FryDog62

1st pic - 21-1/8 caught on Mississippi in Northern Minnesota 2nd pic - 21 even on Mille Lacs on Kalin's Lunker grub 3rd pic - Son's 22 inch Beast on Mississippi with sucker minnow 4th pic - daughter with 19 and 21 inchers

Just curious what the average size (and top end size) smallmouth are in the rivers around the Ozarks? My only frame of reference are the rivers in Minnesota. With our short seasons here, have thought about doing a trip down your way...

I have a 6'-10" Medium baitcaster and use it for square bills and spinnerbaits. I'm mostly a St. Croix guy and the Avid X is in the same price category. But the tip action seemed just about for what I wanted this rod to do. Have had it one season and I would say "yes" its a quality rod.

I would say that 95% of the time visibility doesn't matter ... but I have seen first hand situations where it DOES make a difference. And its not always just in the gin clear water you would think. Sometimes its the angle of the sun, or if the fish is between you and the sun, or past it. Light can do funny things. Braid also frays easy, so a leader can help with that too. So... I just decide to not take a chance in guessing whether I need a leader or not and always use an Alberto knot. Maybe awkward at first to learn like anything, but I forced myself through repetition to get it right. Now its second nature...

I purchased a 6'-10" Medium Shimano Zodias last year specifically for square bills and have been quite pleased so far. They don't list action on the rod but I would say "fast" and just enough tip but backbone too. Another to consider anyway ~

I'm a big fan of YH and highly recommend it. Compared to fluorocarbon it is FAR more manageable IMO. A little line to line conditioner and it's as supple as any mono I use. As far as other copoly's to try, I like P-Line CX Premium and it is thinner but very close to the breaking strength where YH is a little thicker but above breaking strength. I think a good comparison would be 8 lb CX and 6 lb YH... Try them out and see which one you prefer.

5 inch Yamasenko in Blue Pearl Fleck 5 inch Kalin Wac o Worm in Baby Bass Fat Ika in Blue Pearl Fleck Shadow Rap/XRap in Hot Head or Chartreuse Orange 4 inch Hula Grub Jitterbug for topwater

I use a slower speed Pop 'R a lot, and some faster walk the dog lures... But sometime neither works. There is something about going back to where it all started for me on topwater - a Jitterbug or Crazy Crawler. Something about the speed of these two - you have a hard time fishing it too fast or too slow. Sometimes that medium speed with a medium sized topwater lure that drives the smallies crazy. Makes me think I should use those two most of the time...but I fall victim to the marketing of new lures every year.

I just read one of the headline articles on the home page of this web site titled: "Swim Jigs Are Not Just For Largemouth" Here is an excerpt which relates to this thread: "For this I use a seven foot medium action baitcaster rod, teamed with a matching reel, spooled with twelve to fifteen pound P-Line Halo line. This is a fluorocarbon line that gives me more sensitivity than mono. Also, the lower line stretch helps get a good hook set at the end of the cast."

Funny, my dad tells this story very often and it hurts ... I grew up with my favorite sport baseball. He said I had the prettiest left-handed swing he ever saw. Then two things happened - my second hero in life (after my dad) was Harmon Killebrew and he was a right handed Hall of Fame hitter - and second, I went to grade school and the kids laughed at me for "batting backwards." So I switched to right handed. I played ball through Little League, High School and Community College. I was known as a very good fielder, strong arm, fast runner... but an average hitter at best. My dad still wonders to this day had I stayed a left handed hitter... Who knows maybe would have been able to play Div II or III. Oh well, that's still not scholarship level - right? It was fun while it lasted and maybe helped me learn to change sides early on to prepare me for fishing later on

One other note... after my surgeries not only did I have to learn to switch back and forth between left and right handed baitcasters, but also how to use the computer mouse with different hands. That might have been even more difficult at first but now I have it down pretty good. My dad said this is good training some day after my first stroke! Ha ha he laughed but had a stroke a few years back. He said he went through lots of physical and occupational therapy and many of the exercises were switching between left and right. He said mostly its re-training your brain which gets stuck into one way of working with your body. So, learning how to be versatile now when I'm younger may not be a bad thing. Still hope I never have a stroke but maybe learning how to use left and right baitcasters will help some day. You see fishing IS good therapy!!

