tHeINFamoUS

I concur….looks like some innovative rigging for bottom fishing hardbaits.

Yeah….I don’t think it really has anything to do with magic baits or baits that work. There’s an entire thread dedicated to “baits everyone loves but I can’t get bit on” and literally every bait is on the list with some saying best bait ever and others saying it doesn’t work for them. I generally believe in the “it’s the Indian not the arrow” philosophy but I too have baits I couldn’t buy a bite on lol, some have been absolute garbage. The hype isn’t about baits, it’s about human psychology. I want, I need, I wanna try…….it’s why we like hot baits, hot chicks, hot cars/trucks/boats etc….especially when we’re young and stupid. I do believe it wears off with a little maturity…..most of the time. PS…. I’m have nothing against hype baits or the peeps that chase em. I have a few I got pre-hype, I got some I overpaid for at max hype and some I got after hype.

Some elements of the hype train equation….. Bait = swims; has unique qualities or some characteristic that differentiates it from others; low numbers available based on build capacity or ability to rapidly reproduce. Hype= demand amongst the general population that is intrigued by a bait that not everyone has access to; bait gets pub on social media or print; big names in the big fish game catch bigs on them and publish to social media. Builder= has skin in the game and/or some other recognition and experience that legitimizes their position in the industry; builds a solid product that catches fish and holds up; delivers said baits when they say they will and/or communicates when there is a hiccup in production times. This one is optional cause I don’t think it applies across the board = doesn’t steal your money or otherwise behave like an absolute d-bag. Buyers= ultra fanboys, otherwise known as the army of teenagers ready blow their wad of birthday cash on a single bait……then post the envy photo of a brand new bait attached to an unused rod all over their gram….then put the bait safely back in its package like a comic book or baseball card; kooks using bots to buy up drops in hopes of flipping them to average dudes; average dudes that only get in on a drop occasionally cause they have a job and can’t spend hours on end refreshing sites hoping for a score……but when they do score them they’re generally the most productive with said bait cause they actually use them. Hate= Internet complainers that cry about the army of teens, flippers and lack of baits; internet complainers that bash builders with accusations of artificially pumping the supply/demand curve.

OP was already throwing swimbaits and getting bit. Save the cool baits for the application that they’ll work in…..especially if you’re just losing them.

lol....swimbait underground store has a few. Also follow gooniewolf and rkane fishing on IG to see what there working on...best all around graphic style in the fish game.

Love that new stick mojo.

Hold up.....please tell me that the fish is being submitted by, and officially recorded caught by, “Mike Honcho”! And how ironic is it, that it was a Wiper?!?!?!

I owned a SuperFishal. It was a pretty cool board, super stable and more fishing friendly design. Since it was a rotomolded PE board you could bang it around without too much worry. It was heavy however, that helped a bit with windage but it paddled like a barge.

My whaler’s been under a bit of a refit for a while now.....this little yak has gotten me by. Hobie Revo 11, far from ideal but definitely better than my other paddle yaks. On a side note, bass fishing on the delta used to be pretty gentlemanly. Over the past couple years, in both the yak and my 10’ Livingston skiff, I’ve witnessed some absolutely awful etiquette and behavior toward me while I’m in the smaller craft.

I shop at my local tackle shop and only buy online if they don’t have it......haven’t had any issues, strange.

Any feedback on how they affect the speed of retrieve? I have a couple longer handles en route, with the longer travel I’m hoping to slow my retrieve down some of my 6:3:1 reels down to a crawl.

I’m gonna go against the grain and suggest you buy a couple higher end, regularly available baits and learn to fish them before buying more. I’d buy a mattlures hardgill, a toxic wakencrank and some citizen 6’s (or 5” 316 rising sons) . All very versatile baits you can throw on a flipping stick and a 200 size reel. If you decide big baits are not for you, you can sell them relatively easy in the BM and get your money back. If you buy typical “beginner baits”, you’re more than likely gonna keep experimenting with progressively more expensive baits and wind up with a pile of beginner baits that you don’t use and can’t sell.

