fretfishman

it's a love/hate relationship with me: I hate getting the initial scratches on the outside/cosmetic portion of the reel, but after it has been used and worn-in a while it's like a pair of faded jeans with holes...I love it. if the scratches were on the spool or something I'd have to see if it created any burrs that could cut into the line. I guess that part comes from having played music for a living - I was always very particular about fret edges, fingerboard scratches, burrs on the bridge or tremolo or burrs in the nut near the headstock. basically, anything that could alter the "tone" or "playability" of my guitar - it would make me furious. so, replace "tone" and "playability" with "feel" and "functionality/efficiency" and there you go. ;D the cosmetic scratches on my guitars were much the same as on a reel for me - somewhat infuriating at first, but made for a nice, comfortable "pair of jeans" in due time.

can't blame you for going back. as one poster said - braid isn't for everyone. nor is it for all facets of fishing anyway. I personally don't like using snap swivels, because they make me lazy and I wouldn't be checking my line for frays, etc. I don't mind cutting braid and re-tying when necessary, because I have very small and sharp fiskar titanium scissors on a retractable hanger. the cut is always clean and easy and I just have to reach towards my chest to grab the scissors and let them fall when I'm done. one other thing to consider is that cutting the line with your teeth (while this is a method I used to use) isn't a great option since it's one way you can pick up a parasite which will make you very sick...just one more thing to keep in mind. it doesn't happen to anglers all that often, but when it does it'll make you feel like you're dying - or wish you were dead for the time being. food for thought - g'luck!

I agree on line watching - especially if they're aggressive. that means you can set the hook much earlier. however, you can always play it safe for a bit and use the old "clamp down on the barb" trick to flatten it. an even better method is to use heat shrink tubing over the barb - that'll keep your hook intact and give a smooth cover for the barb. even if they deep hook you can remove it pretty easily. for good measure you could do that andset the hook earlier during aggressive bite periods. at any rate, solid advice from other posters and g'luck to you! glad you're looking to fix the issue - many anglers would be so caught up in catching those fish that they'd be "ok" with gut-hooking fish. it's so nice to see more anglers caring about the future of the sport.

not to rain on the parade, because I'm excited about most of these new rage tails: is it me, or does the anaconda look like a roboworm robotail knock-off? I'd have to throw a robotail in the water and check it out right after watching the rage tail video, but it seemed like the same thing when I watched the video earlier.

wait - how do you know that 1) the color isn't the problem and 2) "all kinds" of fish are hitting...when you said you're not bringing the fish in. ? ironic that you're asking for suggestions or advice and you're dismissing something that someone tells you could be the problem.

size could be a problem, but it could be that you're attracting 1) smaller fish or 2) other fish that are attracted to the pink color. I know that might sound odd, but I've had it happen. certain species (like rainbows, mackinaw, steelhead and other salmon) are really attracted to pink. you can start with one of three things, in my opinion. 1) add a stinger hook to catch whatever is short striking your worm and evaluate 2) switch the whole worm to pink and see what happens, or 3) downsize your worm. you could just change colors and/or switch locations, but I'd be more interested to find out what is causing your experience if it were me. once you know what's going on you can evaluate and possibly benefit from the situation - whereas switching spots will just be a stop-gap fix and you never learn anything from your experiences. fishing is all about lifelong experiences and knowledge to enjoy yourself more and become a better fisherman...why would you pass that up? just my opinion. g'luck!

i know some people think that bigger bass live in different areas just because all they catch are the dinks. it's simply not true. look at the obvious factor in the situation - you're catching the dinks because they're quicker to jump at the lure and the larger bass are 1) harder to convince, and 2) hang tight to a specific point on that bed because it offers them the best ambush point. if you're catching nothing but dinks my advice would be to try different points in range of the bed you've found. fish each section thoroughly and you'll weed out the others. sometimes, yeah, you'll catch a school or bed of dinks...as with any species that aren't loners. more often than not, though, you can weed out the others - and, let's be honest, fishing the dinks out isn't that bad since you're still catching fish. ;D some of us did respond to this in another post the other day, but I chimed in here because I wanted to say a couple things I didn't touch on in that post.

