islandbass

I think I guess what you’re trying to convey, but Delaware is spot on here. The rod’s power is independent of the line strength. I will respectfully disagree with you about zero stretch making the rod fish “stronger.” Just my opinion, but does not make sense or at the very least, cannot be true. Will braid (when taut) transmit feedback to angler better than mono? Will the near zero stretch make it easier to set the hook from a greater distance and make long casts because of its thin diameter? I would say yes to all of three. But fish “stronger?” I would say no and here is why I think not. With all things being equal, let’s assume that 10# braid will break when just over 10lbs of force is applied to the line. It should follow then that 10# mono and fc will also break if the same amount of force is applied to them too. Since all 3 lines should break at that point, then not one of them can be stronger than the other two. What weighs more — A pound of nails or a pound of feathers? ??? Just my thoughts, but a very interesting question to ponder over the winter ??

What you have already covers most basics. Any more and your simply augmenting your Arsenal. This is a no frills, minimalist approach, which I subscribe to. The most I’d take is 4, most of the time 3, from the shore but I decided a means to carry all my rods in so carrying multiple rods not an issue for me. Addendum: The only reason to carry more than you have will most likely be for convenience sake. A medium spin and an mh bc rig and a UL cover most of the bases. The downside so to speak is the cutting off and retying when switching lures— this is what extra rods alleviate but it also means more crap to carry if you are shore bound.

I was the opposite when I first really started focusing on senkos and like baits. I started with EWGs and gut hooked 2 in a row as a newbie. I believe it was my lack of experience in knowing what I will call the “range of take”. The more violent the take the easier and faster to discern and react. The more subtle, the more difficult and consequently, the chance for a gut hook is far higher. Another thing I’ve noted anecdotally is slack in line. The more slack I had, I won’t really feel the take but I might see the line move and that has to be the cue to act. Delay here and a gut hook possibility increases. A slack line does not transmit feedback as a line with more tension does. Experience will help those who have gained it and are willing to apply it. Although I have since switched to straight shank non offset hooks primarily, the hook typed is now less of a factor for a gut hooked fish for me. I don’t think we can completely eliminate the possibility of encountering a gut hook, but being focused, attentive, being mindful of how much slack you have, imho, can help to minimize the gut hook.

If the OP envisions what I am right now, it’s similar, but the buzz bait blade would take the place of the spinner blade in your image. Btw, very nice work! I too have made in-line spinners in the past but nothing like that. Those look sweet. @MassBass: I know they’re out there, and at one time I considered making some, but I just never got around to it.

I already described it so refer an earlier post I made in this thread. In the same way you described people with excellent mechanics (I’m in this camp, lol) there are many, perhaps just as many, who don’t and it is ugly to watch. Come to the Pacific Northwest during pink salmon season, or during our season opener to witness it yourself, lol ? You’ve seen and described one side of the coin and I, the other. ? As for flyfishing, that’s something I’m a bit afraid to try, because I have a funny feeling that if I tried, my spinning and casting gear might become glorified dust collectors. ??

Not only that, but losing fish on vanish is very probable. The should rename vanish to poof because that’s what will happen. Fish on, then poof!!! Line breaks and fish gone.

Your suspicions are correct in my book. I am inclined to suspect the rod is more powerful than the ratings suggest. Nothing wrong with that or the rod. It does however, give your bait monkey the excuse to start dropping hints on another rod to add to the arsenal, lol.

Sure! As long as you are ensuring that the weight of the lure is loading the rod tip such that the rod tip then catapaults your lure toward your target, then you are good to go, assuming that the rod’s lure range rating is accurate and the weight of the lure is within that range. This is what I meant by the mechanics. Sometimes anglers using spinning gear whip the rod forward before the lure even had a chance to load the rod tip. You will usually hear the whipping of the rod as it whizzes by your ear before the rod tip ever got loaded. Speaking from experience on this. If this is done with a casting rod, you are likely going to earn a bird’s nest without an educated thumb. Cast, whip, sleepy thumb, nest, lol. The braid you are using is pretty thin so that probably isn’t the culprit and neither should the 3000 spool. 3000 sized spools are large compared to a 1500 and by nature should be excellent in contributing to long casts. This trait however is diminished if the spool is not at optimum capacity. With that said, there could be other reasons like maybe what you perceive as a short cast really is not a short cast for the rig. As a shore angler, sometimes I think this, lol. Or maybe the rod, despite the stated lure ratings, is more powerful. It might say 1/4 oz lure on the low side but 1/4oz might not load the rod tip well. This might be it since you mentioned you don’t have this issue with your other spinning rods. Hope you figure it. I believe a rod with those specs is a keeper. A casting reel is not going to necessarily be better. In that weight range both spinning and casting should perform quite well such that the choice to use one over the other is angler choice not one being truly superior to the other. If you decide to go down the casting rabbit hole, since you’ve been using spinning gear primarily, I highly recommend you buy a casting reel whose handle is on the same side as your spinning reels. I’ll bet you a size 5 floating Rapala minnow and a skitter pop on this. My first bass was caught on a Rapala so they have a special place in my heart, lol.

One of the downsides of spinning gear is that long time users rarely ever develop sound casting mechanics because these is no serious penalty for poor mechanics, other than poor casting distance. This is the first thing I would check. Make sure that the weight of your lure is properly loading the rod. Given the specs of your rod and line, I can not see why casting would be bad unless the mechanics aren’t sound.

Absolutely! I forgot about those.

