Megabass xlayers advice

I haven't used the anise colour to be honest. Like Keith I rate Ayu and Shrimp and Minnow. Another great colour is French Silver which is actually pearlescent white.

As for weights, I agree that as light as is possible is the way to go, but don't take anyone's word for it. Try casting an XLayer mounted on only a texan hook, twitch it around, count it down, watch what it does...You'll be surprised at how far it can cast with the right conditions and this will give you a more informed idea of how weighted heads affect it and its action, once you start trying different jigheads. Clear deep water at your feet is a great way to test this, if you can find it.

Here are some "weightless" weights in case they help:-

Unrigged XLayer (shrimp and minnow) 5.8g
Texan 3/0 (medium gauge) 0.7g
Unrigged Giant XLayer 11.4g
Texan 5/0 (heavy gauge) 1.5g
Unrigged 5" Spindleworm 11.5g
Hazedong Magnum (Wakasagi - you'll either love or hate the Marmite smell) 13.5g

So a Giant XLayer with a 5/0 texan weighs in around 13g, a reasonable casting weight in light winds IMO.

Be open minded though and try some heavier stuff too. On rough highwater springs I sometimes fish a long boulder scree that descends onto clean ground into about 40ft of water with a strong lateral current. I drop Giant XLayers on 18g heads at full cast into a pocket on the clean ground where a submerged reef runs perpendicular into the boulders, then twitch the lure up and away from the pocket and into the current again. It's a classic cross current feature and the strike zone is probably only the size of a small car. I wouldn't hesitate to use 20g or even 30g to get down into that pocket if I needed to, because that is where the fish are at.

Alongside the weight of the overall lure, the most important thing is how you work the lure. Remember it is can be crucial to twitch and slide the lure and to let it flutter back down at which point it is far easier for the bass to inhale properly if they are being finicky. You will feel lots of plucks and knocks fishing SPs and its not always crash and dive stuff. If you feel anything unusual then strike gently and you may well be surprised!

BTW the French pros seem to rate Megabass Okashira jig heads (two sizes 1/16oz and 1/8oz) which are characteristically high in price but look great.

Hope this helps and Happy New Year

Paul.

hmm, like st ouen, I've used both extensively.

why eludes me but..

xlayer kicks hart worm butt.

The ribs are way more defined on the absolute and you can feel them vibrate
on a steady lift. The Xlayer is much more subtle.

There is much more going on with SP's than meets the eye when a fish gets hold of it.

Soft and supple is key, smell, texture, the way it moves or doesn't, loads going on.

I believe that 75% of the job is done with bottom or structure contact of the jig head.
Weightless, that really close to cover contact etc all helps.

Illusion of life gets the bite but other factors come into play when the fish has committed.