WRB-2.0

Vertical indicates a lure falling down through the water ROF. Out side of floating lures nearly every bass lures can sink vertically. I like to think of horizontal as lures cast a distance away from you and vertical lures dropped straight down. Drop shot and structure spoons are vertical presented lures. Lures cast a short distance like jigs or punch rigs also fall vertically. Most bass lures fit into horizontal cast and sink or dive vertically before retrieving horizontally. Tom

This site has hundreds of posts on this topic and the majority drop shot anglers use braid with FC leader. If I had to guess it would 15 # braid with 8 lb FC leader 7’ to 10’ long. Hooks vary but size 1 Gamakatsu and Owner drop shot hooks are in the majority. nearly every new drop shot angler over works the soft plastic and used too heavy weightl. Take some time and watch several BR videos and read site articles. Tom

There are 3 types of swimbaits; top hook soft, multiple jointed multi treble hook and single jointed glide/ wake baits Single top hook gas the gravest wire hook requiring more power tforhook setting, everything else less power. Your Irod can effectively cast lures 2 oz to 3 oz and get hook sets. Line I use Sunline 25 lb Armilo. Don’t like braid with swimbaits. Tom

Learning to cast the Irod. Tom

Yes

The casts OK but doesn’t bend enough to smoothly launch 3 oz lures. Longer require a slower longer back swing to load up, too short and fast doesn’t work with crank baits or swimbaits

3 basic T-rig weedless booking soft plastics( Hook Texpose point and hook bend above the lure. Texas hook point inside the soft plastic. Texas skin hooked: Point under the skin of the plastic. 200’s of different plastic worm hooks! Basic straight with barbs on shank. Strsight wide gap round bend. Off Set wide gap round bend. Extra wide gap off set. Worm head (front end) keepers to reduce worm body filling hook gap. Keepers are pegs thru the plastic hook eye or pins on hook shank. What hook is used affects how the soft plastic worm is rigged! So……what hook is being used? Tom

History on paddle tails swimbaits started in the 60’s with Jim Smith Smity’s Kelp Critter Calico bass lure. Smitty’s hand poured worms were the 1st in SoCal that started that business. Worm King followed Smitty’s offering 4” anchovy that evolved into 12” and 16” trout paddle tails. Big Hammer developed a oversized square paddle tail for stripe bass in the Delta and became popular for LMB, still in business. Ken Huddleston invented the boot tail Huddleston Delux creating another class of swimbaits. Bruce of Basstrix developed the hollow body paddle tails, still going strong today. Today a solid body take a look at Big Hammer. Some originals; 3:16 Mission Fish, Eagle line through now Optima. Tom

It can be frustrating trying to communicate when everyone has the own different interpretation of language. It’s go down the rabbit hole fast adding local regional slang let alone fisherman terminology. Get out the pop corn set back and enjoy. Tom

Been suggesting the reel set rod sweep over 35 years and published the technique in detail in my ‘95 In-Fisherman Horizontal Jigging article. Believe the article is somewhere on this site. You can’t move enough line using the rod only. Point the rod tip at the lure and crank the reel fast until the rod starts to load up then sweep the firmly back while continuing to reel. Tom

0 for 3, your out? Roll cast isn’t a flip cast Hard Lured underwater, bridges overwater…. Bubba ain’t using no finesse lures. Tom

Started fishing big swimbaits long before they migrated out of SoCal north and east. 12” dinosaur Worm King soft trout swimbaits, original wooden Huddleston Castiac swimbait etc in the late 80’s about 25 years. Big swimbaits are not a panacea to catching big bass and require a lot of time on the water to master. ”to catch big bass you must fish for them” a quote from my Rare Chance to Catch a Workd Record Bass article in 1985 In-fisherman on Lake Isabella. True statement then and now. The best swimbait fisherman on the planet is Butch Brown hands down. Butch knows big bass habits and where they are located. Butch is a grinder spending days casting big swimbaits for 1 strike and catches DD bass consistently everywhere he fished, usually in poor conditions when few boats are on the water. It’s dedicated hard work. When I was targeting big bass had the same routine. Tom

Lowering the OB until it’s 1/4” off the floor and turning the engine shortens the O/A length several inches. If you can stow the rig at a angle inside the garage that can shorten the O/A length a few feet! trailers with single post tongue from the wench forward swing tongues save 24” 30” so it depends on the trailer design. Tom

IPT inches per turn , turn = 1 full rotation of the reel handle is the amount of line recovered with the reel with or without a rod. Tom

It’s 3” long +4” trailer = 7” is big enough out in front of a big bass ? Tom

Looking for one lucky cast is less likely then finding a needle in a hay stack. What lures are you skilled using? Go big or go home might as well be go home unless big swimbaits are in your skill set. If Butch Brown was fishing this contest then he would use a big swimbait and odds are he would win hands down. If I were fishing this contest my choice would be a hair jig with pork trailer because that’s my go to big bass lure. Tom

What specific reel do you plan to use; Can’t recommend a rod without knowing the basic info! SC Victory rods are light weight and balance better with reels in the 7+ oz weight range, lighter they feel tip heavy imo Dobyns Sierra 7’3” MH 733 is excellent choice a little less $ Daiwa Tatula 7’3” MH is a little $ and very choice Irod Quercus 7’3” MH is same price as SC Victory 7’3” MH little softer tip, easier to cast and another good company with excellent customer service. All the above are cork handle rods MH 7’3” is my recommendation. Tom

A good crank bait rod should have tip bounce to indicate what the lure is doing, big advantage for glass-composite rods. Chatter baits are similar feeling the blade bounce. When the tip stops bouncing it’s a weed or bass. Bottom contact is all about line movement and pressure change where high psi rods transfer feedback far better then glass-composite. Choose your brand and budget. Compare apple and apples not graphic to glass-composite. Tom

You don’t need collector quality or in box lures. Buck n Brawl in used condition sell for about $7-$9. Easy to paint them a Shad color, Tom

Got it ?

Underspin jig isn’t a prop bait anywhere.? Tom

What does a soft plastic trailer fit onto this topic? Tom

Don’t think the color is horrible looks a lot like the Coach Dog color that works very good anywhere crappie are located for bass prey. The only issue I had using Hudd weedless Gil was getting a high % hook set. I added a nose top treble hook on a 1” leader attached with a snap to the Hudd hook eye and solved the problem. Tom PS, PM email for photo.

Smithwick Buck ‘N Brawl rear prop wooden lure is unique and the only vintage prop bait I still use. You can find it on EBay, update the hooks! This lure underside front surface is flat making it easy to walk and worked like a jerk bait it will dive a few inches under water then jump up like a panicked bait fish.,, nothing else like it? Tom

Perfect big bass weather condition. Tom