Further North

Great advice - curious how you build your ramp?

This, or good scissors. Thinking about trying to justify a 1 watt hand held laser for this...but two bills just to cut fishing line seems excessive even to this gear geek...

I don't use a leader because I'm worried about fish seeing the line...I use a leader because a fluoro leader is a lot more durable than straight braid through rocks and other rough cover. About half my leaders aren't fluoro...they are tieable steel leaders to stop the pike and muskies from stealing my lures...

Thanks Wayne - I knew that part, just wondering why...and if there's a way to get that capability back without spending a bunch of cash. I found it useful up in Canada and on a fair number of lakes around NW WI that are out of cell phone range to see what was happening with the barometer.

...and that, for the uninitiated...is why you crimp the barbs on your flies. It's not if, it's when you're gonna stick yourself...

...and the back of your head... I'd say, "Don't ask how I know this!" but I'd guess you already know...

I have three rods with micro-guides and like them all - I have another one being built as I type this. Initially I didn't think I'd like them, but I managed to break a St. Croix Legend Extreme spinning rod that I had with recoil guides and when I stopped in to make the swap, they had transitioned the Legend Extremes to micro-guides. Since I didn't have a choice, I took the rod and started using it. I still don't use them on all my rods (not sure they'd work well with tieable steel leaders for pike and muskies) but I really like them on the rods they are on, and all of them have no issue with an FG knot with braid to fluoro leaders.

My WeatherSense accessory doesn't work with my new Helix units... Anyone here know why? Any decent, reasonably priced alternatives? The info is easy enough to get off my phone, in most places...but I sure liked having it on-screen.

Something to add: Learn to let the rod do the work. Far more important with fly casting than with gear. Learning to throw flies has made me a better caster with gear...and a better fisherman overall.

A couple years ago, I inflicted a walleye trip on myself...one afternoon, the guys on my boat need to make a stop on an island... I jumped out with a baitcaster rigged for pike to hit a little bay I saw on the way in, sure enough when looked in the water I could see a decent pike cruising the shallows... I ducked under a branch to get a better line on the fish and snapped off a cast...without noticing the spoon I had on had snagged on the branch... The backlash I got (50# Braid) made yours look like a backlash starter kit... I didn't even bother trying to undo it...had the line cut off and the the reel re-spooled ten minutes later.

Like the others, I'd go to an 8 wt. for bass if I was only going to have one rod...you'd need it to throw bigger bass flies. For leaders on my bass rigs, I seldom go with a tapered leader as I get along just fin with 4 - 6 feet od straight mono. I've fished with both, and to me to there's a little benefit when going topwater and no benefit at all when going subsurface. For fly casting...best way to get better is practice. I've been at it for years, and you can still find me out in the yard most nights when the weather is decent tossing aline for a few minutes.

I tried a spool of the 24 lb. on a spinning rod last season...I didn't hate it...but it frays easily and makes me nervous about it breaking. I just peeled it off this evening and replaced it with the 40# to see if it is any better. If it's not, I'm going back to Sufix 832.

If braid spooked fish...do we 'spose they'd be able to net a gazillion walleyes every year for restaurants?

Old joke: "How to I get to Carnegie Hall? Answer: "Practice!" Same with baitcasters if you're not familiar with them. Get out in your yard and throw stuff. Shoot for specific targets, don't move until you've hit the targets. Repeat tomorrow. I do this more with fly rods than casting rigs, but I do it with both. Pays off, big time. You're trying to develop muscle memory, better to do it in the yard when there's no fish on the line (pun intended) then on the lake where there are...

Not sure how to pronounce, don't really care...have three, really like them. ...I lean towards Tat-CHU-la. The Cabela's versions were an absolute steal about a year ago ~$110...blue instead of red...matched my eyes...

I really like Lake Forks co-poly lines. They seem to deliver most of the abrasion resistance of fluoro with the limpness of mono. Good stuff...really good stuff. Makes great leaders too. Haven't tried any of the others...they may be better...or worse..or the same.

I look at this a little differently: I run 30# braid to something like a 7# - 10# fluorocarbon leader. Reasons: 10# braid cuts my fingers. I do find that it digs into the spool - if I've got the drag set too tight. Closer line diameters make it easier to tie knots. It takes less 30# braid to fill a spool.

We are, and I should have said that. The moderators here do a great job keeping the noise and cultural static down. I can think of very few sites I visit that do as well.

Picture: Alberto on top, FG on bottom. Lines are Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon and (I think) 50# Sufix 832. Braid might be PowerPro. ...Yeah, my Albertos look better than my FGs. FGs still seem to go through the guides better. ...the darker lines going to the left are not the lines, they are the shadows of the lines. Someone commented that the Alberto is not really a knot, that it is a weave...that is correct. The FG is the same, without doubling the fluorocarbon over. I've never been able to get it to hold if I double the braid and weave the fluorocarbon ...braid always slips out.

I agree with Tom here - FG is the best way to get the knot diameter down. I like both the Alberto and the FG. The FG is a little slimmer, and a little stronger, assuming all else is equal and both are tied right. The difference is that the Alberto has the fluoro doubled over once, the FG does not. I'll try to get a picture of each tied with the same lines up a bit later. Lots of folks find the FG harder to tie, and that's a factor in making the choice.

I just bought a 6' 8" Avid X medium extra fast (AXC68MXF) to replace the finesse rod* I broke at the end of last season. I'd tried replacing the broken rod with a a regular Avid 6' 9" Medium Light extra fast (AVC69MLXF), but the tip is just too soft for how I like to use it. That rod may find a home in my rod box for lighter weights, or it may go down the road...don't know yet. Anyway...I was at Gander last weekend, rods were 20% off + another 10% off total purchase...While wandering through the fishing rods I noticed the Avid X...thought that $140 was a good price, so I grabbed it. Re-rigged the Revo LTX onto the new rod....that's the feel I wanted! Addressing the braid-to-fluoro leader question: So far, so good...but I make that connection with an FG knot, I can't speak to how well other knots will feed through the micro guides. *It's most often used for weightless Senkos

I don't mind the debates...as long as they don't deteriorate into the silliness where some folks call others stupid for their choices...that's the kind of behavior that always puzzles me....

There is a slot on Terrovas that allow you to run the cable down the shaft. It requires some disassembly of the motor's head, and probably a helper (though I've done it by myself) but it works fine.

Because I want to spend my time fishing and not screwing around with my boat's motor, I prefer newer motors (mine is an '05, same as the boat). My motor is a four stroke, fuel injected motor that starts like a car motor and runs like a car motor...you can have a conversation on the boat running 30 MPH across a lake without shouting. I don't have to mix oil and gas, and I don't have to worry about cold weather starts (lotta those up here) That said, I get why people like older motors...and I think that's cool too. Like classic shotguns, old cars and wooden boats...I am fascinated by them and really enjoy them...when other people own them.