I think there is definitely an argument for how stretch is viewed and quantified. Ultimately any test needs to mirror how the lines perform on the water. I have to say after purchasing all these lines for the test, it afforded the opportunity for me to use all of them to some degree while fishing and the tests do seem to mirror the stretch characteristics of each line. The most defining moment for me with most of these lines were long hook sets, either straight down in deeper water for walleyes or when casting several yards towards shore for bass. Honestly, there’s a bunch of these lines I would not want to try to set the hook again on a smallie 25 yards away in current… way too easy to come unbuttoned, like setting the hook on a bucking bronco using a rubber band for line. I still prefer braid with a fluorocarbon leader for longer casts and hook sets, but if had to use one of the tested lines as a main line on a regular basis, I was overall impressed with Yo-zuri Hybrid. It’s characteristics didn’t seem to change wet or dry which the test for the most part backs up. So, I guess I have a little of the real-world experience with these lines too and there definitely is some consistency with the stretch data IMO.

A couple years ago I had a bone removed from my right wrist, last year I had the same bone removed from my left wrist.... In this process I had to switch off between left and right handed baitcasting reels. Forced me to get better each way. Now I have 2 right-retrieve and 2 left-retrieve b/c reels and I plan to keep it that way. I think it's good to be versatile, and second it's a good way to limit repetitive motion on one wrist when fishing all day. That said I'm better with certain techniques with certain hands. Jerk baits and flipping I'm much better/stronger with a left-retrieve since the primary strength you use on the rod is my right (dominant) hand. Crank bait and spinnerbaits rods are right-retrieve. Working for me anyways --

I don't think anyone says that it doesn't stretch but I have heard many pros (and TV personalities) say that fluorocarbon is "low stretch," or I use this because it "stretches less than mono," etc... Some of the packages of the lines I bought tout that too. Heck, I even heard Al Lindner say it in a TV show this season - that one hurt especially! He may not drink alcohol any more, but might have had a little "Kool-Aid."

