islandbass

@Choporoz I thought it was too, until my mind started contemplating before I hit reply. Took the next few minutes to ponder 🤔 lol. I don’t know what the heck made me do that, and winter is already over and such thoughts should be illegal 😂 To paraphrase an adage, “Fish first… Think later.”

Nice work! I make spinners. Too bad you don’t live in salmon country. They would CRUSH that. 😎👍 I make inlines myself and I like the French blades. Some things I hope you’re willing to try that I do most of the time is: 1) Incorporate a good quality barrel swivel on top (insert it after you make the top bend and before you close the loop) 2) Go single hook (siwash hooks). Their shank is still long enough to add the tubing. 3) Use a small split right to join the hook to the in-line spinner body. I do this for two main reasons. a) If I need to replace the hook, I won’t have to destroy the lure. b) I think the split ring makes it harder for larger fish to throw off the hook. For #2, some rivers in my neck of the woods, single hook is the law. And it plain sux that the many in-line spinners come stock with a treble because we anglers in the Pacific NW have replace them before we can use them (and we’re sometimes required to go barbless too). I’ve learned that I’m getting a better hookset and don’t lose fish - at all. Also, it is far easier to remove a single hook than a treble hook most of the time. I get nervous and overly focused when I have to remove a a treble hook in conditions where all tines are in the fish’s mouth. I’ve coined that condition “a mouthful of treble,” 😂 PS. You can also put that tape on the other side of the blade too. Lastly, not all french blade makers made their blades the same thickness even though they’re the same size. Even the thickness of the wire has some influence. I’ll stop here and won’t bring up making feathered treble, lol. So much fun to experiment with when making in-line spinners. 👍

If I had the time, I’d scan all the issues and donate them to the local library. All of that info would fit in a flash drive smaller than your thumb, forever preserved digitally for you and your family, and the general public would benefit from it through the library. What a treasure. 😎

What is the overall definition of a short strike? For me, I picture it as the bass taking the lure in a way that misses the hook. For example, a bass sucks in the non hook side of a senko and does not inhale 100%. They either spit it out after holding it a bit or I set the hook and yank it out of their mouths. I suppose this can happen anywhere in the water column. Or they attack a lure with no intent to actually engulf the bait. I’ve seen this with lure and bass in view but I suppose it could also happen on the bottom. I concur with @gimruis on the machine gun take of a lure.

I’ve been meaning to try it for the longest time but haven’t just gotten around to it. I think one of the things being a shore angler, it’s light weight can pose an issue into needing to be able to cast farther. This could all be in my head however. My 7’ Okuma UL celilo is would be the perfect rod for this job. May I ask how far up are you attaching the split shot from the hook and how many split are you using?

I’ve done both but mostly unrigged. This is primarily it eliminates the possibility of lures or weights banging on the rod blank. I’ve also experience. If the line gets a little loose it can also get tangled up so badly that I might have to cut it off and retie thereby defeating the reason to pre-rig. Or, what I anticipated turns out to be wrong that I have to remove what I initially had on. Granted, there are solutions to those issues.

@Susky River Rat: So sorry to hear that 😰. I live on the other side of the country and I felt that pain. Glad you were able to replace some things.

@N Florida Mike: I think I posted that picture here a very long time ago. I did a quick Google search and couldn’t find the picture. You know how a guy cringes when he sees another guy get hit in the nuts? The feeling will kind of like that but you’ll start covering one of your eyes, and start feeling awful and simultaneously relieved it wasn’t your eye. 😰

Sorry you had to go through that. If it’s any consolation, at least it was not in your eye. If you do a Google search, you will be able to find pictures of people with a treble lodged in one of their eyes!

It is good on the day it expires. Well, at least in WA state. Should be the same in the other states too.

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and welcome.

