PowerPro Braid ~ Braided Fishing Line

If you're not using PowerPro braided line, you should be. It's the most popular braided line in the USA, and now that the PowerPro company has been acquired by Shimano, PowerPro will soon become available in many other countries too.

PowerPro is made of material called Spectra, which are filaments braided together, to have a super thin line diameter, incredible strength, very little stretch and the most sensitivity of any fishing line material. Those are PowerPro's strengths in a nutshell. If you've not yet used braid, you do need to learn (or re-learn) how to manage braided line on casts and retrieval. It does have some weaknesses (as do all braided lines), but the strengths outweigh the weaknesses, which include:

1. Braided line cuts easily and quickly whenever in contact with rocks. If you are fishing bottom or contacting rocks, you'll require a non-braid leader.
2. Braided line will dig into soft, soggy wood, and when the lure pulls up to that spot where the line's embedded int osoft wood, the lure will snag more than usual,
3. Braided line snaps easily when subject to sudden force. For example, if braided line is wrapped around your rod tip when you cast, braid will snap easily.

Now that's not such a bad list, especially once you know how to manage for the weaknesses of braid, because the advantages of braid's power and sensitivity is worth it. As I say, it will take some time to learn (or re-learn) how to fish with braided line. You can't use it the same as you use mono of fluoro. You need to learn how to handle braid, and then you'll be fine. You can't fish braided line like other lines. It requires it's own way. So be alert and attentive to how braid behaves, and learn how to handle it differently from other lines, and you'll be fine.

Follow the Leader or Not?

A chronic worry is braided line is visible to fish, and therefore a leader of harder-to-see fluorocarbon or monofilament is thought necessary so fish can't see the line coming off the bait. Truth is, in most fishing situations, no leader is necessary with braid. Fast-moving reaction baits like spinnerbaits, topwaters or crankbaits can be tied directly to braid, even in the clearest water. And in thick cover or in stained or dark water, a leader is rarely necessary.

A leader is only required when fishing in places and ways where the line will constantly contact rocks or sharp edges on bottom obstructions such as shells. In clear water with baits that are fished so slowly that fish can scrutinize them closely before deciding to strike, visibility of braid canbe an issue to the fish or just wreck the angler's confidence. A 4 foot length of fluorocarbon or monofilament leader line is sufficient to protect against braid-cutting snags or whenever braid visibility may be a concern.

PowerPro Braided Line - Moss Green ~ 10 lb test ~ 150 yard spool

• 10 lb test PowerPro is popular for light tackle spinning situations, include drop shot, weightless wacky worms and wacky jigs for example.
• 10 lb test PowerPro has a line diameter (.006"/.15 mm) equivalent to 2 lb mono with the strength of 10 lb test.

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PowerPro Braided Line ~ Moss Green ~ 20 lb test ~ 150 yard spool

• 20 lb test PowerPro is the line size popular for medium to medium/heavy spinning situations, including the full gamut of spinning applications.
• 20 lb test PowerPro has a line diameter (.009"/.23 mm) equivalent to 6 lb mono with the strength of 20 lb test.

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PowerPro Braided Line ~ Moss Green ~ 30 lb test ~ 150 yard spool

• 30 lb test PowerPro is the line size popular for medium to medium/heavy baitcasting situations, including the lighter to mid-range of spinnerbaits, topwater, crankbaits. etc. It's suitable to the full gamut of medium to medium/heavy baitcasting applications for open water or sparse cover conditions.
• 30 lb test PowerPro has a line diameter (.011"/.28 mm) equivalent to 8 lb mono with the strength of 30 lb test.

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PowerPro Braided Line ~ Moss Green ~ 50 lb test ~ 150 yard spool

• 50 lb test PowerPro is the line size popular for medium/heavy to heavy baitcasting situations, including the heavier range of spinnerbaits, topwater, crankbaits, etc. It's suitable to the full gamut of medium to medium/heavy baitcasting applications, including frogs, jigs, Texas rigs and Carolina rigs in moderate cover situations.
• 50 lb test PowerPro has a line diameter (.014"/.36 mm) equivalent to 12 lb mono with the strength of 50 lb test.

