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I don’t know what I did but here’s a picture.

42 degrees. Got a few between 4 and 6 lbs.

Not a bad start to 2024 with a 7lb 8oz, especially considering the water was 39° - 41°. Saw some giants, but they wouldn't cooperate...

Finally cracked the DD mark with this big girl and was even lucky enough to win the January SU tourney with her. Still extremely stoked about this one, and will be one of the catches that will stick with me forever. 11lb 0 oz

First time fishing the mothership, thanks to @CAS for the bait swap...Also found this killer deal on a ldc custom xxh I could not pass up! What better than to head straight to the local mudd hole to get em both wet & it paid off..1 for 2 on the ship quick 1.5hr sesh.

Since we’re on the subject, the megabass Valkyrie series has blended glass blanks and the 1 piece 6’6” is probably my favorite rod. It’s like 30-40% glass blend unless I’m mistaken so the taper is absolutely sick in terms of parabolic bend. Throws 1-5 oz which is what it’s rated for like a dream. Just pretty useless for hard hooksetting soft baits. I have not tried fishing g crawlers on This yet as it’s my main rod for big wakes and cranks but might actually be a sick option and not $500+ . The glass composite and long handle make it easy to cast similar distance as my 8’ rods. Cannot say enough good things about that stick

Ya you can’t smoke weed when you use it

Had an amazing trip last week and caught my 5th DD at 10lb even! Also caught a 9lb, three 8lbers and a 7lb (the rest were < 6lb). The 10lb cleared the water a foot right at the boat, it was a fight I won't forget! I've been focused on hunting trophy bass for almost 10 years now and this trip is what makes all the work, time and money worth it! Sorry for all the pics, but I'm a little pumped that God blessed me and the stars lined up...lol.

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Thank you I wasn’t sure when I ordered it but it turned out great.

Really want to get either that 64XH or the G70MH cranking model for my next Legit Design rod. I've got the 65XXH and it is hands down the most fun to fish rod I own. Originally got it for fishing the Balam 300 in tight spaces but it's really become my best all-rounder rod. Only downside is that it can be a bit on the fast side for staying loaded up on smaller fish.

Rising Son is basically the "senko" of the line-thrus

Geeez, I go away for a while and come back, you're still SLAYING. Excellent work, brother, keep inspiring me through this northern ice season!

That is a monster and congratulations

I would say VERY GOOD cold morning!

I use the St. Croix Legend glass LGC88HM, it's rated to 1 3/8 oz. but I regularly fish 2 - 4 oz. baits on it and it doesn't feel overloaded. the sweet point is around 1.5-2 oz. which covers most conventional to bigger sized crawlers. The glass blank makes all the difference in hooking up on fish and not destroying the crawler wings on the hookset. Usually I give a slow sweep to feel for when the fish pulls the crawler down and just crank it down hard once I feel like the fish got the hooks. Overreacting and doing a hard hookset on the sound of the eat alone just loses fish and breaks crawlers. I really wish St. Croix would make a 1-4 oz. and a 4-8 oz. version of the same rod. I use the 88HM for all my wakes, crawlers, and assorted magnum cranks but it can't quite throw my bigger wakes and rats.

Awesome, congrats!!!

@Csweitzer What expanding foam did you use to fill it and what density? I'm about to use this same method on a clone / copy of a DRT Ghost that I want to modify and silence / dampen the hollow sound. So far, I've only epoxied the weights in place inside the chambers to remove all of the weight knock. I used Devcon 2-Ton mixed with microbubbles to hopefully eliminate any buoyancy change. I plan to use a 3lb density two-part urethane foam so that I hopefully don't change the bait's stock functionality, or at least minimally. If I had confidence that I wouldn't ruin a $300 bait in the process, I probably wouldn't have bought a copy and would be attempting this on a real one... Lol

8” Magdraft!!

Can you share a photo? Might be better off just driving a screw eye in…

The bottom hook variant is a super slow sink....combined with the lift of the paddle tail it rides very high in the water column. Perfect for bringing over grass when you only have a foot or two of headroom. Great as a soft bodied "wake" bait using a high rod tip and a mod-fast retrieve speed. I love doing this with my 8" model. The top hook variant is weighted heavier and is meant to be fished deeper. Still, with the lift of the paddle tail I wouldn't call it a bottom bouncer as the speed required to keep bottom contact is also just about the stall speed of the tail. IMO in its stock state the top hook is perfect for mid water column. **NOTE: There is plenty of room to insert tungsten nail weights around the black plastic insert on the lures. If you want to get a bottom hook variant and run it a bit deeper, insert a couple nail weights. If you want to keep the top hook model even deeper, with a moderate retrieve speed, likewise.....add a few tungsten nail weights in there. Carl