Bluebasser86

I like my cranking rods to be at least 7' long. I'd be surprised if you notice the difference except you'll probably cast a bit further, unless you fish a lot of tight areas (standing timber).

Just last Wednesday in fact, first cast with my new Jackall Gantia. Not the fish I'm hoping to catch with the bait, but still a catch on the first cast. I caught several more with it Friday as well.

I've used 25 and 30. One of the big bass lakes I get to fish on occasion is full of nasty trees and it's possible to have to pull a big bass up from 20+ feet deep through those trees. Bites decrease significantly with braid, so that's not an option. It isn't easy to do, but with heavy weights and extra care to keep the line manageable, it can be done. FWIW, I mainly flip and pitch with mono unless it's in grass.

Most everyone around here calls algae "moss", including myself. It's not moss, just like a bluegill isn't a perch but a lot of people call them that and it's generally understood by others from that region. It's fisherman terminology, whether technically correct or not, which is the point of the thread. I don't WRB was saying that it actually does grow in the water, just stating why we often hear that term even though it's not technically correct.

Welcome!

Sure, I used to use a 7' M/F St. Croix Premier for frogs because we don't have much heavy cover. It did okay, but I know I lost some fish because they were able to get their heads down into the cover.

I prefer the one with the fish attached.

People lurking and internet scouts are part of the deal, but I'm sure there's lots of folks out there that are trying to learn by following along who feel they're too inexperienced to try to contribute. The lurker comments aren't going to help make anyone want to join and contribute to the thread. This has been one of the most active threads on the forum because of the guys on here being willing to share information and help each other out, I'd like to see it keep pointed that direction. We were all new here once and were maybe even lurkers ourselves at one point before we signed on. I'm guessing part of the reason everyone made that step was because it seemed like a pretty decent group of guys here who you could speak to freely without being insulted or belittled (at least until you got to know everyone of course). I've been burnt by spot thieves, just like anyone will if you catch fish consistently and post pictures with them, but that's no reason to assume that everyone here just following along is for those reasons. Lets just try to keep it friendly or stick to the old saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". I know it's hard sometimes, I have to work at it at least a few times every night to just let it go, sometimes even after I've typed up a good smart A comment to someone. Anyway, off my soapbox and to what everyone is here for, the fishing reports/pictures! I picked up one of the new Jackall Gantias at Mondo Wednesday and ran by Osawatomie City Lake on the way home, took me one whole cast to get blasted along some water willows. Not a big fish by any means, but sure gets the confidence up. It's a great looking bait that moves very lifelike and nearly suspends it sinks so slow. Fishes very easy too. Thursday I went to Wilson SFL and met @Shaunmoore1 to chase some spots. The fish were about jumping in the boat most of the day. I had a ton of rods out but all I really needed was a jig. Jig color didn't seem to matter as long as the trailer was blue. A popper was wearing them out in the morning, pretty much every cast for awhile, both spots and largemouth. There was one other boat there and I think he went pretty much straight back into the pond because that was about the only place we didn't do so hot. The water was also a few degrees warmer up there (79 instead of 76), which is a pretty severe difference in a small lake like that. I did get the biggest of the day up there though, which was also my only frog bite of the day. Caught several flipping the willows. I'm sure a wacky rig would have just been stupid easy but I didn't want to waste that many sticks. I threw a Ned for awhile at the end just for the heck of it and caught my biggest spot of the day at 16.5". Wasn't as big as I was hoping for, but still a heck of a spot. Also caught one of the blue/channel hybrids they stock in that lake, really pretty fish. Thursday night was the last weeknight tournament of the year at Miola. It was pretty brutal but I started out by catching a 1.5 and 2.4 on a frog in the first 50 yards and another 1 something in the next 15 minutes. Turned out we could have gone and sat in the truck and skipped the mosquitoes and still be okay. We had a limit by the time we finished fishing halfway through the dock cove before we had a long dry spell with only a couple shorts. I culled a few ounces on the dam with a popper before we made a pit stop at the dock for bug spray. After dark I missed a couple solid bites on code blue before catching another 2.4 while Coty was busy with another couple ounce cull himself. It was a grind no doubt but a nice way to end the season. Friday I went to Linn Valley with the intention to start for bass and finish catching bluegills on my fly rod. I had a shot at a 4lb class largemouth that I was trying to sight fish in a pocket along the weedlines but she someone short struck my Flat Dawg and I missed her and she disappeared. I found a school with a bunch of shad corralled in the back of a cove and caught several out of there. Saw some huge channel cats under a dock but they wanted nothing to do with anything, even livebait. Once the sun got up high, I started sight casting to big bluegills near docks and wearing them out. At one point I cast at some gills and as they converged on the fly a brown rocket shot off the bottom and engulfed the little fly. It was a much longer fight than I expected, but it finally came to hand, my first fly rod smallmouth. I think I made 2 more cast before it happened again, this time even bigger. If I was smart I probably should have changed to a larger fly and actually targeted them, but I've never claimed to be smart. Right towards the end I made a cast under a tree that was dropping some kind of nuts or berries. Lots of bluegills under it but man when my fly touched the water a grass carp that was easily 50+ shot of the bottom and narrowly missed my fly. I'd probably still be fighting that thing if it had connected. I'd like to try it sometime, but maybe start with something a little smaller than one that size.

Got to have all the right tools to change a tire on the way to the lake. I thought I did, but it turned out that my tire iron wouldn't reach the lugs on my trailer. Thankfully the guy I was fishing with had a heavy duty 3/4" socket and some extensions to reach it.

I go the route Raul stated, pour my own. I use a bullet head mold and a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. The price of a store bought darter head should be illegal. If you use them a lot, it would quickly pay for itself just to buy a small pot and a mold or two. I like the bullet head because it makes a pretty decent tube head as well.

So are you using it just as leader or as your main line?

Wow, looks almost exactly like my Big Game Prowler II

My black rat has way more hours on it, and way fewer fish.

I don't fish the Devil's Horse but the H2O Slush Minnow from Academy has been good to me. I like the bluegill color.

I use this same rod for smaller spooks. Larger WTD baits I use either a 6' 8" M/F or a 7' M/F.

That's half of a 2" grub on a 1/80 oz jighead this little LMB hit, so I'm guessing around 2.5-3"?

Never had a bass even make me nervous about getting spooled. I had a blue cat get me to my spool knot on the Missouri river once.

10lb fluoro is going to be a problem on a spinning reel regardless of brand. I'd suggest scaling down to 8lb and see if that helps, or better yet, going to a braid main line with a fluoro leader.

I like a little lighter rod than what you're using, but you should still be okay with what you have. My preferred hookset is either to just lift into the fish like with a dropshot, or just reel into them. Either way works well with no stretch line and light, sharp hooks.

Nope. Only time I've ever cut the line to remove the hook is if the hook is in the gills and the easiest way out is to remove it out the gills instead of trying to come back through them.

Nice fish! What kayak do you have? Looks exactly like mine from what I can see in that picture.

Welcome!

Welcome!

I bought the 25 size RTX this past winter so I have almost a full year of use on it now. The faster retrieve speed was one of the main reasons I ended up with this reel instead of another President. I've been using it for dropshotting and the slow retrieve of the President is a killer in deep water, especially if fish are racing to the surface to jump, no way to keep up with them. It's been a great reel. It's very smooth and feels very connected. Drag works well and it picks up line very quickly just like I'd hoped. I've suggested it before and will continue to do so when someone needs something faster or lighter than a President.

I'm not sure that's possible but I'm sorry if that's true.