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PowerPro Braided Line ~ Moss Green ~ 65 lb test ~ 100 yard spool

• 65 lb test PowerPro is the line size popular for the very heaviest baitcasting tackle used in the toughest cover situations for the biggest bass, including flipping jigs, Texas rigs, frog fishing the densest grass mats and so on.
• 65 lb test PowerPro has a line diameter (.016"/.41 mm) equivalent to 15 lb mono with the strength of 65 lb test.

As I say, if you aren't using PowerPro yet, it's time you did. Get used to using it, which is a new learning experience unlike using other line types, and you'll be more than satisfied with PowerPro's performance.

For pricing and current availability, please visit http://www.BassdozerStore.com.

Thank you for your business. May your next fishing trip be your best ever!

Regards,

Russ

Bassdozer Spinnerbaits for Smallmouth Bass

Compact Style N Spinnerbaits for Smallmouth

Spinnerbaits for smallies may need to be a little different then typical largemouth spinnerbaits at times. A little shorter arms, a little smaller blades, a little smaller profile. A little more compact across all proportions of the total spinnerbait package.

There are a couple of reasons in mind why smallmouth spinnerbaits may be different than largemouth blades - meaning smaller, more compact and concentrated for smallmouth. A lot has to do with the relatively clearer, open water, the relatively cover-free structure of deeper rocky ledges and points where smallies can be found. Those kinds of conditions require a more "finesse" spinnerbait. A bigger spinnerbait may look too clumsy and contrived in those clearer, more open water conditions - especially when it is sunny, not too windy and relatively calm water conditions.

So it is not so much largemouth versus smallmouth (it is partially that) but it is mainly this - different conditions require different spinnerbaits.

Largemouth in thick weeds in stained water for example, a normal size spinnerbait will get noticed more in those conditions. A "finesse" spinnerbait would get lost and be harder to find and locate in thick cover.

Then the largemouth has that huge bucket mouth. I've not officially measured it, but a three-pound largemouth's maw may fit a bigger meal than a five-pound smallmouth. So mouth size matters some.

There are some color differences too. No one knows why smallies relish chartreuse so much more than largemouth or spotted bass do, but it's true. All three bass species go for chartreuse, by smallies go overboard for it!

And in open, deep, clear water, smallies are chasers. So burning a Willow spinnerbait with downsized blades works great.

In comparison, largemouth can't chase as easily in shallow, dirty water thick with cover - so a bigger-bladed, hard-thumping slow-moving Colorado may get favored more there.

In clear water, a semi-translucent, see-through kind of skirt may be best some days - for smallies - due to the water clarity.

In stained to dark water, solid, non-translucent color skirts - ranging from snow white to jet black may be best - for largemouth - due to the darker water color.

Those are just a few quick reasons that come to mind that make the spinnerbaits shown here special for smallmouth especially.

Under the "smallmouth" conditions described above, try these for largemouth and spotted bass also. It's not so much the different bass species, but the different fishing conditions that may make these spinnerbaits productive. Please enjoy!

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 3/8 oz  Style N ~ Chartreuse Shad ~ Thin Cut Skirt

Both sides of both blades are painted white pearl on the white pearl spinnerbait below.

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 3/8 oz  Style N ~ White Pearl ~ Thin Cut Skirt

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 3/8 oz  Style N ~ Smallie Special ~ Thin Cut Skirt

On the spinnerbait above and below, outside of blades are painted. Inside of blades are unpainted nickel-plated. So you get color and flash in the same blade.

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 3/8 oz  Style N ~ Triple Chartreuse ~ Thin Cut Skirt

For pricing and current availability, please visit http://www.BassdozerStore.com.

Thank you for your business. May your next fishing trip be your best ever!

Regards,

Russ

Bassdozer White on White Spinnerbaits

White on white spinnerbaits can be used any time at all and retrieved at any speed.

Many advanced anglers reserve special use for them at two key times of the season:

• Burning them rapidly (or reeling faster than normal) when the water is hot in summer
• Also reeling them quickly during the fall migration when both bass and shad are schooling up

However, white on whites may also excel any day, any way, at any depth level (from top to bottom) whenever bass are intercepting shad schools.

These have:

• .035 super wire arms.
• Worth ball bearing swivels
• Premium 5/0 Mustad UltraPoint heavy duty, long shank hooks.
• Both sides of both blades are painted white pearl.

