ottawa

Looks as though Shimano supports you USA fishermen/women but in Canada , well who knows. The question I have is that is it possible that tying a Palomar know could be the cause of the problem? Could the knot after a few fish start cutting into the line. The braid seems really tough but I just can't see going to a tournament with this problem. That one fish that could win you the tournament could be carrying your hook and not get landed. I will try a double Palomar and a Uni knot to see if that makes a difference but my confidence is shaken. Today I will have my firs try with fluorocarbon on my worm outfit. G Loomis worm rod with Shimano Citica reel. I will continue to fish my other 2 rods with PP 50# BTW I have been using PP for years as a walleye fisherman on spinning gear (jigs mostly) and baitcasters (trolling and bottom bouncing ) Never had breakoffs like this!

I have been a loyal Shimano customer as far as reels and line are concerned but am willing to try another braid. Is Suffix or Fireline the way to go? I know there is probably good support from Shimano but living in Canada and mailing forms, etc. has always been discouraging to me. You know the " 6 to 8 weeks for delivery " and stuff. BTW , Thinking of heading out to the Big Rideau on Sunday.

The river is 80 degrees now. Fish seem to be more scattered. Getting smaller fish in the weeds. Caught one larger LM casting a spinnerbait on the outside edges. Otherwise most fish have been 2 pounds or less. Yesterday I tried frogging which produced 10 smaller fish, Senkos, T-rigged and mostly fished cover. Had a few numbers but a fish here and a fish there. Docks and cover bordering deeper water were most productive. Shallow bays with cover were much less with only a few smaller fish. I am guessing that I should be looking for deeper cover as the water warms and fall approaches.

Maybe it's the Palomar knot I am tying but I seem to be breaking off on a hookset everytime I am out. Today fished a frog over slop. A decent fish sucked in the frog. Set the hook hard, as you know with those weedless frogs you need a good hookset. Broke Off!!! Tied that hook just before going out. Fished 3 or 4 hours on the Rideau River which is a slow moving weedy river . Temp of the river is 80 degrees now so the weeds are pretty thick. No rock to peak of that is why I was fishing a frog over the junk, senkos in the holes and spinnerbaits along the outside weed edge. I thought 50# PP Spectra Braid was supposed to be the best line for this kind of fishing?

The Calais DC is not comparable. I stand corrected. The Shimano Calais 100A is $399 not $299 Still which is better, newer Mg50 or Calais for another $20-30.00

Looks like finesse fishing pink seems to work. I fish weighted or non weighted t-rig . They have been slamming these worms. Local shop had some but they get torn up really quick. Just bought some Bass pro tournament senko. Seem to be more durable.

I know that no one likes t call it pink, rather bubblegum, etc but fish seem to be attracted to pink. I have senkos, tubes and flukes in the boat all pink . So far only fished the senkos and they do produce. Anyone else fish that color?

Of course the Mg50 is lighter but as far as a quality built reel isn't the Calais one of the smoothest and best reel Shimano has ever built? Also sells for $299 vs $379 or thereabouts. I have neither reel but looking at buying another outfit. So what would you buy?

I received a Perko light. More solidly built than the Attwood although not as bright. I will get feedback as to which is better viewed at night. I also taped the Attwood light so the top would not knock off as easily.

We are on the Rideau River. Temperatures get quite warm although I have no reading today. Will get one tomorrow. I am catching smaller LM and some SM shallow now but the bigger fish are just not hitting shallow like they did earlier in the season. I will be trying finesse techniques on outside weedline closer to deeper drop-offs tomorrow.

Well I moved to a shallow river deepest hole 30 feet and good weed development along shoreline up to 10 feet. Heavy boat traffic in July as it is a UNESCO world heritage site so the big cruisers make their way along the waterway, With the river only 50 yards wide a fast moving cruiser's wake stir the soup up so at times the shallows are muddy and visibility is poor down there. Anyway earlier this summer I was having a great time casting frogs and senkos in the weeds and catching lots of LMB. Now the bite is much tougher. Also when I do catch there seems to be more SMB. Fish seem to be more spread out as I see fish jumping all over expecially out in the channel. There is little structure out there. No weeds , no rock, just a flat bottom. I tried fishing the mudline edge with no success. I tried flipping jigs and weighted as well as weightless senkos between the weeds at various depths. The deeper weeds look interesting but up to now have produced no fish. Thinking that I may try crankbaits next along the deep weed edge. Any other suggestions. Of course when the boat traffic is heavy I cannot fish near the channel. Those 30 to 40 footers throw a big wake and the speedboats are just too fast for me.

Good plan. My boat is a Crestliner Fishhawk 1800 (18.5 ft.) aluminum. With a bow mounted Motorguide, there is not a lot of room up there. What light would you recommend? I would think that sidelights would not be an option. Any recommendations?

Not really. A light is a light but the top when knocked off cannot be replaced. You have to buy the entire post with light. With a bow mount trolling motor it is easy to knock the light off. Therefore I would advise putting some tape on the light to secure the top. Why Attwood would not make the top replaceable is a mystery. You can relace the globe for an all around light. Why not a bicolor light? BTW this morning I was able to retrieve the top . Screwed it on and taped over it. I also ordered a Perko light to compare and have as a spare incase this happens when I am out at night again.

Well I have a 3 pin removable bicolor pole mount navigation light made by Attwood. The top assembly which contains the lenses DOE NOT FLOAT! I lost 2 of them. At first I thought that I just accidently knocked it off when working my trolling motor. Turns out I had to order a complete light including the pole. I could not get a replacement assembly only the lenses. So for anyone with an Atwood light I would strongly recommend taping it to the pole. It knocks off easily and if it falls in the water kiss it good-by! Here in Canada the light is expensive. This time I ordered a Perko and will make sure that top does NOT fall off.

