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

Whoa, now that's "get'ner done"! Great job man! Tim

Nice cat Chris!

Congrats Man! That's great you were able to wait it out to get it later on. You might be better off just calling the mfg. and possibly sending it to them for repairs. You be surprised at the way many mfg. treat their customers in this kind of situation. They would also be the ones to go to for replacement tails as well I would think. If they can't or won't help then I'd probably put some hooks on it and see what it does before investing in custom painting. I really doubt that the material used for the bait would be compromised by the water though. Let us know how things work out for you plz. Tim

"Triv - send me a pm with your shipping info and I'll send you a bluegill I got from a friend. I've only thrown it at a pond I fish and don't use it in my regular stuff so you may as well have it." Very cool man! Incredibly nice gesture. I think you'll enjoy using the Tylures also. I have a couple and have been very happy with them. Definitely not mainstream but they don't have to be if the fish like them, lol. Best of luck. Tim

Try using the Pro Cure Trout formula or one of the bass formulas (Bass Feast and Bass Hammer have been effective for me) in Smelly Jelly. They both work very well but in my experience, the Pro Cure lasts longer. You don't need to lather it on. Put some on your finger and smear it all over. They both use a vaseline like material mixed with the attractant which is why it lasts well and why it's effective on improving hook ups. Tim

IMO The Pluton should be a great choice. For the difference in costs of the two reels (Conquest 300 $539 vs. Pluton 200H $419), I can't see how you could go wrong buying the Pluton.

That's too bad you didn't get the 200H, it's perfect for swimbait use.

I'd contact Clayton and let him know about your problems with his bait, he'd want to know. I'm certain he'll take care of you if you give him a call. Tim

Ben's right. This is not a good utility reel for the full spectrum of light to heavy baits. The Pluton is specifically a braid reel or a reel for mono sized 20# or less it can't handle line capacity beyond this. It is also a 300 size reel despite the 200 model number. I use mine with 65# Performance and toss alot of baits in the 8 oz. and less range. Anything heavier you'll probably want to go to a larger frame reel like a 300-400 model Calcutta for braid in 80#, or mono in the 25-30# range because the Pluton won't handle the line capacity for the line size you'd want with the heavier baits. I use my 400TE for mono 25-30# and my 10-13 oz. baits. I also have my 300 Black Sheep sized in the 80# braid and it rocks for the big baits too so you might also want to consider a Daiwa Luna in the 300 if the 300 frame size is more to your liking. I don't know much about the Conquests so I can't speak to it. Hope this helps. Tim