My 3/4 oz Style T hidden head, shown below, with my signature cone cut collar. Other brands of spinnerbaits and jigs have also started using my double (in this case) and triple cone cut collars lately too, simply because it is the best way I have discovered to hold soft bait trailers securely.

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 3/4 oz  Style T ~ White Shad

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 1 oz  Style D ~ White Shad

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 3/4 oz  Style D ~ White Shad

Bassdozer Spinnerbait ~ 1/2 oz  Style D #2 ~ White Shad

For pricing and current availability, please visit http://www.BassdozerStore.com.

Thank you for your business. May your next fishing trip be your best ever!

Regards,

Russ

Bassdozer Short Arm Spinnerbaits

Bassdozer Style F Short Arm Spinnerbaits with Thumper Blades

Style: F
Note: Thumper blades
Weight: 3/8 & 1/2 oz
Hook: Heavy duty long shank Mustad hook. 4/0 (1/4. 5/0 (3/8)
Wire: .040 diameter short arm
Premium Worth ball bearing swivel

Short arm Colorado spinnerbaits are often deployed in moderately deep water with a lift-and-drop technique. The spinnerbait is allowed to sink to bottom, lifted a few feet, then allowed to sink until bottom contact is made again. The Colorado blade helicopters above the bait, vibrates and slows the descent on the fall, which is often when strikes occur.

Short arm Colorados are also favored in shallow water that's chronically muddy such as river deltas, bayous or any other shallow, dark water conditions.

The short arm causes the vibration to be felt as a rapid, tight rattle, a shake or hard shiver as opposed to a throb or a thump. The short arm creates a lipless crankbait feeling in the rod tip. The short arm seems to hold the blade in one spot rather than gyrating all over. It creates quite a bit of flash concentrated in a small area.

A Lesson in Vibration. We often hear that spinnerbait blades create the vibration, thump or throb that we feel in the rod tip but that's not entirely true. Try this. Take a long arm single-bladed spinnerbait, cast it out, and you'll feel a relatively wide, pulsing throb in your rod tip. Now clip the long arm short, curl the end of the short arm in order to reattach the blade, and cast it. You'll feel a tighter, more rapid vibration. Next, clip the wire below your knot, so you have only the arm and blade tied on. Cast it out. You won't feel much of anything in your rod tip. What have we learned? Spinnerbait vibration depends not only on the blade used, but also the length (and spring) of the fulcrum (wire arm) being used and the payload (head weight and shape) that the blade (propeller) is trying to lift or support.

Thumper Blades. A little thicker, flatter and rounder, these create more pounding thump than other Colorado blades.

3/8 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Blue

3/8 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Blue

1/2 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Blue

1/2 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Blue

3/8 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Red

3/8 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Red

1/2 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Red

1/2 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Red

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Bassdozer Lightweight Short Arm Spinnerbaits with Royal Blades

These lightweight short arm spinnerbaits are ideal for most any medium to heavy rod/reel/line, with spinning or baitcasting tackle, for 10 lb test line and above, anywhere you fish, on small waters or big impoundments, from the shore or by boat, shallow or deep.

They're at their best in shallow water, since they are light, and the blades are big, they'll "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Although light in weight - they are balanced to be super stable, even on fast retrieves.

They'll come through shallow water or flutter past snaggy obstructions better than heavier, bulkier spinnerbaits.

Because of their compact size and the blades chosen, they don't have heavy flash nor heavy vibration. Their presence is designed to be relatively unalarming, making them good for alert, wary or spooky fish, especially in shallow water.

They have .040 wire arms, allowing them to be used with heavy tackle for big bass, but the rigidity of the wire makes for good hook sets on medium or medium/heavy tackle (down to 10 lb test) too.

These first few have Royal blades. This new blade style hit the market a couple years ago, but Royals remain relatively unknown and unused on spinnerbaits. Nevertheless, they are a great blade. Royal blades run true and they turn easily at any speed. These pointy, wedge shaped blades pass through and shed grass and snags with ease. Royal blades have exceptional helicopter rotation on the fall.

These can be retrieved slow or fast, have great action on the fall, and make great search baits, especially in shallow water or where emergent cover require you to keep a blade close to the surface above grass or obstructions. They're great for fishing from the shoreline, on small waters or big.

