Was doing my "read the Bible in 2 years" app and came across this:

As for the man whose hair has fallen from his head, he is bald, but he is clean.

Leviticus 13:40

Thank God I'm clean man! 😁 Maybe you too....

It's not Saturday yet, but a huge THANK YOU to military veterans and your families, especially anyone who has been in combat. Toughest job in the world. You are loved and appreciated. Bless you. 💪🇺🇸🙏✝️

Quick think of fishing a lizard – bet you either saw a Carolina rig or bed-fishing in your mind. They've been pigeonholed, right? Then the Brush Hog has taken over most C-rigging and bed-fishing sure ain't even mostly about lizards anymore.

In other words – betting bass haven't seen lizards much lately. So how 'bout these ideas beyond the above 2:

1. A lizard on the back of a jig or ChatterBait – So rare I couldn't find a pic of it.

2. Cindy-rigging it – On a jighead and straight reeling it.

3. Tokyo-rigging it – Keep it closer to the bottom than a C-rig and reel it slooooow.

4. Using it as a FFS bait – Doesn't look like a baitfish but bet the fish haven't seen a lizard swimming through the water column maybe ever!

5. Stroking it – Works with jigs so...?

What else you got? Some lizard options:

Zoom Lizard – Of course.

YUM Lizard – Good and this year came out with some real good colors like "dirt purple" and "mudfleck":

Z-Man Lizardz – FLOATS!

Berkley Power Lizard – PowerBait and curly legs and tail:

Honorable mentionin's

FishLab Slam-A-Mander – The most realistic "lizard" I'm aware of. And with that bulk and tail you can actually fish it like a swimbait:

Megastrike Lizard – Believe it has the widest tail of any lizard.

Mister Twister Ringer Lizard – 5" long and has an almost pintail.

Makes me wonder – do we need a Senko lizard? A Lizard-o? 🤔

Here we go, pullin' from the MLFers' post. Won on hte jig but looks like a chase the bait/FFS derbE:

Mope/Damiki = 70% – Berkley MaxScent Flatnose Minnow (20%), Damiki Armor Shad, Yamamoto Scope Shad, Deps Sakamata Shad, Strike King Baby Z Too, Berkley MaxScent Flatnose Jerk Shad, Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ, X Zone Hot Shot Minnow

Jig = 30% – 7/16-oz Jewel HD Pee-Wee Spider Jig, Jewel Pro Spider Jig. Note the jig + piece o' stick worm combo that winner Chad Mrazek fished, been trendin' the last few years:

That looks like a Jewel HD Pee-Wee Football Jig?

10% each = Jigging spoon (7/8-oz War Eagle Jiggin Spoon), A-rig (Keitech Fats), Topwater (Reaction Innovations Vixen), Football jig, Glide bait (KGB TSG), Ice jig (Rapala Jigging Rap)

Shout-outs

1. Emil Wagner (2nd) fished Fenwick World Class Rods which are mighty nice and mighty spendy. Other than Keith Poche fishing Fenwick, believe this is the first I've heard of 'em at the top of the standings? (I have a feeling I'm fergettin' someone....)

2. Queen Tackle tungsten jihead mentioned 2x. Bass Tactics Smeltinator Jighead mentioned 1x.

3. Canada's Evan Kung (10th) also FFSed but found bigger fish areas in practice getting them to show for a Swimbait Garage Hyper Shad swimbait.

Nothing in bassin' is 100% the same. All jigs aren't the same, swimbaits, crankbaits, rods, reels, etc. That's part of what makes bassin' great. Same applies to lines BUT lines also are probably the least understood part of the connection between us and the feesh...which is why I'm axin' questions about lines.

In the case of fluoro, we all have a favorite. We all have ones we don't like. And I'm willing to bet most of us just use a piece of our favorite fluoro as leader material. The salty guys – who are WAY ahead of us with braid to fluoro – say:

😁 So I corralled Brian and away we go:

1. Most of us – or all of us – understand what fluorocarbon does as a mainline and leader, and we have our favorites. But it seems like the leader part is something many of us don't understand – like what type of fluoro is best for leaders for certain techniques. Is that fair?

> "I think that is a fair question. Fishing line in general is very...personable. People like different attributes with their line. And the same thing goes for a leader line.

> "For example, somebody fishing a very light braid is not going to want a very thick or stiff leader material. They're going to want something very thin, just like the braid they're fishing...more supple to allow lightweight baits their action. That's a prime example of when Gold Label [fluoro leader] would excel and be beneficial to an angler."

2. Other than things like toughness – like AbrazX – and overall "betterness," like Tatsu vs Red Label, what should guys be looking for in a fluoro leader?

> "The difference between a mainline and a leader line is key. A mainline is obviously intended for casting. So it's going to be a line that's more supple or has less memory to it. Meanwhile a leader line is a short section of line so the fish can't see your bait – so it has a tendency to be more abrasion-resistant, have better impact strength and better knot strength.

> "So using leader material is better [for leaders] than just using a regular mainline."

Follow-up: Should things like the conditions – water temp or wind – affect the choice of fluoro leader type, not just line size or breaking strength?

> "Fluorocarbon by nature does not absorb water and therefore wouldn't freeze. So if you experience stiffening in water that's probably because you're not using 100% fluorocarbon."

[He said wind would not be a factor.]

3. Do different fluoros handle knots differently? And what's the best direct knot and leader knot for fluoro in your opinion?

> "To my knowledge, speaking in terms of Seaguar, the different fluorocarbons we offer handle knots the same. We do offer a knot guide at Seaguar.com, but I often tell people the best one you can tie is the one you can tie with your eyes closed.

> "Personally I like a Palomar knot for tying directly to a lure, and for a braid to fluoro knot, I like a double uni or crazy Alberto. I find they're very strong and fairly easy to tie, and when tied correctly I haven't had any issues with them.

https://seaguar.com/blogs/knot-guide

> "A lot of people swear by the FG knot...just more of an advanced knot than the average angler would spend the time to learn how to tie."

Follow-up: What about the stories about Palomar knots breaking fluoro?

> "When we launched our Flippin' series of products [no longer available], I fished with Denny Brauer [who helped design 'em]. He's a legend, he's won tons of money fishing a jig and he ties a Palomar knot.

> "When I was fishing with him, I retied a jig.... He picked up that rod, looked at it, and asked if I'd tied that Palomar knot. ...he said the knot was no good. When I was tying that knot, I crossed the lines when I was cinching it down, and that will cause [the knot] to break. He said you have to keep the lines parallel when you're cinching it down to prevent it from biting on itself and breaking.

> "I've found that lubricating the knot, pulling on the tag end slowly...prevents that from happening."

Here's Denny's fave Seaguar lines for power fishing:

Check all the Seaguar offerin's at TW, including the Fluoro Premier Leader Line which is way less expensive than Gold Label.

Forgot to put this in the last one:

Erratic action JIG? Side scan's best? Big changes coming! Top 5 in Bass Fishing, Ep 70

1. Will Davis Jr made history (and 3 wins in a year ain't bad!) 🏆

2. Big changes at MLF – and some guys aren't happy about it 👀

3. BASS goes all in on Opens – cutthroat move? 🤔

4. Bassmaster Opens AOY JT Thompkins' fave sonar is...?

5. How 'bout a jig with erratic action?? 🤯