ZOOM!

[goldrod]

I think We’ve been on the same quest

I would think an L or ML powered BFS stick would be the ticket. Something with a rigid backbone and light tip.

I guess I should add the big qualifier, that I want to use 15-16lb fluoro. I fish them via lift-n-dip, so the line is too slack for braid. I used to use 12lb Invizx, which works fine from my yak but I lose too many from the bank. I also pitch them or make short, sub 50' casts a lot of the time.

So I am looking for a rod with a soft enough tip to fully load a 1/4oz weight on a pitch or very soft cast but the backbone to get a bass out of the pads if one does hit it 50' out. I want a rod around 6'6" as some of the spots I fish it take some bushwacking to get to and have poor bank access which makes longer rods a pain. I need a reel free enough/with a light enough spool to make the same casts/pitches but still forgiving enough that I am not fighting lose line all day, I make a ton of casts per hour with this presentation and my thumb will slip occasionally.

The yak version as been "solved", an old cr723 GLX w/ sv105 works great. The spool has the inductor from a sv103 spool on it which tames it down perfectly with 12lb Sniper. I can make soft side arm casts with ease and accuracy, and if a fish gets stuck I can just paddle over and get it.

The bank version is proving harder. The best rod I have found so far is a new model 783c GLX. It's got the perfect power and almost the perfect taper, but the tip is too stiff for easy pitching/soft casting with the heavier fluoro. For reels I started at the bottom with a Pixy w/ DIY spool. It hold very very little 16lb Sniper but enough to work. But the reel is very challenging to control and I need to use so much thumb that it's less fun then I want it to be. A Pixy w/ stock spool holds easily enough line but still isn't controlled enough with the rod not loading fully. Moving up, an Alphas SV w/ stock spool is better, but it's still wild on pitches or soft casts. A Steez SVTW w/ sv1012 spool showed a lot of promise, but I hated the way the reel felt on the rod, so it was out. The Steez SVTW on a PA 611m+ works a lot better, but the tip is still a bit too stiff and the rod is too long. The current reel I am working with on the 783c is a TDZ w/ ZPI PG spool. The control is good as is the casting distance, and the egros are good as well. I wanted a smaller/lighter reel though. If the tip on the 783c was just a little softer I think it and the TDZ would be about perfect. The TDZ is so good on that rod for everything else I use it for that it's going to stay on there I think.

If I gave up on "no braid" this would be a lot easier. A casting version of those MH solid tip "power finesse" spinning rods sounds ideal, like the ones in the Carbon Head and new P5 Destroyer lines.

GLX 803c and TDZ ?

Zoom is awesome.

[Houndfish]

GLX 803c and TDZ ?

Zoom is awesome.

I had thought of that, but never found a used one for cheap. I have a M/XF Avid that I use for popper/flukes and didn't like it for my Trickworm-dreams, but I don't like XF rods much as GP rods, which the ideal Trickworm rod will need to be. I will look into the XF 3power Loomis rods a bit more and see what I can find out.

Back to Zoom love, after the Trickworm, I think the Super Fluke is the other standout Zoom plastic. Despite weight about the same as the TW, it casts far far better and with a 3/0-4/0 medium wire hook, seems to have the perfect rate of fall. Where the TW is a cover-plastic for me, the Super only flirts with cover, being one of my favorite presentations to lure a bass out of the weedline and into open water. I usually start out with them fished fast on top, slowing down until I start getting bit. The heavier D-Shads and Caffeine Shads have their place when heavier line and tackle are needed, but the nimble little Zoom Super is what I always go for first. A Zoom Super and a Popmax are my goto "after work" lures when I am getting to the pond an hour before sunset and want to grind one out.

[hoohoorjoo]

8" Magnum lizard in gourd green and green pumpkin/chartreuse. I've caught fish with them every way you can think....weightless, t-rigged, c-rigged, bubba shot, even wacky rigged. I've caught more 8lb+ fish on this bait than anything else I've ever used. The super fluke in baitfish and midnight chartreuse (discontinued) has also caught a ton of fish for me.

[spencerinstl]

GLX 803c and TDZ ?

Zoom is awesome.

I had thought of that, but never found a used one for cheap. I have a M/XF Avid that I use for popper/flukes and didn't like it for my Trickworm-dreams, but I don't like XF rods much as GP rods, which the ideal Trickworm rod will need to be. I will look into the XF 3power Loomis rods a bit more and see what I can find out.

Back to Zoom love, after the Trickworm, I think the Super Fluke is the other standout Zoom plastic. Despite weight about the same as the TW, it casts far far better and with a 3/0-4/0 medium wire hook, seems to have the perfect rate of fall. Where the TW is a cover-plastic for me, the Super only flirts with cover, being one of my favorite presentations to lure a bass out of the weedline and into open water. I usually start out with them fished fast on top, slowing down until I start getting bit. The heavier D-Shads and Caffeine Shads have their place when heavier line and tackle are needed, but the nimble little Zoom Super is what I always go for first. A Zoom Super and a Popmax are my goto "after work" lures when I am getting to the pond an hour before sunset and want to grind one out.

I think the 803c is going to be a little too much rod for a trick worm, I usually fish a 3/8 oz jig on the 803C The 802C would probably be better. I have a IMX Pro 802C rod and love it.

[goldrod]

8" Magnum lizard in gourd green and green pumpkin/chartreuse. I've caught fish with them every way you can think....weightless, t-rigged, c-rigged, bubba shot, even wacky rigged. I've caught more 8lb+ fish on this bait than anything else I've ever used. The super fluke in baitfish and midnight chartreuse (discontinued) has also caught a ton of fish for me.

Had to google the color. I need a few 8+ this year

[Gone Phishin]

8" Magnum lizard in gourd green and green pumpkin/chartreuse. I've caught fish with them every way you can think....weightless, t-rigged, c-rigged, bubba shot, even wacky rigged. I've caught more 8lb+ fish on this bait than anything else I've ever used. The super fluke in baitfish and midnight chartreuse (discontinued) has also caught a ton of fish for me.

Had to google the color. I need a few 8+ this year

[Houndfish]

Oh man, I did not know the midnight chartreuse flukes have been discontinued. That was great color and one of my dirty water gotos.

[MountainMan 83]

Oh man, I did not know the midnight chartreuse flukes have been discontinued. That was great color and one of my dirty water gotos.

I'm just finding this out as well. Only have a couple bags left.

[Jnkoepp]

Uv speedworm. Sungill

[doomtrprz71]

Hard to beat the trickworms, I only bought 2 packs of znails in my life and I wish now I bought more. My set up for weightless trick worms is a stradic fl on a klx mh kayak special rod. I had a custom ml xf rod built but I miss way fewer fish on the mh. I like Zoom brushhogs too, especially in ponds when I don't want to break out the Yamamoto kreatures.

[montey]

So many great baits:
Super Speed Craw*
Speed Craw
Trick worm*
Super Chunk Jr*
Big Chunk
Fluke*
Z-Craw
Lizards*
Meathead-drop shots
Brush hogs

Didn't realize how many zoom baits I used until now.
* all time favorites

Craws and chunks: Green Pumpkin Purple and June Bug