Cue every member that says fish are already conditioned to all the popular baits and you need to show em something different.

Correction to my previous post, that was an NFC SWB 808, 2-5oz, my Elephant Gun (not sure if I can still edit the post). Finally got out to test it out at a local lake and it fished it. That rod is freakin money for the hardbaits, action looks like it may be a little slow for softbaits. Time will tell. Also wrapped up my NFC 809 XXH Rhino Chaser. This is the big dog, 6-16 oz’s. I took it out and tested it with a 16oz diamond jig and it launched em into space. Action is kinda fast but I think it will do well getting fish away from cover. Build Specs: NFC SWB 809 Alps guides Fuji reel seat NFC soft grip carbon handle. Fuji Neon Pink leftover from a rod I wrapped for my friends daughter and ProWrap 404 acents. XL butt wrap with a pink and blue peacock feather inlay for the split grip.

Nice work sticking with it and landing her. A little humility to humble the soul is never a bad thing.

Nice, the 807 is on my build list. I have the 809 above and I’m just wrapping up the finish on an 808 right now. Really hoping that the NFC blanks suit my fishing, they’re priced way more affordably than the others I’ve been building lol.

Right on! Just found some swim videos of it on YouTube also, looks like it’ll get the job done. Thanks again.

Need help ID’ing a bait I just got. Looks like a 8” 4pc trout bait. No markings on it, other than what looks like a couple circles left after molding that weren’t sanded off. It’s a solid resin bait with a lexan tail. Any idea on what it is?

Really? You’re crying about prices and availability then demanding that a company alter its business practices so it suits you’re demands. Don’t know what the European equivalent of a Karen is but you appear to be it.....Claire maybe? Let’s be honest, you’re just gonna keep buying their products and paying a premium. Stop being so bitter Claire.

That shitty opinion is called reality my man.....welcome to it. So right now the free market kinda dictates the price and who gets them. Buyers can get em direct from a distributor in our country, or as you do, get em from Japan. And you do it, whether you’re happy about it or not. What you want to do is push the company to fixed lower prices and also have them distribute more in your country so you can get ahold of them at a reasonable price.....swimbait socialism, what’d I miss? You are right on one point, I am lucky to be born and bred American. I got retail TK’s, K9’s and riser jacks sitting on a shelf collecting dust lol.

lol.....what do you expect, swimbait socialism where everyone is entitled to baits? Don't like their business practices, don't buy their baits. Problem solved.

Since Pure Fishing has both Abu and Penn under their branding umbrella, it’s basically a re-badged abu revo toro beast (or whatever their hd model is). From what I heard at the shop the fathoms been holding up in the salt pretty decently so far, plus I have sentimental ties to penn so I thought it’d be cool to pick one up. Haven’t had a chance to use it yet but it feels good in the hand lol.

North Fork Composites SWB 809 (PSI LMX) XH 6-10 oz- intended use, big glides. North Fork Conposites soft touch carbon grips, had to shape a little hypalon for the very bottom of the blank since the carbon wouldn’t fit over the butt and I didn’t want to cut the carbon. Turned out pretty nice. Fuji Reverse Trigger jigging seat, we’ll see how this one goes, feels good in the hand so far. Fuji K Series guides. Starting school again soon so I had a small window to knock a few builds down. This was the last one to wrap and the only hole in my rod arsenal, so I just wrapped it with a really quick and simple rasta. More comin down the pipeline. And that’s a Penn Fathom 400 HS......can’t wait to huck this thing.

Wishful thinking......flippers gonna flip, now they’re just gonna ask double retail, shipping, 4% PayPal fee and applicable taxes. It’s the average guy that’s gonna be out now. The one that buys a bait and sells it at retail if he doesn’t like it. No incentive to sell it if you’re gonna have to save paperwork or get dinged by Uncle Sam.

Am I missing something here? Catching fish is cooler than endlessly throwing a cool hard bait. If you're getting them on a weedless swimbait , fish the weedless swimbait.