OK everyone seems to be raving about the new core. Of course comparisons would be made with the Steez as they should be similar. Still as a relatively new bass fisherman, enjoying using the Curado, would the Core be THAT much better? Is the price difference worth it?

I put 50# Power Pro on the Castaic. Set the tension then magnets and it would cast great for 4 or 5 cats and then backlash. Maybe the tension knob does not remain in position because when I readjust the tension it casts OK for a few more casts and then starts backlashing again. I am getting tired of it. Backlashes are not too severe but still it is a pain to have to strip it out so often. > I just headed to the dock with the Citica and casted a weightless Senko without 1 backlash. The Castaic with a frog backlashed every 4 or 5 casts. I am surprised that everyone is not happy with the Citica. For the money it is a great reel. Comparing it to the Curado is probably unfair because the Curado is a more expensive and smoother reel but they do have similarities. Don't know if both reels will be equally durable . Of course I like the Curado the best. It is smoother and just feels like better quality but the Citica is a fun reel to use. It is also small and well balanced and works well for me.

Well as a new Bass fisherman since moving to a bass river system from a walleye river. I equipped myself with 3 outfits.($$$!) Anyway took the plunge so I thought that maybe someone might find my impressions of some help. Shimano Citica Small light reel that feels good on a ligt rod like the M GLoomis I put in on. Casts weightless Senkos with ease and rarely backlashes if I do not get overzealous and try muscle my casts. Truly no need because this reel casts a long way. Surprises me sometimes so much so that I do prefer using this reel over my spinning outfits. Feels well constructed and very smooth. Great value for the price. Have casted Frogs , Jigs, Worms but have not tried crankbaits as yet. Expect that it will perform as well on all. Shimano Castaic A different beast for sure. Bigger reel that is built to Shimano standards , but in my hands seems to backlash more often. I have it setup on a Carrot Stick and mostly have been using it with heavier baits like frogs and jigs. The river has plenty of weeds so this reel has had the most use so far this summer. Still I am having trouble setting it up. I will have it casting without backlashes for a few casts but no matter how I set the tension or brakes I still get minor backlashes. For this reason I may be relegating it to mostly a flipping and pitching reel, which, truly it was designed for. Shimano Curado Well if I can say, it is a pleasure using this reel. It keeps surprising me as to the effortless and smooth functions of this reel. Have it paired with another Loomis rod. Light setup that casts well and is very smooth. A step above the Citica but I might add that I truly enjoy both reels. Is it worth the extra$$ over the Citica? Not sure. The Citica is a great reel similar in size and weight and very close in performance. You do notice a difference in smoothness but truly both fish very well. If I needed to save a few bucks I would say that the Citica would serve me well. Both reels are built to last it seems as they are more solid than the Castaic in my hands. In conclusion, as a novice bass fisherman the Citica presents great value and performs very close to the Curado. The Curado is just a bit smoother. Worth the extra$$? Mayber considering you are going to have these reels a long time. The Castaic, well, I might find myself using that reel less and less.

Hey Darrell I live on the Rideau and just joined the forum. I am a convert from living on the St. Lawrence and fishing walleye. Had to convert from mostly spinning gear and trolling and drifting 50 to 80 foot dropoffs to casting in weeds using baitcasters and shallow water techniques. Having a ball! My son (in his 20's) competed in a SECO tournament and is also hooked. Anyway this seems to be a great resource! I might try a tournament too once I get a little more experience. Ever thought of experiencing a tournament?

Well I am no "expert" but rather a new bass fisherman as up until this year I was mainly a walleye fisherman. Now, living on a river where bass is king I converted some equipment to baitcasters. I have both a Citica and Curado as well as a Caestic. The Citica is a great reel. Casts very well but the Curado is noticeably smoother. Both serve me very well and I enjoy them both. Maybe there is a sense of better quality but really in a days fishing both reel perform well for me. Although I have been using the Caestic on the much criticized Carrot stick I find good use for that combination with frogs and pitching. Both the Citica and Curado are smaller and feel better than the Caestic. Truly sometimes I wonder just how much difference the reel makes. If you are catching fish then the reel feels just fine if it is reliable. All those reel are dependable with good drags and smooth performance.

Thanks for the info. I am relatively new to bass fishing as I moved from walleye water to the rideau river which is shallow and weedy (bass, musky) Therefore I am starting out by fishing frogs and getting accustomed to setting the hook hard. You know that with walleye the hookset is much lighter. Fishing weedless and in slop and lilypads is a bit of an adjustment. So right now I have a carrotstick with a citica and the Loomis with a castaic. You read everywhere that the rod needs at least MH or even H to get that fish out of cover. When I saw that the Mossyback was a M I thought I may have bought the wrong rod for my river. Glad to see that you are having success with that rod. I truly like the feel of the rod but as a walleye fisherman I am used to fast tipped rods and need to adjust to those stiffer poles that are needed for those largemouth bass. Never thought I would enjoy fishing for largemouth but I am having a blast! I thought walleye fishing required some sensitive and alert hooksets. Fishing shallow and in cover requires technique. I would think that equipment makes a big difference.

I just picked up this worm rod and pairing it with a Shimano Castaic. Wonder if the rod has enough backbone to pull a fish out of the weeds. Planning to pitch texas rig and non weighted senkos as well as 3/8 to 1/2 oz jigs into holes in cover. The base of the rod seems solid but with an extra fast tip I wonder if I am setting myself up for lost fish. Any thoughts? Should I just return the rod tomorrow. Had 20% off sale so thought I had a good deal. Maybe I would be just as well off with a techna Fenwick rod or maybe even a Shimano Crucial MH outfit?