reason162

I'm #17...and your comment just made me seriously paranoid

The symetre 500FL is a beast of a tiny reel. Have landed over a dozen bluefish over 10 lbs last year, and countless flounder. I did swap the drag out to carbontex. Here's one of the smaller blues landed:

I'm in the same boat, preordered on japantackle and though the guys are very responsive to my annoying/prodding emails, no ship date in sight. Japanese ebayers have them listed since 2 weeks ago!

So I bought a bunch of tungsten barrel and worm weights thinking I can turn them into dropshot weights...but now I can't figure this out. I don't need a line pincher attachment, but I do want a swivel in there somewhere to reduce line twist. Any suggestions?

Thank you for the info. Will definitely look at the XF bfs corzza.

Looking to replicate the action of my spinning setup, which is a 1st gen Crucial drop-shot rod rated to 3/8, paired with a 1000 sized reel. Would a *** fit the bill? Not looking to cast anything under 1/4 oz. As for rods...The Phenix Maxim Med Lt. seems to come highly recommended on this board (and will match purtily with the ***); however, it's listed as "mod fast." What other sub $250 rods would you guys suggest to throw 1/4 - 3/8 oz, with a fast/xf action? The new Zodias BFS 2 pc is listed as xf, and I read that the Corzza is coming to town as well.

Really depends. Swimming mullet in 4 or 5" is the staple gulp bait for most people, if I had to use only one it'd be the mullet in nuke chix or chartreuse. That fish (and most of my largest fluke) are caught on the 6" grubs. That day I limited out before catching that fish using 5" Jerk Shads on a 3/8 oz jighead. Most people have success using a hi-lo rig, you can check out John Skinner videos on youtube for all you need to know re gulping fluke. Personally, I like going with the single jig. Good luck!

Jig + Gulp. Haven't used bait for fluke/flounder in 6+ years. Nuclear Chicken and New Penny were hot colors last week in NJ.

It's possible, esp when the pp is new...but I think the Samurai, being extremely limp (and thinner in diameter) does behave differently in the wind/water. I wish I could use 50lb braid, but anything above 20lb and I can't sound bottom with these (relatively) light jigs. I used to use 10lb braid but now switched to 15 or 20. I might bump one outfit up to 30 to see if it makes a significant difference. That's what I figure, esp when I cast way ahead of the drift on windy days and there's a big bow in the braid. I manually "untwist" the last 50-80 yards of line by hand every 2 or 3 trips...which is ridiculous but I can't seem to find another solution (towing behind boat does not work for me). Thanks for the responses guys!

Since switching to baitcasting reels for my fluke/flounder fishing 5 years ago, I've noticed that after 1 or 2 trips a good 30-yard or longer portion of my line would develop some pretty horrendous twist. I figure I must've helicoptered one too many jigs into the wind, but even on days where that never occurred...I get horrible line twist. I compiled a list of possibly relevant facts below: 1.) I use a single 3/4 or 1.5 oz jig, usually with a 5" to 6" gulp grub. No teasers, no double hooks/bucktails, just a single jig. As mentioned, I rarely helicopter the jig on the cast, and rarely does it come back spinning through the water; I'm very OCD and check my presentations every cast. I'm fishing 20 - 60 ft of water on a drifting boat, bouncing/popping the jig off the bottom. 2.) Usually my setup is 20 lb Daiwa Samurai braid, and 832 Suffix 15lb to small spro power swivel to 15/20lb floro leader to small loop knot to jig. Last year I swapped a couple of reels to good old powerpro, which seems to fare a little better in the twist department due to its stiffer nature. But still...twist. 3.) Last few trips, on the advice of a friendly fellow angler, I ditched the swivel and connected braid to mono with a connection knot: same problem, severe line twist. 4.) 80% of the time I fish ahead of the drift, which means I'm constantly casting with my back to the wind. My strong suspicion is that, since I work the jig ahead of the drift back to the boat, the interplay between wind/water while having slack in the line is somehow causing the line twist...but I can't quite work it out in my head. 5.) I spooled the braid top to top, with plenty of tension. This is not supposed to happen with baitcasting/conventional reels. I'm really at my wits end, having changed line twice this season and not having the faintest clue why this is happening. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Like you, I was all set on the green mirrors, until I bought two pairs: one green, the other blue and compared. I find myself using the blue 580Gs almost 95% of the time these days. It has the same transmission rate as my Maui Jims neutral grey, but it doesn't darken nearly as much, and I'm very comfortable wearing the blue mirrors on overcast days. The greens are very nice, but in full on sun you might wish you went with the blue mirrors instead. YMMV.

Having fished both reels in saltwater, the Curado has given me fewer problems. The fact that the T-Wing system requires the the worm shaft to turn means you need to pay attention to greasing/oiling 2 extra points in the reel. My first Tatula (fished with floro) started developing the infamous T-Wing groove, and I returned it for a new one. The one I have now is spooled with braid and so far zero signs of grooving, but I have no idea (and it seems neither do anyone else) if the type of line caused the grooving or a certain batch of T-Wings had issues...theories/assumptions/paranoia runs through every "grooving" thread in every forum. Having said that, I cast slightly further with the Tat. It also feels more powerful when retrieving under load. I am generally throwing larger/heavier baits with the Tat than the Curado.

