Preytorien

The DST switch is my favorite day of the year -- getting "an extra hour of sunlight" per day means I can spend more time outdoors after work

Screw the CPS into the bait nose (I use them on Keitechs), then thread your hook through the bait and embedded CPS, threading the bait through the nose. I use this rig on weightless flukes and it seems to save me a lot of baits. The CPS keeps the bait on the hook and I can usually get 2X the number of fish out of one bait. It also helps me have an excellent hookup ratio compared to a standard weightless texas rig type.

I upgraded my river wading setup to a Zodias 6'10" with a Shimano Sustain and it's a joy to fish with. It's always smooth and just works every single time I use it. It's one of those things that's nothing fancy, but it's just a pleasure to fish with day in and day out. Sensitive, well balanced, nice looking, perfectly working. I love it. There's just something about using a rig that works well in your hands.

Yep, definitely a good idea. I always store reels with drags loosened, tension knobs loosened, and reel seats loosened. That is, I do this over winter. Not during fishing months unless I'm aware that I'll be away from fishing for a week or so

Yes, that means you and I will be seeing thaw by weekend just in time for the cold weather to come back around! Hah

I soak mine in diesel or gasoline. Ive also used mineral spirits and Dawn dish soap

I sure like the look of the Exscence - but I have a Sustain and I absolutely love it. It's been rock solid and smooth from the day I bought it

I'm always curious about this starting about now. We had a few days in the upper 50's here and still didn't melt it all, and we only had a few inches. Ice transfers heat away from the water underneath it, so the time to thaw is usually significantly slower than the time to freeze over....unfortunately. ....I'm ready

I just always feel mono is inexpensive enough that you shouldn't buy something just because it's the cheapest. You never know when you'll accidentally snag your PB, and in that moment I'm pretty sure the few bucks you saved at Wally World won't matter, you'd use whatever gets her in the boat. Buy the good/proven/well-made stuff, it'll take care of you later. Not that the OP's line choice is junk, but I hear far better feedback on Big Game, Trilene XL, Seaguar Senshi, Izorline, etc. to take the chance with something that's just a couple dollars less.

I ended up getting a pair of inexpensive mittens that pull back to have fingerless gloves. I couldn't find anything (within my budget) that I felt would do as well, and it ended up doing the trick great. I"m sure there are options out there I could've gone with that would've done better/more comfortable/etc but this did the trick in a pinch without breaking the bank. This thread has brought up some good ideas though for next season when I can ramp up a bit more. Thanks for the ideas guys!

I use mono on a reaction topwater rig of mine and usually double duty it as a cranking setup. I use Seaguar Senshi and love it. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of reaction bait fishing with braid-to-mono since the stretch properties of mono give it a good half second more to set the hook and keeps the line tighter during the fight. Nothing wrong at all with mono, it’s stayed around this long for a reason.

All good ideas guys, although I'd probably save the conditioning regimen for a last resort. I think I might look into fingerless mittens as mentioned above. I think it's the only thing I've NOT tried yet. I've used full-fingered gloves so far and that's it. As @The Bassman mentioned, our Thanksgiving forecast is looking very nice, low 50's, which would definitely be alright. Thanks for the tips guys!

I'd like to get out and fish, but here in Central IN they're calling for snow tonight. That said, I'd like to try some early winter fishing before ice forms. I have a bit of a tradition to get out and fish a couple hours early on Thanksgiving morning alone and reflect on my blessings, but after fishing last night for only about 15 minutes due to cold fingers, my confidence is low. My hands get too wet with a casting reel, so I'll probably keep it to a spinning reel. But last night I found my fingers were still cold at the tips. Now I'll admit I wasn't using thick gloves, mostly because I wanted the dexterity of a thinner glove. Even using Nitrile gloves underneath didn't help, and the hand warmers I put on the back (top) sides of my hands didn't seem to affect anything either. Looking for unique and effective ideas you guys might have to keep hands warm in the low 30's - high 20's.

Definitely "I Walk Alone" (1947 Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster) 90% bank fisherman / wading fisherman ....and most of the time I'm gloriously alone

Yes Its all ice here usually sometime in December, and thaw out is sometime in March I’m no ice fisherman so yes, you like winter fishing more than I do

As said above they've gone the way of increasing their house-brand stock over carrying as much name brand stuff. I'm not one to get hung up on brand, but it's bit me before. I don't even bother looking at their Black Friday ads anymore, really any of their ads for that matter. It's all Bass Pro brand, very little in the way of name brand sales. I have a Cabela's outpost store near me, and we're seeing more BPS brand stuff in there where name brand stuff used to be. Some things are good quality, but I've had a lot of other stuff that really lacked. I've even told my wife to tell relatives to get me something else for birthday's and such other than Cabela's gift cards, I can never find anything I want in there. Sad.....

This is where I use an old egg carton for disassembly. Though I admit I don't do it myself anymore, but it helps if/when I do it. Try it, it's a lifesaver and usually comes free when you buy a dozen eggs at the grocery.

I don't doubt its strength, but there's more to knot popularity than strength. Speed of tying, ability to tie with gloved hands, tying with cold hands, compatibility with varying line materials, etc. all factor in. If I were ocean or big game fishing, which it appears the videos are addressing, it would be a go-to, but for bass fishing, especially tournament fishing, I can't see the speed beating a Palomar or SDJ in switching baits and tying lines quickly. I can knock out a palomar or even an 8-turn SDJ in just a few seconds, but this would take me a significant bit more time to do correctly on the fly. Maybe if you were tying on a lure you knew for a fact you wouldn't be switching out, like a jig or finesse plastic, but even then this knot's profile would be lost on me in my waters as it would snag far too much slop and debris. Looks good and strong though.....I'll probably give it a try. I'm a sucker for trying new knots and lines.

