Josh Smith

Keep telling yourself it was a spirited dink, or better yet, a carp. Josh

... Or Medium, or Heavy, etc? When I was growing up, pretty much any rod marked MH was good for up to an ounce of weight; 1/4 to 3/8oz being the minimum weight, and with the ideal weight being 5/8 to 3/4oz. Now it's pretty ambiguous. I see MH rods marked as 3/4oz max, and I also see them marked as 1-1/4oz max. I consider the former to be more of a medium rod and the latter to be edging into heavy action territory. On top of that, my favorite jig and plastics rod has less backbone than my frog rod. The frog rod is rated MH, but the backbone is more what I'd consider a heavy action backbone. When you think of M, MH, and H, what's your reference? How do you personally define these? Regards, Josh

I wish I'd never taken up cigarettes. Used to be I'd enjoy a cigar while fishing, but since I quit cigarettes around 10-12 years ago, I've been afraid to pick up anything with tobacco in it. Josh

I come from the mono crowd of old. Braid is one of the most useful (to me!) inventions of the past 20 years. I've done several hooksets at 30+ yards with it. That's something I'd never have attempted with mono. I love the stuff! If I were going to replace braid on my ultralight with mono, I'd use Trilene XL. That's the best mono for that use so far as I'm concerned. Josh

Here's from the installation manual: http://static.garmin.com/pumac/echoMAP_4x-5x_Install_EN.pdf I'm not screenshooting it because it may be copyrighted. See how it's wired parallel with the transducer? What's the transducer fuse rating? That'll be the final word on its constant draw. Now, not having the internal schematics, I'm going to guess that it saves up quite a bit in a nice big capacitor between pings and releases it into (up to) 500w bursts. That's what feels right, though. Internal schematics would be enlightening. Whatcha' think? Regards, Josh

Speaking of heat, guess what went into thermal shutdown while I was looking at the specs? Yup. This one is from my phone while the computer boots back up. The specs I was looking at had the transducer wired in parallel. Specs said 7.5W max consumption (depending on transducer). If I'm reading this right, the 7.5W consumption refers to the display. The transducer is wired in parallel and has its own fuse. Look at the fuse rating to figure the tranducer power. Like you surmised, it looks like a marketing technique. I once had a car stereo amp that claimed 1000W. It was a good amp, but couldn't have been more than 500W RMS. If it peaked to 1000W at all (beyond theory, anyway!) then it was for very short periods. I'll post the schematic I found when the computer is completely booted. Josh

Edit: Posted while you were posting. Will look at the unit's specs. Do you have an amplifier of some sort somewhere? Separately powered transducer? What system do you have? Josh

If you give me the model I can answer it. If not, Dad was a GM electrical engineer and I'll take the question to him. You said 500w RMS (root mean square). Approximate by multiplying peak wattage by 70.7, though this doesn't hold 100% of the time. W = V * A. Therefore, with a constant draw of 5 Watts from the power source (assuming a 12v power source) would be roughly half an amp. 500 Watts RMS would be a constant draw of about 50 amps. It's either one or the other. You can't have a draw of half an amp (or even 5 Watts, if that's what you meant to type) and have an RMS power of 500 Watts. Josh

Well dangit, I just passed over one because I'd not heard about it, and I have had success with the Bully Wa 65. Ordered another Bully Wa 65 from my guy instead..! I'll have to see about the Bully Wa 2. It does look good. Josh

What sonar? I'd like to see the specs. Josh

Silas, You might be surprised at the checks and balances in Wikipedia. No, it's not 100% accurate, but it's pretty good. I contribute to Wikipedia and know something of the process. There are doctors and lawyers who donate their time to their areas, too. Josh

Tom Mann just rolled over in his grave...

Thanks guys. I think what it is, is when the frog gets hopped, the body flexes, then when it rests, it relaxes and sucks water in. So the fix would be to seal the hook hole, which wouldn't allow the body to collapse well with a strike, or find a less flexible frog, which likewise would require a stronger strike to hook the bass. I'll just keep squeezing the bodies. Regards, Josh