The last couple of years I have conducted a stretch test of a variety of fishing lines. I have now tested 20 lines – mono, co-polymer and fluorocarbon. My initial hope was to go beyond line manufacturer’s claims of “low stretch” because I found it varied greatly, and find out for myself. I’m just an amateur and not affiliated or sponsored by anyone, but this was an interesting exercise for me. It will influence what products I buy going forward. Like anything in fishing, I don’t think any single product will work all the time. I mostly use braid as a main line but usually tie on a leader for low visibility and abrasion resistance. In these situations I may actually opt for a leader material with more stretch to offset some of the no-stretch characteristics of braid. Other times, like when casting crank baits, I want a line with some give so I don’t tear the trebles out of the fish’s mouth. But then again, I don’t want a long hook set with a line that stretches like a rubber band either… I hope you find the results as interesting as I did, it was kind of a fun way to kill some cabin fever the past couple years… -Fry Here are the results, the primary update this year was selecting certain lines to be tested wet vs. dry ~ LINE STRETCH TEST I used a 12 foot piece of each line and hung an 8 pound weight to see how much each line stretched in inches. Below are the results - least stretch to most stretch. All Lines 8 lb Test Lines Trilene XT (Mono) 21-1/4 inches of stretch Yo-Zuri Hybrid (Co-polymer) 22-1/8 Sufix Seige (Mono) 22-5/8 P-Line CX Premium (Co-polymer) 23-1/2 Maxima Treazure (Co-polymer) 24-1/2 Trilene XL (Mono) 24-3/4 Tectan Superior (Mono) 25-7/8 Berkley Sensation (Mono) 26-1/8 Sunline Sniper (Fluorocarbon) 26-1/2 Gamma Touch (Fluorocarbon) 29-1/4 Original Blue Stren (Mono) 29-3/4 Gamma Edge (Fluorocarbon) 31-0** Bass Pro XPS (Fluorocarbon) 31-3/4* Stren 100% (Fluorocast) 31-3/4* Seaguar Tatsu (Fluorocarbon) 32-3/4 P-Line 100% (Fluorocarbon) 33-0* Seaguar Invizx (Fluorocarbon) 36-0** Berkley 100% (Fluorocarbon) 38-3/8 Line snapped once and was re-tested ** Line snapped twice - length estimated Broken Down By Line Type 3 Co-polymer lines average stretch: 23.4 inches 6 Monofilament lines average stretch: 25.1 inches 9 fluorocarbon lines average stretch: 32.2 inches Line Diameter Line diameter can have an effect on stretch, but 9 of these lines all had the same diameter (.009 inches). Those lines are broken out below. The overall results are similar for the 3 different line types. P-Line CX Premium (Co-polymer) 23-1/2 Maxima Treazure (Co-polymer) 24-1/2 Tectan Superior (Mono) 25-7/8 Berkley Sensation (Mono) 26-1/8 Sunline Sniper (Fluorocarbon) 26-1/2 Gamma Touch (Fluorocarbon) 29-1/4 Bass Pro XPS (Fluorocarbon) 31-3/4* Seaguar Tatsu (Fluorocarbon) 32-3/4 Seaguar Invizx (Fluorocarbon) 36-0** ”Wet vs. Dry” The above line stretch test was conducted with dry lines, which raises the question of whether mono, co-polymer and fluorocarbon lines stretch differently when wet? Two lines in each category were soaked for 24 hours and re-tested. Results were as follows: Fluorocarbon lines Sunline Sniper: dry 26 1/2 inches vs. wet at 27 1/8. Berkley 100% fluorocarbon: dry 38 3/8 inches vs. wet at 39 inches. Co-Polymer lines Yo-Zuri Hybrid: dry 22 1/8 vs. wet at 25 1/4 P-Line CX Premium: 23 1/2 vs. wet at 35 1/8 Mono Trilene XT: dry 21 1/4 vs. wet at 28 7/8 Trilene XL: dry 24 3/4 vs. wet at 36 1/2 Overall observations *Newer Co-polymer lines being marketed specifically as “low stretch” for the most part seem to be accurate (when tested dry). *Fluorocarbon tends to be the line with most stretch. *Monofilament tends to be somewhere in the middle, although those with a thicker diameter (i.e. Trilene XT .011 and Sufix Seige .010) did stretch less. *Line diameter may have an effect on the stretch of certain lines, but overall, lines of the same diameter seem to reflect that Co-polymer and Monofilament lines still stretch less than Fluorocarbon (when tested dry). *Mono and Co-polymer lines tend to stretch more when wet vs. dry. Most “catch up” to fluorocarbon in terms of overall stretch, however one co-polymer (Yo-zuri Hybrid) tested lower than any fluorocarbon either wet or dry. *Fluorocarbon lines tend to break easier when stretched to their maximum breaking strength.

Have had the same problem you describe for years and as a result I only use jerk baits with 2 treble hooks now. Hook up ratio hasn't suffered at all and much less likely to gill hook the largemouth like with a 3 treble lure. Also, for smallmouth a 3 treble set up will frequently get stuck in their eye (less distance between mouth and eye on the smallies) either when they swat at it or thrash around after being hooked - so I've switched entirely to the 2 treble system. Works great....

As a 54 year old, I now qualify for not only prescription lenses ... but progressives as well. At about $700 for the Costas they better be dam good. Papa, are yours bifocals or progressives? Curious to know how well their prescriptions work ??

I’m coming from dark gray lenses on Oakleys and they are just “ok.” Overall good in middle of the day sun but otherwise a bit too dimming for me. The clarity is just average to me as well. So I'm seeking an alternative and really looking closely at Costa Del Mar sunglasses. Looking for some input from those that have any direct experience... Since I find the gray/charcoal lenses too dark for most of the day for me, I am looking at the copper-based lenses from Costa. I want to be able to sight fish well and want something that is at least decent in mid day light, but also very good in low light or cloudy days. Again, good contrast for sight fishing, spotting structure, etc.. I have tried at a store the copper-based 580g GREEN MIRROR lens and they seem good .. But are they a little dark? The other option is another copper-based lens – SILVER MIRROR. Anyone tried this? The description on Costa’s sight sounds similar to the green lens but maybe lets in a little more sunlight (12% versus 10%) which I might find a plus. ?? These will be prescription, progressive lenses (and very expensive) so I really want to get them right after being somewhat underwhelmed by my Oakleys. Suggestions welcomed ~

Big fan of the 30. Overall great size. Spool size gets a little small on the 25 and the 35 is quite a bit heavier. 30 seems to be perfect medium for most anything I do ...