At five, the kiddie poles like Barbie or princesses is ideal. Not only that, they actually work quite well and they are extremely light. even a 5’ rod will start to feel heavy to them after some time. I’m speaking from experience from when my daughter was five. She’s now 22 and I still have her princess kiddie rod. I was going through exactly what you’re going through now. My how time flies. To answer your question, spincast reel will fit on casting rods for the most part. The zebco 33 is a great little reel but to be honest at age 5, it might feel or start to feel heavy sooner than later for a 5 year old. Your local Walmarts and other sports stores will have those low end casting rods 6’ (that fit both casting and spincast reels) and under and while they won’t be the most sensitive rods, they don’t need to be. Age 5 and under - Barbie/Kiddie pole 5-6 - Depending in their enthusiasm and skill, a spinning set up is the next consideration 7 - I taught my daughter how to use a casting reel. It’s possible but only consider it if they’re willing or if you’re going to use this as an excuse to “acquire” a new set up. If needed, I’ll show you how to make what I call a rod “leash”, which is akin a surf board leash. My son accidentally casted two of his rods into the lake never to be found again. And if he did that with one of my curados? I’m diving, lol. That said, the leash totally eliminates that possibility.

First, great story and excellent gesture. The only thing that might have made it a cooler story was if both of you were members here on BR. Out of all the bass anglers i ever encountered in my state, I can’t recall any of the being a member here or have heard of BR. Of course, I plug BR. I too had to help someone who had a hook stick in her. She was one of the seniors I took fishing years ago. I remembered that same technique and I had my doubts. I couldn’t believe it worked and worked well. She was truly grateful and I was relieved. She has passed away since, God rest her soul.

Not everyone suffers from line dig, even at 20# braid and I’m one of the few like you. Whatever you are doing, keep it up because you’re avoiding this potentially irksome encounter. One typical cause is throwing lighter weighted lures or set ups that get snagged on something like the bottom or a trunk. Bottom line, the lure is stuck. Then the angler attempts to free the lure by yanking to free it using their rod and his or her drag is set really tight. This exertion, if the drag is tight enough or if they’re holding the spool down with their thumb, causes the thin line on the upper part of the spool to “dig into” the line beneath it. Because the lure, whatever it is, tends to be on the light side of the weight spectrum, depending on the force applied on the next cast, it might not have enough speed/Imphal to “free” the line that was dug in. You will typically see a little overrunning or the cast might get cut short. This is less if ever an issue, the heavier the lure. For example, you will hardly see this happen if you cast a 1/2 oz jig. They are simply “heavy” enough to bust through any line dig. I’ll just throw it back to you and ask or describe how you fish with 20# braid that doesn’t cause or at least minimizes the potential for line dig. This would certainly help newbies who encounter line dig issues. ?

Ouch. I think WA states is about that give or take a few pennies. Some gas stations are bold enough to post these additional taxes. Because I tend to fish lakes within 12 miles of my home, I don’t think I’ll be too affected by the gas prices. Worse though is we’re nearly two months into the 2022-23 season and I still have not gotten my license and a small part of me ain’t “feeling” like renewing this year despite having a pretty good run last year. Even years are kinda blah for me fishing wise because the pink salmon don’t run in even years and for me it’s a lesser year.

You aren’t alone. If one has to go horizontal for the photo at least place your other hand on its belly for support since it removes all negative pressure on the bass’ jaw.

Welcome! Jump in, the water’s fine. ?

Man I really feel sorry for you. It was painful to read your issues because the palomar is one of the easiest knots to tie. I use both the palomar and the improved clinch knot. However, the bigger the lure, the bigger that dumb loop has to be and as you mentioned, one misstep and you’re starting over. Therefore for my own sanity, bigger crank baits, spinnerbaits, jigs and other “bulky” large baits, I will use the Improved Clinch knot. If you’re dealing with large soft plastics, tie the palomar with line and hook before add the plastic. Lastly, I’ve learned to always make the loop bigger than you think you’ll need. 99% of the time it should prevent a retie.

Much truth, but in my case, it’s the 50th cast in the dark when the sun is already down that results in a bird’s nest that really gets me, or else it would be closer to 75. ? Great story. Thanks for sharing.

Another subtle difference for me when dragging with my rod vs dragging it while reeling is this — slack A really long drag will create slack that will eventually get picked up when you reel up the slack ”Dragging” by way of reeling pretty much takes up the slack while the is being dragged. Both have caught bass for me but honestly I’ve never done an official tally to see if one might be more effective either numbers wise or given the current conditions. However, winter in over so I probably won’t give this another thought until then.

Wow. Imagine a limit like that in a tournament. Might likely be feat for Guinness book.

Same here. Well said.

JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG. JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG. JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG.JIG. Of course I know they work, but they just haven’t worked for me. Ever. Period. ‘Nuff said. The closest I ever got was so painful. The bass came out to investigate, paused and swam back into the cover. ?????

I skip spinnerbaits all the time. I skip them by tying on a different lure. Just kidding. Interesting idea but if I did skip one it would behave even be accident. I have nothing to substantiate what I’m about to say but from its looks alone, it would not seem conducive to skipping. With that said, give it a go. It just might be successful and you will have started a new trend.

Welcome and greetings from the Pacific Northwest. And thank you for your service!!! -ib, retired military brat.

That looks about right to me. ? Priorities! ? I am probably on the frugal side compared others here. Most of my money is spent on replacement lures and replacement line. With the exception of a Daiwa air rod, I haven’t bought a rod or reel in probably 10 years. No need. When I first started I went nuts with acquiring lures and lure making things. I’ve since learned certain shapes and colors work better than others and I fine tuned it. This has helped save $$$$. As someone who got suckered into buy the flying lure (this when I started fishing) I know I’ve come a long way, lol.