I fish jigs a lot. It's what the bass prefer in the type of cover I fish. My jig rod is a Cherrywood HD MH/F. I've modified it slightly, but it has the exact action I want for jigs, and it has the backbone I need to haul them out. The reel I use is an Ambassadeur 5500c3, very modified. I chose to retain the 5.3:1 gears as on that reel, it's a 26ipt retrieve. (My 5500c3 on my frog rod is likewise modified, but I believe it will be getting a 6.3:1 gear set for a 30ipt retrieve.) About half my jig strikes have a very, very fast double hit. That's the bass hitting the lure to stun it, and the second "tick" is it eating it. That's when I set the hook. The double strike shouldn't be confused with the "tick, tick" of the bass eating it and then spitting it. These are two different, distinct things. To feel the double strike well, you really need braid. When reeling the bass in, you need to keep tension on the line, enough so that the bass will not be lost when it jumps. A lighter rod may help you, say, a medium and slightly longer than what you have, if you're used to fighting the fish with the rod and only occasionally taking in line. The way I learned to do it was to keep reeling -- you might call it winching 'em in -- and is hard on lighter reels. This is one reason I prefer my Ambassadeur tanks. With the Ambassadeurs, I keep reeling while fighting the fish with the rod. I've come to notice a difference in techniques between older and newer folks. It appears folks newer to fishing are more rod dependent when fighting fish, while those who grew up on 5'6" MH rods seem to reel more. Neither one is better; it's just our adaptations the equipment we learned on. In other words, I fight 'em in very fast, not letting them jump. I was raised not to fight for too long for fear of wearing out and killing the bass. Now, either I've jumbled this together so that it doesn't make sense, or it makes less sense to me. I have way too much allergy medicine in me right now to decide which it is. I'll come back later and edit the post if it needs it. Else, please ask me to clarify what I meant if it's jumbled. Gonna go lay down for a bit now. d**n weed pollen. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, My favorite frog (the one I fish almost exclusively) fills up with water to the point of sinking every 3-5 casts. It's not an inexpensive frog, and I recall that another frog I had and lost, also not inexpensive but from a different maker, did the same thing. Is this normal for a hollowbody frog? I'm assuming yes. This also brings me to a question: If hollowbody frogs fill up with water every few casts, why don't the makers put styrofoam in the nose? None of these frogs have any openings other than where the hooks exit the body. The noses around the eyelets are all sealed very nicely. Thank you, Josh

I use 10lb to 20lb braid and FC leader on my ultralight. It works very well. Spiderwire EZ Braid works well enough on baitcasting reels, but I'm not sure how it would act on spinning. Seems a bit stiff for that purpose. Josh

This is a concept that's been applied elsewhere in the past. I'll be interested in seeing how they pull it off with a reel. Josh

Looks like it's a mid-grade Shimano..! I'd try it. 26ipt. Josh

Some of the best reels have had bushings. It just depends on your intended use. Josh

Tag for look on the computer.

Know what? Why don't we just build a fishing Wiki? I just checked, and "fishing wiki" is a popular search term. Bass Resource could link up to it/host it. It may be redundant given the articles here, however. But you do say you're looking for specific info on rod and reel changes, and that, I think, may be beyond the scope of the current Bass Resource articles as it would be fairly specialized info. This is where the wiki would be good. Josh

Hello, I'm estimating I'll have my boat repaired this fall and still hope to see some water time with it this year. I've been busier than I thought I'd be, or I'd have had it out this summer. When I boat fish, I generally have food and everything I need for as long as I care to stay out. When I bank fish, I find all that stuff difficult to carry. Problem is, when I take a day to fish, I don't know how long I'll be out, even bank fishing. So I've come up with some essentials to take. First thing is my "always" stuff: Belt pistol (1911) with two spare magazines (one loaded with soft cast; one spare and the one in the pistol loaded with hollowpoint). Compass and Leatherman. In my front pockets are a Spyderco Clipit knife I've carried ever since the late '90s when I purchased it for martial arts training, and on the other side is a clip-on high power flashlight, Bushnell if I remember correctly. It had been a Mini-Maglite, but their newer ones are kinda' junky, so I switched brands. Then there's the backpack. It's an old Yugoslavian (I think) surplus battle pack; not huge but very durable. In it I carry some dehydrated food, coffee, a Trangia alcohol burner and stove, a 1qt canteen, canteen cup, spoon, and canteen stove (backup to the Trangia stove). There's flint and steel in there, some Trioxane tabs which back up the alcohol stove and double as fire starters. A TP, sunscreen (SPF 50) and DEET wipes are in another pocket. If I think I'll be out overnight, I'll snap on a military light backpack nested in its bivy bag. I also add a Ka-Bar belt knife if I'll be out longer than four hours or anticipate the need. Once the backpack is on, I sling a 2-qt military canteen (or two, depending on how far I'm going/how long I'm staying out). I clip a Thermacell to the canteen strap. Three or four fishing rods go in my left hand, and a Plano two-shelf tackle box I use for bank fishing goes in my right. I wear a hat and sunglasses, of course. There are still a couple things I'd like to add for long hikes when I can make room. I have a Sawyer Mini water filter, and will be getting a charcoal filter to go with it. A gallon of water weights about 8lbs. I've come to really enjoy the hikes I take to bank fishing locations. I'll go so far as to say I enjoy these fishing hikes as much as I enjoy fishing on a boat. Even if I get skunked, I enjoy the time spent hiking. Does anyone else do this sort of thing? Josh

I can't really comment other than to say it just seems too early. You're there and are obviously seeing it. What kind of weather have you had this year? In Indiana, at least in one small lake (10 acres) I've been studying for a couple years now, it looks like we may have had a second spawn, which would be a first for me. Thank you, Josh

5500c3 (26ipt) or 5600c4 (30ipt). Josh

Kent, I don't go to the Flea Market often, and so when I do get there, I do generally wade through posts. Now, I didn't expect anything to really change; rather, I figure this and having separate "other species" boards are about as equally realistic. Regards, Josh