stratos4me

Before covid, did Digitaka have stock of most things or was it like now?

Baitcasters cast better the closer they are to capacity. Larger line capacity reels cast better than smaller capacity reels of the same width because the spool is fuller throughout the cast. The higher diameter the line, the more pronounced the effect will be. BFS spools largely avoid this effect because they are so shallow. It is almost like always having a reel near or at capacity. Hopefully this makes sense. If you don't get it, try casting a baitcaster at half capacity. My point will be immediately obvious.

I got my JDM Metanium I'm 2 days. I have no idea how they do that.

Rick Clunn taught me what a professional fisherman is. Denny Brauer taught me that sometimes the best thing is to pick up a big fish bait and live or die with the flippin' stick. And of course, Ike taught me to NEVER EVER QUIT!

When I fished my kayak I could never get anchoring right. I tried an anchor trolly with a stake out pole for bed fishing and just couldn't get it right. Eventually I gave up and ended up with an ipilot on the bow.

I lived on Guntersville for a while. A great offshore summer pattern on the main river is to throw frogs in the surface grass between the two channels. Just beware of the huge gar that live in there. Brown/purple combos are good for worms and jigs. In fact, I showed my brown worm with purple flake to a Guntersville native and he called it a "Guntersville Special". I had no idea. I was just using it because it's a confidence color for me around the country.

Go through the final loop 3 times instead of once and you won't need to knot the braid. You can cut the tag as close as you want and it won't fail because even if one loop slips it still has two to hold it.

Great! When can I come see you for my test??

I'll add that the 2 TM batteries must be connected in series (google it) with heavy jumpers.

Haha! I remember using that stuff on west coast rockcod trips in the 80's. When modern braid came in with small reels and light rods that 300' cod fishing actually became fun. Those old dacron setups were just plain hard work.

Sure, I occasionally use a drop of superglue on jig head keepers. That's completely different from using glue to make a knot hold that otherwise would fail. If a trailer slips down it's an inconvenience. If a knot breaks you could dump a world record. Another reason I don't use glue on leader to braid knots specifically is that I reel the knot into the spool and glued knots tend to stick and handle poorly when used that way. I'm with you on the San Diego Knot. I learned it long ago fishing tuna out of San Diego, but recently I realized that it's great for all line types. It works good for tying to the spool too.

Any line that requires special care like glue is not for me. Fishing already has so many variables that can lead to failure on big fish. Why add another? Especially on a lake like my home lake that holds huge floridas it's just asking for trouble.

I've fished pp since it was invented and that was also my experience until the last couple years.

I tried without knots and the results were still subpar but much closer to stated breaking weight than I had been seeing. It's strange that the knots somehow effected breaking strength in the main line. I have had no issues with lines of 15lb and under. In fact I see greater shortfall as lines get heavier. As it stands, I'm satisfied enough to move on. Thanks for the good ideas.

A gallon of water is what I used for calibration. I'll give that a shot. I don't think it's knot related because only the Viscious broke at a knot. I expected that after watching some testing on YouTube. I tested every sample multiple times with very similiar results.

Red Banded rockfish

I find 150s awkward for baits that size and you're pushing line capacity with heavy line which will shorten casting distance and impact retrieve speed. I like a 200-300. Swimbait rods are tip heavy anyway, so a small, light reel isn't the best choice here.

Unless you're fishing very clear water with little cover, 10 lb is too light for FL in my opinion. I would be fishing braid to 12-16lb stretchy fluorocarbon leader. For straight mono or fluorocarbon, I wouldn't go under 12lb unless there is 15+ feet of vis. Good luck. FL is fun. One more thing. Strongly consider a baitcaster instead. Heavy grass and spinning gear are recipe for disaster. You obviously see the need to scale up, I just think that we have very different definitions of what scaling up means.

Use whatever line you would use for a worm under the same circumstances.

I recently tested the breaking strength of several different unused braids I have on hand. All were purchased at Tacklewarehouse. They included original pp, pp ssv2, and vicious no-fade. Out of 10 lines, the only one to break at or over rated test was pp ssv2 15lb. Every other line broke at approximately 60% of stated test and only the Viscious no fade broke at a knot. Overall the stated breaking strength ranged from 15lb-65lb. Since my results were so unexpected I'm going to share my method here and hopefully someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong. 1. Tie a surgeon's loop in each end of a 2-3' section 2. Attach one loop to boat cleat and one end to 50 lb spring scale hook calibrated at 8 lbs. 3. Pull as slowly and gently as possible until the line snaps. I know this isn't up to scientific standards, but for lines to miss the mark by 40% something ain't right. Any ideas??

The Alberto is GARBAGE! The Improved Alberto is MONEY! The difference is the ability to cut the fluorocarbon tag extremely close without the knot tending to unravel over time. Good luck! I use 8 turns up 5 turns down and 3 times through the loop to finish.

Honestly, just get the expride. I have 2 because they do far more than just throw jerkbaits. It's also the perfect rod for small to medium topwater, blade baits, and small to medium cranks. Last June I was I'm a pinch so I threw the 1 oz whopper plopper on it and hooked an 8-8. The ease with which that 6-10 M expride handled that big fish was exceptional. Between the soft mid-top section and the solid backbone, that fish had no chance. I have more expensive rods, but that expride is my absolute favorite. Just do it!!! I say that but also acknowledge that Shimano customer service is nothing like it used to be. Right now I'm trying to get faulty powerpro replaced under warranty and it seems very much like I'm being lied to. It is what it is.

When it's super tough and I'm out of ideas I've been known to worm fish to the beat...My buddy swears bass love country...

In your case I wouldn't make much of a change in my fishing just because of a SST change between 55 to 58. Either way it's pre-spawn. Remember: waves, wind driven current, and sunlight often cause significant daily swings in surface temps. Get yourself a sinking thermometer and work with the water's core temp instead of surface temp. It's much more stable.

Bill Murphy (In Pursuit of Giant Bass) always fished on a double anchor setup with a very high scope. He's proof that done correctly, anchoring can be extremely productive on trophy fish. Just for fun, here's my Bill Murphy story: In 1992 when I was 16 I was fishing the main rockpile at Lake Wholford in San Diego. Murphy was set up with his double anchor and his small aluminum boat on the outside rockpile maybe 100 yards away. I caught a fish just under 9lbs and put it in the livewell to weigh at the dock scale before release. Murphy yelled at me for "keeping" the fish. Kind of a punk move for a guy with a stringer of dead 10 pounders on his book cover. Although I saw him occasionally, we never spoke again.