raybass

Its been dead lately here, the weather is starting to change so the bite should pick up. I'll do a little more late evening fishing and see what comes of it. I'm thinking this new glide bait will help out. Changing my strategy may also.

I live south of you, Lake Conroe is my home lake. My fishing has been almost null on the fish. I've been throwing a little more lately but the fishing has been tough so far. Most of mine have been catfish! I've had some followers but only a few strikes. By followers I mean fish I couldn't even make out what they were. Fish turning just out of sight, getting only a glimpse. Strikes came on 9" slammer in the dark, schooling bass on a 7" s-waver (catch), missed a fish on a top hook Hudd 8" late evening. I just picked up a Smith baits X Hitch so I'll be giving it a go soon. Like you I'm waiting on the big girls to move up during the cooler months. I think our time is coming up soon to start boating some big fish. Looking to get some time in on Fork and Rayburn with these baits soon. I'm thinking the glide baits and rising son type will be my focus along with the slammer for a few more weeks. Good luck bud.

Rharris I may build one like that too, I fish from the bank at times too. I like your idea, great for a short trip in a backpack, I don't carry every bait I have on those trips.

I went the easy route, Rubbermaid box deep enough to hang baits in. Drill holes just big enough for coat hanger wire to pass through. I put in five rows just below the top about 3" apart. Paper clips as hangers. Maybe $12 total. FWI it is crazy hot here and they will deform in short order if left in the boat too long. Depends on what area of the country you are in I suppose.

She ate that Hudd!

Sorry it took me so long but I got out today and conjured up 12 ozs to throw. I didn't have a bait that big so made up a weight that heavy. Turned out a little heavier but good for a test, a little over load to see how it handles it. I didn't try to zing it but lob casts seemed just fine. That's a lot of weight on a pole. Static it did bend it slightly, maybe a third of the way down. I was more worried about the line breaking than the rod. After I lightened the load to 7.5 ozs and wow I could zip one out there. A little over half spool on my Abu Garcia Revo NacL 50 with 25# test big game. I'm really thinking a heavy action would have been good for the baits I'm throwing. Heaviest is a ROF 5 Hudd 8" and it feels a tad stiff for that bait. Keep in mind I have never thrown anything that heavy on a rod. I have thrown weighted corks 3-4 ozs on long rods (13-15FT) for dam fishing but that's about it.

Give me a shout when you get down here, I live a stones throw from the lake (literally) and would sure take you if I'm off.

I think it was fairly sensitive for the price point, I sure knew when I got the bite on the slammer, I could feel the fish which caused me to jerk a little too soon. The blowup didn't help either. I'm running mono on it (20# Big game) so something very subtle may be hard to detect. After throwing for a while I did spool up some 25# Big Game to use. Overall I think its a decent rod. Of course more money will get you better. It'll be hard to beat in the lower price bracket.

The slammer does get bit! I went early this morning before daylight and the slammer got crushed on the 2nd cast. I jerked and lost the fish but had several blowups early and after sunrise. After that one fish took a swip at a 6" bbz and that was it. I did find some places I want to fish early or late again, dropoffs near cover. I threw the Hudd after the sun was up but no strikes yet. I'll keep throwing it though.

Well I'm not good at reviews and this is my first dedicated swimbait rod. But I did fish it today, my first casts were in the dark with a 9" slammer. It handles the slammer and 8" Huddleston very well, easily IMHO. I bought an XH rated at 3-10 Oz's. It may very well handle 10 oz baits. It felt like the Hudd and slammer were on the lower end of what it could handle. The rod was light, casts were long and it feels good to me. I don't think for the price you could go wrong buying one. Getting used to the long handle wasn't bad either. At the end of my trip I still felt good, my last time throwing the slammer and Hudd on a flipping stick my shoulder was killing me. Lesson learned.

I'm new to swimbaits but not new to reels or bass fishing. Most likely any of those will do, Shimano Curado 300, Lew's has some offerings also (300) size, Diawa 300, Abu Garcia Revo Toro Beast or NAcl, Okuma 350 may be good too. Pick the one you have most confidence in. I also see Quantam offers a big reel in a 300 size. You have your pick.

I just bought a Diawa DX XH swimbait rod, anybody here used one? I haven't had the chance to use it yet. Looks good and feels good.

