Fiske

Ah,,,enigma solved,,,at least in my mind.

Had this nightmare last night of hammerhandles repeatedly slicing through 50# braid and swimming off with $30 Catch'em Caro Uncle Manny Minnows. Seriously,don't know how many incidental pike I've taken in the past three years with an average of 60 days on the water,,, a rough guess would be in the 30's. However,, I do note bite offs in my fishing logs and only had two. My biggest pike so far this year,,,I think it had teeth,,.was this 29 incher that slammed and totally engulfed a rageblade over cabbage on Aug 16th. And,,,you guessed it,,,the line was 50# braid.

So far it's about 5-2 against braid. It's gotta be that strange phenomena where a minority's experience with something is totally at odds with the majority. Either that or this is just another average Amazon product review .

Yeah OK,,, but I'm talking about incidental pike under 10 lbs when bass fishing with 30-50 lb Suffix or Trilene braid. Sure bite offs still occur but rarely so. Actually, they didn't occur that often with my old standard Trilene XL 14 lb mono but if the lure is completely engulfed,,, give me braid.

How so? From my personal experience that just isn't the case.

Hi Jim Braided line,,, although not a cure all or the best line for every fishing situation,,, definitely helps with bite offs.

Heeeyyy punch,,, Didn't know the walleye guys meaure their fish vs weighting. Anyway, in the last few years I've measured if I think a fish will go 15" or better. I have a scale {bump board) screwed to the top of a cooler so I simply have to turn around, stoop a bit, measure, and release. If I think the fish will go 17" or better,,, I'll often take a quick cell phone shot for my fishing log app before measuring. I only weigh if the bass is 20" or better just in case it might come in at 5 lbs,,,, the holy grail of the MN bass fisherman,,,at least in my neck of the woods. So measuring vs wighting? I guess either is fine,,,it all depends on how you generally handle the fish that counts.

Wow! Well there yah go Ronnie! Me thinks you spent to much time chasing MN walleyes.

Yeah,,,for sure! In fact, I'd be trilled with a six before finally fading into the summer sun.

Cool! But no 7 lbers Nathan? . Speaking of which; I was paging through an old 90's issue of In-Fisherman a while back where Ron Linder was lamenting the fact that in 20 plus years of fishing and interacting with fisherman in Minnesota he had yet to see a "true" 7 lber.

Nice bass pitch! Haven't been fishing duck weed but curly tail cabbage beds in 6-9' of water have really been hot for me this year. Day before yesterday was a prime example. Wind kept me from fishing everything but a few small leeward areas of cabbage. In five hrs took 10+ bass on a swim jig before rain and lightening finally blew me off the water,. All fish were under 12" except this 19.25 and 18.75 incher,,,respectively. Biggest pike so far this year,,,a 29 incher that slammed a rageblade over cabbage.

Hi Nathan It's been a while,,,so guess I'll take a crack at it. As a lure addict I may not be your best source but that aside,,,let's assume I could only have four baits to fish bass with. They'd have to give me some versatility so,,, !. a shallow 3-6 ft running crank bait 2. a bladed swim jig 3. a swim jig 4. and a medium running crank bait 6-9 ft I guess,,,,a six - eight inch plastic worm rigged Carolina or a so called bass jig could have easily been my third choice as well. Anyway,,, this probably isn't what you had in mind for 4 must have baits but the point I've tried to make is that versatility is the key to catching bass consistently,,, so I carry a wide assortment of lures for both horizontal and vertical presentations..

Hi fellows,,,,been a member for a while but wasn't inclined to post until I saw this thread which peaked my interest I fish mainly OtterTail County lake country and have always found June to be a little slow.. Last Friday was no exception,,, although did manage to pick up a 17 and 16 plus incher, a couple of 15's,.and several smaller. Water temp was 73.4 degrees and I took most of the fish on a Bomber crank. I've been a die hard basser for over 30 yrs and have taken some very nice fish but a 6 pounder or better has been elusive.. Last September I picked up a 22 incher (which suggested well over 6) on the outside edge of a reed bed in about 8' of water using a 3/8 oz rage blade. Long story short,,, she was long, lean, and mean and came in at 5.47 lbs. Still my personal best by an ounce or so. capture Anyway,,,hope this thread continues to flourish.