monkeyman3dee

Any one have experience with the Deeper fish finder? It's a castable sonar unit.

Hi, Does anyone have any experience with these units? Seems interesting, and it is on the higher end (according to price range) of the cast-able fish finders. Looking to buy! -Joshua

I recently spooled up my main rod with some braid, I think it is around 50 lb. I didn't buy the braid, it was spooled in a free combo I picked up on the side of the street. So I decided to try it, main line is braid, with a ~10ft 12lb flouroclear leader. I actually like the set up. It made my med. action rod into more of a MH. It is easier to tie knots with a leader, and as far as the leader knot, no biggie as long as it is tied right. I love the sensitivity, and the fact I can horse a log to the shore if I get snagged. It is a plus I can break free if I get snagged too much, always breaks at the leader, as opposed to having to cut off so much braid. For the fishing I do, it is a nice change up from straight mono. As other have said, everyone has their reasons for fishing a certain type of line. Maybe what I am doing is not the best, but i catch fish so who cares! Plus, my lews looks bad ass with braid on it.

Beat me to It lol. I was gonna say run all your plans to spend on fishing gear to your significant other/spouse and let her scare the bait monkey away! Works for me at least hahah

Hey thanks for the recommendation, will have to try a pair! they look solid on the screen at least.

Maybe we can send a corrective e-mail to Yo-Zuri to make sure they do not call their hybrid whatchamacallit-mers co-polymers.

I guess it is more of a challenge for bank fisherman especially to fish. I see some tips here, as far as slowly fishing blade baits in the morning along with topwater/etc. and fishing c-rigged platics/jigs deep during the day. I guess I gotta find a casting point that allows access to deep water. Any other tips? The lakes around me are man made reservoirs, quite large, nice timber and sparse weeds and good baitfish activity as well as crappie bluegill. I do notice if you're in the right spot right when the sun goes down the water comes alive with bait, relatively shallow. Most of the lakes are closed to boating. When the lakes were at their worse (<5% capacity) You could walk quite a ways to the waterline, a lot of stumps, drop offs, now inaccessible due the fill up from winter/spring rains. -Joshua

I am guilty of pilfering tackle from my Dad AND my grandpa!! They have accepted it since I go out fishing 10x more than they do now lol.

When fishing along the shore and throwing a jig, sometimes I see bass lazily cruising along the shore, by the time I reel my jig in, they are nowhere to be seen. When that happens, do you pitch directly to the fish? or just ahead of him? -Joshua

I left my rods in the car once, when fishing them I noticed a lot of line memory, almost brittle line. Ended up re-spooling. and some of my lures looked warped. Another post a few posts up mentions melting reel grease, haven't had that happened to me but makes sense. Either way its up to you, you asked the question. I do not believe it is in your equipments best interest to subject them to extreme temps! Maybe leave em in there anyways to see what happens exactly?

I try not to leave my rods and tackle in a hot car. You are better off storing them in a nice environment than subjecting them to extreme temps, that is hardly good for anything.

I also recommend investing in a jerkbait in natural colors (white/olive/brown etc). The rapala X-rap is about 10 bucks and has worked quite well for me. The strikes usually come within a few feet from the bank, and is a great search tool due to the fact they are suspending and will tempt those finicky chasers into biting. Try to find any weeds sticking out of the water, and cast in and around those. Also try to target Dams and logs and any reachable structure. Jigs are great too, I recently caught a nice one on a jig, casting parallel to a steepish point. Kinda slowly dragging with some pops here and there. And dont be afraid to traverse through brush/rocks to get to a spot. Tread lightly! And when fishing cranks, I had a lot of luck using a bait that is rated for a depth deeper than the one I am fishing. That way, as you crank, you feel the bait start digging into the ground, stop to let it float, then crank again. I had three strikes just walking and casting this way, lost em all though!!!

When bait fishing I always tend to use Circle Hooks, as they are self setting. Just reel in side sweep hook set and you're good to go. size 2 or 1 should be good. Leave some slack in your line, that way when you see you line start to go taught, you know you got a bite!

With a bait caster it is easier to reel and still have your finger on the line to better detect line vibrations. Helpful when slowly fishing a jig. Not a deal breaker, but a nice advantage over spinning. I personally like both, maybe b/c a little more, just because of the feel and speed. I recommend a lews laser mg. Wont cost you an arm n a leg and finely built.

I got the most strikes from a jerkbait (rapala x-rap fished rather aggressively, jerked every other second followed by 2-3 seconds of pause), and my first crankbait fish (three hits, all lost) on a rapala DT6 fished through submerged weeds, med/slow retrieve, pausing for half a second when I detect bottom (whatever that means since I use a 7.1 reel lews laser mg). The moment I'd hit bottom, 3-4 seconds later I'd get bit. Gonna hit up the lake again today after work and redeem myself!!! -Joshua

Its safe to say I have a constant itch for fishing. When I am fishing I am calm. Collected. everything is right. When I am not fishing, everything isn't right. SO I must fish so everything will be right. Panic mode sets in when life gets in the way!!!

The trick is not to get stuck in the first place. But yes I always try my hardest to retrieve lures, its not necessarily the dollar factor (although that is a big part, even 3 dollar lures can add up) its the principle. -Joshua

Used this the first time last week. Definitely will buy some more. I like this line.

Sometimes i attach a small oval shaped clasp (not the swivel kind) Especially when I go banking, I use the smallest I can get away with. I don't notice a huge difference, and saves time when I have a time limit on fishin. Don't use for spinner baits though.

Yup, Proudly sporting the two rod stamp That was my gut feeling, Next time I will switch to finesse, thanks for the knowledge, every trip helps me be a better strategist for the next one!! I will definitely take into consideration the condition of the water, now I think of it the water was relatively flat. Funny I always bring my tacklebox to fish a variety of styles, but end up being stubborn and sticking with one!! The top water was a last minute cast before we were heading back to the dock!

I was at a local reservoir in the bay area in california, anchored in a nice cove. Hooked into some trout, but while the trout bait was soaking, i was casting around some sunken trees/rocky points for bass. The water clarity was really good, i was throwing a small squarebill. near the boat, i saw 3-4 bass chasing my crank, none of them commited. Switching to a spinnerbait i was casting the opposite side, a nice looking lone bass followed the bait again to the boat and swam away. Finally was throwing a topwater in the same area, and one hit it (first topwater bite ever!) I waited a few seconds before I set the hook (i noticed i did a side sweeping hookset) but for some reason (maybe waiting too long?) he threw the hook. Rod didn't even load up. xD It was fun actually seeing the fish and knowing I was in a good spot, but frustrating when I couldnt get them to commit. in this cove they seemed to be deep and shallow at the same time In this situation, when you locate bass, and see they are active, but will only chase baits, what do you do? If it helps any, the spawn is pretty much over in this body of water, as they were on their beds early-mid march. Thanks! -Joshua

For Me, The Jerkbait is an awesome bait. It has increased my catch ratio. Just walk the bank (stealthily!!!) and cast out as far as you can. Burn the bait for a few winds then stop for 3-5 seconds. Twitch twitch pause. jerk pause. repeat. pretend you are a dying minnow, Be the bait. Catch fish. -Joshua

I see a lot of hard plastic kayaks, anyone have any experience with the inflatable ones? The inflatables are more within my budget, and easier to transport. Never kayak fished before, but it looks like so much fun.