J Francho

Small game license and a pellet rifle. Be careful, though and check with town rules.

Are you guys on shore or in a boat?

Fish don't typically eat lead. Loons pick up bits of gravel to grind up food that is in their crop. Sometimes a lead sinker gets in the mix. It's usually no problem, but a few end up with problems.

Gotcha, congrats on the boat, and enjoy!

Eight years sounds VERY optimistic. Braid is toast after a couple months. Reverse it, get another couple months. By then, so much has been cut off due to fraying, it's too low on the spool. I've never gotten more than two seasons out of a heavy use setup. The zebes and quagga mussels up here are brutal. There some lakes where they even grow on the milfoil and coontail itself.

When you do experiment, can you put up some pics? It might help to spawn some new rigging ideas. Been considering something other than a pile of cord as my anchor line management system, lol. However, I'd like to keep the Compass, layout as simple as possible. Also, been relying on a anchor less and less and using the Mirage Drive to stay in place in wind or current.

I definitely change mono or copoly out more than that. It seems to lose it's flexibility and suppleness after a month of hard fishing. Admittedly, I don't use Big Game. More likely to use Seaguar Rippin' mono or P-line CXX. Where I actually want a floating line, like for topwaters, I use Tuf-Line Supercast.

the red anodizing trim on the spool of my OG Stradic CI4s faded before I changed the line out. Seriously, lol.

Are you gonna stick with it? What's your budget? Typically, a bit middle/high end reel in the $200 - $250 range offers a more sophisticated braking system, which is nice to learn on.

What's the issue?

Actually, fluoro is much more cost efficient than mono or copoly, and even braid. It does not suffer from UV degradation, and does not fade or fray like braid. It's typical to get three seasons or more, and often more. The only reason I have to respool is when it's getting low on the spool, not from any lack of performance.

Have you sorted out how you'll mount a cable steer TM? They have a fairly large footprint.

Fluoro separates the men from the boys. You have to know how to cast, tie a knot, and control the spool. I've used Invisx from 6 to 20# sizes for well over a decade, and issues are minimal. My personal best smallmouth was caught on 6# Invisx. I just changed out that spool after five seasons. I've been testing the new Finesse fluoro, and I gotta say, it's pretty darn close to as good as Tatsu. I did not get any Gold Label leader to try. To me, it's a little pricey for leader. I've done fine with their Blue Label. It's leader material. Are you really worried about backlashing the first 6' or so? I mean, that just isn't going to happen.

The species that gets highlighted by a certain group are loons. However, many times the question arises: has the banning of lead increased the loon population? The answer is always no, or we don't know. Nine documented dead loons in NY, and suddenly there is a ban on the sale of lead sinkers. There has been a huge increase in loon populations here, but that preceded the ban, and I attribute it to cleaner environments, and plentiful bait fish. The loons are almost a nuisance when fishing. I haven't actually hooked one, but it seems inevitable, with them actively hunting where many are fishing. At least NY was smart enough (huh?? lol) to limit the ban to just sinkers, not jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc., and the use of lead is not banned, just the sale. My guess is they do not have the resources to enforce it or even test for lead.

I bet they're dipped in JJ's.

Whichever matches up better with the thickness of the bait.

For years, I was undoing the sinker, and leaving the tag blowing in the wind. Hair band is the key!

I use a hair band as a drop shot holder. Wrap it around the rear corl a couple times, just slip the sinker under the band when not fishing.

My lawn is the perfect shade of amber.

I often use a Ragetail Spacemonkey like a toad. Think of it as a finesse toad. Works great.

Okay, I found the story. That's awful, and so sad. My heart goes out to the family and friends who were lost. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/us/branson-boat-capsize-missouri.html

Black Lake - the lake full of 14.9" bass, lol. Sounds like you found the big ones!

Jeez, that's nuts. @12poundbass From the outlet to Lake Ontario near me:

All day.

Groundbreaking for my company's new office site.