@SC53: only if your conditions allow for 6# test. If it does, you might be in for a pleasant surprise at the performance of 6# test. I was a doubter until I tried it for myself and then my eyes were opened. Last things to tell you is to make sure your drag is properly set and to check your knot connection (line and hook) periodically. Let the rod’s power and reel’s drag work for you. You’ll be catching so many fish that you might forget to check both, lol. 😂

The answer for me is a major yes. I came late to the fishing game, although since I was a kid, I always wanted to go. No opportunity to do so until I was in my mid thirties. After doing my research and learning from reading books I decided to try trout fishing and purchased a generic Walmart special 6.5’ med light rod. I hadn’t caught anything using the standard power bait stuff so I tied on a size 5 floating Rapala minnow. I recall feeling a very slight mushy feel but after that I thought I was just hauling in a bunch of grass. It turned out that a bass maybe 5 times bigger than the minnow was hooked. So my first real fish caught (excluding trout farms) on an actual lake was a bass. I was hooked ever since. That was about 20 years ago this month. I too have named some fish. I call her big momma. The tone of her green skin would make any green lantern jealous. She’s stingy in taking my offers, but I don’t mind the chase, lol.

How much cover is in the water and what applications are you planning to use? If it’s going to be finesse/drop shot and there is little to no cover, then I’d drop down to 6# test. With little to no cover, if that’s the scenario, 6# is more than adequate. The most “supple” fc line I’ve used is Seaguar invizx in 6 and 8#. If you really need to go to 10# you really could be asking for more hassle than it’s worth. I try not to go the main line and leader method when possible but if I had to use 10# fc on a spinning reel of bass class, I would seriously consider this. As a main line on a 2550-3000 sized spool that 10# fc could start “jumping” off the spool as already been described. I am willing to assume there are supple versions of fc but invizx is the only one I’ve used that is somewhat supple, especially in 6# test.

They should be fine. However, and this is just me being anal about my gear: 1) Keep it out of sight. Don’t give potential thieves an opportunity to steal. 2) Do whatever you can to eliminate (this is just me) or at least greatly reduce how the rods will vibrate and bang around things in your car or against each other. Else don’t be shocked and wonder why the rod tip snapped on a cast. 😱 Towels, pipe insulation and even modified pool noodles can help to at least prevent the tips from vibrating. 3) If possible, no lures attached for the same reason as #2. The thought of a loose and dangling bullet weight banging on rod is cause enough to make me shudder. If you insist on having lures attached, use methods to minimize them from banging on the rod. The rod probably won’t break, but it’s going to get banged up. 4) Cover the reels. Even they can bang around. Boat rash = Trunk rash. I know. It’s anal, but I’m anal enough to protect the tools in my arsenal. Take care of them and they’ll take care of you.

@MN Fisher: my main spinning reels right now are a 2000 rapala sxi (for ds), a small Abu cardinal for my UL, and a 2500 old school shimano symetre as an all arounder. I’ve been using these reels for what has to be well over 10 years and they are in great shaped and have caught many fish. This is why my bait monkey is rattling his cage. It’s been too long since you bought a reel he says. The last bc reel I bought was a curado 101d 😱 I totally prefer the AR switch too so these “new” AR less reels don’t appeal to me (whining like a punk kid). All those reels look nice too.

Oh no. I didn’t even click on the link yet, and I hear the bait monkey rattling his cage. Down, boy! 😂 clicking now. 😎

@BrianMDTX I heard of the Turok comics but never seen them in person or read them but I can bet I would have enjoyed reading them. I still have my N64 and 3 or the 4 Turok cartridges, lol and everything still works. The music soundtrack from Turok 2 is freaking awesome. People have even made Metal versions. Metal version of Port of Adia Original Game version for reference Darren Mitchell is the composer and a local youth orchestra did a medley of the Turok 2 soundtrack. Bringing back memories playing the game, lol. The soundtrack pumped you up, lol.

All good points. One thing about float fishing that is sometimes overlooked when bites are missed is if there is too much resistance against the float when the fish bites and pulls down. If there is too much resistance, they can feel that and might think something is off and you can notice this bobs up and down a lot or goes down and pops back up really quick (they didn’t have the hook and let go). To remedy this, you can add just enough split shot (it won’t take much) so that the float still floats but if the fish takes, the float will go down easily and the fish won’t feel too much. Then reel in as much slack as you can and pull back to increase the tension in the line. That’s it.

Kinda hard to say. I do like Turok the video game from the N64. One of my favorite one person shooter games ever. So ahead for it’s time. The potential of the value of comics was hyped in the 90s and many were encouraged to invest in them but it all kind of fell through. Not sure why exactly. i collected comics and have the newer X-men #1 from the 1990s, Wolverine #1-80 give or take, and even the original Infinity Gauntlet story. On one of the covers, Thanos says, “Come get me…” I thought comic prices were getting out of hand when they started pushing nearly $2 an issue. These days they’re easily $5 an issue. No thanks. @scaleface it probably wouldn’t hurt if you made a catalog/inventory. There could be that one comic that made it worth your while in that collection. Good luck!

