islandbass

I still use them on occasion when I target blues, perch or other non bass species. However, bass catches are incidental and welcome, lol. My top two methods are with a float or by drop shot. I can relate to feeding fish, lol. It's so true! You feel the tug, and the hook comes back empty.

You forgot to factor in the new law of diminishing size applied to anyone who hooks into a fish... the closer your hooked bass gets to you, the smaller it gets. I think it is an arithmetic in nature as opposed to being geometric and it is divided by the inverse of the square root of Planck’s constant.

Funny you mention that, as I just bought that kit from walmart. I had planned on getting the Fuji kit from BPS initially, but then I saw the kit while I was at walmart and saved me a 30 mile one way trip to BPS. The Hurricane rod tip kit came with pac bay guides. I just hope one of the 3 tips will fit my rod. If not, I will ask the rod builders if I should use calipers and determine the right size.

Thanks, I really appreciate your advice. I think I'll use dev cont 2T since I already have some.

I have a 9'6" light action rod that my wife's uncle had made and given to me as a gift. It is a great rod but unfortunately, there is a problem with the foam grip at the butt end of the rod. Unfortunately, half of the foam grip closest to the reel seat has become loose. When gripped, you can actually turn the grip around the blank. Sending it back to the person who made it is not an option, mainly because I have a gut feeling it should a relatively easy fix (hope I'm not wrong) and this will be a great opportunity to get to do at least one aspect of rod building. I would like to pick your brains and seek you advice as to the best way to proceed in re-adhering the grip back to the blank, whether I should slip some epoxy between the grip and blacnk (would need to know the appropriate kind to use), or have to rip off the foam grip and replace it. The foam grip is loose enough you could separate the grip from the blank with something like a screw driver or Popsicle stick. Thanks!

Absolutely! When I don’t have fc, I use mono. Matter of fact, I’ve been using 6# mono for about the past 4 years. The non-mono are pricey for my rip rap situation when drop shotting. Don’t hesitate to use mono if you want to use it.

Is this balanced outfit thing subjective or is there a metric that can be applied to eliminate subjectivity. What if something feels “balanced” to angler A and not to angler B? Also, where is this holy grail of a balance point located? I am glad you brought this up because I would like to know. I find the trend for longer rods to be strange as it starts to creep toward typical salmon/steelhead rod lengths. Pretty soon they’ll probably need to make them 2-piece because they won’t fit in boat rod lockers or typical cars, and we all know no “self-respectin’” bass angler would be caught dead using a 2-piece rod, lol.

I agree 100% if you’re new. @Somd Fx4: have you tried to figure out the cause(s) of the birdsnests? Also, to answer your question about braid, the answer is no. Any line can birds nest. Period, no ifs, ands or buts. Being that braid is more expensive than mono, it’s not worth the cost and trouble. I am speaking from personal experience. I loaded my first Curado and casting lp reel with 30# braid. It was also my first time using braid. Talk about a double whammy. I let my thumb off the spool to late and my weight slammed into the ground and whathrrrrup! Instant birds nest. First cast. Not recoverable. I could only laugh looking back at it but it was upsetting.

There is only one thing I can think of if all else is good. When you’re spooling the line, are you (rod and reel) in direct line with the spool of line? If you’re holding the rod at an angle to either side it could cause line to pile up on a side. If not, an exchange might be in order. Hope you don’t have to deal with that.

This! I'd throw in El Salto and Biwa in Japan for outside the country lakes. All domestic lake already mentioned plus Clear and Castaic.

That is a good way to picture it. I translate that to this, which is what I try to do, and that is to maintain the tension on the line between the fish and me such that they won’t have a chance to jump. If they do manage to jump, then I release the tension so that hopefully they don’t throw the lure. I am also ready at the call to reestablish tension when they’re back in the water. I am not fortunate enough to experience fish jumps often, but when I do, I have Dos Equis in hand. Stay thirsty, mis amigos, lol.

Thanks. That is what I was hoping to hear. I caught my first buzz bait bass just last month and when I started to free it from the hook the bass shook violently enough that I let go and it fell on loose ground such that one side was completely covered in dirt. I felt bad for the bass because his condition was solely due to me. At least he swam away vigorously, if only to get the mess off of his body. I will get this fish grip thing if it could help me minimize dropping them.

