Smokinal

Well they call me Slim, so....

This pretty much sums it up. I fish all rocky lakes up here in Maine and have to have an abrasion resistant line. I hate memory so the braid/fluoro leader has been my setup for years and I can count the number of knot failures I have had on 1 hand. As others have said, a knot failure is owned by the tier. I either use a blood knot or albright.

My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

Good one for sure! Nice! It's 4:50am and I'm waiting for my buddy to pick me and my boat up and now I'm all jacked up!

Do you make these for customers? I've always wanted to try hair jigs as we do fish into the 30's. If you need someone to try them in Maine waters, let me know. and thanks for the tips/info on them.

Anyone else do this? It sounds kinda ghetto but I've been doing it for 20 years and it works great. The width is perfect for almost all spools; spinning and baitcasting. Then I only have to put on maybe 75 yds of braid and it lasts forever. I've tried mono backing etc... and see no weight or casting difference between the two. Just wondering why there are so many threads about backing; what to use, how much, why this, why that. Just use tape and tie right around it. Thoughts?

7'M, 2500 Shimano, 10# Sufix Nanobraid, 10# fluoro leader.

Well you wouldn't know it now at 46 but bodybuilding is my other passion; been training since I was 14. Over the years, and really most recently, I've put a ton of stress on my joints and tendons. I tore a hole in my tricep tendon close to the attachment site on the elbow and the tendon was starting to lift off the bone. Luckily it never came unattached by itself as sometimes they do not reattach it; they just let it go. So the surgery was a full unattachment, cut back the torn end of tendon, grind the end of the Ulna, drilled holes in end of Ulna, slid tendon through holes and sew together. My surgeon said that attachment site for the tricep is actually pretty weak and he sees this in many bodybuilders. So now I'm going through the whole rehab scene and it's going ok. getting a little better every week. This is when the cast came off 2 weeks after surgery and 17 staples later: Hopefully I'll be 85-90% by January and 100% by March so I can start pounding it again. Sorry to hijack; carry on.

^^^Nice New England fish!

Anyone thrown a Reaction Strike 7" Bass Harasser before? Is it a decent bait? Action? Great sale on them here: http://www.overstockbait.com/brands/Reaction-Strike.html Other good stuff in there as well. *yells loudly* GET OFF ME MONKEY!!! GET OFF!!

1. The Zman baits work best as they do stand up after the salt dissolves out of them. A senko will lay flat; could still get bit but I think the Zman work better. 2. I have the 3 different weights but find myself using the 1/10 all the time. 3. Both. If the bite is really on I feel the "tick" every time but then there are the subtle bites as well when they will just be on it when you go to hop it. A lot like any other bottom bumping bait. 4. Any time! It shines when the bite is tough though and can turn a rough day into a good day. My home lake gets pretty green in the summer so I went to a 1/2 Zinkerz in Green Pumpkin Orange and they loved it. I would imagine the Coppertreuse TRD would work as well. Here is a fine Ned rig specimen for ya. This was right after my tricep re-attachment.

We're gonna need some pics of course!

That's the way to end it buddy! Geeze you've had a great season with some really nice fish. I've enjoyed the vids.

Ya, that sounds like a good deal. I have a '96 16' Rick Clunn single console and love the boat. I keep it clean and in good condition. It gets me to every place a $65,000 Ranger would; not as fast but it gets there and fishes just fine. I would do a compression test on it first though.

10# Sufix Nanobraid to 10# fluoro leader user checking in.

I don't throw tubes much and have never really paid attention to tube quality but I will say, as in most soft plastics, it's the softness that creates an enticing quality to a bait. The balance between softness/fish catchability vs durability is a never ending battle in bait making I'm sure. Example; I have some Shadelicious swimbaits that are very durable but have never caught me a fish and I see the action in the water next to the boat and they don't move very well; they were also very inexpensive. I also have some Keitechs that I run out of on every trip just busting lip after lip. They are very expensive and don't last very long but guess which one I fish now?

Ebay brother!

I'd try a blade bait. I know most guys don't throw them until water falls close to 50 but I've caught fish in 75 degree water with them. In the fall, the shad die off (I believe) and a blade bouncing along the bottom is a good dying shad imitator.

Thank you for posting your story BaitMonkey. For years I have had only 1 chain; I can't remember why I changed it but for some reason, I did years ago. I knew it wasn't right but it worked, so I left it. Well, I read this thread, drove my arse down to Lowes and picked up another bolt and put my other safety chain on the way it was supposed to be. I feel a lot better about my trailering safety now. Thank you

Dang that's a good sack! And that .05 is just a small piece of a baitfish spit-up on the way in....call it 30 and Fuhgeddaboudit

I hear ya. I launch my boat until my trailer rides on top of the water. I've been watching CNN, Weather Channel etc... and they all say we are in for an above normal November and December. I say bring it on!

^^^Very nice AJ. What's the water temp there?

I've worked retail for the last 28 years. Worked every saturday besides vacation weeks. It's just another day to me now.

If it makes you feel better, you gotta remember that the highest bidder may have had an $80 bid on it and it would have wrung up as soon as you keyed your highest bid. So, who knows, you may have not won it anyway.

Ya, sometimes it's about the experience; not the catching. Today looks like one of those days.