AnthonyCatlow

If the tail is kinked usually you can stick the skins in boiling water or hit them with a hairdryer for a couple seconds. Maybe these techniques would work to get the skin to return to its moulded shape?

This is a good idea, I’m curious about this also

Although PLine CXX is an excellent line it’s like using rope compared to the diameter of other lines at the same pound test. For me personally Seaguar is my go to. I feel confident throwing up to 2.5oz on 17lb and 3oz+ on 20lb. Casts like a dream and is excellent with manageability. As stated before though you have to keep in mind the reel you’re using and bait you’re throwing has an effect on distance I think more so then the line itself

I had a pack of the new head case harness 6” with me in Mexico and they lasted maybe 4 fish each bait. My biggest problem was the face splitting and the plastic head case would rip out. And as we all know once that plastic rips through the bait is kinda toast. You can do your best to repair it with mend it but it’ll never be the same. As far as the hook penetrating through the bait that area did tear a little too but it was reparable with mend it. I think the new citizen although they’re an excellent bait they need some form of scent applied to them as lube so they slide easier in the fishes mouth when setting the hook. For reference all of the fish were 6+ pounds so that also could be why they ripped so fast

I’d take a look at the Tracker Grizzly John boat. You can find them on FB Marketplace depending on your area if you don’t mind buying a used one or you can buy them new from a Cabelas/Bass Pro. In my opinion it’s essentially the “top of the line” John boat. Basically looks like a mini aluminum bass boat

I have the F5 Ghost Code 800H for pretty much the same application. I love the rod and I think it performs comparable to the Leviathan Omega. I use mine to throw anything from a TK to a Hoog Trout. It has a great parabolic bend to it, light weight and feels solid

Beautiful fish bro congratulations!!

I’ll give this a shot thank you. Yeah I tie directly to the wire and everything seems to be lined up straight

Hey SU, I have my tyrant rigged for the floating presentation. Regardless of nail weight size Mike provided, my bait will still tip over and swim a ways on its side on a slow retrieve with the weight in the slot closest to the tail. Does anyone else have this problem? How did you fix the issue? just for context after inserting the bubble I sealed the bait back shut with a hot knife and everything is even and straight. Thank you!

I have mine rigged for the floating presentation (bubble/bottom hook). When I retrieve the bait it seems to fall over to one side even on a slow retrieve. This happens with either size nail weights in the weight slots by the tail. Does anyone else have this problem and how can I fix it? Thank you!

In my personal opinion I’d say save up the extra few bucks and get a leviathan. In this hobby you’re better off buying the right thing the first time instead of buying entry level first then trying to sell for an upgrade in a year or 2. I bought an 867 for a great price second hand and I gotta say the rod feels like it’s at the upper end of its capacity throwing a Deps 250 / WCZ Tyrant and those are 6oz baits

I’d always recommend Yunique baits. They’re durable, fairly priced and they get bit. Follow him on instagram, he does a drop every Friday of a different style bait in 6 colors usually

I believe they are for surface/subsurface soft baits. Yunique makes a top water frog style lure called a Chicken Foot and this bait requires a unweighted beast hook. To my knowledge I think it’s fairly difficult to make a soft bait that swims even keel on its own with no form of weight. The weighted swimbait hook I think provides the stability the bait needs for it to swim through the water properly

Typically yes you will need some form of weighted “beast” style hook to keep the larger soft baits swimming at an even keel. You don’t use them necessarily to fish deeper it’s just the bait makers typically design the bait around using a weighted Swimbait hook wether it be a 1/4oz all the way up to 3/4oz in the corresponding size for the bait. If the soft bait has some form of internal harness design you can avoid using a weighted Swimbait hook and use a stinger hook and use nail weights in the belly of the bait to keep it balanced properly in the water.

I switched a couple of my K9s to Owner ST-36 size 2 or the Owner STX-45 also in size 2. Just depends which gauge wire you’re looking for and color of hook. Both are excellent hooks however the 36 is prone to bending a little after a good fish or if you get the bait snagged but don’t let that deter you from the hooks they’re great.

