islandbass

Good to see you here. Welcome!

I have used 12# and its castibility is excellent. However, like many other pline products it has memory up the kazoo. It has not broken on me and I have a buddy who swears by this line. Whenever I read, oh my line broke on the hookset, I take it with a grain of salt. Why? Because more often than knot (pardon the pun ), I am more inclined to think it is more a function of angler neglect or a poorly tied knot. The only line that has failed me without even fishing with it was Berkley's Poof... Uh, I mean vanish, because that is what your lure will do. Virgin line, carefully tied three different knots and each time the line broke before line ever got wet. This was in 8# or 10# test.

I think I know what you mean, but it is actually called the backing. A leader is what you tie to the end of your line and a backing at the start of the line. There are a number of methods used. Some use just enough backing, say anywhere from 5-10 yards and fill the rest up with braid while some might do 50/50 (backing on bottom, braid on top). It is entirely up to you to decide which will work best for your situation. I use 30# ppro and my backing is 8# mono just to keep the diameter of the line about the same to help me better guestimate the amount of backing and braid on top that I will use.

Well done, MM! That is awesome. Did you use your painted reel in the tourney?

While it is superior (on paper in terms of features) to the Curado B, as a Curado user, you will be taking a step backward. The price however is tough to beat. The only real question is whether you want to fish with a nearly 10 oz reel.

I highly recommend that you reconsider. Another thing that makes things difficult for newbies is how much weight they are practicing with. How much are you practicing with? From what you've written, I would guess you're throwing something in the 1/4 oz range? This can be a bit of a challenge for a novice. As a newbie, I recommend throwing no less than 1/2 oz. If you are throwing less than that, you could be impeding your process. Also, the aerodynamics of the lure can affect your learning. I think a 1/2 oz bass casting weight is ideal for practice. For example, it would be easier to learn witha 1/2 oz casting weight than a 1/2 oz spinnerbait. Also, practice does not make perfect necessarily. Quality, focused, practice is better. If you don't believe me, go to a driving range (golf, the other four letter word) and watch the average Joe hacker whack through his bucket of balls, never once picking a target or analysing mechanics and working toward improvement. Just mindless ball whacking. When you practice and make a bird's nest, try to figure out what caused the backlash. Did it happen at the beginning of the cast, or at the end, or somewhere in the middle? Did you put too much energy into the mix? Did the thumb stop the spool from spinning before the weight or lure hits ANYTHING, be it the water's surface, the ground, or your neighbor's fence? The last thing is the only thing I told my daughter when she was 6 and a half. Her first cast was sweet and clean and she stopped the spool cold right before the weight hit. 1) Stick to throwing something heavy but within your rod's specs. 2) Learn to allow the weight to load the rod. Many people who come from a spinning background (like me) tend to not properly load the rod and you can always tell when they do because the rod whips by them and the lure takes off with a rainbow type trajectory that doesn't go far. Fotunately, with a spinning rig, the angler can get away with this but unfortunatley, not with a casting reel. 3) The time the thumb gets off the spool to let the line go is somewhat earlier than when the forefinger lets the line go on a spinning rig. If 12 o'clock is directly above and 9 o'clock directly ahead, the time that your thumb let's got is actually somewhere between 1:00 and 12:30. Yep, that early. Vidco's advice is spot on. Even if there is some juice left in your cast, if you can see that the lure is not going to be going any farther, you will have to stop the spool. Once again, you can get away with this with a spinning rig, (lure hitting the water and line is still coming of the spinning reel) but not a casting rig. If you are making easy casts, and using a heavier weight, then the general steps followed by most need some fine tuning. Put the cast control on a setting that the lure won't fall when the reel is in free spool but one little turn would get it to fall. Make a cast. If you're still nesting at that setting, chances are you're tossing a weight that the reel just won't handle without constant thumb nursing. Not all reels are equal in casting lighter weights. Just don't give up.

There is nothing like UL fishing. My only rig is a 7' Okuma Celilo UL rod mated to a Cardinal 101A with 6# mono. I've caught 3.5# bass with it. One of my favorite sights to see in fishing is my UL rod going parabolic if you know what I mean, and protecting my light line. IMHO it is also a great sensation to feel.

I hear you. I had fresh 10# suffix siege on my reel. Siege is cheap too.

Is that the best you can do? ;D When I screw up that bad, I remove the spool from the reel. It makes line removal a lot easier. I made my first true bird's next a few weeks ago with a side arm cast in which my lure smacked the back of a chair from the shore. The treble dug into the fabric of the chair and the next sound was thrrruppp! My thumb didn't even have a chance to stop it. :-[ It made your nest look quite manageable.

