islandbass

Honestly,I could care less as long as it feels comfortable.

Go uniform if it meets your needs. If it won’t nothing wrong with variety if each item does what you need them to do. I prefer the best tool for the job and that also means I’m not brand loyal.

Any BR member willing to fish with me. I don’t play favorites, lol. Pros Bill Dance Ish Monroe Shaw Grigsby Mike Iaconelli Tak Omori (sp??)

If your buddies are just ribbing you in good fun, no sweat on your back. Rib then back. If they’re serious, still no sweat off your back but those don’t sound like real friends. To your question, yes, this prejudice exist. You say you’re in walleye country. I live in salmonid country and what @WRB said is true. Bass in Western Wa is seen by some as a trash fish. To that I say, whatever. More power to them. It just means less pressure on the bass for me to capitalize on.

Welcome back!!

Lol. I get miffed when I walk in the store to buy mono, get to the correct aisle and discover all they have is green mono. I’m like what the… Come on! No clear mono? Only green? You gotta be kidding me, lol. Sheesh. Hold nose, pick up green mono, head to the register but halfway there turn around and put it back, walk toward exit, realize I need it and turn back to grab it. Change my mind, put it back, and head to exit thinking I’ll buy it at another store — then I think, shoot. That store might not have it either. Turn around, suck it up and grab that green mono. Wah, wah, wah. Talk about being messed up, indecisive, waste mental energy all because there was no clear mono.

@RDBI have had moronic moments and I can tell you I am grateful I don’t like cake because yours takes the cake, lol. As soon as I read, “Sitting one bed…” I knew it wasn’t going to end well. ?

Apparently you don’t live in salmon and steelhead land, lol. Bank rods for most applications start at about 7’6” for jig fishing and 8’6” just as a start for just about all other applications — and sometimes 8’6” is not long enough! So to answer your question, I would say it is not too long by any stretch.

In theory, not really. WRB is correct. You’re using a light wire hook anyway. Even with the drag set at 1/3 to the line strength it should drive the hook home unless you’re so far away that you no longer have the necessary line control that the rod could not effectively set the hook anyway. Other than that scenario, hook set will happen. Trust your gear and play the fish, keeping tension on your line at all times, and you should win more times than not. Your rod and reels are tools and should be used as such. If you still don’t trust us, set the drag to 1/3 and use your thumb as your “max drag” to set your hook until you realize it isn’t required. One other thing as someone who tends more to the UL and finesse side until recently. When keep tension on the line, be aware and mindful of your rod’s angle to ensure your rod is applying the maximum power. This is roughly around 45 degrees. The closer you get to 90 the less than influence you have and the closer you get to high sticking. This is a must when fighting fish with lighter gear. With all that said, sorry for you loss. We all know that sinking feeling and then your mind has the audacity to replay it over and over in your mind like a record player bumped by a scratch. ??

I’ll trade that for western Washington fishing from the shore in winter. Got passport, will travel, lol. My wife is from Mexico, but when I’m there I prefer saltwater fishing. How weird is that? What a disconnect. ???

That’s because what you’re doing is not only smart, but also practical. By removing the spool from the line-freeing pull equation (what an algebra teacher might say when they tell you to isolate the variable, lol), to free a snagged lure or to break of the line, there is zero chance for line dig. ? I have also used 20# braid without line dig issues too. I use a dowel of if I forget one, I find a branch or something around me that will do the job.

We all know that general rule that when the power (and by this I mean the bigger and heavier lures) approach isn’t producing, we typically downsize and creep toward smaller presentations to the point you might employing the finesse stuff. My question is — Does anyone or has anyone started finesse, or on the lighter/smaller side, realized it wasn’t producing and actually upsized or moved on up like George and Louise Jefferson? And if so, did it wind up working? I skunked out at Lake Fenwick yesterday, and I started in the middle with a 1/4 oz. T-rig set up, going senko to craw to brush hog. Through and above submerged vegetation without success. Next, I worked 3/8 and 1/4 oz spinnerbaits systematically also without success. I put away the bc rig and drop shotted a roboworm. I ran out of time and needed to run a errand for the Mrs. It didn’t help that my hands were cold to the point it was getting hard to make a fist, and I was wearing thin gloves. I started in the middle, then went up and down. Still didn’t produce. ?? Oddly enough, there was another guy bass fishing too. It looked like he was fishing a weightless 3” senko. He never changed up so his approach the “stick to your guns” no matter what method (which can also work) didn’t work either. ?He also went home skunked.

