish). They do have those slip on silicone covers, but they get loose and become an even bigger annoyance. I prefer replacing the whole handle when possible - as the Tour Edition was a pretty popular reel, it shouldn’t be too hard to find one. I looked it up for you: P/N VX318-02 Mike’s Reel Repair shows it for $36.86

I envy those who can paint a picture with words….I lean more toward either excessively literal or trying to extract a laugh out of it.

I wish they’d bring back the G Finish across the Pradco lineup again!!

Virtually all of mine are some variation of a threadfin shad - g finish, chrome, translucent, solid.

Toss the leader altogether for deeper running. The thinner the line diameter, the deeper a crankbait will run and the better the action it will have. Don’t worry too much about the shock absorption effect of a leader - just back your drag off a bit. Unless your leader is 20 feet long, the amount of stretch you get for the purpose is negligible at best.

Scalding hot is a perfect time to throw one! I stuck an 8.5 on a Shellcracker G2 when it was 110 out at Canyon Lake, just swimming it around the marina docks.

Storm/Wiggle Wart is Rapala owned now, so most likely VMC. I’ve put the VMC “finesse” trebles on a couple of baits, and I really like them.

I’ve got some 1/4 oz Phenix Vengeance swim jigs that I carry in my pond/bank bag. Work really good on spinning gear.

I use a 10 braid to 10 fc most of the time for dropshotting, but have largely abandoned the leader for most purposes. I started experimenting this spring with ditching the leader for sliders, darters, doodling, etc and my catch rate did not change at all. What I did do was save a lot of time and eliminated the potential failure point of another knot to tie/retie. Straight braid wasn’t the hot ticket for splitshotting, but then I found Gunjiro rubber coated splitshots and solved that problem.

I like to use snaps (Norman Speed Clip) when I’m fun fishing for that very reason - encourages me to experiment and throw more of a variety.

I use high vis braids pretty much exclusively. I’ve got dark green on one setup due to an ordering snafu, but it will be replaced with a proper high vis when it’s due.

All of my baitcasters are right hand retrieve, left hand on the spinning rigs. I tried a left hand baitcaster, and just could not get the hang of it - I had about as graceful of movement as a newborn giraffe.

I’ve always liked the Bull Gills, great all around bait and a good intro to the hard bodied swimbaits.

OUCH!! Rough way to spend a day right there!!

Bull Flat on a free rig is another great presentation - very versatile bait. My personal favorite in green weeds like that is a Horny Toad Texas rigged with a light (1/32 or 1/16) sinker.

Hooks worked great for the few hits I got - monsoon storm blew in and made it all sorts of fun. I got 6 total dropshotting, most 1.5-2 lb and one went 4.7, all on 3” smoke/silver reapers. Hookups were great - just a reel set and nothing got off. Will be fooling with these more in the future.

Precisely - For some reason, they’ll totally ignore a topwater bait but will snap at that treble. The theory I’ve always heard is that they go after the easier prey that the bigger prey is chasing. I picked this trick up some years ago from guys that pretty much lived and died by Super Spooks on Mead and Mohave.

I like to put one on a split ring about a foot or so ahead of topwaters. I think I’ve gotten more bites on that feathered treble than the actual bait, and doubled up a few times with it.