I had Steve Pennaz (a.k.a. Knot Wars) tell me to tie the knot at length so that it is in front of the first guide going out from the reel. More line slap happens in that first big guide which can fracture or wear down the fluorocarbon knot. So tying to the length just in front of the big guide may extend the age of the knot.

Isn't Frankie's Marine there, they usually have several Rangers on hand... or Rapid Marine?

I agree, I truly believe the ONLY potentially compelling reason to use fluorocarbon as a main line is if you need a line that sinks... even at that I have compared 100% fluorocarbon to Yo-Zuri Hybrid (which is 50% fluorocarbon) and the sink rate with any kind of weighted lure, jig, plastic, etc is not that big of a difference... and YH is so much less of a head-ache to manage, and less stretch than any fluorocarbon, and just as abrasion resistant, doesn't get ruined after stretching as the post above says, just as invisible, better knots, UV and water resistant, less expensive, etc. etc. etc.

The challenges with fluorocarbon on spinning reels is well documented - snarly stuff. There's a whole bunch of "try this," and "try that" from pre-stretching, using line conditioner, boiling in a hot cauldron, etc... Is anything really worth all that? Going lighter line size may help some but the further downside is how much stretch there is in fluorocarbon to begin with, then going lighter makes it even more rubber-band like. Really tough on longer hook sets! I would try a couple things myself - first what Road Warrior said, try Yo-Zuri Hybrid. Stretches much less than fluorocarbon and is more manageable. Sure, give it some line conditioner but its pretty good stuff and many fans of it on this site. Second thing I would consider is maybe trying a new product - Nanobraid (not Nanofil however!). Nanobraid is a Sufix product and ultra thin. Eight pound test is like 2 pound size mono. Low/no stretch and at that diameter might be invisible enough, especially if the water isn't absolute gin clear. No need for a leader, and no snarly mess like fluorocarbon!

I've gone back/forth on tubes vs. rod socks. Problem I've had with rod socks: First, the socks don't protect the reels. On a long trip to Canada... my rods/reels in the locker clanged together all the way there. Rods were fine but the reels were all scuffed up, and one of my spinning reels bails was slightly bent. Second, I've had a couple rod tips broken by going in/out awkwardly out of back corners in the rod locker. Third, pulling the rod socks on/off constantly is kind of a PITA - especially with hooks/lures on. My current boat doesn't have a center rod locker with tubes so I continue to use socks... I even found some that have a pouch that goes over the reel. I still don't really like it and think back to when I had all my rods organized in my other boat with a center locker and tubes. Never did any damage to any rod/reel and they were faster in/out. Just my .02

I have been going through the same dilemma... and IF I went pure bass boat glass hull here is what I have been contemplating: 18 foot Nitro Z-18 $29k (approx base price) 18 foot Phoenix 618 $35k (approx) 18 foot Ranger Z518 $39k (approx) I think the reputation of the Nitro in the past I would have said - no... probably not. But I do think the new head of Tracker Marine (7 years now) brought in some good technology, new discipline, etc and their hulls/boats are much improved. They did a heckuva job on the new Nitro deep V series IMO. I also like what I'm hearing about the improvements in the Z18 over last years Z-7 model. Have I been in one? Only at a boat show. Time will tell if they hold up over time and if TMG honors their warranty like other brands. That being said, I bought a new Ranger in 2008 and it was a HORRIBLE experience. Quality problems can happen with the "best" too ~ I've also heard outstanding things about the Phoenix and at $5k more than the Nitro I would really give it a hard look too. Especially if you are looking at a long term, 10+ year ownership - the $5k is less of an issue. Just my .02