MickD

A-Jay, do you remember what the water temp was? And had it moved from the mid-summer high? thanks,

No one knows what ML is until they measure it. Point Blank calls one of their blanks with an ERN of 19 ML. A highly respected blank manufacuturer's owner called an ERN of 20 MH. He markets a drop shot blank with an ERN of 13 as M. I've taken plenty of big smallies with the ERN og 19, no problem. I might like a little more power if in a substantial current.

I use mostly 15 pound test, .006 dia if I remember right. Just because I had a lot of it. Will be using more 10 pound test, not sure of dia when I need to change. In the open water I normally fish, higher pound tests are not of value and the long casts of the lighter pound tests are valuable. I've used the bright yellow with a 15 pound FC leader a lot in clear open water and I don't think it spooks the fish. But it spooks me, so won't buy more. One doesn't know what has chosen not to bite. My favorite braid is Hitena 19 pound Pureline, which is about .006 or a little smaller. Looks smaller. It is white. I think if one is worried about line visability the logical thing to do is make the leader longer. I use about 5-6 feet to start, change it at about 4.

If that engine has, like I think it does, a reservoir for the engine oil that is external to the engine to provide oil for injection into the engine. . . The pump that pumps that oil is a diaphragm pump VERY likely, after all these years, to fail. Diaphragm pumps were a bad idea back then, and with many years on a rubber diaphragm, it very well could fail and in the process fail the engine (piston scoring). If what I suspect is true, the safest bet for you to use that engine is to mix the oil and gas rather than relying on a diaphragm pump. Don't ask me how I know. $$$$

When you read many other posts on this and other forums, remember that what you are reading is simply another fallible person's opinion, often based on flawed memories. None of us is infallible. But we don't have to be gullible and believe all we read, either.

I've been teaching a guy to fish lately, and he was having trouble gut hooking fish on tubes and Neds. I coached him to make long casts, then immediately take up the slack, wait only a few seconds, then work the lure back towards him, slowly, some stop and go, but not letting it rest for long. This strategy gave much less opportunity for slack line. We also pinched the barbs. With both of these we have about licked the problem. I think if people fish Neds or other smaller plastics and have not had at least an occasional gut hooked fish they must be working the lure to keep from having slack line. Or they are not telling the truth. But we are all fishermen, right? So we don't lie.

Make it a priority. You never know. . .

I already mentioned my sweet spot and my ultimate blank.

Try a few Rapala DT's , different depths for specific fishing conditions. Smash is a great color. If you cannot catch with these, something is very wrong. Keep in mind that they only work if fish are there and not turned off. Often when slow works you can reel them very slowly and stop and go. On a rocky flat I fish I sometimes crank a DT6 to the 4 foot bottom til it ticks, then stop for a few seconds, then continue. Often works. SMB, LMB, walleye, pike, fresh water drum, white bass. . .

BC or spin? Budget? Rainshadow Revelations and American Tackle Bushidos are very nice mid-priced graphite blanks. If budget is not a big issue, then I prefer Point Blanks, which I think are the best premium blanks available. When I want to build the best, that is what I get. They are highly sensitive, light for their power, and not fragile. They come in various lengths and powers, and CCS numbers are provided for accurate power and action objective descriptions. Unlike many other brands whose descriptions are like a crap shoot.

I have never used a scale to set my drags; I just do it by using my judgment about conditions and techniques. I tend to be, I expect, on the light side because many of my reels don't even go into the range that some report using. Since I use braid on all spin I want some forgiveness in the system to accomodate sudden rushes by the fish, to handle the shock. It's definitely too light when you find yourself reeling and the spool is turning. I was bonefishing with a guy once who was new to it, and he had set his reel using a scale and was certain that he knew what he was doing. Tippet strength was about 12 pound test. A guide pulled on his line and told him the drag was too tight, and the guy lectured the guide about his scientific way of setting the drag. He lost the first few fish he had on, and then let the guide determine the drag setting. Experience is a good scale.

