Primus

I appreciate your comment, I have been aware of the superior hook sets that braid provides over all choices. The reason why I'm interested in the line choice that KeepingitReel used is that it would be ideal in my mind if this can be accomplished with Floro which is an advantage for fishing clear water and would prevent the use of connection knots. Rightly or wrongly, I believe that the Dobyn's 795 would be up to the task with braid . That said in a perfect world I prefer to fish Floro in most situations with the exception being heavy grass or dingy water. That's why I'm intrigued with his comments pertaining to the 13 Muse rod.

I appreciate your review of this rod, are you fishing it with Florocarbon or braid ?

Good job on the review, thanks for sharing .

I just bought my first pack and have not used them yet, the one thing I can add is that they are very sharp. Look forward to trying them out this year.

I respectfully disagree about your comment that a 795 should be used for baits under 2 oz. I think the sweet is about 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 ozs and I will occasionally go a little heavier at times. I currently have 3 of these and have fished them a few years, I have 1 with Florocarbon line for most hard baits & line through's , mono for topwaters and 1 rigged with braid/ floro leader for fishing weeddless/ jig hook baits . This is a very solid versatile rod and I can't imagine their are too many production rods that can beat this one in terms of value.

They absolutely will, throw with confidence. Even when Trout are not present Trout swimbaits still get bit everywhere around the country, that includes Northern strain Bass.

Thanks for your report Bamachild.

I was just getting started when we met a few years back. I am grateful for a lot of the intel you shared as it was a tremendous help to me. Need to do it again. Back to the thread , I know more guys in the state are throwing Hudds, Slammers etc but compared to places like California I believe Michigan for the most part is virgin territory for Big bait fisherman combined with 1000's of lakes, rivers etc equals a good opportunity . The only thing missing are truly giant fish , that said I'm predicting that the state record largemouth will be beat within the next 5 years as we have seen the Smallmouth record has been topped a couple of times in recent years.

A lot of good options already mentioned but I like the Floating Matt lures Hard Gill and the Got'Em Coach Bluegill baits. I tend to fish these like a prop bait or at times I will twitch them.

Are you really finding that many guys throwing Hudds in Michigan ? That would be a surprise to me . I'm aware more guys are chucking big baits , that said I would imagine those numbers are still fairly small.

It looks like this website limits us to 5 likes per day, that said there are some great pictures in this thread .

In

Where I live in SW Michigan when fishing for largemouth I divide lures into 2 categories . I have lures that I consider 1 to 3 lures meaning that the majority of fish I catch are 1 to 3 lbs with a few outliers that are bigger or smaller than that . Dropshots, smaller crankbaits, 1/4 oz poppers etc are the type of lures in that category. My other category is the 3 to 5 baits, with the majority of fish that I will land being 3 to 5 lbs with some outliers that are bigger or smaller than that. Big worms , oversized jigs and certainly 6 inch plus swimbaits tend to fall in this category. Keep in mind this isn't California or Florida, a 5 lbs Bass is big in this area and a 6 plus is a very big bass for our area. That said I tend to fish mostly 3 to 5 baits as I categorize them with the majority of time featuring large swimbaits , that said I'm interested in catching big fish and apart from live bait will throw whatever I feel is best for the situation. From what I've observed this doesn't apply as much with smallmouth as 20 lb plus stringers are often caught in our state with drop shots, tubes etc. which is why I'm probably one of the rare northern fisherman who prefers fishing for largemouth as they tend to fit my fishing style more.

I guess I'm old school but I prefer the old 6 pin brakes, my version of fine tuning is 1 break or 2 .

Pulled the trigger, I have the Carp color on it's way.

Looking forward to the BullShad glidebat when it comes out, good video.

Welcome, looking forward to your post .

I don't have any experience with the Meat head. To me the Wake Jr. is a topwater bait. I have two of the older versions, not familiar with the newer one. It can be cranked down but it doesn't swim well like a Pat's Perch for example, I'm sure people have got bit doing that but it just doesn't look right to me. That said as a top water it is top notch. Besides waking it , I also like to deadstick and twitch it. Sometimes I will try to get the bait to clack while it's setiing still. When it's on it is definitely one of the best top water baits out there, just my 2 cents.

Got my order in, looking forward to trying it out next spring .

I've seen these up for sale on occasion, wanted to see if would be a good one to add to my arsenal and if it offered something different that I can't do with a Slammer or a Pat's Perch ? Thanks for your replies.

I have a TRanx 301 mounted on a Dobyn's 795 spooled with 20 lb Florocarbon that I used last summer to throw hardbaits in the 2-4 oz range and it has performed very well for me . That said I have not thrown any light lures in the 1 oz range with this combo so I have no idea how it would perform with lighter baits.

How do you like the Muse for soft swimbaits like the Hudd 's ?

Nice review and I appreciate the fact that you used it over a long period of time before posting it.

Good looking fish, Congrats .

Very imaginative and nice fish .