deep

Can you see the forest though? That's the important part.

Last I heard, graphite is a form of carbon (the element). So are diamonds, btw. Shallow cranks should work well on it, not that I have any first hand experience with the rod.

I bet there are crawfish in your lake. Set out a few traps (if it's legal) and you can check colors. Regardless, yes, your bass will eat your crawfish baits.

Big minnow on the Pats this morning; along with a few smaller minnows.

Tiny swimbait still doing work. Several lesser, but very pugnacious, pandas tonight; one of which bent out a hook. Good thing I got two trebles on that bait.

I will suggest you get a rod in a length you're comfortable with. For me that 7.5' and longer. Yes, I fish from the bank and a kayak too. If you're serious about fishing, might want to replace your ugly sticks too while you're at it. You can thank me later.

Idk; I fish my Shimanos wide open, and they're pretty hard to backlash. The VBS was good, the SVS is better. I bought an exsence dc only because I wanted to skip with it while sitting down. Skipping while standing up is not a problem with other reels (for me). Normally (when I'm not skipping) I fish it with the spool tension set to remove side to side play and no tighter than that, brakes at 2 or 3, thumbs as required. There are the 4 settings for braid, plus the F, SP and BB. The BB has been very good to me for throwing crankbaits though. I feel a lot of backlashing happens not because of the reel but due to (not-so-good) casting technique(s). Sure you can tighten up almost any reel enough to stop backlashes, but that cuts down on casting distance too. Not my preference.

Having a bunch of choices is good, except when it's not. In vein with the keeping it simple theme, any aluminium (or metal) framed reel will probably last you a long time. Me, I keep it even simpler. Shimanos- citica and above. Unfortunately, I had to go through a few Daiwas and Abus and Pro Qualifiers before I found out the simple set and forget Shimanos work well for me and my thumb. Ain't going to try anything else unless I get it for free. My fishing time is important to me. Let me take a stab at *what actual properties separate one product from a comparable product* I want a reel that casts far enough, and consistently. I don't want to mess with the brakes or the spool tension every few casts, or everytime the wind slightly picks up. I'm okay with thumbing a bit more, but that's about it. I want a decent drag. I don't need 20+ lbs of drag for bass fishing. My rods- well except my swimbait rods I guess- will break long before that. I do want a smooth drag though. I want a reasonably smooth retrieve. Pre I-Curados were not that smooth compared to newer reels. I was and am okay with that. Still have a couple G's in the rotation. My standards are a little low on that front. Finally, I need a reel that'll last hopefully for a lifetime, but 5+ years is okay. I have bought and fish used reels that are older than 5 years. What qualities do you want in your new reel? P.S. Don't start looking at Lews reels. They have (or had) a couple dozen models in the $80-120 range lol.

A bunch of small fish today walking the shoreline for a couple hours. Most of them on a topwater (gunfish 115).

You need some jerkbaits.

Good show. Job well done!

Minor is the man!

Thanks! No new insights, unfortunately. I was fishing weed edges and brush edges both vertically and horizontally and covering water. Probably caught a dozen dinks for every 15"+ fish. The first decent one was off the side of the long tapering point, the second one from the finger on the bigger of the two humps, and the one today near the cut that sits south of the cove with the pipe.

Had to catch another one to practice my smile, as recommended by @A-Jay. So I did. Problem is, I kinda forgot to smile. Also forgot my scale, which is not unusual. Length citation anyway at 23".

Got a new ride today (craigslist)- she's an ocean kayak tetra. Thank you to everyone who posted in the many cheap kayak threads. Also caught some fish. The tiny swimbait I bought last week has been working pretty well. Caught the biggest (if not the biggest, definitely the longest and the skinniest) and the smallest bass on it today, plus a few others.

Hit the banks for a few hours, and tried to follow Team9nine's Proven Guidelines for Fishing SuccessTM. Caught a bunch of fish, but unfortunately fell far short of 101.

Yes. The fish are shallow, deep, or somewhere in-between. Find specific sections/ spots/ regions of the reservoir that hopefully holds fish (see structure threads), and work those promising spots at various depths with different speeds.

1. No- all my rods are multipurpose; and yes- I have 3 (at least), respectively. 2. LMB, but pretty much every gamefish species here eats jerkbaits. So I do target stocked trouts and crappies too occasionally. 3. Casting. 4. All my rods are 7.5' or longer. 5. Medium to medium-heavy and fast, *with a soft tip*. 6. Anything 6.x:1 and higher is okay. 7. N/A. P.S. IMO the line is more important than the reel.

swamp crawler. Good bait on a shaky head.

Shayne McFarlin. Yeah, I have too much free time.

Caught me a butter balling ditch panda on a tiny swimbait today. Pandasaurus rex is a strong animal, and tried to get away by bending out an ST-36. Not on my watch, not today though!

Bass fishing was fairly lackluster today. After 5 hours in the sun with only a couple 16 inchers and a boatload of dinks, I had enough of it. So over the course of the next hour, I first reranged and then plusoned a bunch of crappies. Just glad that I released almost as many as I kept. I forgot that cleaning fish isn't half as much fun as catching them.

I've had a Helium 3 for a long time. It's a very very good rod. Close to NRX level sensitivity (IMO), but not as "crisp". (NRX 893 vs 7'6" LMH/Fast helium 3). A close second would be the ***. Really like the one Envy I have (a 7'6" medium power fast action). No idea about the St. Croix. I don't like their length/ power/ action combinations. For Z-Bone kind of money, I'd get another NRX. In the $150 range, I really like the IROD Genesis2 series. I got 2 of those. Very light, crisp and more sensitive than the price would suggest.

Thanks! Yes, pretty clear water; and yes, Ragged.

I do believe that all else being equal, color can be a factor, with bigger (adult) fish. I have no way to set up a scientific experiment to prove or disprove this, only personal experiences from being on the water. And even then, not all else were equal I guess. If a particular color doesn't produce well for you; then don't fish it! Or better yet, try it for a couple casts when you're sticking fish with other colors. My thoughts on "matching forage" are probably a little unconventional. I know I do not like photorealisitic paintschemes. I prefer certain hues/ shades on my baits, but I'm not particular about how they come together to make a certain paintscheme, if that makes sense. I also prefer my baits to *not* have certain colors. Yellow is a color I don't want on my hardbaits. But a splash of chartreuse or orange is good. I'm weird that way. Peace.