Happy Holidays SU, A couple weeks ago I hooked into a fish that I later realized I had already caught a few months prior. Im sure this is something we all have done either knowingly or unknowingly at some point in time if anyone is fishing a particular body of water consistently. I thought it was interesting and thought id share the photos and story. So to make a long story short this is the same body of water that I caught my PB out of in October (If anyone wants to see that fish/story its in the PB thread). I originally hooked into this fish for the first time in August on a Gizzard Wizard about 300 yards down the bank. At the time it weighed 5.2lbs x 21" and was a class of fish I was never able to catch during summer months relative to the waters I had been previously fishing. This catch ultimately gave me the confidence to return to this body of water consistently in hopes of catching a larger fish, which would end up resulting in me catching my PB. Fast forward to December I'm back in the same spot where I caught my PB and I make the same exact cast, to my right up tight to the bank paralleling the shoreline. I believe this spot holds relevance because it has quick access to "deep" water, has large boulder/chunk rock and is near a shallow zone. I think all these components come into play where the bass can either go up into the shallows and feed in 2ft of water and quickly be back into 10ft + or feed along this quick drop off shore line in about 6ft water. This day I was using an 86 Baits Tempest that I had purchased off of another member on Black Market. I was presenting the bait in a very slow consistent retrieve with the occasional reel pop every couple handle turns. Mid way through the retrieve BOOM it gets thumped and I grind the fish in. After catching a 6 pounder off of this spot my anxiety is through the roof with the thought of potentially reeling in a larger fish. I lip the fish and get it on the scale, measuring board and take my photos and quickly release her back into the water. At this point she weighed 5.8 x 21" it wasn't till I got home and reviewed the photos that I realized the tail on the fish looked similar to one I had caught prior. After matching the photos up next to one another I have a pretty good reason to believe its the same fish I caught in August. Im sure the fish wasn't happy to see me again and probably will think twice about feeding in that area now. Hopefully he doesn't tell his underwater friends to not feed in that area anymore and be on the lookout for me lol. Although it was a cool experience to catch this fish 2 times as stated by Mike Gilbert in one of his videos touching on the same subject, it just goes to show that there's only a certain number of these larger fish in a body of water at a given time. Im sure there are plenty more in there however they're either in unaccessible areas or unwilling to eat artificial lures and with each catch were wisening more and more fish to potentially become uncatchable. Original Catch In August In December

Thank you everyone for the kind words!

I’m in, happy holidays to you and your family. Thank you for doing something like this

I would check out Reel Tweeks on insta. Not sure on his pricing but he was on Cast N Crank podcast and touched on having worked for Daiwa and Shimano service departments

Hey SU Happy Holidays, In October I caught my PB and now that our season is coming to a close (at least for me) I thought id share the story for anyone who cares to read. In August I started exploring a new body of water about 40 minutes from my house. I had a good feeling about this particular body of water after I caught a 5.2 on a gizzard wizard mid summer (a class of fish I have never been able to catch in the summer time relative to the waters I had been fishing). This catch gave me the confidence to make the drive more often and take the roughly 1.5 mile long hike to get to this spot. Besides the fish the water seemed promising structure wise with quick drop offs into "deep" water pretty much directly off of the bank, large chunk rock/boulders and what seemed to be a plethora of small baitfish roaming in the shallows. Fast forward to October I was there one morning before work fishing the shoreline exposed to the sun first. I was using a Doomrider I had painted by DS Customs painted in a bluegill pattern, fishing the bait with a very slow consistent retrieve with the occasional reel twitch every couple handle turns. Previously I was fishing this bait with # 2 ST-36 hooks but for whatever reason that morning before heading out I switched them out for the Mustad KVD Short Shank Triple Grip #1. This weighted the bait down just enough to get slightly deeper on the retrieve. I fished my usual 4 spots with no luck and on my way back I figured id stop and fish one last spot but only do a cast to my left and to my right paralleling the shoreline because I was running out of time. My cast to the left produced nothing so I made my "last cast" to the right up tight to the shoreline. Mid way through the retrieve BOOM the bait gets thumped so I swing and start grinding the fish in. Once I got the fish directly in front of me that's when I started to panic seeing that the fish's head and mouth was larger then any I have caught before. I got the fish on the scale and on the measuring board and she went 6.3 pounds by 22.25". She was safely released back into the water quickly after I had taken my photos. I know this isn't the largest fish compared to a lot of other members on here but regardless it was a fun and rewarding catch for me. Definitely one of those situations that make you feel like the time, effort and money spent was well worth it. Im not in a rush but I'm looking forward to meeting with my next PB whenever that time may come.

Hey SU, I recently got a 110mm Varial handle and I’m looking to put it on my Tatula 300. For anyone that has a 300 with a Varial handle what spacer combinations and what order did you orientate them in for a secure fit? I’ve searched through other threads on here and have found answers mostly pertaining to Shimano reels. Thank you!

Not at all man, feel free!