MattC94

definitely do yourself a favor and go with a TT, i got a new 6” last year to fish as a newb and instantly fell in love with the bait and wish i bumped up to a 7” at least since the 6” is on the small size but it’s all preference and what you’ll be confident in tossing consistently and my 795 handled the 6” with ease so your 795 will handle a 6” no problem

I grabbed a pack of silvers this time. still have a pack of golds and greens from the last drop and idk of purple was put up honestly cus I kept refreshing and never saw purple come up showing it as "in stock" or available?

They're in stock now, get em while they're hot fella's!!

I'd try the hair dryer approach and see if that solves the problem, I have also questioned this cus I've seen some 175 from eBay that have some slightly bent tails but never had the guts to pull the trigger and purchase. If the the hair dryer doesn't fix it immediately also try heating it up and then sandwiching the tail between 2 heavy books and letting sit for a day or two and see if that straightens it out

I believe the Bullshooter takes #1 hooks but don't hold me to it

being a fresh newb to swimbaits I can't say I know a bunch about all the different setups and whatnot BUT I followed what SU has gave me for knowledge and grabbed a Dobyns Fury 795 and just got my first Deps 175 Slide Swimmer and I got out after work when there was still some light to see the action of the 175 and see what drives people crazy for these baits and now after owning and seeing this bait in the water I fully understand why folks swear by a Deps SS 175 or 250. The rod handled throwing the bait just fine I was throwing it on some 20lb CoPoly on a beater reel that I don't plan on using for swimbaits since it's a convential size Baitcasting reel and the clutch in the reel would prolly blow apart after a month of constant use so figured I'd use the beater reel just to see the action before water freezes here in NY. I have nothing but good to say though about the Fury 795 though as a recommendation

indeed it is, that's why I asked just because I've ran into people who have different "upstate NY" boundary lines and then having to explain well technically "upstate" isn't until you hit the great Adirondacks! But much like you I consider Albany upstate as well even though the Adirondacks are maybe a hour drive away depending where you are in the capital region. That's pretty cool though that you're also an Albany guy tossing Big Baits!! I've found a BIG BAIT thrower that's actually local!! From what I've heard a lot of guys who toss the big baits actually go further North toward the Adirondacks just because the pressure isn't as bad as say Saratoga Lake and some of the other local lakes or smaller bodies of water like Ballston Lake, I'd love to hit up the Adirondacks though on a big bait journey finding some nice bodies of water up there to fish that has some solid fish, I'm sure there's some small ponds and such up there that have t been touch in years that probably hold some decent fish PLUS the scenery is just amazing just by itself. Where do you like fishing around here? idk if you've ever heard of Central Park in Schenectady but I'm on a quest over there looking for a solid giant out of there before it freezes over

Nice to see another NY'er who's also a newbie to the big bait game looking to learn it all, I love this forum it fills up my free time during my break and lunch breaks during work and then some solid reading at night! I've just been laying low reading EVERY bit I can about the big bait world on here trying to soak in as much as I can buy I find myself turning back to read it again almost like a refresher or a reminder! I just started throwing a lot of Hudd Grass Minnows and Weedless Shads with some success and just starting to commit fully to throwing my 68's since I've built up some confidence with the Grass Minnows and Shads but I'm going into it not looking for a monster immediately, just gonna stay positive and grind it out and keep putting in the hours with the bait learning how to fish it properly. I fish some local ponds that are somewhat similar to what your facing with no structure but lots of nice weed edges and some very nice weed patches that are right in the edge where the water transitions from shallow to deep and that's where the majority of my swimbait fish have come from just slinging the bait out past the patch of weeds and slowly bringing it through them and stopping it once I feel it in the weeds, in case a bass was following it and once it sees it has stopped it will wanna inhale it quick before it swims away, guess you could call that "praying on the weak"? Another thing I've done that could also work for you is instead of casting it beyond the weeds and bringing it back towards you (to the bank) assuming you're fishing from the bank, is to position yourself to where your casting on the edge of the weedline and just dragging it or swimming it slowly along that weed edge or line in hopes a big girl is positioned right on the edge looking for that easy meal to swim by! Nobody around my area where I am really throws the big bait stuff at least to my knowledge at least, some guys have tried but have given due to not having enough patience but I'll gladly give up numbers per say or whatever you'd like to say or call it and catch that fat chunk cus once you get that hook up and land it, it makes all those countless skunked days worth it in the end for sure! Hey MillerDaPikeKiller (Jeff) I see you say you're from Upstate NY, where exactly are you at in Upstate NY are your further North of Albany, NY like out by Syracuse area? It gets confusing what is truly "Upstate NY" since so many people have different opinions of "Upstate NY" some consider Albany, NY to be Upstate and others consider anything North of Albany to be Upstate! Ben (LIBass) just toss em' and experiment and see what works man but definitely read everything you can on here! TONS OF KILLER HELPFUL INFO, Good luck though man maybe in the future we can get out there and chuck some big baits together and maybe slay a couple of fatties!

I've been throwing the Hudd Weedless Grass Minnow on my Omen 7'3" Heavy/Fast with a standard size baitcasting reel mounted on it (TDZ w/ a 6:3 gear swap) spooled up with 50lb PowerPro. The rod is rated 3/8oz-1 1/2oz and throws the Grass Minnow perfectly, I've caught now 2 decently sized fish 1 hit the scale at 3lbs 9oz's while the other if I had to guess was maybe 3lbs and some change. This rod stays in my car since it's my everyday pond hoping stick that has now turned into just throwing the Grass Minnows since a lot of the bodies of water I fish are from the shore and mainly ponds or small bodies of water where I can just beat the banks around the body of the water. I'll typically drag it slowly on the bottom or with a straight slow retrieve and let the fish tell me what they want then I'll adjust accordingly. I've also been throwing a lot of the Weedless Shads on this same exact setup fishing it the same way as the Grass Minnow, I'm not using any leader also on both baits. I have talked with some other Grass Minnow/Shad users and they're using 65lb braid tied to a fluoro leader. I'm a complete newb to the swimbait world but slowly building my confidence in the big bait world with these perfect size snacks for the bass. I also see you make mention of wanting to be able to throw the Hudd Gill and I've also tossed the Hudd Gill on the same Omen I'm using for my Shads and Grass Minnows but if I can avoid using the rod for the Hudd Gill then I will just because it's pushing the limits of the rod rating but in a pinch I've thrown it just fine but I'm very cautious with casting it

Wow this is great read for myself filled with a boat load of info for myself being such a noob, definitely taking notes for when I hit the water next time to fish.

Wow man that's incredible! That would look killer hanging up in someone's fishing man cave!