Ravelthus

It's absolutely sick. Can bomb a Deps 250 and fish both a treble or softbaits well. I highly recommend it.

My three main rods. • Conquest 905c + Met B MGL HG • Nameless 746 Adventure + Antares DC MD • Cotter Rodworks NFC SWB808 + Tatula 300H

I replaced my Antares DC MD 2018's spool bearings with Hedgehog Studio ZHi bearings 2 years ago once my stock bearings started screeching up. Haven't had any issues since. Service it once every 2-3 months religiously though.

Whoops. Forgot measuring board photo of the smallmouth.

Did my yearly Christmas fishing trip. 2021, caught my first swimbait catches ever. A 3.5 smallmouth, 9 and 10 pound striper. This year got a 10 pound striper and 4 pound smallmouth. Caught on the TiK in Joythief color with shallow lip, mode A, 1 gram lead strip to suspend. Worked out perfectly. I have bent out 5 STX-45 size 2 hooks this month on stripers. Strangely the ST-35, 180 degree stock hooks on my TiK didn’t today. Included all the stripers I’ve caught this month too, including my new 13 pound PB (3rd photo). Those were all on the KGB 7” and 9” TSG’s.

In, Merry Christmas to everyone on SBUG!!

Anyone else order a rod from Nick and it took way longer than what he quoted? I'm at 1 year now. Just want reinsurance I bought a custom from a trustworthy builder. Was originally told 3 months, but this is getting kinda ridiculous.

Battleshad 6 as well as Citizen 6 = Loomis Conquest 905c Battleshad 7.5, Citizen 7 = NFC SWB 807 or Nameless 746 Adventure.

I've had my 2018 Antares DC MD for 2 years now and have fished it heavily, still smooth. I also religiously service my reels once a month myself, but that really isn't needed, just twice a year will do.

The Daily by Leviathan. I fished with it exclusively on my Thailand trip. Handled 45 pound fish well, was throwing 1 ounce Deps Huge Buzzbaits and up to Deps 250. Fit perfectly in the overhead bin of an airliner, didn't have any problems going on a flight on Korean Air.

Been wanting a KGB bait for awhile. Was lucky enough to score a 7” and 9” TSG this week. They’re awesome baits.

Fish I caught in Thailand. 7 pound toman on the Toxic Whippersnapper, 40 pound Mekong on the UFO 6” Wake, 45 pound Mekong on DRT Joker, and two 4 pound barramundis on the DRT TiK and Toxic Wade Hoggs.

https://meihotacklebox.com/collections/14-inch-cases/products/meiho-versus-vs-3043nddm-black-single-compartment-case SBUG bait wrap for when fishing, these for storing swimbaits, excluding softbaits ofc.

I use a Loomis 905c Conquest.

My arsenal for Thailand.

My arsenal for Thailand.

Thanks everyone for the information, going through it extensively. I'm very weary of using braid to leader, do you think straight sunline sniper FC 20 pound or 25 pound will suffice? I'll go down that route if need be, but god I hate braid and blood knots / FG knots suck to tie.

I'm going to be traveling to Thailand here shortly and after talking to my family who lives there, there's plenty of "toman" snakeheads roaming about where I'm staying. I want to take a whack at them with swimbaits. I just ordered 'The Daily' 3 piece from Leviathan, going to bring 2 reels, an Antares DC MD and Calcutta Conquest 200HG. Any input on what lures I should bring? I have an assortment of lures, going to be bringing: Deps 250's & 175's K9's & TiK's and ALL the tails and lips 86 Doomrider & Andromeda UFO 6" Wake & 6" Shallow Crank Toxic Wad3 Hoggs, Wade Hoggs OG, Whipper Snapper, Micro Mink Citizen 6 & 7, Battleshad 7.5's VTS 7, Toxic Froglets My biggest conundrum currently is line choice. I don't know what to spool on. I don't want a heavy ass line to effect lure action but I also don't want a toothy snakehead swimming off with a $300 Andromeda in it's mouth, lol.

WCZ Citizen 6 & 7, Battle shad 6 & 7.5, and DRT VTS7 have been my confidence baits this year. Idk if the VTS7 counts as a swimbait, but that thing gets MUNCHED.

First Deps 250 fish and new PB at ~4.6 pounds, ~20”. What’s more shocking is that my previous PB is the same fish, just a year apart. Hopefully I meet her again in 2024 except she’s 5 pounds.

Main baits for 2023

Yeah, they're 10/10. Make the best tackle boxes IMO. They're made in Japan but their US distributor is based out of Reno, NV so depending on where you live, it may take a week or in my case 1 day. They ship fast.

I only have my SWB 808 coming in since to this day I'm still not sure if the SWB 807 is a good K9 rod. I don't mind at all you revived my old thread. When you guys are talking about the 809, you're talking about the back bounce model, correct? NFC offers, strangely, 3 different 809's. BB809: 2 - 8 Oz SWB809: 5/8 - 10 Oz SWB/MUXH809: 6 - 16 Oz I came to the same conclusion on the 7109 X-ray being the Hacker equivalent. Was a toss up between that or the 7108, but after your post I'll lock that one in.

1. WCZ Citizen 6” I’ve fished from the bank here in Vegas for ~3 years now, I never saw a 5 pounder in my life. This Christmas will mark my 1 year straight of swimbait fishing. This month alone I’ve caught two 5 pounders and broke my PB at 5.23 pounds. My previous PB was a 5.20 on a spinnerbait. Though just 0.03 ounces bigger, I’ll take it. 2. DRT Klash 9 I caught 3 smallmouth on the K9, each one I got to the bank only for me to pick up the fish by the lure, the fish to flop around, get unhooked, and fall back into the water. I learned quick to grab them by the mouth / bogagrip. My fourth K9 smallmouth ended up being my PB at ~20” and 4.25 pounds. 3. 86 Baits Doomrider Caught the most fish this year on this bait, 6 largemouth, 4 smallies, and 2 stripers. Biggest was a 4.6 largemouth, rest were dinks. For sheer fish catching though, this did the trick. This bait saved me many times from skunking.