Angry John

The j-dream is the most upgraded zillion ever produced. I want one really bad, and its a reel that will maintain its value. Now that said you can still find brand new sv103's for around 200 dollars and i cannot find a used j dream less than 300 ish shipped. I am cursed looking for left handed so i have to pay extra to get the better reel with the handle on the correct side...

He is to busy racing me for the lefty deals.

IMO a short shank hook is not ideal. People use them and have good success in cover and are great on things like squarebills. In open water a standard length treble will work better in open water when the fish are slapping and i also prefer round bends for jerkbaits. Hooks are a personal touch jMO.

I think its a knot wetting problem. As you pull the line tight it abrades the flouro above the knot for an inch or so, and if thats where its breaking i would consider that the main culprit.

Daiwa luna or any other of the round reels are slow. My 253 is wonderful and still sold new on tw

I like to fish the incoming front whIle the pressure is dropping. Raising pressure clear skies and cold are the toughest conditions. The good thing is you should still be prespawn where there hungry.

Yea I'll be around. Had the best numbers day ever today. 28 landed and I left still catching because my son had a sleepover skeduled and I was already an hour late. Biggest went 3lb 5 oz with lots of pounders mixed in.

I had that issue with my rod after owning it for over two years. I scraped the blank and re-epoxied the handle screw section back to the blank and its good to go now. They tried to run me threw the warranty process but its not worth the money of shipping that lower budget rod back and then paying to send it to me. I have stuff around the garage for building rods so that seemed the much better choice considering their glue failed to begin with.

One reason I like there 100% is you get 250 yards vise 200 with anyone else. So its a few dollars more and you get 50 yards less. Burning the candle from both ends. I feel that the 100% is one of the best values in fluorocarbon.

I use 6 on a 2500 and on some of my alphas. Its a good size for spinning. You can also replace the handle on your reel its easy to find just what you want with a little looking! http://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product-list/330

There are only a few knots that have good knot strength with flouro. The SD jam seems to be a favorite. I snell when ever possible

If its not broken don't try and fix it. The handling alone is not worth the change if its not limiting your catch rate. Knot strength and having to use special knots is a PTIA. You may want to try a co-polymer if your in the mood to try something new, but FC is only worth while if you need what it can provide to include its drawbacks. I am a huge fan of YHB and going back to it now that I am not fishing gin clear water.

I would take the 7'3" mhf rod and the 15lb flouro and pitch with that. I used something very simular a st croix LE70MHF with 15lb p-line 100% and it worked just find. Baits that worked well for me was a green pumpking with blue flake super hawg on a 4/0 mustad flipping hook and 3/8ths tungsten weight. I got a lot of nice fish on that setup. I got most of my bites when i got into the cover between branches and under docks. In WA in the open water 6lb was just about all i could get bit on but cover changes a lot. Never got a braid hit in my first year so i just stopped trying.

What is your largest topwater??? An understanding of what you base this opinion on is inportant...

Frogs strait 50-65lb braid. Heavy hooks need the power. Top water over an ounce same setup with a 3' 20 lb mono leader. Small treble top water below an ounce 14 lb mono second setup.

If there is a lot of water to cover and it's sainted or muddy try a black blue 4" swim bait on an owner weighted hook swim jig or chatterbait. These are good for covering a lot of water until you locate the fish. If the fish are up shallow a 4-6 inch lizard will get bit this time of year. Green pumpkin or other dark colors would be first choice. If you can get out fish an incoming front. While the pressures drop the bass seem to tie on the feed bag.

I don't even have a high dollar yak, so I guess I am pure as bill Cosby pudding pops

More time in the contact zone if you can follow a weed-line or contour.

Trolling from a yak opens up a lot of opertunity for me. When it's real windy I get to dragging a plug instead of just getting blown all over the place. I also yak for exercise so it double purposes well.

You did not speak of budget and rippen went down the same line as i will. There are a few rods out there that are two piece of a different standard. A few of the jdm rods have the handle come off which reduces the size for packing out but loose little in there performance. The second would be some of the older st croix rods telescopic where the top portion slid down into the handle a lot. my old fishing partner had one and it was great.

you have been given all the solid advice. I love the alphas platform so that will get my first vote with the new 7.2 gears and sv spool its everything i ever wanted. I also own the sv103 and i have and am a big fan of the zillions. I have no desire or experience with the new twing and my reels cast and perform great. Its not a money thing i just dont buy the hype.

Just ware your pj's in and you will blend right in ha ha

Welcome!!!! Memphis pond hoppers might be of intrest!

Best to clean them immediately and put in the cooler. Only time to keep them alive is if you are going to cook them at camp or right on the beach. One thing to consider is they do best not being drug around behind a yak or canoe. A hole in the lower jaw works better than threw the gills

Braid is a wonderful tool that works better in some situations better than any other type of line. Many people try to tout that it is the be all end all line and its not. Thats the entire reason people tie on leaders. Then there are those that feel fluorocarbon is the best thing since sliced bread. It has its strong points as well but i am happy i am not limited to one type of line because one size fits all does not work for me!!!!