zanwhite

Good advice right there, less is more with this stuff too. Watch out for UV flow, it's the least viscous and'll soak into the wood

For me it's more about keeping the bait from ripping. I've tried it both ways, mostly with hudds at first, and found that with one clip you tend to tear a larger hole after a few fish or even just lots of casts. The 2 clips allows the back one to take pressure first from a bite, and then the front one takes force from the constant pulling of the wire when the bait bends on the cast/splash. Especially with wire, since it's so stiff, this can really pull on the single clip on a long cast. Mend-it works and all, but eventually it gets to where you're mending mend-it and it starts to develop a hard spot in the bait

Can you tell if its fouling on the cast or during the retrieve? If its on splashdown, are the hooks stock? He uses extra short shank KVD triple grips, which are light for my taste, but when replacing them you may need to go down a size or 2. If it's twitch or rip/pause related, bigpoppabass said it perfectly. Too aggressive and a TT will go from being seductive and erratic, to crumpled and upside-down in a jiffy. Once you get the touch down with how much rod and reel to use, you'll notice that gentle and fluid is better. I rarely throw slack into the line, as one can with lipped baits or single-joints. That being said, each size TT is it's own different bait, and the same touch won't be ideal for all. The bigger, the more you can jerk it around without fouling. I have a 5" that I basically only use the reel to work, but my 8" stubby and 10" I sweep the rod down some so I don't have to pop the reel as hard

Another thing I've found is that with 80+ lb single-strand wire, the more twists the better. 2-3 might seem like enough, but I've had haywire twists come undone on 5 wraps. I try to use at least 7, its a little bulkier but once you get good at it you can make it really neat. Also lets you trim the end flush with the twist, instead of having to leave a longer tag to be safe

Quads sit pretty well on a bait without sticking any hooks into the skin. I bend and chop paper clips into a cotter pin-ish shape, it's allot cheaper and lighter than cotter pins and won't leave as big of holes in the bait. The less weight on the top of a bait, the better it will keel, and it won't want to roll or spiral on the fall. I shape the paper clips into 2 styles, one is rounded at the top (like cotter pin) and used for securing the eye of the hook, whereas the other is squared and wider at the top. Make it just wide enough to fit over the back of the shank where the 4 hooks are still welded, this holds the hook in-line without the need to bury/waste one of your hook points. Without the second clip, the hook can rotate about the first and get kinda wonky after casting if a hook point grabs the bait

holy crap I actually logged on in time to get one, thank you!

drill that sucker out, replace, epoxy

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That's usually about the time when I re-spool or get new line. Even if its not the issue, makes me feel like I've changed something before I go out again. Losing baits 2 trips in a row, especially on your first cast or two of the 2nd day, is the only thing I can think of that sucks more. Gives you lots of time to think...

It took me 2-3 months of dedicated SB fishing (68 hudd) before I broke 4lbs. Not fishing every day, or in a boat, but at least 3-4 times a week. I caught 15 or so fish (all 2-3 lbs) from the same small lake system before, almost magically, I got my first over 5. Then an 8. All it takes is 1 random day for it to happen I started thinking less about novelty of "swimbaiting" and stopped worrying about losing any baits. Seriously, that first 5# I thought I was hung on a fountain. Once a 25$ bait seems cheap, that's when it'll happen haha. My casts started getting longer and more efficient, and my retrieves generally slowed down as I got confidence in what exactly my bait was always doing.

How deep does it get down to without adding any weight? Say, 20lb floro?

I agree with you 100%, it's rude if done purposefully. No doubt it's a kinda d!@$ move, but like you said it's not something to let bother you. However, I've been flooded with PM's about a certain bait before, only to then get maybe 1 reply to the topic itself (on more than one occasion). I just did it recently, sold all of the baits thru PM and then never checked the listing again once it was bumped down the page. It's also really easy to open a message from someone who messaged you after 3+ others, wait to make sure the first guy in line comes thru, and then forget to go back and respond to everyone. It also doesn't help when all of the subjects are titled the same way, or that half my transactions over the years resulted in exchanging phone #s out of convenience. Not an excuse, I know, and I will say that the new website has fixed allot of those issues. Idk if that's what happened here at all, and I'm not saying I've never ghosted anyone before, but it's food for thought

Some people are used to having everything done for them, must be nice... It never fails to amaze me what people don't notice. I personally get bothered by all the posts on the Underground that can be answered with a 2 minute google search. It takes way more time to make a topic and wait for replies than to google how much a friggin Deps weighs...

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