The Slammer and Hudd are here! Awesome baits, can't wait to chunk and wind these big ones. They sure make the 6" baits look small. Now all I really need is a new rod and some time off.

Thanks again guys, what about the lunker punker? Wood vs injected? 8" for sure

Thanks! Work will slow down soon and I'll be back throwing big. I'll also pickup the bigger s-waver and bbz. I'm stoked about the slammer, I believe in this area it'll get bit more often. Come on fall and winter! Our best bites come when it cools off.

I really haven't been able to fish much but have caught fish with the smaller swimbaits, like the FS 6" BBZ and weedless hudd 68. I'm still buying baits but work has kept me busy enough fishing has been left out. My list of baits and what are some I should pick up next? Fishing southeast TX. Ordered: 8" ROF5 Phantom Smoke 9" M.S. Slammer Hitch Not fished yet: 68 ROF5 Green Shad Savage Gear line thru Light Trout 6" BBZ SS Blue Herring Fished: 6" BBZ FS Sexy Shad 68 ROF5 Weedless Trout 168 S-Waver Party Crasher Mattlures Red Ear Sunfish Some of the colors were picked because of availability and some whims. From a newbies point of view the Hudds and BBZ's are the best out of the box. The Mattlure is the worst so far (out of tune). I had a Castaic 6" trout I liked that was destroyed on a cast but swam great, I may pick up more of those. Thoughts?

Nothing fancy here, just a Abu Garcia Revo NACI 50 on an Ethos XH 7'6" rod. Looks ok , casts pretty good but I havent hooked up with this rod yet.

Yep the Abu is a nice reel. I still need a good rod.

Abu Garcia NaCl Revo Toro 50 is nice so far.

I'm a newbie but from the reading I have done it "seems" that was a correct answer. Of course I have just started and really don't know. My first and only came on the hudd!

I found this yesterday and thought I would give it a try. The gear ratio pulled me in and the power handle. All I need is a rod and more baits! Revo Toro NaCI 50.

I learned a lot yesterday and thanks to reading here I have also. I was really impressed at the fish that came out of the woodwork. I got to see where some bass were in places I have fished and not caught. I made some bad casts that likely caused me fish and some bad boat positions but I learned from them. My equipment done well considering but casting did wear me out. Major backlash on some braid, backup reel at home and so on. I was using 50# power pro and 20# Berkley Big Game. Both done every well. The H2o Express reels and rods done a good job considering what I was throwing. I also used an old Falcon flipping stick and Abu Garcia 6500 that handled it slightly better but was uncomfortable to use. Of course both the Falcon and ABU G were old as methusalah. All in all a great experience. I did manage to throw the big stuff the whole trip, I had brought the rest of my gear but barely picked it up. Everything felt so tiny after throwing these baits. LOL Also thanks to Tackle Warehouse for prompt delivery.

Ok fellas took advice from here and went out to give it a good try. It worked out pretty decent for the first try. I had several strikes that didn't connect on the Hudd 68 weedless, which works really well as far as not hanging up. Texas bass like trout! I had a quite a few followers, a couple that were good size bass= toads. Water clarity was good, maybe 3 feet. I lost a bass on the Spro BBZ 1 6" in Sexy shad, my fault, the rod started loading up and I thought it was grass. Wrong! Maybe a 3-4 pounder. I also had a few followers on the Spro one may have went 5-7. One follower on the Hudd looked like a big girl, very sneaky, all I saw was tail and it was big. The bass in the picture was maybe 3, long and skinny post spawner. Beat up too. I will be beefing up equipment, I think the Okuma telescopic will be good for me due to a small boat (16ft) and I haven't decided on a reel. I can't make myself like big reels, round reels are out. About the largest I can stand is the Older curado DSV, barely stand. May look into Lew's Superduty. Have not decide which way to go. Thank fellas!

Great, my baits should be here by Tuesday and I'll be fishing Thursday. It'll be mt first try though....

Thanks fellas, I finally ordered a Spro 6" in sexy shad and a weedless Hudd 68 in trout color. I've been working on the old boat getting in back in shape while trying to fish too. Plans are still the same, I'll toss those baits till I get a new stick and reel. One of my spots I think will pay off with bigger baits and a lot of chunking and winding. MS Slammer is next and some type of slider. A top hook 68 and a G2 Shellcracker after that. At least thats the plan.