What good are either without the line, lol? Sorry just as bored as you that I had to come up with a stupid question. To the topic, I guess I’d say the lures — particularly bait (shrimp, squid, etc.). You don’t need a rod and reel to fish. You can fish with just line of push came to shove. I did it Mexico (hand line fishing) and it was a blast. Let me tell you - our palms are incredibly sensitive. I was imagining getting lucky and battling a marlin or like fish (0 chance from the from Btw) with just my hands as in the old man and the sea. I caught a lot of fish that looked like saltwater bluegill. Not in colors but in shape.

That is good to know! Thanks. Do you know which Daiwa bc reels have this?

That’s been my experience and I’m sure many others. It seems the trouble starts at 20# braid just as @Bankc mentioned However, there are a few of us who can handle 20# braid. There are some things you can do to lessen the occurrence of line dog with < 30# braid but most people won’t bother. Just making a guess but I don’t think the level wind on a reel has anything to do with or help reduce line dig.

Well, it pains me to say this but there is a way not get skunked that is 100% effective. It never fails. I don’t recommend it, however. If you need to know… If you DON’T go fishing, there’s a 100% chance you won’t get skunked,lol. Luckily, that ain’t me. I even fished today and skunked out, still pursuing that first ever winter bass. ? Fish tough or go home.

@MickD-Thanks for asking. However, after reading the post you quoted in your post, it made what I thought of as slower moot. I did perceive slower action to mean that the point where the rod loads is farther from the tip than where it is on a rod with a faster action. But like I said, it be moot now! ?

You’re a mind reader! That’s exactly what was playing in my head, lol! I am from that genre/time. ?

I like some of the traits braid possesses. 1) limpness 2) practically no memory 3) practically no stretch 4) practically will last forever if there is no abrasion 5) thinner diameter per line strength BUT and a huge BUT - I do love conjunctions, lol. Let me say that many times Bass are not line shy. I know this. However, in my environment and experience, I have to be honest with myself. For me, as a line, when compared to mono, fc, or copolymer lines, braid has caught me the fewest fish. Period. In addition, as a shore angler, sometimes I have to break off my line and 30# braid can be very difficult to break. Worse yet — the thought of leaving that broken off braid in the water makes me feel bad for animals that could get tangled up in it and possibly die as a result. I have been tripped up when wading by unseen line and when a current is involved, it raises the danger potential for humans too. This is why I haven’t used it in probably over 10 years. Am I against it? No. Using it with a leader crosses my mind on occasion so I’m tempted, but braid is just a no go for me right now. Surprisingly and interestingly enough, even the steelhead and salmon anglers are taking advantage of the braid to leader concept.

No!! Not fair. Sometimes I have to go to bluegill mode or be skunked, lol. Even if it means opening a can of worms — literally and figuratively speaking. Bluegill mode is the converse to beast (bass) mode, lol.

I guess you can say that I too have had my idea of what a soft tip is but as already mentioned, without a having a consistent definition for these terms, clarity is not possible. There probably is not even an industry standard, lol on these terms. I sure hope some of our rod makers here could give us their 2 cents. As for me personally, I have perceived in my mind’s eye that a soft tip is in essence a “slower” (but not really by much) action independent of a rod’s power. Here is my reasoning. Let’s say we have two rods the same length and power, say MH for argument sake. Let’s designate rod #1 as an MH powered rod was a fast action — this will probably lend itself to be better at driving that single point hook of a jig or t-rig with no problem. That same rod might force an angler to make an adjustment to the hook set if he was setting the hook on a lure like a crank bait or hard jerkbait because that same hook set he used to drive the single hook home just might rip the lure away from the fish (speaking from experience on this case, lol). Things would be vice versa for the MH rod with the “softer” tip. That slightly slower action should help in lessening the probability of the angler ripping the lure away on a treble hook lure. I have observed this with fast action rods when using treble lures. Sometimes I had to “wait” a wee bit so that they really have it in their mouths or I rip it away from them. I have enjoyed reading all the post here on this topic.

Me either. Lol.

There was a time when such a skill was critical to survive, especially when it’s hunt to survive vs. hunt for sport. I don’t hunt either but I know I would love everything about hunting… The tracking, stalking, observing, the putting your mettle and wits vs. they’re generally superior senses. However, I am not willing to pull the final trigger for the kill, especially if it’s for the sport. If I did, I think the bow and arrow might be more appealing than some super rifle for like deer. Now if we’re like a moose or an elephant, hand me that rifle, lol. If this were a survival scenario, I will not hesitate to hunt. Hats off to the hunters. It ain’t easy and if our society went to heck in a hand basket, they be the ones to make it.

If that’s the same joke Eddie Murphy told in Delirius, I still tell that joke to this day, lol.

Truly master? No. To be proficient ? Certainly. BTW, on my list, skipping with a baitcaster is willfully omitted. As a shore angler, having that skill is not needed. ?