Yeah, I'm a geek. Knowing Bass Keith A. Jones, PhD ISBN: 1-59228-616-X ISBN: 1-58574-523-5 paperback IB's note: A Scientific Approach to Catching more bass. It is a wonder how few bass anglers have taken the effort to read or find books like this. Their loss. This book dispels a few myths bass anglers hold true. Want to know which ones? Read the book!! J Largemouth Bass Don Oster ISBN: 0-86573-005-9 ISBN: 0-86573-016-4 (paperback) Successful Bass Fishing Ken Schultz ISBN: 0-07-057236-4 Circle on Bass - Bass Wisdom from a Master Homer Circle ISBN: 1-55821-463-1 In Pursuit of Giant Bass Bill Murphy ISBN: 0-9633120-0-6 IB's Note: Great Read Covers the stitching technique and how to anchor your boat. Another keeper. Bass Angler's Almanac John Weiss ISBN: 1-58574-214-7 Sow Belly Monte Burke ISBN: 0-525-94863-5 ISBN: 0-452-28715-4 Paperback IB's Note: Great book about the search for big bass. Not Bass books but still well worth the reading. Title: What Fish See Author: Colin J, Kageyama, O.D., F.C.O.V.D. ISBN: 1-57188-140-9 IB's Note: Tons of information about the color shift that happens underwater. While it mainly focuses on steelhead and salmon, the knowledge Dr. Kageyama imparts is invaluable for bass anglers too. BTW, there is a bass section that I found most informative. I have become a better angler after reading this book. Make better, more educated selections in your choices for lure colors. Title: How Fish Work Fish Biology and Angling Author: Thomas J. Sholsheth, DVM, MPVM ISBN: 1-57188-239-1 IB's Note: It turns out fish focus on seeing polarized light. This book, though informative is more technical in its style. If you enjoy reading technical articles, you'll like its format. I plan to buy this book.

Without question. The black anodized spool coupled with the black drag star and handle taken from the Core just look sweet together. I live two miles from a large anodizing company, and I will probably drop off the cast control knobs on my way to work one day. Got to get those cast control knobs anodized black to complete the look! Now you're talking! Mind if I send you my cast control knob too? I agree with your sense of aesthetics. I mentioned to Ghost elsewhere the "difficulty" or "reluctance" I have of going backward gearwise, but I have to make an exception for the Citica, but it isn't much of a step backwards on looks alone.

I am not planning to. I do not need nor want another burner. Definitely a Citica. I would go with the Curado E if they had a 6.x and I don't need nor want a 5.0 reel. Dang, Shimano! I love ya, and you really done good this time around and I can see why you didn't make a 6.x reel, but I won't be biting on the Curado E. I think the Citica looks cooler and it has the gear ratio I want. And besides, the Citica looks better IMHO.

I thought they were. I heard that the Es are going for $179, which is $20 cheaper than the MSRP of the Ds. Was there a price change?

Do a search for all those line types here. There is a wealth of information that will help you. Every possible advantage and trade off for all three of those line types have been covered to the point that you will feel line you graduated from Line Science 101 for sure. ;D What you are experiencing with that braid is something called "line dig." The thinned the diameter of the braid the more likely this is going to happen with braid. With regard to your question about line capacity, what is stated on your reel suggest what the spool would hold given those lines as a typical mono. It does not mean your reel couldn't hold 20# line successfully, but it does mean it will hold less of it. As for the right # test to use, this really depends on the scenarios you face. For example, where I fish, I need no more than 30# braid. So start searching each of those line types. Good luck!

I have come very close at times. One time I left my entire bag of baits by the side of the car unkowingly, 25 minutes down the road my cell phone rings and I see a very unfamiliar number but my gut told me to answer. On the other side of the line was a lady who say my airline tag on the bag and my cell phone number just happened to be on there. I turned around immediately and she was kind enough to wait until I got back. That tag saved my gear, about $300 worth of lures. I keep a tag on the bags, but I have seriously considered putting geeky labels on my rods and reels so that if an honest person comes across them, they can contact me. One thing about finding gear left behind is that there is no way for an honest person to find the rightful owner. Sorry about your loss.

This is a fun subject. I usually bring three rods on my trips as a shorebound angler: A: MH casting - Shimano Crucial - Jigs, Larger Trigs and baits B: M casting - Lamiglas Competitor - All arounder from cranks to spinnerbaits to senkos and topwater. This rod can really do a lot. C: ML spinning - Lamiglas Certified Pro - Drop Shot, Finesse, Near Ultralight. For my area this pretty much covers the gamut for me.

The Crucial is tough to beat. WIth your budget you'd have enough left over to buy the line and a few lures.

I can't give a good answer because I've only used the fast action. I know it (mine) works well for senkos and Jake P says the XF is also great. Arrghh! The final decision you have to make. ;D

is there any reason you didn't check that while you were there? Whenever I buy any spinning reel I always check the bail closing among other things and even when testing the same reels some will be "easier and smoother" cranking the bail shut than others, whether or not it is Shimano. Sorry about your first bad experience in what should be a promising reel.

This one:CPS66MHB I have the two piece version as my trunk rod. I can imagine that its one piece counterpart would feel even better. This is a great rod for its price as I was lucky enough to find it for $55.

A buddy of mine and I found smallies back this past winter in Lake Washington at 55'. We spent most of our time searching at 25-40' and the extra 15' depth change made all of the difference. Are you a member at some of the local forums?

That is great information. Thanks! Unfortunately, I will not ever face such an enticing scenario any time soon as they don't exist in my neck of the woods, but at least I know what to do if I ever get the opportunity to face it. 8-)

In the long run, it might not matter for braid. The color is probably going to eventually wash off leaving you with a white line.

For less trouble and better casting step up to at least 30# braid (8# mono eq. diameter) and save the 20# line for your spinning reel. I agree that you have been lucky about the line not slipping. It would behoove you to add the mono backing lest you hook into a lunker. You might not be able to reel her in.

Yep, just peel the line off as soon as the lure hits. It is one of the reasons I prefer a spinning reel when drop shotting when I want a more vertical fall. When pitching with a spinning reel, the lure will fall vertically without extra work from the angler if the bail remains open. I don't loosen up the reel's settings. Instead, I pull line off while the reel is still in freespool mode and my thumb is on the spool. If I get a hit, the thumb is already in position to serve as a make shift drag until I can turn the handle. This is also nifty when pitching with braid with a tight drag setting.