Sounds like a lot of fun! Wishing you the best with it and welcome back!

The right type of hooks really helps as already pointed out. Go light wire and some type of circle or near circle hook light bait holder, ds, or octopus hooks. For the latter two, the fish practically set the hook on themselves. The typical bass cross their eyes hookset isn’t needed and if you do that, you’ll feel like you didn’t set the hook at all. The lighter wire hook ensures the hook set and that whipiness and just about bent over beyond parabolic bend is what will keep the fish hooked. A properly set drag is also key. Let the rod and reel work for you, the idea of dragging them in and flipping them into the boat ain’t going to happen without the potential for bad things to happening greatly increasing. We have people on my neck of the woods who battle 20lb salmon on 4# line so if there is trouble to be had against crappie, bluegill, or a 2.5 lb bass, culprits would fall of the angler and the technique. Once you do get it, it’s a freaking blast. My UL 7’ Okuma celilo is responsible for catching most of my bass caught than adding up the catches on all my other “bass” rods combined. It doesn’t discriminate between lmb and smbs either 😇 With that said, all bets are off if you’re fishing in heavy cover, lol. 😂

Thanks for sharing such a great story. I too have a special heart for baseball and almost made it to the LLWS in 82 or 83. I also passed it onto my son although a bit late (he was into other sports at the time). He played for two years and the last was in the major little league. He did gain my ability to hit the ball, although he didn’t have my power, at that age, lol (think ichiro). He is a natural at any sport and baseball was no exception. Starting late in baseball can be a recipe for sink or swim in terms of “getting it”. His peers had years on him and a good number played on what are called select teams. In his one and only year in the majors, he was put on the with so many good players. These kids throw harder, faster and were much more fundamentally sound than my generation at this time. They even took recording stats to another level 😱. There was a team mom that tracked and recorded stats as if they were MLB players. My son was 9th in the batting order at the start of the season, but by the 4th game of the season, moved him to 1st. The stats showed he at least singled or doubled at just about every at bat. And then his teammates usually brought him home getting the team on the scoreboard quickly. He averaged .450 for the whole season. Dang. He got that one over me. I was around .400, lol. Anyway, thanks for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word. Memories to cherish for sure and it stirred my own memories back to the forefront. 😇👍😎

The first time I ever used braid I put it on my first bc bass reel. I didn’t know jack. I made a cast overhand. My thumb let go too late and my practice weight slammed into the ground in front of me. I spooled was spinning so fast for an instantaneous birds nest. I found out while I set the cast control knob right, I had zero brakes on. Idiot move. So there went my first spool of braid on my first cast. Lol. 12# minimum for practice.

@voxborealis: go for the 2-piece rod if… it is modern. I primarily use 2-piece rods for convenience so the absolute need for a one piece is a non-issue, not even a concern. Are one piece rods better? Perhaps. I just have to be honest. If there is a difference between sensitivity between a single and two piece rod, it is negligible. And I stand by that. Like you, single piece rod won’t work for my needs as they won’t fit in my trunk and therefore do not suit my needs. And only the most discriminating hands have a prayer in detecting the difference in sensitivity between the same model of a 2-piece and its single piece parallel counterpart. My two piece rods are old but (2004 up) they are excellent and may no longer be made but decent 2-piece rods can be found. Shimano compre and convergence series should have 2-piece casting rods. I know there are others. I also have 1-piece bass rods but they will only see action on the weekend since I will never ever leave my 1 piece rods exposed in my car for the world to see. It’s the practical equivalent of telling a thief to steal them. I will also back up all the posts that are steering you to choose a decent reel. Do not skimp out or cheat yourself here. You learning time will be much less. Good hunting. Since you’re coming from a spinning background, I recommend learning with mono for its cheapness. The timing between a spinning reel cast and a bc reel release of the line is different. Much earlier with a bc reel and it might take time for someone with spinning timing ingrained to adjust. Let us know if you run into issues with timing of the cast.