1/4 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Blue

1/4 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Red

3/8 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style D ~ White Shad

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Bassdozer Lightweight Short Arm Spinnerbaits with Deep Cup Colorado Blades

The next few lightweight short arm spinnerbaits have a big, wide Colorado blade. The blade's edge is deeply cupped, reducing a lot of the hard vibration you'd expect from a Colorado blade. So these are big blades, but have a subtle, relatively unalarming presence where spooky fish are acting cautious in shallow water.

Although it doesn't have heavy vibration, the blade has such a large surface area relative to these lightweight heads, that the blade is like a big paddle stirring the water, causing the entire spinnerbait head/skirt to to rock side to side on the retrieve, like a wavering path. Nevertheless, these configurations are very stable, and can even be waked across the surface or can leave a "bulge" barely below the surface, while running true (with that sideways waver). If you like, you can make the big blade flip attractively out of the water every ten feet or so during the retrieve. Fish go off on that at times. With a little practice, you'll be waking, bulging and flipping the blade out in no time. You'll have a spinnerbait that you can work on top like a waking buzzbait, like a bulging wakebait, barely subsurface like a super-shallow crankbait, or flip it like a spitting popper. Plus it has great helicopter action on the fall - and best of all, these 50/50 blades are half gold-plated and half silvery nickel-plated on both sides! So you get both gold and nickel flash in the same blade.

1/4 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Red #2

1/4 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style F ~ Black Blue #2

3/8 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style D ~ White Shad #2

These lightweight spinnerbaits can be used any time, anywhere on any body of water, big or small, with any kind of tackle, from medium to heavy (10 lb test and up), baitcasting or spinning, from boat or bank. They're at their very best in shallow water where bigger spinnerbaits would be too bulky or too alarming to fish. Keep one of these lightweights rigged on a rod, and whenever you get into range of water that's too shallow, or with grass or other cover emerging too close to the surface, where other spinnerbaits would be too big or too heavy, that's the place to throw these lightweight, short arm baits. Don't forget their great helicopter action on the fall, that also makes them super for dropping down bluffs, walls, sloping shorelines or with a lift-and-fall technique off bottom in deeper water.

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Bassdozer Short Arm Spinnerbaits with Willow Blades

Style: C
Weight: 3/4 oz
Wire: .040 diameter short arm
Hook: 5/0 Mustad heavy duty long shank hook
Premium Worth ball bearing swivel

The Style C's stability makes it a superior choice for fishing deep water or moving water. It's streamlined head shape makes it popular for anglers fishing in grassy areas.

Make no mistake, this is a big bait for big bass using heavy tackle, with a massive #6 Willow blade.

With the short arm, the blade appears real close to the bait skirt and head, giving the package a real unified look to it from any angle of view. The big blade stays very close to the head and skirt, giving a big baitfish appearance. The particular model of blade used here was selected for its very narrow arc. It stays right above the skirt and head during the retrieve, but it's not just a mechanical motion. The blade can also be made to exhibit a little unpredictable dalliance or can't-make-up-your mind falter, which is a great strike trigger. It's kind of hard to describe that in writing, but that blade falter action is recognizable when you see it, and with a little practice, that action can be reproduced by an angler, and should be repeated while fishing it.

Since the blade spins in such a narrow arc, there's little water resistance, much less than most other spinnerbaits. That makes it very easy and effortless to reel all day. It makes a fantastic search bait, especially around grassy areas. You can really pick grass apart with this bait. It's also a very stable head design for fishing deep or moving water.

3/4 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style C ~ Shad-A-Delic

3/4 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style C ~ EZ White Shad w/Tail

Next is the 1/2 oz version of the same. Yes. you can use it on heavy tackle, since it has the same heavy duty hook and .040 wire as the 3/4 oz model. The difference is the 1/2 oz version has an ordinary blade size for a 1/2 oz bait. This makes it better-suited for average size bass and it can be used with medium-heavy rods, reels and lines. Otherwise, everything about it and how to use it is the same as above, it's just for average fishing situations.

Style: C
Weight: 1/2 oz
Wire: .040 diameter short arm
Hook: 5/0 Mustad heavy duty long shank hook
Premium Worth ball bearing swivel

1/2 oz Spinnerbait ~ Style C ~ EZ White Silver

For pricing and current availability, please visit http://www.BassdozerStore.com.

Thank you for your business. May your next fishing trip be your best ever!

Regards,

Russ