gradycodd

Still using them, still haven't bent or broken one.

Dunno why, but any pattern I throw I would prefer there to be some shade of gold/yellow in it. Could mean nothing, it could mean everything, I have no idea, but either way it always ups my confidence. And obviously any flash/reflection is money.

I do the 2 - 1 step, I think it's much more important to stay 2 steps ahead of the fish and then worry about the fishermen. I credit the big largies far more intelligence then I credit 98% of the people targeting them on a given day. Will, I think he's speaking of more of an approach of just standing out and setting your baits apart from the rest that the fish see daily on pressured waters like ours, but it's also very disheartening when one guy see's what you're doing that's yielding success, and then goes out and conditions your fish to be uncatchable on that pattern by trying it for himself and blowing spots. Competitive water doesn't give you quite as much freedom to share info with the other's on the water. Never trying to be a dick, just put too much heart and soul (and gas $) to give away bites we earn for ourselves. That being said, you better get your new boat all set up if you're planning on staying 2 steps ahead of me King

Latest addition Toxic Slob stopper super cool lil bait

Just saw a post on FB and a few of the big striper guys are reporting that the hooks are breaking on the fancy catfish

I've only used them on my hardbaits and most hardbait fish are hooked outside the mouth and the hooks don't pose a real threat. I haven't noticed any more damage to any fish with them yet. I can however vouch for them being much trickier to remove, but that's the point after all. Just have to take a little extra time to carefully remove them, good trade off in my opinion. I still just run quads on my mags.

Not a dumb question at all man. They are a series of monofilament knots that help keep your braid from sliding down and wrapping around your hooks when you're trying to work the bait. Saves a lot of headache.

Haven't tried them on soft baits yet but have made almost a complete switch to them on my hard baits. I was skeptical too but you'll see what I'm talking about the second you hookup with them. Game changers.

2 hook trebles, para-cord instead of split rings, eliminating hook rash,,,,, I'm gonna be 1 step ahead of the game and just tie 4/0 wide gap worm hooks to my baits using USB cables, maybe I'll even snell em

Tfo BigFish 9'6 4 power, big bait workhorse, I don't own anything I can't throw on that stick. Either that or the TackleIndustries XXXH 9'. You can also get the handles custom extended if you need that extra length. But you've got like 8 months until you need to start worrying about sending Mammoth Sues or 2lb dawgs, so maybe look into getting a custom rod built in the mean time if those options don't work for you. Hope you're not attempting to huck those all year, seen too many shoulder surgeries as a result of that mentality. Don't beat urself up.

Hahahahahaha Ol' boy Ken is gonna bust a nut

What are you throwing that is between 16 and 30 oz... doesn't sound like the ideal tool for Idaho bass fishing haha If you're talking for tigers go with 100# Cortland Masterbraid, there is nothing on the market better for baits that large...

Kids been on a roll from my boat, to Manny's, and all the way back to the frozen waters on the east coast. That's a hell of a streak ur on Tys

If you're struggling to keep at it right now, this is a good littl story for ya... Bear with me, I'm a detailed story teller hahaa This was roughly my 15th outing of 2018 with no fish in the boat. In the past, my slumpbusters are almost always well worth the wait, and this was no exception. I left work early to hit the lake for a couple hours, was hoping to catch the stocking regardless of how useless the first few were. I put in and notice the only other person on the lake is leaving. Insane, a January mid week stocking and I'm the only one there, fine by me. I head to my first couple of spots and see nothing, no trout, no bass, barren. For 3 hours or so, I never once see a trout, and I assume they just delayed the stocking because I would have seen the dude roll up and dump them by then. But I'm looking around and everything looks primo, stable weather on a New Moon, high water with perfect clarity and not a soul around, a dash of trout would've truly done it in. I decide to revisit a favorite spot of mine before the sun goes down and give it one more good cast before I call it quits for the day. Mid cast methodically swimming mid water column and the soft bait gets clobber gnarled, I set into her and work her to the net and drop the first fish in the livewell at 8lbs 2ozs, I quickly reset the bait and line up another banger of a cast, and within inches of where the first fish bit, I get smoked again this time by a much smaller fish, a feisty little 5er, and as I'm clambering to get him off of my bait and make another cast, I see what I've been waiting for. 2 trout come flying out of the water in perfect sync with a full grown boil beneath them. I bust out the punker and send it far past the sweet spot and work it into the zone. There is something to be said about having a rod on the deck for every application. The way this specific spot sets up is something a lot of people tend to overlook, but something I've been in tune with for some time, and contains one boulder that has a special place in my heart. My bait finds itself directly above the rock and gets flushed, arguably my favorite sound on earth. I swing and horse in another good fish at 8lbs8oz. In fact she was a resident fish that I caught 2 years ago off the same rock with an hph. I back off the spot, drop her in the well and crack a beer while I wait for the dark to set in and for the fish to set back up for what I'm very aware is about to go down. Once I hear the trout beginning to get nervous again, I lined myself up and sent the soft bait back into trout hell. The first cast I get a couple bumps and taps as soon as I clear the rock, but no commitment, so I quietly slide around and make the same cast from the opposite angle, this time the bait bumps the rock and this particular fish knocked about 27 feet of slack into my line. I reel tight, crack her and net another solid fish. This one much fatter, only 22 inches long but tying the last fish at 8lbs8ozs. I drop her in the well and back off again, I scoot down to another few areas for about half an hour or so and let my spot rest. Nothing to write home about anywhere else, this was all going down in a 25 yard stretch, so I decide to go back to my rock and make my cast. This time I ticked the rock and nothing happened, so again I slide around and try it from another angle. This time letting the bait come up the side of the rock and opening my bail to let it fall straight down off of the deeper side. The second that bait dropped to the base of the boulder it gets pounded, this time the fish is working me, she pulled locked down drag a few times and made some seriously impressive runs, I thought I hooked my big one for the night, but shockingly she only went 7lbs15ozs. She fought better than every other fish that night and ended up being the 2nd smallest of the limit. I was now at the lake for far far longer than I had anticipated, and having to work first thing in the morning I decide to weigh my limit and take the money and run. I believe if I had the opportunity to fish through the night I would've been able to beef that limit up even further, but I was plenty grateful for what I was given in a matter of hours. Moral of the story, stick to it and respect the grind, it can and will pay off. Just be ready. and getchurself some Trapper tackle trebles, fish just don't come off anymore. It's comical to watch them try. Didn't hear it from me

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Smother that bait in bassdynasty,, lol, I mean Pro-Cure, and try sliding a small glass rattle into the tail, I believe when they're that size if they cant feel a heartbeat in the bait, that's enough to put them off, they're that wary, and a small rattle can create just enough vibration for that. Sounds like you did everything right but she found just one tiny thing wrong. A color switch may even be in order as well, I know the old timers on here think color don't matter, but it can certainly be a big deal in situations like this. What's the bottom content like, can you make the bait stir up any sediment while stationary? I also don't think downsizing will do you any good, it should in theory, but it sounds to me like she's becoming more defensive rather than hungry, and that mag is at a size that she clearly does not appreciate in her area. For her to get that close is a great sign, I bet you were shaking a bit, keep on her and make sure those hooks are sharp! These are ideas I genuinely think will help, I want to see this fish just as bad as you at this point