I think you may be using too much arm and not enough wrist. I have two bad shoulders that can get sore if I don't use mostly wrist rotation, not much arm above the elbow. Try it, two hands, almost all wrist flick, some arm rotation below the elbow. Not much rotation in the shoulders.

Rodbuilders can use broken rods, especially glass ones , for making repair sleeves for other broken rods. If you have a favorite, and the break is suitable, it can be repaired and will fish almost the same as it did before repair. I know there are those who don't believe it, but I have repaired many, and some of them I've had CCS numbers both when new and after repair, and the numbers do not change. Yes, there is a slight addition of weight because of the repair, but the rods still fish well. The repair procedure is here: https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/repair-oquinn.html

Only if you're really skilled can one get the same accuracy with sidearm as with overhead. I wasn't talking specifically about spinnerbaits, and Glenn is not saying much about accuracy. He's arguing for a soft landing, if I am interpreting his comments correctly. I was only commenting on the difference is accuracy between overhead and sidearm casting.

When boat fishing it is advantageous and possible to use the described method every time unless up against overhead obstacles like shoreline trees.

One thing that I've found that helps casting accuracy is to cast, when possible, with the arc of the rod directly vertical. What this does is takes the lateral or direction errors almost out of the equation and the distance can be adjusted during the cast by thumbing a BC or touching the line going off the reel on a spinner. If your timing is off a little with sidearm casts you introduce a direction error. With the overhead motion timing errors don't matter as much. They might affect distance, but not direction.

Yup. same down here.

Line is a big killer of birds, so proper disposal is important. Before putting it into the trash cut it into pieces no longer than about 8 inches or so. Or, it's easier, to just collect it in a container of some sort, then burn it so it cannot tangle with wildlife. I take it home, have a plastic container in the pole building, keep putting scrap line into it until it's full, then toss it into a fire. A-Jay, I live in the country, and I'm the recipient of the stuff you mention. I have always wondered about pickup truck owners. Do they never wonder what the heck happens to all that stuff they throw into the backs of their trucks, but don't find it there when they get home?

I'm no expert on live wells, but if I kept having fish die in one I would stop putting fish into it. It really sounds like with the water temps you're talking about that you are putting too many fish in it for the water to be favorable.

Double uni is probably the easiest to learn and has little liklihood of a failure. But it gets pretty big, so if you use small guides it may not work that well with all normal leader pound tests. If it works well for you, use it. The Alberto is pretty small and pretty easy to learn, but I used to have "mystery failures" with it in spite of what I thought was always the proper tying technique. I added two tightly set overhand knots of the braid tag to it and have had no failures. With the Alberto, as with many other knots, you HAVE TO set it very tightly to prevent unravelling. I think it's the leader loop that has to be very tightly closed, and failure to do that might lead to a knot failure. You will get votes for the FG, but in my experience, it has too many ways to fail to be considered a mainstream knot. It works best with the heavy leaders that it was designed for, and does not work reliably well with the lighter leaders we bass fishermen use (like less than about 20 pounds) . The FG depends on plastically deforming the leader in order to work, and with leaders only .006-.015 inch diameter to begin with, there is not that much there to deform. It even more than the Albero needs to be properly tied and then properly and tightly set. Many people finish it with extra knots of the braid tag, also.

Regarding Glenn's video on when to use braid. I find it interesting to hear that rocks cut braid so easily, yet we need specialized scissors to cut it. Maybe I should develop some scissors made of rocks. ?

Solution: Stop doing that. Point rod at the snag, lock the spool with your finger , back it up until something breaks.

EXCELLENT POST!

Yup. Very common with X-fast blanks. To avoid this with X-fast one has to go with significantly higher power than normally expected. Good observation, IMO.

When done fishing open your boxes that have had lures put back into them so they can quickly dry and you won't have rust problems with or without that lure in there. I often don't put wet lures back into boxes, letting them dry on the deck and put them back at the end of the day. That works better boat fishing than it does kayak or shore fishing, of course.