Nibbles

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/eastmetro/rivers/pool2.html

Major Craft Nanoace

As others have mentioned it's likely a few things: 1. Small spool diameter relative to 1st guide diameter 2. Wind/line twist 3. Bombing the lure, especially if it is heavier like a 5" senko Additionally I think the newer higher strand count braids are stronger and more sensitive but tend to be limper and are more prone to looping from wind and knotting That guide diameter thing is an interesting call-out for sure. When I compare my Major Craft Troutino PE special to my other L/UL spinning rods, its first guide has a much smaller inside diameter - it is roughly 1/4" which is quite small relative to my other rods which have 1/2"+ (sometimes 3/4" or more) diameter first guides. And personally I've never once had line issues throwing 10# X8 braid on that PE special stick, but have on my BLX SG Light+ with the same reels (Ballistic FW LT 2000SS, Luvias FC LT 2000SXH) The worst was with my 2000 size Luvias on the BLX stick with a 1/2"+ diameter first guide, and I had overfilled the spool a bit. Had to cut off and retie 4 or 5 times that day before problems subsided, and that was likely because I had cut off an additional ~25 yds of line by then.

Revo Toro Beast is probably your best all-round option in terms of cost, palmability, quality of components, and drag power. That thing has 20+ lbs of drag, twice that of most low profile baitcasters which top out at around 10 - 12. And has non super high gear ratio options which is nice when you want that extra torque. Plus it's just a solid smooth reel - might not be the very best for tossing 1/4 oz jigs into the wind, but if you're muskie fishing I think you'll be just fine. On the Shimano side you have the Curado 300E, Tranx 300, and Conquest Calcutta 300 all of which are solid options. Daiwa's offerings are a bit more limited and not as high line cap - the Luna is a solid reel but a bit heavy and unrefined, the Pluton is smooth and constructed well but heavy, bulky, and doesn't actually have all that beefy of a drag. The Ryoga is an option but the newer 1016 ones dont have as high line capacity as the Shimanos and the drag is around 12 lbs from what I recall. You also tend not to find as many good deals on the Plutons and Ryogas because they are much more enthusiast reels compared to the Curado or Tranx.

Yep, you can find OG JDM Steezes in pretty nice condition for 160 - 180 on there. Comes out to a bit more after shipping from Japan, but still a pretty nice deal. Also see some decent deals on older Alphas models on there from time to time. Zillions not as often.

If you can find an OG Daiwa Advantage HSTA, Fuego, Sol, CV-Z, TD-Z, Zillion, Alphas, or Steez in decent mechanical condition theyre all solid reels. The T3 is also an underrated reel that can be had for fairly cheap.

Ditto. Start off deep cranking across points and humps with my MD and DD cranks ranging from 9' - 20' diving depth. If I see what I suspect to be suspended fish on the fishfinder but can't get them to bite I will switch over to a DD suspending jerkbait in the 5 - 9' range and do a second pass-through. Then finally try a 1/2 oz or heavier jig or t-rig if I don't decide to move shallower at that point. Once I move shallow, I start power fishing the flats and weedlines with a shallow running crank in the 3' - 7' range or a chatterbait. If I'm not seeing much of a response I will switch to a sinking or suspending shallow hard jerkbait in the 2 - 3' range, or aa paddletail on an unskirted finesse jighea and work the same areas once more. If I still don't get bites I will start alternating between pitching heavier pegged t-rigged creature/craw plastics into heavy cover and wacky/t-rigged soft jerkbaits like Senkos and SK Caffeine Shads along weedlines and into pockets within weed mats. I don't really fish topwater minnows/frogs or buzzbaits much. The buddy I normally fish with is not an early bird and also doesn't really like fishing after it gets dark, so not a lot of opportunities to hit productive time windows for those lures.

Not gonna lie I thought about those jigsheads... Problem is I still have about 80 lbs of untied jig heads in storage including standup ones I still need to go through, so ultimately I didn't pull the trigger ?

+1 for the XX Braillist I like my Daiwa BLX SG rods slightly more for bottom contact but I've fished the Braillist and found it to still be a very good plastics/jig rod comparatively speaking.

