SoFlaBassAddict

Water temps up to 82.X today. Peacocks on beds left and right. Several that are guarding fry, some just getting onto the beds. Others that were cruising the banks in male/female pairs. Largemouth aren't on beds anymore, they're starting to school up and swim around now. Theres still a couple here and there though. Just don't catch the second fish off the bed if you do bed fish. They're so aggressive they don't care about the other fish being gone. Gotta leave one to guard the nest at least. Slow cranking a bluegill colored spinnerbait was the weapon of choice today in the shallows blind casting to bedding areas.

Oh theres gotta be a story behind this one...

I honestly couldn't tell you how far I'm actually casting it. At least 100 foot probably more, but thats with a different lure. I use mine with a 7'6" rod though, so I get some casting distance just from being on a fairly long rod. I've got my reel set very loose though. It doesn't backlash at all though, I don't have to really have a thumb on it when it hits the water. Cent brakes have 2 pins out. I believe the magnetic is between 2 and 4. I adjust that as needed. If you drop it just to check the spool speed, it drops very quickly. I'll get a light loop on the spool once it hits water.

I use braid on my PQ without any issue. One thing you may want to check is the centrifugal brakes. I had to drop mine down to none at all, or two brakes on to get some good casting distance. You can also lessen the tension the control knob a bunch with braid.

Bandaids are for sissies! I'll use my staple gun and some hot glue. Finish it off with some duct tape. That stuff works on everything. You and me both. I've seen some bass starting to school up around here lately. Looks like a bunch of them are on the prowl for food again.

Now that would be one ridiculous fight on some bass gear.

I've gone through several packs of them already down here using it like a swimbait. Keel weighted hook and hurl it out and retrieve. Most of my larger fish this year have been caught on them. Smokin Shad has been my most productive color. The Peacocks down here seem to like the watermelon color.

I've never had a problem with lures spiraling on them. Alot of the plastics I use have either a slot for the hook to line up, or a seam you can follow like on the GYCB plastics. Takes an extra second or two to line it up.

Good hooks. I like them a lot better than the Gamakatsu straight shanks. They've got a larger bite on the hook. The local stores that I've been in carry the 3/0, 4/0, and 5/0. Which is pretty much all I use. The Owner website says they come in 1/0 and 2/0 as well if you need a smaller size.

Seaguar 12lb AbrazX. Haven't been able to stick a fish on it yet with the cruddy weather we've got here today. I know I can't break the knot in my hands by jerking the line anymore. I've got a couple of slices in my fingers from the braid actually.

Last week at some point.

Problem solved with the new fluoro. Theres something wrong with the fact that I don't even want to use the line that I got for free. That stuff was pure trash.

Very Rough indeed. The buzzards didn't mind at all though. ;D Those were some happy birds. Loads of fish to eat. And even more iguanas for them to eat. CB Smith Park looked like a scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds" for a while.

Yup.

Great picture right there. I've been using the heat shrink barb on straight shanks as well. Much easier to deal with than the toothpick. They hold up surprisingly well also. You just need to make sure that you don't pull the barb too far out after you heat it, otherwise you're asking to get caught up in weeds.

Actually I found his post about the Alberto last night. Plan on trying that at some point. Picked up some Seaguar AbrasX today to try out. We'll see how that goes. The 12lb is the same diameter as that 8lb I had before.

It's pretty clear most of the time. I mean it aint like your looking through a glass of water in the kitchen, but you've got a good 10-15' visibility

I wonder why people won't listen to us about the straight shank Owner hooks Catt. Could be a good thing, more wins for us. Kelley I've started using them more and more myself. The Owner WG straight shanks are a mean hook.

My background is saltwater as well. Never used fluoro in it at all though. Most of the knots I had to tie were with Bimini twists for trolling and uni knots with large mono for deep dropping on grouper. This small line stuff is killing me!

30lb power pro which is like 10 lb diameter. I figured the 8lb fluoro shouldn't be a large issue with line size between the two. I'll probably pick up some larger pound test fluoro, I should anyways. The peacocks down here are a lot harder on line than the largemouth. Hammer: I'll have to try doing the loops that way at some point tomorrow when I get home. I thought I was going fairly slow when cinching it. I may need to slow down a bit more. Do you do the whole super glue thing that a lot of guys talk about on the uni-uni connection? Skinnyh2ofishin: It's definitely not the braid thats breaking. I'm getting back the braided half of the knot. I get a couple of curls of the fluoro back as well. Thats where the knot is breaking. I may need to be a bit more cautious when tying the knots with the 8lb. TBendBassin: I'd try the blood knot, but I'm horrible at tying it. Even when I was really into fly fishing I could never tie a good blood knot. Same goes for a nail knot. Must be my fat fingers or something.

Lubricating it when I'm doing each side of the uni. Then re-lubricating each uni and the two lines that the knots slide over when the butt against each other. It has been a while since I've tied a uni to uni. But I doubt I'm cinching the fluoro too much when I tie the fluoro side of the uni.

So, I started using braid, love it. Started using a fluoro leader. Like that as well. Until I set a hook. Right know I'm breaking off at my knot left and right. To the point where I have zero confidence in it at all right now. I've used the uni to uni. I've tied it for years in other stuff. Tried an albright, a J knot, a normal surgeons knot. Every one is breaking off right at the knot. Could this be because I'm using 8lb fluoro? Or is it that I'm using the Vicious fluoro I was given. I "was" using that because it's what I had on hand. It seemed to be holding before with no issues. Now I'm just busting off. Have my drag set fairly light as well to allow for the braid. I mostly use soft plastics and jigs with this rod and reel. Should I: a) use larger pound test fluoro change to a different brand c) both a & b If B or C, what brand would you recommend? I've heard good stuff about Seaguar, P-line, etc etc. Keep in mind this is for leader material only. So a 200 yd spool should do me for a while.

Well then. I guess it's a different place. Lol. Funny part is they've always told me they drive to TN for some of the stuff they go to. Guess I'm thinking of a totally different area. Bummer.

Yeesh Dink, you sure are having some issues with getting all of your electronics to work. Hope you get everything sorted out. Look at the bright side though, at least the lakes you fish are really shallow, you can use a broomstick to check the depth if you need