islandbass

Maybe I’m worse off. I never heard of either.

I like this line and as Deleted Account mentioned its certification will make it break at said line weight. I think the lowest I’ve gone is 12 or 14, but if things were to correspond 2 lb out to be good. If you decide to use it, report back. ?

I’ve just brought 2 piece rods as carry on to Mexico. However, coming back, from my experience, they cannot be carry on leaving Mexico. It has to come back like your luggage. On other trips I have used rod carriers that can store one piece rods and even be locked, much akin to a travel golf carrier. It worked beautifully to and from. You might want to consider that as a option. You get to bring your normal rods.

Very nice. If Count Dooku had a casting rig,I bet it would look very similar to the top image. This year, as I focused on light weight t-rigs, my Cabelas mag touch casting rod mated to my trusty green curado bag with 14# mono. This has been in hand much this season. So much so that for me, being for much of my bassin’ career, has stayed on the finesse side (and primarily drop shot) of the spectrum, my crutch DS was not employed until this month that I can recall. I was facing brutal conditions and weather earlier this week targeting smallies, that I had to go smaller and smaller and finally nailed my first smallie this month. As in tune with the DS as I’ve been in past seasons, it actually felt weird, and it took me a minute or two to “readjust” to finesse level force, lol. I’ve been t-rigging all season hopping and popping and dragging so much so that when I was drop shotting, I was unintentionally hopping my weight instead of keeping it on the bottom when I was working the semi-slack. On the spinning side, it was been either my 7’ Okuma celilo for the UL and my Shimano Compre for weightless t-rigs. These are my 2-piece rods. My true bass rods hardly get used these days for convenience sake as they don’t fit in the trunk.

Thanks for your service! You are so right about the weather. When I first moved here I came during the window and was wondering what everyone was talking about. ?

But it’s going to pay off when you’re done. ? Delayed gratification.

It it’s not what you wanted and it’s upsetting enough, return it. If you think it would be a fine addition to your arsenal but were going to get later then maybe keep it. I get the discounted price. You could even turn around and sell it for 75% of value. You get your money back and then some. just speaking from experience. A local shop was selling Shimano Crucials for $60. There were 3. I bought one knowing was a steal. I’m thinking, yes! I scored!! Halfway home it donned me. You fool. Go get the other two. Even if you sold them for $100, both you and the buyer would come out winners. So I hightailed it back to the shop. Guess what? They were gone — lesson learned.

Thanks for some food for thought. I’m going to sacrifice a few of my SBs and make that modification. Honestly, I don’t know but in my state, many of the lakes around me will be closed to fishing on October 31 and won’t reopen until the last Saturday in April 2021. I have 2 days left, lol. There are other lakes but the ones closest to are just flat out closed and the ones that are year round suck. They’re surrounded by homes and as a bank angler, prospects are practically nil.

Went on a hike with the Mrs. and encountered this a while back. You know your family knows you are angler when they give you a shirt with this on the back for your birthday and they know you usually come home skunked. How our dog Jesse looks after going on a long walk. He is a tea cup poodle and no, we don’t want him looking like a typical poodle, lol.

Oh so true. I just live south of SeaTac. Mt. Rainier is such a majestic thing of beauty, that it makes it hard to leave this state. Did you used to live out here?

Maybe you should add “extra person” fees passed two. For example, the first two are covered under the $200 and then charge like $25-$50 more per person (if they aren’t family, like 4 college buddies). They’re going to divvy the cost anyway so I don’t think people would complain.

I have had that exact issue when I first started fishing. Inlines? Yes. Spinnerbaits? No. It was like this for 14 years but it finally happened. Now I can catch them on SBs pretty well. That said, inlines, spoons and floating rapalas is how I started and these lures have a special place with me. I still use them to this day. So just hang in there with the SBs. I recommend you try a 3/8 double willow type. I’ll leave color selection up to you but the white/chartreuse seems to me like a good place to start. ??

Great report! ?When I see bass like that I sometimes forget how big they can get.

