Rockhopper

I use the 2.75" swammer on a 3/16 micro buzz. Tracks really well.

Probably because their black friday sale absolutely sucked this year. 15% off is the lowest I have ever seen it. Last year was 20%.

Dang! Great job everyone! Missed the LMB by 2%!

Thanks man. It's fun to play around with it. The goal is to make my own glides start to finish at some point.

First bait I've ever painted in my life. Used an old cheap lure I had to practice. I should order some blanks. And this was number two. Same deal. Old crap lure just practicing on.

I have a code to add to the sale. Puts you at $297.50 with free shipping. PM if interested.

Will fish gather by the warmer water in the winter months, or is that hot spring water no good and fish avoid it? Maybe oxygen content changes or other?

That's a good start.

Hell that's not a bad deal. I roll lefty too. Is that a good reel?

The TW exclusive Cashion UL is a great super light bait finesse stick. One thing I have learned, is to let the rod tell you what it can throw. My main BFS rod is a rod that no one would really look at for BFS. Its a 7' Talon XMW rated for 8 - 15lb line. Talon does not provide weight ratings on their blanks, just line ratings. I bought the Curado BFS reel before I had purchased a BFS rod and loaded it with 6lb FC Sniper. I threw it on that Talon and started experimenting to help me try to decide what type of BFS rod I wanted to purchase. Boy I am glad I did too. I had zero intention of keeping this setup this way, but this combo will sling a Karashi a country mile. The rod loads 1/8 - 1/4 oz baits beautifully. It would not work for baits getting down to that 1/32 weight range, though. So, it probably falls more in that power BFS category. I have also fished the LC 0.1 and 0.2 FTS on this setup without any issues. Those are 1/16 oz baits.

I still have not downsized my arsenal of gear, but have definitely simplified what I take with me. All I ever use anymore is 4 total rods. All casting models. 7' BFS, 7' mhmf, 7'5" mhmf, and an 8' heavy swimbait rod. I am typically fishing 4 to 8 different baits routinely. The rest stays at home anymore.

I'm with @Dwight Hottle on his recommendation. The Spro KGB rod I have heard is a great deep crankin stick and works well for the 2oz +/- class swimbaits. Never owned one though.

6'10" Expride with the solid tip and a Vanford is hard to beat for this.

I have a Vanford 2500 on a 6'10" drop shot rod and a Vanford 3000 on a 9'6" steelhead rod. They both balance beautifully.

I have both Shimanos and love both. You are talking about two different lines of reels though. The Stradic is in the power family and the Vanford is in the finesse family of reels. Both serve different purposes. For your listed techniques, the Vanford is hard to beat.

The two smaller lakes/large ponds I frequent by my house both hold surprisingly large LMB's. One of the two was shocked by F&G in the summer of 2024 (insider info), and was reported to me that they shocked two fish from that particular small lake that were both larger than the current Washington State record. I have caught one fish from that lake that was a pound shy in the late summer. Had that been Spring, that fish would have been a contender for the state record. I do not care about that though, and would not report it to the state if it happened. Catch, weigh, photo, release. The other lake I frequent holds a lot of 6 to 8 pound fish. Those are large fish in my area, though not close to the state record. A nice fish in my area is 4 to 6 lbs. I consider lmb big when they get to the 8+ mark in my area, and giant when they hit that 10lb mark. 10 to 12 pounds in my area are very rare, and considered trophies. But I am figuring out how to catch them with more frequency. A personal goal of mine that I truly feel is achievable for me is to catch the next Washington State record size fish. I honestly really think I can do it too.

Megabass Karashi Black Label Cliff Pace Snapshot Spro KGB Chad Shad 6" Bass Mafia Unloaded Daingerous swimbait 4" Rapala Crush City Mayor KVD Mag Worm Dobyns Beast Spinnerbait Riot Baits Lil Creeper

Just FYI Leviathan Omegas are $50 off right now. I know that blows your budget and then some, but just throwing it out there. That is one of the two most recommended rod brands in the swimbait world. For 5oz glides I would look at the XH model.

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Not a sale, but tk's and k9's just dropped at Clearlake Outdoors. Pretty sweet colorway. https://www.clearlakeoutdoors.com/?country=US

You sir are correct. I should have stated 0.046 DOLLARS, not cents. I threw myself off thinking cents. Good catch. So $4.60 on a $100 tab.

A dibs is a dibs is a dibs.

Google says it is currently 157.35. You're talking about 0.046 cents difference for every dollar spent. That is 4.6 cents for every $100 you spend. 🤨

"No hablo English, Lady."