try this one for micro munch. http://micromunchjigs.homestead.com/welcome.html

I've got a couple bucktail jigs left with weedguards on them, but I can't remember where I got 'em and I'd prefer rabbit hair anyway. if anyone has any suggestions - I will check out the links so far, though. also, I'd prefer a single or double strand wire guard as opposed to a plastic multi-strand. thanks in advance.

this is a good point and it really boils down to the bait you're fishing and such. i set my hook according to how long I think they'll hold onto it. if it's a senko, ika, gulp alive minnow, etc. - I have confidence I can wait and feel a couple taps. if I'm fishing anything else I will usually be a line watcher and won't reel to feel the weight of the fish, because I'm almost certain they'll spit it before I can. in which case I'd say definitely follow dave's method. also, keep in mind that dave may have had that experience with his senko, but the bass around here seem to hold onto them for some time. chalk it up to fishing pressure and awareness of the fish, I suppose.

when i've noticed that a smallie won't hit a 4" tube it was more to do with girth than length. if you notice that just step your tube down for that reason or try a slimmer profile bait. length has very little to do with it for smallies in my experience. granted, I don't catch smallies very often on a 10" powerworm, but I have done it. as for skipping under docks I wouldn't worry too much about the size unless the bass tell you otherwise. I generally pick a bait with an excellent falling presentation and run with it. you're dropping it right onto them, in most cases, so if the fall is sexy they won't turn it down.

vanish isn't that great, but one thing to try is not using the trilene knot that berkley recommends for flouro - and that goes for any flouro, imo. An improved clinch knot or even a palomar is much better than a trilene knot. also, make sure you always wet a flouro knot before cinching it down. having said that, I like P-line's flouro, but feel it could be better. I'm looking into a replacement option for it. Halo's more expensive and I've heard bad things about it. if anyone has a suggestion that has tried p-line's flouro I'm all ears.

interesting. I guess that's your answer then. it sucks that you can't cast smaller presentations without the dink fish taking them, but that's the nature of it in some bodies of water. on the other hand, if you fish fast and efficiently you can "fish out" the small ones and then go for the big fish on the beds. a lot of anglers will do this when they want to catch that big female sitting on the bed...the male is actively protecting the fry, so you fish him out. what's left is a female that's not as experienced at protecting those fry and she will take just about anything you throw at her at that point since her male is no longer around for the job.

most of my hits on a senko are tap, tap , tap - and they're bass. when I feel the first tap I immediately give the rod to the bass a bit and allow him another tap or 2 and set the hook. always works for me, but if you're trying to set the hook on the first tap - there's your problem. you can give him the tap and then slowly make your line taut to feel if the weight of the fish is there...that helps until you're familiar with what you know will be a solid bite - meaning a hookup. you have to give them the bait first and have faith that they'll keep it for longer than the one "tap". if you lack that confidence you'll lose the fish every time - and if there's a bait you can be confident that they'll hold onto for a while it's the senko. start with the confidence and you'll see a huge difference. if it means putting scent on your lure to develop that I'd say do it.

I hear you. I grew up on the ocean. fishing it since I was a kid and you're right, saltwater, can be VERY predictable. I guess I just naturally carried that way of thinking over to my freshwater side. Call it whatever you want, I"M EXCITED to get out there this weekend that, my friend, is what it's all about. whether or not the moon plays a role you're excited. that's all that matters, imo.

p-line spectrex IV and western filament tuf-line plus. I tried all the rest except for stren microfuse and most of them were junk. power pro's not too bad. still looking to track down some microfuse to try.

I went looking for a backup rod for my nephew's pflueger and saw a couple that are great. daiwa heartland - if you can get this on sale somewhere it will be less than the 50$ tag you usually see...awesome rod for the price. in the same price range the berkley tactix rods rock. berkley lightning rod and cherrywood - great rods for the price also at 20-30$. I saw a Rhino "Indestructible" rod at sportsman's warehouse and noticed it had tip damage and a missing line guide. I found that ironic... all rods are not created equal even in the budget range, that's for sure. between berkley and daiwa you'll be able to pick up a nice rod, though. g'luck!

i read a flourocarbon line matchup recently and the best success was with an improved clinch knot and the palomar did very well also. interesting that berkley recommends the trilene knot for their flouro, eh? : I always use these 2 knots. I used to tie with a trilene knot on flouro, but it just didn't seem to hold like I wanted.

