Darren.
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Everything posted by Darren.
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Hi Daniel, I second the welcome from Sam to another VA fisherman. That cold front that came through last night was a doozie, for sure. Agree that you'll find post-frontal fishing ... sometimes less than fruitful, though not necessarily a skunk outing. If you do a search in the forums, and in the site article archives, you should find a lot of help for frontal, and cold-weather fishing. Not just here, but on the web as well. While I am not part of any clubs, I have no doubt you can find some great info from the folks willing to share their knowledge. In simple chatting it up with other anglers on the water (those willing to share), I've learned tips and tricks to help in difficult situations. Other stuff came by trial and error. Hope it helps, and God bless.
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When in doubt, retie. :-) Like some of the others, I won't retie unless I feel line abrasion above the hook after a few catches. I always run my fingers thru the line (leader for me) and if I feel something that doesn't come off after a few rubs I'll cut and retie a leader on. Too many times I've felt abrasion but didn't retie, thinking I'll do it after this next cast, I've regretted it. Don't be that guy.
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Day 2 of the "experiment" was another success. But today was using ONLY the Pepper Frog/Hot Orange color. Caught a number of bass up to a lost-at-the-boat ~4-5-6 lber (estimated). She took me for a lot of dives before twisting at the side as I was netting her...twisted enough to dislodge the hook. Great sadness ensued. Overall a very good experiment, tho only 2 days in. I plan to continue conducting it for a few more outings as my confidence level rises in the BPS stik-o's. Agree with you, LgMouthGambler, that some baits made are better than others. An obvious flaw I find with BPS Stik-Os is consistency. Senkos are by FAR more consistent in quality and coloration. Case in point with the color I'm using, I have to hunt thru the bag to find a "true" laminate with one side orange and the other side green. A good number in the bag are mixed with spots of orange, but not the length of the worm in orange. Attached pic is of 4 worms pulled out of the bag to demonstrate the inconsistency. You can see the fourth worm from the left is almost all green. I purposefully put the orange side UP on each worm. That WAS the orange side of that worm. So a really bad job done at the factory... So while I am gaining confidence in BPS worms, I'm not a fan of the inconsistent coloration....
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Opinions will be all over the map on this one. I like leaders and have no problem with line-to-leader knot confidence. Try it and see if it makes a difference for YOU. There are a lot of knots to try, suggested above, but let me add the Albright Special. I find it to be the smallest knot and is incredibly strong. To make it stronger, wrap UP the line first, 7-10 wraps, then back down over those wraps with another 5 or 6. Then moisten, tighten. I find Albright Special and Uni-to-uni quickest and easiest to tie when on water if I need to change out a leader. AS is the my first choice, though. I've got 40lb Power Pro on one of my bait casters and do use a leader with it. One thing I prefer with leaders is the spool (of fluoro or whatever) lasts a lot longer. Braid for mainline, unless you nest it, will not need changing out for a considerable amount of time. Only thing that has to change is the leader. You can use what you want and save a bundle over having to spool FC or such every few trips... My .02.
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A little something I learned here at bassresource was to gain confidence in a bait, hit the water with nothing but that bait and fish it. So I did this yesterday. I took a bag of nothing but Bass Pro Stik-o worms out to one of my favorite reservoirs and fished 2 colors predominately. Now I normally would use only my Zoom Finesse or Yamamoto Senkos and would try a Stik-o on occasion. I just couldn't get the same results. Used only spinning gear, and fished wacky and TX. Wacky was most successful, and the Pepper Frog/Hot Orange color (4.25") was the hot color. Caught 6 bass with one wee laddie, one around 1lb, the rest 1.5 and up, largest being between 2.5 and 2.75 lbs. Not beasts, but successful nonetheless in the short time I was on the water. Just the beginning of the experiment. Planning to do so a few more times to continue building confidence in the "cheaper" alternative. Will be much easier on my wallet, that's for sure, but I'll still keep Yammies on hand. So thanks and kudos to all those here who've suggested this method to gain confidence in a bait. I've shied away from ever trying it out of not wanting to be skunked. Yesterday I was willing to get skunked...sort of...to make this work.
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Welcome to the site. Florida is a must-visit for me. Long to fish for some of those FL-strain beasts!!