Heck, it was like that on Lake Washington for me yesterday (ok, 20 mph winds), and I didn’t even have to drive 2 hours give it take to get to the Columbia, lol. Like a game winning 3-pointer with seconds left, I finally caught a smallie. It was little longer than my hand but it counts. It was already dark but I caught him at at 1830 on the drop shot with a 3” senko. I posted a picture of the area in the post a photo thread before the sunset.

A typical fall day in the Pacific NW. This is a canal that connects Lake Washington and Lake Union. The image is misleading. It looks peaceful and calm but it was blustery and raining off and on. The rain stopped long enough for me to take the photo. Despite being well layered, I felt unusually cold and my hands felt frozen. The bridge you see in the distance is I-5. Following it to the right (as you face the bridge) takes you to Canada and to the left, Oregon, California and Mexico.

I do not know why, but for me, the double willow seems to just catch more bass for me that the tandem willow and Colorado. I think that the double willow suits my normally moderate to moderately fast retrieve. This is my perception and best educated guess but I think the thinner profile of the double willow doesn’t create as much lift (more an issue in faster paced retrieves) at higher speeds and as a result, I believe my spinnerbait stays in the zone longer — whereas the tandem Colorado and willow probably generates more lift and that combined with how I might retrieve (speed wise) just might mean my bait is higher than I think it is and perhaps even lifted out of the zone. Just thoughts and trying to find a reason or explanation why the double willow combination might be more productive for me. I have on occasion when I get impatient (ie, running out of time) that my retrieve quickens such that my tandem actually busts through the surface.? Not good. Until I start making my own, pretty much the both configurations I mentioned above are what I use. Any conditions. I can’t wait to try French blades in some combination or solo. Their widened just might force me to slow down too, lol.

Dang, pork chops! I have not had those in a long time. I’ll be coming over soon, lol. Yep, cooking and baking are not the same, that’s for sure. At least you can split the duties between the two of you. ?

Thanks. I just saw this too and you beat me to it.

Thank goodness my coffee is still brewing. I would have spit it out watching this. I’m even tempted to sing the words of my post to this melody ? cause I’m guilty, I’m guilty as charged,lol. ?

Excellent work! She needs to enter those contests on the food network. ?

Greetings and welcome and never give up!

@TnRiver46thanks. It is true. Not all of the lakes in my area have smallmouth but I wish they did. Neither bass species is native to the pacific nw and they do not receive support from our states fish and wildlife Dept.

No problem! The was a book that I got it from the library that gave guidelines, but to be honest the old fashion eyeball ? usually will get it right. As a guess, maybe roughly up to half the body or blade or slightly less. I think some of the lure part stores have diagrams you can reference. I don’t exclusively use French blades but I do like them and they’re pretty much the bar for salmon spinners. I have used colorados, willows and some other shapes.

Just made these (except the bottom most one) for my wife’s uncle who lives in CA. I take inline spinners with me as part of my “emergency” ? stash when all else failed and the two minute warning has passed, lol. The bottom 4 are part of my experimental spinners. I am using corkies in place of traditional plastic beads or other small lure body shapes. One has already produced for me so I’ll take that as a promising sign. The two hammered blades are intended for trout and pan fish. The black blade I dubbed black beauty. It and the larger one should catch bass and larger trout. Crossing fingers they produce for him! The bottom one I made for salmon. I incorporate a swivel at the top to minimize line twist and a split ring at the bottom to not only attach the hook but also to hopefully give the fish less of a chance of throwing off the spinner. Lastly, I prefer single hook over trebles mainly because I think the hook set is cleaner and more solid and more importantly, state law mandates single hook only in many rivers and all salt water. The larger lure with the treble was done this way because I didn’t have the appropriate sized Gamakatsu Siwash hook, lol.

Great idea! I think I might have chartreuse powder paint left over from the days I powder painted jigs for salmon fishing. I’ll also take a sneak peak at my daughter’s nail polish stash, lol.