That seems more humane. Could you tell if fish grips also make removing the hook(s) from their mouths easier, in that you would have a better grip on the fish (and thereby can remove the hook faster) as compared to holding it directly by hand? If so, I'll definitely be buying one.

Since you said you're going to drop shot a lot, then I'd recommend spinning, 2500 or 3000 size reel. I think 40 or 4000 is just more than is necessary and could possibly be heavier. As for which type casts farther, that's 100% on the angler. Sorry I can't recommend a rod or reel by brand since I'm not up on the latest gear.

I'm not an expert but it sure sounds like a recipe to affect their protective coating. How could it not?

Let them spool this time around so you can get right to fishing. ? congrats! It was exciting for me and I wasn’t even the one buying, lol. Thanks for the ride.

That line old like the ideal amount to me.

Braid has virtually no stretch or give so you won’t need to wait for the line to “stretch” out. This is one braid’s characteristics. What did you find frustrating about braid?

I too have dropped worms on their heads and barely even gotten a reaction. I couldn't buy a strike. One thing to keep in mind is that if you can see them, chances are that they can probably see you too. As a result, they might have been more cautious than normal. It is also possible that while they were present, they might not have been active. This means we need to find other ways to coax a strike. I think you were on the right track by trying what you did. All this means is that this day, you just weren't able to find what they were willing to strike. You may want to think of bringing a little bit of certain major lure types to give you more options. Doing so could increase your chances, but even that is not a true guarantee. However, I believe in, "it is better to have and not need than to need and not have." Maybe not for this case, as the cover seemed pretty decent, downsizing in lure size and even line (ie, going closer to finesse mode) can sometimes illicit that strike. Like I said, that was probably not an option for you. One benefit of striking out this time is that you are building up your experiences and the as you gain this experience, you will get better at this. -ib

Just a thought, but in addition to team9’s comments, I wonder if your cast mechanics were identical. Perhaps if the timing of your mechanics (ie, rod was not being properly loaded) changed subconsciously, this could be a possible culprit. See if you can recall if your casts with direct braid were more “whippy” in nature such that the lure’s weight didn’t really get to load the rod.

What are the line weight ratings of the rod? If 20# is out of its range, it shouldn’t be a problem if you loosen your drag a bit and keep in mind at all times that your line is rated higher than what the rod states. Therefore refrain from any actions in which you’d be tempted to exert a lot of unnecessary strain on your rod because between your line and the rod, if something has to give, you can guess which of the two might give first.

I am assuming you fish with the left hand cranking your spinning reel. Before you buy a RH casting reel take your favorite spinning set up and switch the handle to the other side and fish with it. Retrieve line,fight a few fish, and work a few lures. If it still feels equally comfortable to fishing the way you normally do, then go for it. Get an RH reel. If not, then only get the RH if and only if your intention is to train yourself to learn and retrain your brain and body to fish the opposite way. I am willing to bet a floating Rapala minnow that it will not only feel odd, you won’t feel comfortable. Just trying to save you the hassle of finding out the hard way you didn’t like it after the fact. Reel recommendations? Curado or Tatula. These are imho the all-around reels with solid reps behind them.

Dodgeguy, glad to see you’re still here! Glad to hear they took care of you.

That is why. You nailed it. The absolute fun of it. The challenge is also fun because you get to battle the fish on a less imbalanced playing field. Your chances of losing are typically greater on bigger fish,which proportionately increases the reward in landing that fish. Ever hook into a 4lb smallie on a UL? Indescribable feeling. You’ll act like iaconelli saying, “it’s a giant,” lol. You could take out a bear with a high powered rifle (regular gear) or go toe to toe against the same bear with a crossbow or bow and arrow (UL gear). For the latter, you had better make your shot count, or you might be break the record for the 100 yd dash, lol.

Thanks, I really appreciate it. I actually live within spitting distance of Fenwick Lake, for which the company chose its name. The bait monkey is rattling his cage. I just found out that my current UL, an Okuma Celilo rod, perhaps my favorite and most productive rod in my arsenal, has a damaged top guide. I think it was my fault, as I remember not too long ago I banged it into something metallic putting it away in the trunk and in the dark. I didn’t realize until this morning upon seeing the damage to put 2 and 2 together that my actions were the cause. I’ve had this rod for at least 9 years I think, and I plan to fix it, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to have another UL weapon added to the arsenal. Thanks again.