Hooligan

My first gun was also my first super deal. We were at an auction and I saw a double that was "just like Grand-Dad's." I'd saved calf money for the year intent on buying a new Winchester pump, but it was love at first sight. I talked my uncle into bidding it for me, and I got it on two bids. The long and short of it is that it is a AH Fox Sterlingworth 20ga 28" bbls. I paid $1,000 for it then, and it's worth over $7,000 now. Not a bad investment.

Like JF, I prefer a leader I can tie. I use Tyger exclusively.

It is, indeed. You'll like the Invizx for it.

Too much throttle, and the fact that your trim is out. Just as you won't hold plane because your trim is out.

Very good points. Particularly in taking the time and effort to get it set properly. If you've got friends with props that will fit, even better. Although, you'll be able to tell a lot with just the plate, it will give you a pretty good idea which direction you need to go. Valid point about the cables, too. I needed to replace the controls on the 18-8, I didn't have enough slack to add any length at all.

Like the OP, if you're not used to how fast the rod is, particularly in the case of the Cumara if it's an XF, you're going to have troubles. The Cumara is on the verge of being stoopid fast. You'll have fish come unpinned because the tip recovers so quickly it gives them slack. With 20lb Tatsu and a 3/8oz jig, All I need to do to set the hook on a jig is pop my wrist, the rest of the movement is just to get the fish moving in the right direction. As mention in my first post, and by others, the rod may just not be a fit for you. I'm like that with a couple of the GLX rods. I would rather fish the IMX in the same rods, and do fish the IMX instead. No sense in fighting it, get what works for you.

I know you get that, I think we're talking about the same areas, though. The high current areas are what I was talking about. It doesn't sound like it's the same area, though. From what Clayton posted. There's a specific area on Ontario that has relatively high current that does get a thermocline.

Both are fine, and you'll be fine with that rod for everything up to about a DT14. You're not going to want to throw DD22 and DT16-20 on it. It just won't have enough power. That's a GREAT rod for Warts, Shad Raps, Deep Little N, DBN, and Little John MD. The E5 will help with the fatigue aspect, too.

double check your prices, too. Pretty sure that I only paid $23 for my Calais handle last year.

I respectfully disagree. Ontario is one of those anomalies that will have a thermocline with current. The upper layer moves relatively freely, and there isn't enough mixing to eliminate the thermocline. I had it explained to me by someone that's very in tune with the bathymetrics of the Great Lakes. It's a unique situation, I gathered, that allows it to happen in the shallow areas of the lake that can be more effected by current than other areas.

could well be thermocline related, then. However, I've never seen a thermocline shallower than 8 feet. I would think the most likely explanation of not finding them shallow is that other species are using those areas so the bass have moved into deep water structure or have suspended on baitfish. With the availability of smelt and cisco it's not uncommon for Ontario fish to be micro-adjusted to them at this time of year, even in very small areas. If you're on the SE side or the very Eastern end, around the area between Tibbets and Henderson for instance, good chance that baitfish is the case.

Like DVT says, the Bantam Curado is a super reel. That reel is more than five years old, too. More like 12. Great reels, I've got 6 of them still in service.

Adjust your sensitivity all the way up. You'll show a false bottom reading, that's your thermocline, usually. It may also be related to algae, incoming current, or a couple other things, but that is very rare. Usually it's thermocline.

Swimming fluke. Great bait, works on a swim jig, works on spinnerbaits as a traier, Suspin heads, on a weighted hook, it works in many situations.

Most likely you aren't getting a solid enough hook-set. You might think you are, but from what you describe you're not. It can be any number of reasons, the rod, the line, the hook, your set itself. If you're fishing a high stretch line, go to Abrazx or step up in test.

General thought process is that it will help situationally. What you'll most likely notice with that setup is a slight reduction in RPM to attain a given speed and a little better hole shot. You might see top-end by a couple mph increase, but it isn't likely. You will definitely sit up on plane faster. Let me give you a point of reference: I had a 6" on my 18-8 with a 150 and noticed a 3mph increase after many settings and adjustments. I also saw my fuel efficiency drop down to under 6 mpg. That one is a mind boggler. When I raised it back up to run in cold water and put on a Raker prop, I gained all that back, and gained 4MPH on the top end. On my 20' Triton with a 225, the jackplate settings would allow me anywhere from 5-7 mph on top, a 70-90 foot difference in hole to plane, and a 2mpg range of efficiency. Running the same prop, the same chip, the same load, everything. I could hit 76MPH with the plate set up for running in spring and fall, and about 72 for running in summer's chop and wakes. Another thing that a jackplate may help you with is handling when your rig is on plane. If you're chine walking at all, sometimes setting the motor down will help to eliminate that much more than trimming. It's not a cure-all, and you're going to have to figure out what works particularly well for your rig, but once you find it, it can make all the difference in the world.

Well done. A great lesson to be learned. One that we re-learned this past weekend. They can be anywhere, including the least likely and what appears to be the most inhospitable.

It's actually the same pressure start to finish because braid has no stretch or compression. The argument can be made that the torque is magnified because of that same fact. That's the reason it slips on the spool in the first place, not that the coating makes it too slick, it's because it has zero compression or stretch and thus cannot grab. Also, for the record, I've seen the damage braid has done to spools in the past, from various issues; in some cases it was the spool design, in others it was the braid itself, in yet others it was from how it was attached.

Someone gave the advice of using the spool porting to tie braid through. Don't do it. It's a surefire way to bend/torque your spool. Braid can exert enough pressure on the spool that it will pull it out of round. I've also been told from a couple sources that tape around the arbor can cause the same thing. Mono is the only sure fire way to prevent it from happening.

1. Seaguar 2. Markel Marine Insurance 3. Charger Boats 4. Yamaha Outboards 5. Shimano 6. Yamamoto Baits 7. Strike King Lures

While not the most famous, there is a huge case that involved several manufacturers as well as the originator. Terminator sued several companies over making a Titanium wire frame. The funny thing is, they weren't the first to make the bait, it was in fact a stolen patent from Danny Maiden(sp). Maiden was unable to obtain a patent because of missing technical details, and Terminator thereby was awarded the patent of record. Maiden had been producing a bait for nearly five years before there was even an attempt by another company to produce it. In the end, Terminator Lures stole the patent as well as the machining details and technology from Maiden and used it against him in the end. They also sued two other companies that were building a TI wire frame, and won. All those other companies are non-existent today. One of the biggest reasons I'll never buy a Terminator, they started dishonest, they played dirty, and they stole the design and patent.

All braid sucks, it's a matter of one sucking less than the other. I've been fishing Seaguar Kanzen and have found it superior to any other braid I've fished. It's the least noisy and most abrasion resistant that I've found. It's not fast to fade, either, and it's got reasonable diameters. It also ties very good knots without resorting to using glue, as some would have you do.

One of the best "Under $100" rods has got to be the Bass Pro Pro Qualifier. I've been pretty impressed with them on the whole, in comparison to a lot of rods. They have a great feel with quality components. If I only had $50 to spend on a rod, I'd save until I got the next $50. Most of the rods in that class are... well, you get what you pay for.

I fish them a lot, still. They're such a great bait for many tactics. I use them as is, twitching on the surface, I use them with SuspendStrips on them as a suspending jerkbait when I need something really quiet, I use them as rip baits ticking the tops of grass... The list goes on and on. I use them in a lot of situations and a lot of lakes and locations. All in all, I've caught more outsize brown fish on Rapala Floaters than any other bait.

Let me clarify, too, that they're not my sponsors, but sponsors here at BR.