fishwizzard

I also do "swim, shake, glide" most of the time when fishing still water, on a faster river or stream I either do a slow retrieve straight downstream if I am wading or cast it up and let it drift down when standing on the bank. If I want to drag it, I switch to the little zman mico jigs; They stay down better in current and get a good number of hits. I like them as they still use a very light hooks, so I can use my nedrig rod for them.

What mold is it? It's hard to search for jigs like this as I don't think they have a standard name.

Hah, well now that I know about Cadman I will not pay that much anymore! It's great style of jighead and I think I bought enough during the RR Black Friday sale to last me the season. I do want to pick up some 3\8 ones to rig 10" Culprit worms on, it gives them a slower, gliding fall that looks different enough from a swimbait hook to make it worth having both.

I do the cast and drag from the bank and use a 3\16 weight most of the time. For me, the DS is the best way I have found to present a soft plastic close to the bottom in places with a muck or leaf covered bottom. A heavy wight seems to drag too much and get covered with debris where the lighter weight just skims over stuff.

https://river-rock-custom-baits.myshopify.com/products/crawler-head-jig These are the dragging heads I use, they are more expensive then the Cadmans ones but they have 15-20% off sales pretty often. Their tubes work perfectly with the jigheads, but again, feel a little pricey. They are very very soft and look great in the water however. http://confidencebaits.3dcartstores.com/Draggin-Head_c_11.html Confidence baits also sells them, but I don't like a flat line tie for this application.

I have never used those exact brands, but do fish small tubes on an identical jighead. It's an effective lure and the heads are great for dragging any small plastics.

Exactly. A Rage Craw weighs ~0.310oz, or around 5/16oz. The rest of the jig components make up the rest. I have found that generally, a jig with (proportional) trailer weighs about double the listed weight of just the jig.

The "standard" line choice is 10lb braid to 8-10lb floro. I use 8lb braid to 12lb floro. I go light on the braid for casting distance and heavy on the leader for both a little deeper running depth and a little pickerel bite off protection.

Hah, yea, the theorycrafting can drive one crazy. I prefer shorter rods in general, so my options are very limited without going for JDM stuff and they are another series of headaches trying to get good info on the power and action. Good luck with your hunt!

I have two 3 power Loomis rods, a Classic IMX and a MagBass GLX. Both of them are rated to 3/4oz but seem to top out at or a little over 1/2oz. I use 1/4oz jigs with them as once you add a trailer the total weight is right around 1/2oz. A 1/2oz Siebert brush jig with a Rage Craw trailer weighs in at .962oz and feels way way overloaded on both my rods.

I have also been looking at the GLX JWR line and I have also found a real lack of reviews out there for them. Is there a reason (other than the ~$100 price difference) that you are looking at the GLX over the NRX line? A XF rod is conspicuously lacking from my lineup and I have been trying to decide if I should just save, go big, and get an NRX to see what the fuss is all about or buy a less expensive one to see if I really like that fast of an action.

The "no moving" part could kill this idea, but there are a lot of jobs in the environmental research/testing field. Almost every bit of new construction/infrastructure work requires an impact audit and there are a lot of companies all over the country doing it. I have a buddy in the industry and he seems to say that there is always a shortage of people to do the field work. The romance of "working outdoors" tends to fade once you spend a summer lugging an electrofishing rig through a mile of tick-infested brush in 100f/99% humidity weather, so the turnover can be pretty high. My buddy's main job criteria was "not be indoors all day" and he has been at it about 15-17 years now and still loves it.

I picked up a pair of surplus wool/poly glove liners and am really liking them so far. I cut the tips of the thumbs off and roll the fabric down to the first joint of my thumb. So far they have not unraveled and are way warmer than I thought gloves this thin could be. They were like $4 at a surplus store, I am going to go pick up a few more pairs so I can carry a spare dry set.

I beat my head against the wall for a year or so trying to use L and ML rods for everything around here until I finally saw reason and got some heavier gear. Even if the bass are small, the cover can still call for heavier tackle.

From a kayak the long rear grips on a lot of heavier rods can be a huge pain. My advice is to find a rod you are interested in and mock it up with a dowel rod, your reel, and some electricians tape. A 3/4" dowel with the reel taped the right distance from the butt will let you sit in your yak and see a little how the rod will cast and retrieve, in addition to general handling. I did this when I was swimbait rod shopping and it was really helpful.

I picked up a GLX 843c this fall and the longish rear grip kills it for me as a jerkbait rod. It's so clumsy and the butt cap is forever hitting my jacket sleeve. The rod's power/taper seems fine for working them, but the handle ruins it for me. Right now I am using a IMX CR721 as my jerkbait rod in winter and as a magBFS rod the rest of the year. I am thinking of replacing it with a St Croix Avid AVC62MXF as I think it would be a better rod for both and would "fit" better in my lineup.

I was on my phone and I actually thought this was the main MD thread when I posted that!

Welp, here is the water level at Swain's Lock today; I went there to hike with a friend and the canal was low/dry and the watered spots are frozen over. The river was low but looking great, I fished it a bit where I could get down to it, but without waders and a buddy I am leery of scrambling too far out on the rocks.

A mix of bank and kayak, this last year was way way more bank, which is a trend I plan on reversing this coming season. I really prefer wading to either bank or boat however, if I lived closer to wadeable water it's all I would do.

Hah, nice, the beer bottle mandrel is great, I have seen guys use them to form pvc pipe into rod holders. Truly a versatile tool!

I bought one of the Ducks last year to use as a xmas tree ornament, a role it is reprising this year. I have thrown it a few times, but it seems pretty close to a WP 130 but maybe a little less loud/agressive.

Yea, it is a great spot but I never bother to go on weekends due to the crowds. I need a kick in the rear to motivate me to drag a kayak down there. The rest of the canal from there up onto Seneca Creek can be a great fishery, the first few pics up there are from around Pennyfield Lock. But the canal can really suck if the water is way down or super muddy, I am always nervous as hell when I go fish there as the conditions can be so rotten and it's such an awful drive for me.

I have also been messing around with this idea. I have just been hooking the zonker on the hook but plan on tying some up over the winter.

Yea, they price is a little nuts, but the light weight won me over. I do wish the handle was a a bit longer so I could tuck it under my arm.

I have the smaller version of this net; http://fishpondusa.com/product/detail/nomad-hand-net/2055 The smaller one will handle any smallie I am likely to catch and I figured if I ever started caught ones too big for it, I would be happy to shell out for a bigger net! I really liked it more for trout/catfish by-catch, smallies and panfish were never as much grief to unhook as those two species. They are super light and float, so they are great for wading. I never really use mine anymore, I started crimping all my barbs down and can release most fish still in the water. I still use it in winter as it keeps my hand dryer.