Native

Sorry I didn't see this until recently. Most of the lakes I've fished here (I'm a resident) that I've been successful with routinely have been the std. 6" Hudd, Hudd 68, Roman Made Negotiator, 6-8" Triple Trout, 6" BBZ, 3:16 7" Rising Son, etc. See a pattern? These baits will consistently get you 3-8# bass. Now if you want bigger bass, than that's a different story altogether; definitely 10" and bigger territory. Muddy silty water, go with darker patterns. Clear water, try to match the hatch if you can otherwise bump up your retrieve speed so they can't get a good look at it. Initially it's about contrasting patterns and silhouettes that get and hold a basses attention, then it's about noise or the lack of it that will bring him to the bait or scare him away.

Personally I prefer the Calcutta TE 400 (older model) on the Dobyns 908 and the Toro Beast 60 on the Tackle Industries 9' Telescopic XXH, 16 oz. The Diawa Shrapnel is another sleeper reel here. Casts like crazy and handles the Mother real well. Change the brakes provided to the longer style or if you can find some, the ABU corks, and you'll be in better shape than the stock ones or you may find your Mother in the next county (especially when using the Dobyns 908 with it)!!!

Purchased a difficult to come by reel from Mitch and the transaction was handled very, very well. Would do business with him again without reservation! Excellent communication. Packaged and shipped perfectly. From start to finish transaction completed and rec'd in one weeks time!! Thanks again Mitch!

This is still a great topic! Just by way of additional insight, black and dark bait night colors traditionally work better because of their ability to silhouette themselves against the surface when predatory fish see them from below. Concept is identical to the way a bait fishes white belly during the day prevents the silhouette predatory fish would normally see from below a bait fish swimming above them.

I've been messin' with the glide baits since last summer when I picked up a couple Deps Sride baits, Ragos Gladiators and that Shimano large Waxwing hard baits. They're all "s" glide baits that basically work better the slower you retrieve the bait resulting in a wider glide. Also figured out that if you kept the rod tip down, literally in the water, you could do more with the bait without fudging up the glide. The higher the rod tip on the retrieve, the more difficult to control without the bait canting on one side or having a tendency to roll with a faster retrieve. Glide baits seem to me to be really unforgiving the more aggressive you are with you're rod action. Gentle twitches and short rips are the extent of it but they want to 180 on you at the end of the action and rollover towards the direction of the "s" glide. The Srides gave me some great fish action on faster cranks resulting in some great hits on decent bass. I've had the best reaction to the Glidiator when I keep it higher in the water column like a heavy floater and when there's a fairly brisk wind, almost literally in the white caps. The hits I've had have all been misses on them though. Bass seem to have a tough time judging the Glidiators that low in the waters surface. Haven't caught one yet with them but seems inevitable now that I know how to fish them. I have few of the cheaper Roman Mades (Souths and Negotiaters) with that same action and they really look great in the water. Haven't fished them enough yet to talk about their ability to catch fish but we'll see ... Tim

I've found the Joe Bucher "Power Knot" to be an even easier knot to tie and possibly superior to the Palomar. Give it a try.

Terrific job! Those are some amazing fish to have caught in such a short period, congrats! Definitely doing it right SB's or not. Tim

Thanks for sharing the schedule! Been looking for something like that for sometime. Tim

The gent that runs www.plat.co.jp does a nice business and could probably answer that question easily for you. E-mail him your question. He responds quickly. Tim

Dang, that's a sweet bait; and an even sweeter fish, lol. Nice job. Have never considered getting a TT in the larger sizes, much less the 10"ers. Have a few 10" in other baits and really love tossing the big stuff. Will have to check out a few! Thanks for the topic and Rocky for sharing! Tim

Sweet, that's the way to do it man. Congrats. Tim

Very cool! Nice job Jonathon, keep it up man you're doing terrific. Tim

Great job Jonathon! Man that smile sure says it all! Keep on chuckin' and windin'. Tim