Team9nine

For spinning reels: YGK G-Soul SS112 Sinking Braided Line

All in good fun. If there was a way to buy a less expensive version of a reel that had a “cheap” drag setup, I’d be all over it. But it doesn't work that way. Just because I had to pay for it doesn’t mean I have to use it. The cable company makes me buy 80+ channels even though I only watch 2. Why no heavily discounted packages for those of us who could live with just a few? On the deep cranking, and you can probably search out David Fritts on this one, but the AR bearing takes away all the back pressure on the reel handle which is a critical part of feeling what a bait is doing during the retrieve. Most guys probably never even realized it, but the rest of us either use the few (1?) models available without, use older reels without the AR bearing, or find a reel with a lower quality/sloppy bearing that has a little play in it to recapture some of that back presssure.

It has nothing to do with going "old school." I'd fish the same with a $1,000 Stella as I would a $30 Sienna. It's all about control, and whether you want to give it to an expensive stack of washers and a spool plastic release/drag knob, or give it to yourself instead. Same with the AR bearing for deep cranking. Same with running your depthfinder in auto. Same with thumb barring a baitcaster. Most anglers are obviously very happy with just taking the technology route and calling it a day, and that technology has progressed to the point that allows most to take the path of least resistance and still benefit 95% of the time. Good for you guys. You paid for it, and have lots of company, but you give up a little something in the process. A few of us just prefer not to settle for the trade-off. We like nuances

Personally, 6’8” - 6’11” is my favorite balance of all traits (length, weight, balance, casting accuracy, distance, line movement, etc.) - my happy medium, but I have longer and shorter rods to optimize for specific presentations. ...and as @WRB pointed out, “leverage” is the wrong term to be using with longer rods. They have less leverage.

That’s why they created the thumb bar. It works better than a washer stack, too. But the AR bearing was the death of the art of deep cranking ?

I’ve only done it once or twice for bass, but yes, most crappie baits fit nicely on to a 1/16 or smaller traditional ‘Ned-sized’ mushroom head. Definitely room to experiment in that space. They occasionally change over the years, and my 6 are slightly different than Ned’s 6, but here you go; (1) swim, glide, and shake; (2) hop and bounce; (3) drag and deadstick; (4) straight swim; (5) drag and incessant shake; (6) strolling.

I’m no David Fritts, but I’ve been testing this out at home with a micrometer and have found that the “necking” which can lead to breaking, in my outfits, happens within 6” of the knot. As such, I have been fine just retying after snipping off about a foot of line from the end. If you just lost the lure from the end, it is probably just a matter of checking the last couple feet with your fingers, and retying more frequently as a precaution, especially after landing several nice fish or any particularly hard fights. If your line is snapping more down the spool, it’s probably from backlashing. Remove backlashes slowly and carefully, and avoid tugging at the ‘V’ notches that tend to form as you work the backlashes out.

Probably best that we don’t - lol ?

"There's some people out there that take it personal. They get emotionally spun out about it, and it's almost like they think I'm insulting their Mom or something." Ummm, yeah, that about sums it up. I think he secretly reads these forums, too.

I mentioned this in my other thread, a piece of research I thought might be lost to the world - lol. This was carried out by a materials scientist on an old bass fishing forum site, now long gone, who took a bunch of stick baits and ran them through gravimetric analysis to determine their salt content. Lots of data in this little picture graph. The 35% salt content is apparently about as high as you can go in a soft plastic bait and still have enough plastisol to maintain shape and some degree of cohesiveness. It's also why Senkos fly off the hook so easily. It affects density and fall rate, also shown in the bars to the right. It also confirmed that the Senko and the Kinamis were basically one and the same bait, among other things.

Anything under 50 deg. Not an absolute, and I might check a couple other bites out, but I always am rigged for slower in those conditions.

Seems like a #2 and #3 will cover most all traditional sized bass baits. I stay well stocked on those sizes along with a few #1s for the micro baits. As for brand, everything Owner

Here, here! I don’t expect it to change anyone’s minds on this forum, as we’ve hashed it over pretty good, but nice to have another angler on Team Backreel ?

A great crappie bait. Only 2” long. We catch a few bass on them, but seems to attract them better if you bulk them up a little by adding them to a Road Runner style head, like a mini underspin. Any of the shad colors could be good in winter, maybe with some chartreuse mixed in for stained water.

FWIW, came across a couple old files I had saved that might be of interest. I'm not even sure how many of these baits are still currently made, but it is the weight of a bunch of fluke style baits that were on the market in the early 2000s. Might still be good for historical and comparison sake. These were accumulated and weighed by a materials scientist. There is another chart I'll post a bit later comparing salt content of certain stick-style baits (Senko, etc.) using gravimetric analysis he also did. Some pretty cool data. Here's the first chart: For reference; 1 g = .035 oz. 3.5 g = .123 oz or about 1/8 oz. 7 g = .247 oz or about 1/4 oz.

I just save all the existing hooks off my broken MB 110s and use them as replacements for non-broken baits - ? I’m still ahead of the game, so far. They’re pretty delicate at temps in the 30s and 40s.

Science has finally figured out at least one way this occurs - bird poop Fish egg transfer article

Agree with the above. Run mono backing (any size) to fill up most of the spool, then top off with about 75-100 yds of the braid, depending. You'll cover any slipping issues, plus save a lot of braid that can be used to refill/replace at a later time.

It’s nickname is ‘muskgrass’ or ‘skunk weed.’ Usually pretty “crunchy” for lack of a better term because of calcium deposits. From Wikipedia: “Chara plants are rough to the touch because of deposited calcium salts on the cell wall. The metabolic processes associated with this deposition often give Chara plants a distinctive and unpleasant smell of hydrogen sulfide.”

Looks more like pondweed and/or naiad to me. Chara is tough and smells very strong (musk-like). Usually is brighter green this time of year, also.

Oops, thought it would merge. See edit/update post above... Norman Mad N - Lavender Shad

Yep - I'd say it is...Deep Little N? Faded 'Standard Tropical Shad? The newer baits have all that sparkly stuff on them - lol. Edit: First one is a Norman Thin N in Tomato Craw Green Flk if I'm not mistaken.

SO MANY past threads on this subject you can look up... But,... Put me in the waste of time and money camp

Whatever works for you... I buy Tatsu and InvizX 200 yd spools and spool 100 yds at a time. I'm a classic overspooler, so I can go quite a long time before having to change. I use 8, 10, 12, 15 and a little 20/25, so a couple reels with each, and 200 yd spools last a while (usually keep an extra spool of each on the shelf as backup). Line would be sitting around for years if I bought the 1000 yd spools. Don't fish for money any more. Don't take "big trips" where I'd worry about my lines integrity. Not around any double digit or record class fish, but have never lost any giant misc fish either because of my line habits. Landed a lot of big catfish and buffalo (20#-50#) on 8# fluoro over the years, along with many big hybrid stripers, so I know the line isn't going bad in any way.