That sounds similar. The fish, after I hooked (or snagged) him started working towards the deepest part of the pond. It wasn't a beeline, just a steady motion to the middle, and didn't once fight, just consistent solid travel. My line was light, 6lb fluoro, so I didn't horse him, which in turn didn't give me the leeway to see how it fought, so that doesn't shed any light on it. Definitely interesting. I'm not one to come back to a body of water with intentions to catch ONE individual fish, but it makes me conscious of using my braid rigs next time to give me more of a chance of landing the fella.

Wanted to get some input on an experience I had this past weekend. Took a friend of mine fishing in a pond, on the smaller side, that typically holds a decent amount of bass in the 3-4lb range. Water was colder, very clear, and the sun high. I didn't have much luck with moving baits, so I switched to a senko. Threw it out and let it sink, caught a dink or two, then something MUCH bigger took the lure. I was using a lighter setup, with 6lb Tatus fluorocarbon, so my cranking ability was limited. The lure started swimming off in a direction away from me very steady and solid. Try as I might for about 30 seconds, it didn't seem that my attempt to reel in did any good and it was pulling out far more drag than I was taking in. I quickly realized that it was pretty unlikely that I would be able to get this fish in with my setup, I just didn't have the power gear it would need. At that point, the line went slack, and I reeled in my lure, unscathed, and an unbent hook. I wondered if I hadn't foul hooked whatever I had on the end. That said, the fish (or whatever) didn't fight one bit. It's almost as if the creature didn't realize there was anything hooked into it based on the way there was no fight and it consistently and slowly swam away. I would've presumed if it were a bass it probably would've started freaking out once I applied pressure to the line as I attempted to get it back to the shoreline. If it were a bass it would've probably been an Indiana state record based on the absolute solid feel of the fish, and this pond is only about 8 years old. Does this sound like a bass to you? Or does it fall in line with my thinking that maybe it were a good sized catfish or carp? My buddy thought maybe a good sized turtle?

Yea, I’d wait for the TW sales or if you get any gift cards for Christmas or birthdays. But when you do, oh the joy of using a fluoro that is Tatsu manageable and sensitive. It’s great. This coming from me....a braid-only guy, except now it’s on a couple of my spinning reels

Every spool of Red Label I've ever used has had a LOT of memory. Even after I used Line & Lure it sprang off the spool like a watch coil. Maybe try something with considerably less memory, I would personally recommend a braid + leader option as I have personally had success with that.

I have that problem occasionally if the lure I'm using doesn't create a lot of drag coming through the water. For that reason I will do one or more of the following..... 1. As mentioned above, make a few casts and retrieve with your fingers putting tension on the line as you retrieve 2. Make a couple of good long casts with a lure that has a lot of drag coming through the water to retension the line 3. After almost every trip on the water I re-seat the line on my spools by tying off to a tree or pole, walking the spool out, then reeling in with heavy tension on the line. Those should do the trick. Unfortunately there are just some lures that don't create enough drag to tension the line tightly, it's just part of the game. But you're on the right track. Good spool lay will prevent backlashes, line dig, and give you more predictable casting performance.

On a similar note, I generally fall pretty skeptical of rod reviews. I believe that higher quality rods are certainly more sensitive, but when talking about sensitivity of one rod versus another it seems to be to be very subjective. I mean, how do you quantify or measure sensitivity? Clearly actually using one over another at the same time is a way to tell, but that also comes down to what you yourself can feel and sense, and that changes from person to person. Case in point, I have switched over to Shimano Zodias rods. I personally love them, but I feel they're not as sensitive as the E6X, along the same pricepoint. There are forum threads about one over the other, but people who have likely never given good time to fish both are making claims that the Shimano is more sensitive, or the E6X is more sensitive. I've never used both in an arena where I can make a good claim, they were isolated uses from each other and I never got a good idea of which I preferred. For me it came down to how the rod felt in my hand, and how I felt casting it over and over and over each time I went out. I feel that both rods are sensitive enough to catch fish, but I can't easily say one is more than the other. Tackle reviews for me are also subjective. For me a lure might seem like junk, but the minute I catch a decent fish my judgement is changed. I don't believe necessarily in the power of a lure based on a couple fish. Now, give it a good season's worth of work and tell me it's consistent and I'll give it another look, but those Tackle Warehouse user reviews at the bottom of the page "I went out and caught 3 bass in 4 hours" - that's not helpful. I like to hear about castability, durability, and availability too. Reel reviews have a lot of moving components, and like others have said I don't generally fall for the casting distance or freespooling hype. I tend to look at comfortability and durability. I also don't like the reel feeling "cheap" when I pick it up in the store and fiddle with it. I like a good solid feel, even if it means it weighs a bit more.

It's a solid choice. It's inexpensive in comparison to many types of bass-specific rod, so don't go out expecting it to perform like an NRX or Legend Elite, but as far as reliability and functionality, you can't be blamed for taking a second look at it. I have one, in Medium, set up with a 1000 sized Pfleuger reel and 6lb fluoro as my sort of "ultralight" bass fishing setup. It's fun to fish with and I've never once had a quality or build issue. It's performed for me 5+ year with great function.