yeah, the only advantage to drop-shot weights is in the eye of them. they're made for a quick change once you get snagged up. basically, a nice tug on the line during a snag causes the line to permeate the line and cut it off so you can quickly add another. needless to say, it's great for tourny anglers, but most people don't need that kind of speed. having said that, I use drop shot weights, cause I hate wasting time. good idea you posted here. I'll try it out - thanks!

it's coming out in september and I've been waiting patiently for this thing. my b-day is in sept. and I'm requesting one of a different color from everyone I know.... ;D

in a nutshell, I'd say it's too ugly for me to use, but the fish would probably love it. ;D we've all seen fish eat things much uglier than this, I suppose.

yeah, it seems like gary uses a heat knife method for ikas and hula grubs. I've come across too many that showed flaws or weren't on straight to think otherwise. either way, I can't complain about that - they're great baits. the price does suck, but look at the price of senkos...and it's just a straight, fat worm with small ribs. if we buy senkos we can't complain about pricing on Ikas much. ;D

So much truth to this. I generally throw a berkley beast, beaver or the ugliest thing I can find at the time. that flappin' hog looks like the ticket. I've melted a couple Beasts together for added bulk and tentacles....think I got that tip from Ike somewhere or something...can't remember.

senkos are a top producer - if you're starting to stock up I'd recommend going with a cheaper alternative like waveworm...so that you can get a lot more colors and sizes without killing your wallet. not to mention the fact that senkos tear very easily. these work as well as senkos in most situations and are a lot cheaper. they have both salt and anise impregnation and are only slightly harder than a senko..they tear almost as easily. those are the big differences. spinnerbait - one of the most versatile lures. I like terminator's spinnerbaits. grab a chartreuse, white/chartreuse, black, white and one with your best local forage. (for me that means a perch pattern). finesse worm - for this I use a shad or smelt color laminated 4-5" roboworm. sometimes going to a split shot or drop shot rig will produce fish when nothing else will. power worm - too many choices on this one and I have several. I'd describe it as a 7-10" worm with plenty of squirm. one of my mains is a berkley powerworm in 10" size. it has cut ribs to produce a lot of action and also a curly tail. (motor oil color) other soft plastics I can't live without - baby brush hogs(zoom), lizards in a couple sizes(berkley), yum crawbugs, fat grubs, hula grub and fat ika (yamamoto), swimming senkos (yamamoto). shad rap type crankbaits. I keep some in shad, perch, craw and firetiger colors. I have some other colors for more specific applications - ghost colors, bright colors for things like salmon, trout, steelhead, and some in flash foil. I use rapalas for this - only a couple are cordell, etc. jigs are another mainstay. try and get 2 of each size to start and make those 1 of each color that you prefer. (2 - 3/16 to 1/4, 2 - 3/8 to 1/2, 2 - 5/8 to 1 oz.) you could pick up jigs larger than 1 oz., but it really depends on your area and experience. I don't really think they're necessary at first unless you're fishing okeechobee, lake fork, toledo bend or something similar. I use home-made and booyah jigs at the moment. jerkbaits - I use yo-zuri crystal minnows, rapala husky jerks, one spro prime minnow and a smithwick rattlin'/suspending rogue in chrome. only one of my jerkbaits isn't a suspending type and it's for wacky, super-fast, erratic moments. I think a suspending type is key to have in all your main jerkbaits. other things like swimbaits, lipless crankbaits (I only use in spring), berkley alive minnows (great for fishing smaller males off beds or getting limits), inline spinners(smallies either love or hate them depending on the day), fat cranks(no real luck with these for me in colorado...I keep them around for out of state trips), super spook & super spook jr.(a lot of bass are truly "spooked" by these around here and these ending up working better on pike for me than bass in most cases - sometimes they'll nail the junior, though), buzzbaits, roadrunners(sometimes the only thing a bass will bite around here), etc. - they're all things I love and use, but are limited by season, lake conditions, etc. I tried to keep it more simple and ended up giving a huge list. > yet I'm sure I forgot several things. ;D

i use a couple snag proofs I still have from when they came out and a stanley ribbit, which is more like a buzzbait but can also be fished slower like a normal topwater frog...only it sinks. I saw a video of the 3:16 no bull frog and definitely want to try that. the action and appearance are top-notch.