If you're keeping fish for the table, don't let them swim around in a livewell. Stressed fish = poor table fare. As soon as you land fish, bleed them out into a bucket of water (cut the gill, but not too deep; heart needs to pump out the blood), ice them down, fillet when you get home.

These look awesome. How do they swim on a very slow retrieve?

I've had good luck with Suncloud polarized. They're Smith's cheaper line. I think Kaenon has a similar, lower-priced line as well.

This has been very informative, thank you all. I think perhaps another aspect of line choice is depth and current, which you guys are not really dealing with. I use 10 or 15lb braid in order to get a 3/4, 1oz jig down 65+ ft in current, in situations where a heavier jig just won't get bit. That's not important for flipping bass in heavy cover. Thinner braid definitely tends to spool-dig more, but since I'm generally not casting light baits (or very far, or very accurately), it's less of an issue. You guys are trying to pitch into a cup-sized pocket.

Wondering why you guys use such heavy braid on your baitcasters. 40, 50, even 65lb braid...that's what we use for bluefin. I'm guessing it's for line management? or perhaps cutting weeds when fishing heavy cover? Also, why do people recommend a high 7:1 ratio for jig fishing? The only thing I can think of is picking up the slack quickly from a 11, 12'o'clock position to set the hook. Any input appreciated!

Used to fish both fresh and salt but now with limited time and the nagging feeling that there seems to be more anglers than bass in NJ...pretty much only fish saltwater. I am, however, fascinated with the freshwater bass fishery, the technology and techniques that seem ever-evolving. A particular interest of mine is adapting LMB techniques to the salt, and as reels and rods downsize the divide becomes narrower all the time. I'm also a seasoned internet fisherman, and love reading/participating on forums. How did we catch any fish before the internet?! Anyway, this seems to be the largest bass enthusiast community around, so here I am. Cheers!

I bought a power handle for my Lexa 300 from this place: http://www.jiggingworld.com/shimano-1/ The round EVA knob is very ergonomic and light. I believe the Stradic FJs are handle knob type "A"s, but I would call to make sure. I'm planning on swapping out my sustain's knob too.

Uni to Uni is adequate for most applications and if you're not reeling the knot through your guides, but there are far better knots out there to connect braid to leader. Here's another "Chinese finger trap" style knot I just tried, and it seems a bit simpler than the previous one I posted. The result for either of these knots are MUCH slimmer profile than the uni, and also significantly stronger knot strength.

I've used Shimano rods for over a decade, both fresh and salt and imo Shimano is one of the most innovative production rod companies out there. I'm a huge fan of their light saltwater composite blanks, the Trevala S series (C4S) and the Terez (TC4) are just remarkable blank technology at a popular price point. That's what Shimano does best: modify cutting edge features into an affordable package. For whatever application you end up focusing on, there might be niche companies who will make a superior product, but those will cost you a LOT more money. If you look at the components in almost any Shimano rod, you're getting a lot of premium for a not so premium price. Economy of scale definitely in play here. The other thing about Shimano is they have a huge R&D budget, and are fully integrated into the "enthusiast" market in both the JDM freshwater and saltwater angling communities...and you can tell how their rod and reel technologies bleed from salt to fresh and back. They'll put out new lines of rods every year; they don't care all that much about overlap. If something doesn't work out, it's a rounding error in their budget.

The slimmest, strongest braid to leader knot. Could tie on a moving boat after a bit of practice.

I don't think it gets better than that. The red is the same HUE.

I have a couple of rod projects before the season starts: adding a stripper guide to 1 rod, maybe extending the handle on another. Anyone knows a north jersey (I live in Bergen County) rodsmith they can recommend? Thanks!

Here's a good summary taken from another forum: "I am a newbie to this forum, but I am a certified optician who specializes in sport optics, so I thought I would weigh in. So Oakley lenses are "Plutonite", which is their code name for polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is cheap, tough, and UV blocking, but it has the worst chromatic abberation of any lens material. That means distortion. They do have aspheric lenses which reduces some of this distortion, but basically they are no better than a Smith polycarbonate lens. Costa's flagship material is 580 glass, which already has a huge advantage over Oakley because glass optics are spectacular. WAY better clarity than polycarbonate. The 580P material is actually Trivex which has the toughness of polycarbonate but much better optical clarity- not as good as glass but perhaps a best of all worlds lens given its impact resistance. Smith's glass lenses are REALLY good, as is their new Chromapop, which is Trivex. Both Smith Chromapop and Costa 580 are patented to have increased contrast due to limiting light 'noise' at color intersections. Not yet mentioned,Maui Jim has a great track record with its awesome glass lenses, and they are now using Trivex in some models in addition to polycarbonate. I just had a patient who is a staunch Oakley fan put on a pair of Maui Jim glass lenses and his jaw dropped when he saw the difference. This is how I shop for sunglasses: 1. Choose a comfortable frame style 2. Choose a great lens material (trivex or glass) 3. Choose an appropriate lens color (brown-ish for variable light, grey for very bright light)"