168 Rookie

I'd go with another reel, 100%. If you've got two rods for different applications, you've already got your versatility. It's gonna be great to have two lures tied on at all times, just put one rod down and pick up the other. Get the reel.

Strong. I guess you won't be sticking around then eh?

Dang I bet he was heartbroken.

...more bars?

Word, thanks man.

Can you post a link to where you get your solids? Would be much appreciated.

That's an awesome bag, man, mad respect. Great pics too, thanks for the inspiration for 2023!

OH, how could I forget: "1977Division". It's all Japanese and mostly DRT stuff but they do how-to vids, fish catch compilations, and I learned so much about different modes and cadences with the Klash baits, knowledge which actually transferred to fishing other glide/dog-walk-type baits. Seriously, it's Klashporn.

Maaan, you beat me to it--I read the responses and was thinking, how these dudes gonna disrespect @Crazybassfisher by not mentioning him?? That kid (I say "kid" cuz when I started watching his old vids he had to be what, 14 years old??) got me into big baits and I've watched every vid he's put out since. Seriously, go to his page and watch em all, so dope.

Didn't read the story, but is this resultant from the new forward sonar thingamajig? I'm a bankbeater so I'm not sure I even named it right, but on a conventional bass fishing site that sonar is causing MAJOR division; some guys think it's awesome, it's the future of fishing; other guys are like, "Pffft, I remember when you actually had to know how to fish to catch fish!!" The one thing they all agree on is that all the records are gonna be smashed because of it. What says the swimbait world?

I thought i was gonna have the coldest, CG might have me beat. Two weeks ago here in northern IL it was 26° with a "Feels Like" of 8°. Our ponds had already frozen, thawed again during a warm front, and were freezing again. I got out on the back end of a snowstorm and had to pick up the float-and-fly after the TK and Shine Glide got no bites. Ripped off my gloves to handle the fish and take pics, HUGE mistake--trip only lasted maybe 15 more minutes before my hands started screaming at me and that was that.

Geez, my northern IL fish can't even compare to the tanks in this thread but I'll give mine: 1. Boogie Back -- this is my 3rd season sending this bait and it's been my biggest numbers bait each season, by a mile. Interestingly I haven't heard much about it around here (...am I letting the cat outta the bag??) Once the topwater season starts it's over with; I have to force myself to fish other things cuz I could keep this tied on for the whole year. Best trip this year was during the fall bite; I got 8 fish on it between 6-7:30a (waking it the first hour, once the sun came up I started cranking it down and picked up a few more that way). It caught this year's PB at 20.5", 4.72lb. 2. Tiny Klash Lo Float (KO??) -- finally got a hold of this bait last fall when a buddy traded me a blank (KO??) and I painted it a color I call "Pink Lemonade". Man this thing is so versatile, I see what all the hype is about. I fished it mainly lip-in, tail-up, crank it down then dead-walk it mode. It got bit from ice-out (first fish was on March 12th, three days after the ponds opened up) all the way through the fall bite, when I caught my biggest TK fish of the year: 19.5", 4.38lb. 3. Crawler -- just got this bait in the spring, found a cheap blank online and painted it purple (didn't think crawler color would matter at all so what the heck right?) I swim-tested it one day and I gotta be honest, I absolutely HATED it. Couldn't get it to swim consistently, couldn't get the wings to stay open during the retrieve, it was just a pain. Did some reading here and other places on crawlers and learned how finicky they are, how they need tuned etc, and I put some time into learning it. Finally got the tuning and the cadence down and it became a big producer for me--super finicky still but manageable. 90% of the fishing I did with it was overnight and it got some amazing blowups, including a 19.25", 4.06lb tank in early June.

Yeesh those rocks look TREACHEROUS after dark, my man is dedicated! Nice payoff.