flyfisher

i have fished braid and the gammy hooks you mentioned and have never once bent out a hook on a fish. I have on snags when pulling them free but never a fish. . I even use heavier braid and still don't bend them out. Something seems off here to me.

sounds like user error to me. Every walking bait I have used requires a little different technique to get them to walk appropriately. Practice and take your time and get it to walk but slowly at first, then you can pick up the speed a little.

go fishing at night and i bet your hookup rate increases. you won't be able to see the hit which makes you instinctively want to set the hook...you will be forced to feel the fish. I know it has helped me in my frog fishing this year

Think of it this way. On the east coast humidity is usually very high which causes water proof breathable fabrics to well not breathe well. Water vapor will not pass through a membrane to more water vapor basically. When i lived out in the desert for a while i was blown back by how well my gore tex XCR breathed in a storm. It was really unbelievable. Hiking in a rainstorm and i was perfectly fine. On the east coast, that wouldn't have happened. Of course where i was living they would have humidity advisories for anything over 20% And it is NOT true that if something is truly waterproof it will not breathe very well. Quality waterproof breathable will absolutely breathe and will be waterproof as well.

not that deep but those are some nice pickerel. I know the state record here in Virginia is 7lb 12oz

Congrats!! They are a very underrated and under appreciated sport fish. They fight hard for sure. I cannot stand when i hear people say they kill them when they catch them because they are trash fish. I mean, anything that has bee around since the time of the dinosaurs is no trash fish to me. besides that, if you catch one during spawning season they are very brightly colored as well.

As has already been stated the line determines the size of fly that can be easily cast with the rod. I have two setups that i primarily use for bass. A 9' 7wt that is more heard towards smallies and smaller flies and a Sage Bass II LM rod which is somewhere around a 10 wt but it is a specialty rod that is 7'11" and with the line that is designed for it, I am pretty confident i could cast a wet sock if i needed to. I always tell people spend 60-70% of your budget on the rod (i prefer faster action for bass fishing or weighted flies) 20-30% on line and whatever is left on the reel. Now i do have some nicer reels but that is more because i like them the key is finding a set up that is balanced. Chucking large flies all day in an unbalanced outfit can be a hassle. As far as DT or WF goes basically a DT is a longer tapered line that has a taper on both ends of the fly line. I like them for trout or lighter rods that you will be roll casting frequently. It also allows you to flip the line and use both ends. A WF has a short compact taper that helps to turn weighted or bushier flies more easily. This is what i prefer for bass fishing. As far as recommendations go, i would go to a local fly shop and talk to them. They will help set you up and maybe even get you a casting lesson. The quality of fly rods has gotten so much better over the past 10 years so be sure to test cast a bunch of rods if at all possible.

Braid is more sensitive than flouro when tension is on the line as there is no stretch. Fluoro, being a solid line per se, could transmit more vibration or feel due to this characteristic but sensitivity and feel are all subjective, as can be seen by the varying responses. You will hear a lot of slack line sensitivity for flouro but for me, I am not fishing slack at all so it is a non-issue. There are so many factors in sensitivity and there is no quantifiable way to measure it so it boils down to you and your sensitivity on your rod and reel and skill. Try them both and see what you like. The rods i use flouro or a hybrid line on is not for sensitivity but more for the stretch and handling characteristics for the techniques i am fishing.

I wouldn't put any knife blade in the dishwasher. The high heat and caustic detergents can dull a blade very quickly.

Hooklets are relatively cheap so set the hook whenever it feels different and you will quickly learn to distinguish a fish and the bottom.

when t-rigging it weightless the slack should only be in the line during twitches, after that you should be using tight to semi-tight line. You will be able to feel and see the bites that way. I also noticed an increase in hookups when i switched to braid for my weightless soft plastics fishing.

Could be the KVD making it worse. All lines bleed initially but I have never seen it drip off or anything like that.

I tried the MH spinning rod and i didn't really like it as much as using a M rod. I feel like the braid makes up for the lesser power. If i fished a stretchy line like flouro or mono, i would probably jump up to a MH.

15 or 20lb braid for me, 99% of the time sans leader.

I just ordered the HD transducer for my Helix 5 SI unit. Am i correct that i will not need to adjust any settings from the transducer that comes with the unit originally?

If you want to learn the proper hookset timing on a frog, go fishing at night. You won't be able to see the hit so you are almost forced to wait till you feel the weight of the fish. As far as the right times go, I pretty much always have a frog of some sort tied on once the water warms up. I fish them all day and in open water, heavy cover etc....they can be fantastic baits when you think outside the box, as far as their application, a little bit too.

I was thinking the same thing when I read it. I love my ATAK and don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon.

i don't know. I have the BPS brand and have no complaints. The one thing that would be nice is to have the bottoms wrapped as mine are open and treble baits can grab it once i na while but ultimately, it isn't that big of a deal.

That is extremely odd but at least it is under warranty and it didn't happen on your trip. I have had car troubles 550 miles from home before and that isn't a fun thing.

i am sure others will chime in but isn't the transducer supposed to be mounted perpendicular to the stern? Maybe it is and i can't tell by the pictures.

it is my preferred knot for joining lines. I use it fly fishing for making leaders and the few times i use a leader i use it as well. If you are looking to make it easierr to tie, they make nail knot tools that make it a breeze to tie.

I agree. I started using it this spring and have been pleasantly surprised. I am a braid guy for the most part but this has made me switch a few of my rods to hybrid.

i don't like the flukes that are more of that rubberized type plastic as they seem to float too much. I prefer the colors that are softer like moccasin blue, watermelon candy, mardi gras etc...they have a different plastic which i prefer.

nice job. You just proved the old adage that color doesn't matter except when it does

if it is the same Heritage i think it is, that is an old boat. Heritage was bought out by native probably 4-5 years ago. That being said, something doesn't seem right to me. A SOT boat that is 14' long and it weighs 65lbs isn't that common. Also, molded in seats stink and you will be upgrading later on. Personally i would keep an eye out for sued kayaks because with the new models being released in a few months there are always guys who want to unload their boats to get the new thing. Also keep in mind when thinking of cost that you will need to get a PFD and paddle. I just notice that this boat is in a store in the shsnandoah valley...head out to Farmville and go to Appomattox River Company. They have every boat imaginable and their prices are great. You won't be disappointed.