Show off your bigbait setups!!!

[Polkfish1]

drt Is purely word of mouth. Their marketing consists of hush/hush releases with little or no fan fare as I can tell. Their handles are made by livre and cost the same as those sold under livre name.

[Cranky]

I’m well aware of DRT and how they operate. It’s part of their marketing strategy. I’ve seen ppl pay $500+ for a handle which is interesting to say the least. Paying retail for one is a totally different story. Mostly because of the supply and demand imbalance the swimbait market is a haven for flippers and secondary sellers and it’s not changing anytime soon. There’s tons of great stuff out there and ppl are welcome to fish whatever they want. Livre makes great handles for DRT to brand, I actually prefer the Livre versions myself all else being equal but totally respect that’s a personal preference.

Sorry for the side track, some awesome swimbait setups already posted!

[Houndfish]

Super Red Demon
19 Ryoga

This all started with a simple post here musing about wanting a SB rod with a shorter handle, 4 hours later I get a PM offering to sell me the SRD at a price too good to pass up. Once I had it in hand, the Ryoga seemed like the only reasonable choice.

It's a great combo but I don't think I am using it anywhere close to it's potential. I mostly throw ~2oz paddle tails and 2-3oz glides with it. Where it shines so far is fishing weedless 6" paddletails in heavy pad fields, with heavy 50-80lb braid I feel like any lost fish are solely due to user error.

I’ve seen ppl pay $500+ for a handle which is interesting to say the least.

Using Instagram as my data, the crossover between swimbait nuts and hypebeasts is pretty large. If you are willing to spend $300 on a cotton hoodie with a brandname printed on it, it's not a huge leap to pay prices like that for a reel handle.

[Winstondry]

Here's one of swimbait reels, I suppose the Livre handle makes it eligible for Enthusiast status, otherwise it's just your typical mundane Tranx unworthy to be seen in this particular forum.

[biggs]

Here's one of swimbait reels, I suppose the Livre handle makes it eligible for Enthusiast status, otherwise it's just your typical mundane Tranx unworthy to be seen in this particular forum.

NICE! I'm running a Casino as well for one of my swimbait combos.

[hzzhangc]

mb evo wp + ip68

Nice mb wp. Does that originally come cork grips? Mine has eva grips. I personally prefer cork.

The Legend Works Limited model comes with cork grip.

[lzeil]

mb evo wp + ip68

Nice mb wp. Does that originally come cork grips? Mine has eva grips. I personally prefer cork.

The Legend Works Limited model comes with cork grip.

yup

[hzzhangc]

I know some of you west coast guys are going to say, that's not a big bait! I throw lighter texas rigged soft swimbaits into FL grass like the texas rigged shad pictured because my waters are shallow and grassy. The Tulala monstruo 74 has enough tip to launch these baits, but 'morethan' enough power drive an owner beast home. It's rated up to 2oz and I've pushed that to around 2.5 with a hard swimbait with no issue.

I feel like Tulala are way underrated. I have the monstro 610 model which feels as stiff as Megabass Mephisto which is rated up to 4 oz.

[Welikan]

Very nice! Here's my weapon of choice for swimbaits in that 2-8oz range.

Rod: Deps Huge Custom
Reel: Megabass Lin Origin 10 with the Drt 95mm Handle
Lure: Drt Tiny Klash

20200422_161021-480x640.jpg

Do you always use braid? What type of braid and what strength is it??
Been wondering if I should make the switch from 20# Big Game to braid for TKs and others???

Yes I always use braid. That's a preference for me. I'm using 65lb sufix 832 with a 20-30 lb leader. Depending on the suze of bigbait I'm tossing.

[Welikan]

Here's one of swimbait reels, I suppose the Livre handle makes it eligible for Enthusiast status, otherwise it's just your typical mundane Tranx unworthy to be seen in this particular forum.

NICE! I'm running a Casino as well for one of my swimbait combos.

Ahhh I want the studio composite handle. They make some great handles.

[Polkfish1]

I know some of you west coast guys are going to say, that's not a big bait! I throw lighter texas rigged soft swimbaits into FL grass like the texas rigged shad pictured because my waters are shallow and grassy. The Tulala monstruo 74 has enough tip to launch these baits, but 'morethan' enough power drive an owner beast home. It's rated up to 2oz and I've pushed that to around 2.5 with a hard swimbait with no issue.

I feel like Tulala are way underrated. I have the monstro 610 model which feels as stiff as Megabass Mephisto which is rated up to 4 oz.

It’s possible, but the 74 definitely does not go much past 2.5. It really shines toward the lower end of its range. I also have a 69 Gargoyle and that one is rated up to 4 oz. It’s a much beefier rod than the 74 monstruo kind of like what you describe your 610. That’s my big bigbait rod.

[biggs]

Here's one of swimbait reels, I suppose the Livre handle makes it eligible for Enthusiast status, otherwise it's just your typical mundane Tranx unworthy to be seen in this particular forum.

NICE! I'm running a Casino as well for one of my swimbait combos.

Ahhh I want the studio composite handle. They make some great handles.

I definitely recommend SC handles, especially the ones with the rubber coated knobs. Very comfortable IMO and the grip it great.
Not that it really matters but the knobs spin FOREVER, the bearing in the knobs are amazing.

[Polkfish1]

Here's one of swimbait reels, I suppose the Livre handle makes it eligible for Enthusiast status, otherwise it's just your typical mundane Tranx unworthy to be seen in this particular forum.

NICE! I'm running a Casino as well for one of my swimbait combos.

Ahhh I want the studio composite handle. They make some great handles.

I definitely recommend SC handles, especially the ones with the rubber coated knobs. Very comfortable IMO and the grip it great.
Not that it really matters but the knobs spin FOREVER, the bearing in the knobs are amazing.

I’m lovin’ that SC handle you sold me!

[biggs]

My other combo for the season.
This one will get a lot of use.

Roman Made Centurion Mind "Brea$t" (TT censored its name!)
Shimano Bantam with DRT 100mm Varial handle (yes, I paid MSRP! )

[biggs]

Here's one of swimbait reels, I suppose the Livre handle makes it eligible for Enthusiast status, otherwise it's just your typical mundane Tranx unworthy to be seen in this particular forum.

NICE! I'm running a Casino as well for one of my swimbait combos.

Ahhh I want the studio composite handle. They make some great handles.

I definitely recommend SC handles, especially the ones with the rubber coated knobs. Very comfortable IMO and the grip it great.
Not that it really matters but the knobs spin FOREVER, the bearing in the knobs are amazing.

I’m lovin’ that SC handle you sold me!

I'm a big fan of Studio Composite.