I got more coming in today and next week too - I finally let the monkey out of the cage earlier this month and he's refusing to go back in! DHL is freaky fast, ordered some stuff from a Japanese merchant Monday afternoon and apparently it's scheduled to be delivered sometime today instead of the original estimate of next week! With any luck I won't end up losing all of this to pike, trees, logs/stumps/branches, and rocks over the next fishing season... if I feel like I'll never end up going through them all I will inevitably end up pruning the collection. Which means assembling lots of spare lures and placing them on the forum flea market at very reasonable prices

More stuff came in today. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 of 2 Top row: Flashminnow CIS 110, B'freeze 100 Middle Row: Pointer 100, Lightning Pointer 110 Bottom Row: LC MTS Mini DR ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 of 2 Megabass: Xpod Jr, Z Crank X LC: Pointer 48, Live Pointer 80, Real Bait 128 Rapala Scatter Rap

Idk man it sounds like you've got the o-rings dialed in pretty well if you're getting 7 fish off one Senko. Mine usually tear after 2 - 4 fish when I wacky rig.

Migrating hosts too? Or just upgrading to a newer version of Invision? At the very least hopefully I start seeing nginx in place of Apache in my response headers moving forward

Monkey struck again. More coming in tomorrow, plus some OG Flash Minnows next week from Japan. Finally hitting that jerkbait bite on local lakes, but there are some big 30"+ pike in those waters so wanted to stock up in preparation for losing a few every trip. Yes losing them sucks but I'd rather be throwing what the fish are biting. And if a big ole pike swallows one and cuts me off... well, then I hope he chokes on it! ? Might need to break this into a multi part due to file sizes... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 of 3 Top row: Pointer 78, B'freeze 78 Middle Row: Bevy Shad 78 Bottom Row: Pointer 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 of 3 Top row: Bevy Shad 60, B'freeze 65 Middle Row: Pointer 65, B'freeze 65, Moonsault 100 Bottom Row: Flat CB D-20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 of 3 Top Row: Flash Pointer 115, Slender Pointer 112 Middle Row: Staysee 90, LC 3.5 DRS, LC 4.5, LVR D-7 Bottom Row: 10 lb Braid, Storm Arashi Flat 7 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Got it to the boat, buddy got the line wrapped around the net handle and the pike cut the line with a head shake. Shame, wanted to land it. Pretty big looking. Probably mid 30s.

Not a bad day out yesterday on Whaletail. Lost a massive bass that felt like 20+, but did manage to catch a few more in the 16 - 19 range. Buddy caught a couple around the same size as well. They all didn't have as much fight as usual, felt heavier than usual, and all had distended bellies so it seems like they're now gorging themselves to the point of lethargy. Roly poly green footballs. Lost my last LC Flash Minnow 110 to a monster pike 20 minutes before we ended the day, which kind of sucked. Gonna be hard to replace since they don't make the slow sinking 3 - 5' FOW ones anymore. Been losing them over the years and sad to see the last one go. Ah well. Fish were caught on a Spro Little John MD in Fire Craw and an OG (non-CIF) Lucky Craft Flash Minnow 110 in Chartreuse Shad (R.I.P)

More crankbaits came in.

You're probably fine if you have drag set to around 4 - 6 lbs, but if you're like me and like to horse fish in with the drag dialed up to 8+ lbs, might be worth investing in some 3x wire hooks. I've bent out the stock Gamakatsu trebles on Spro Little Johns when hooking into 30+ inch pike on multiple occasions now

LC Bevy Shad 60F & 75SP. Brighter colors like firetiger/chart for murkier water, shad colors for clearer.

The Champion 705CB graphite might be a good option. It's rated 1/4 - 1 oz but excels in the 1/4 - 1/2 oz range IMO. Has a moderate-fast taper so you dont rip trebles out of lips, but still stiff enough for jerkbaits and such.

5" Senko/Dinger/Stickbait SK Caffeine Shad Big Bite Baits Jeff Kriet Squirreltail Worm Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver Keitech 2" & 2.5" Swing Impact Keitech 3.3" Swing Impact FAT SK Rage Menace Gene Larew 3" floating craw worm Zoom Tiny Fluke 3" twist tail grub

Monkey got me good this time with me recently getting back into cranking combined with anticipating the Fall lake turnover. TW Labor Day 15% sale didn't exactly help things along either...?

https://www.overstockbait.com/collections/gary-yamamoto/products/gary-yamamoto-5-senko-10-pack-2 Works out to about $10.75 for 2 packs, or $5.38 per

At that age, not much cartilage left in those joints, you sure you wanna wear the remainder down by slinging a 1.5 oz swimbait over and over?

Productive day after work yesterday, was only on the water for a little over 2 hours, but it was those prime hours after 530 pm Was on Whaletail Lake, which is a bit west of Lake Minnetonka. That place is infested with Northern Pike, I catch at least one every time I go. Doesn't matter what you use, really - have caught them with t-rigged stickbaits, crankbaits, paddletails, finesse and flipping jigs, chatterbaits, etc. Would have more pike pictures but I didn't take ones of the dinks.