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I use leaders 99% of the time, and braid for mainline. Have tried, but see no reason to use a braid leader, neither do I see it a problem if you want to. Kind: 97% P-line Floroclear in mist green in strengths from 6-15 lb test. In waters I fish, it disappears the best, is a good price, and is plenty strong an reliable. I've not had issues with it that some others have. Love the stuff. It has a fluorocarbon coating over a copolymer line. Rest of time is between pure fluorocarbon, Yo-Zuri Hybrid, or other stuff laying around if favorite isn't available. I have two spools of pure FC, but honestly rarely use either. P-Line fits the bill for the vast majority of my bass fishing. I tie a hybrid Albright for leader to mainline (again, braid). I wrap UP about 7 or 8 times, then back down the wraps another 5 or so times. Moisten, tighten and its wicked strong. Why a leader? Well for one, braid is expensive, and retying hooks to braid reduces your mainline a lot more than if you were tying leaders. The leader material can be used until it's too short to use effectively. There are those who will use braid for everything, and that's fine. I simply find the addition of a leader simple enough, strong enough, allows me to change for different situations (6lb for tough conditions, up to 15 lb for heavy cover, etc.). So leaders work for me and my fishing style and may or may not work for others. One dude's fave is another dude's least fave. Hope this helps.
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Welcome aboard. Summer heat is a bear in OK. Lived in Dallas, south of ya. But it was a dry heat!
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Beautiful area you live in, Chris, welcome to the site.
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Welcome to the site, man.
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One thing's for sure, GY is always experimenting. Cool you got to meet him. I saw this technique online - think I read it in his newsletter I subscribe to. Actually did the same thing but w/o the screw. Did not have as much success as you, as the bite was dying down when I made the switch. Perhaps the screw woulda helped...
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Yeah, actually shoulda mentioned that. I will use a 1/8oz bullet for a slower fall, then a 3/16, or 1/4 on windy days. I've also used them - with awesome success - in a split shot style with Water Gremlin's Bull Shot bullet weight 16-24" above the hook. Thought I should mention that I'll use the split shot method with BOTH TX rigging, and wacky...
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Right now, the most productive TX rig for me has been the 6.75" Zoom Trick worm in green pumpkin with a chartreuse tip. Will rig with either a 2/0 or 3/0 hook. Probably could go larger, but theses sizes have been great.
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Good gravy! That's a beast of a hybrid, man.
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When I think of "tip heavy" it is the balance of the rod with my reel of choice. If the rod/reel combo, in my hands where I like to hold it, tips toward the ground at the TIP end, then it is tip heavy. If, on the other hand, it balances at the back-end, or the butt of the rod, it is not tip-heavy. That's where the tip is either stable, or tends to rise. Doesn't matter to me when I have a butt-heavy rod/reel combo and my lure makes it "tip-heavy". The combo BEFORE the lure addition is tip-light. So for me it is more comfortable to fish with when the combo is NOT tip-heavy at first. Don't know if that makes sense to you...hope it does.
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What I've heard is "bad" is Shimano's use of certain plastic internals (reel support, I think) on new spinning gear. But a friend at our local BPS here told me the Shimano rep said to him that if the plastic ever breaks, Shimano will replace it. They're quite confident in the changes they've made. Personally, my gripe is that the new rods no longer come in shorter sizes I prefer...
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I'll take it a step further, 10# PP on your spinning gear. That's what I use and casting distance is fantastic. 10# is plenty strong at 2# diameter, up to 15# and you're at 4# dia. If you feel more comfortable with that size than go 15, but no more than 20, IMHO.
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Won't answer the whole question, but for me, it is braid for mainline on my spinning gear - 100%. After that I'll tie on FC or copoly (most of time) for a leader. On spinning gear, braid is virtually flawless. You won't have looping issues as braid has little to no memory. You're choice of leader depending on what you are gunning for means you can buy a spool of FC, a spool of copoly, or even mono and have them last for a long time. On baitcasting gear, I'll go either/or. Braid is great here as well, but a nasty braid birds nest can be costly. So can a nasty FC birds nest. I agree with your 65# comment. I don't use anything higher than 40#, and that on a bait caster. My spinning gear is all 10# PowerPro with up to 15 lb leader and I've caught some hefty ladies on them.
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Happy day, sir! Thanks for sharing your experiences and expertise!
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Welcome! I'm down here in Yorktown, but Richmond has some excellent fisheries nearby, as Sam indicated. From England? Were (are) you into long-pole carp fishing? I know it's pretty big over there.
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Was my first thought, as well. Here are a couple starting points: Austin Kayak, and Appomattox River Co, you can also look at Bass Pro, Dick's, Cabelas, or your local sporting goods store. Personally, the best seat I've ever used came with my Native, it's the Native First Class seat. Hobie has a nice seat, as does Jackson Kayaks. But these are pricey and likely won't fit your yak.
