fishwizzard

I couldn't stand carrying more then a single rod the few times I tried it. I am currently hemming and hawing over buying a high-end telescoping casting rod so that I can hike in/out without having a rod in my hands. For more civilized bank fishing where my car is never going to be more then say 1/2 mile away, I just walk back to the car when I want to change up rods.

The braid was Suffix 832 and I was using an Alberto. The issue seemed to be that the mono was so stiff that it would let the braid loosen over a few casts. I don't know what the brand of line was, it was given to me off of a large spool when I needed some some leader for surf fishing. The 12lb that I got to work was YZH, so maybe I just need to try a more supple heavy line. I am throwing like 1/16-1/8oz spinners so more then a foot or three of leader kills my casting but I am finding that a the heavier leader helps keep the lure down during the retrieve, so it's something I want to keep playing with. I am going to buy some of that tie-able wire soon to see how it works.

Man, if I could consistently catch huge pikes like in these pictures, I wouldn't bother with bass. We only really have pickerel around here and I loose the occasional perch spinner to them, but have never had them bite off a larger bass lure. I did a little test trying to use like a 20lb leader to my 6lb braid mainline but I could never get the knots to hold.

Wow, this is the first I had heard about this. It's interesting that shatter/impact proof lenses were not on their radar. You would think at some point in all the filmed bass tourneys over the years someone would have been hit or had a close enough call that the issue would have come up. I know the first time I tried to pull a snagged lure out only to have it rocket into my forehead was a real shocker and I am very careful to stop and think for a second before I resort to a hard pull or sharp tug.

OP, I bet I fish some of the same waters you do, and this will work very well, maybe tying with flukes as my most productive LBM lure of last season. I like to rig them on an 3/0 Owner straight shank with a 1/16oz steel weight. The hook seems big and is murder on the plastics but I have never experienced such a high hookup rate. I use a steel bullet weight as I want it to be large enough to be a nose cone/bumper for the plastic, which helps prolong it's life. Using a Zoom Ultra Speed Craw makes for a smaller (and cheaper) variant of this technique. I also like the aforementioned flukes and for heavier tackle, paddle-tailed swimbaits rigged weedless on a weighted swimbait hook. Like a Fat Impact 3.8" on say a 1/8-1/4oz hook. They cast far, get down quickly (and look good doing so), and can be slow-rolled along the bottom or burned shallow.

Two questions, first, what power rod do you guys run the 3 and 4 sized ones on? I use them all the time for white perch in the 1/16-1/8oz range and throw them on an L or UL spinning rod but feel like they "tax" the rod on the retrieve and put more bend in the rods then an equally heavy crank or jig. My smallmouth rods are a ML/F (1/16-3/8) spinning and L/MF (1/16-3/8) casting rods. Which sizes would work best with them? I am not worried about damaging my rods, but more that they become hard to steer around cover when the rod is strained. Second, have any of you tried them with a single hook? I am moving all my perch spinners over as too many tiny fish were just smashing the lure and wrecking themselves on the trebles. And also because I catch pickerels in the same waters and I dislike keeping them in my lap for a second longer then needed. I have not noticed a decrease in hookups after I switched over, even with a single hook the perch more or less hook themselves as both rods have a bit of bend to them during the retrieve and I would like to switch any larger ones over as well if possible.

That is interesting. I fish another small river right about a mile long pool caused by an old dam. I have never caught anything in the pool before, but can do quite well in the shallow upper area. I might try fishing the pool over the winter.

Yea, they are great. I just happened to buy some very early on in my fishing career and just love them. I do use glue most of the time when I am using elaztech plastics. I have a small bottle of glue with a brush applicator and add it as needed. I have vague plans to try and tye a small keep onto them but have yet to actually do it. For normal plastics I never bother, I just reset the baits all the time. I mostly only use them with the smaller Keitech swimbaits and they usually lose their tail before the heads become too loose. I also like them a weedless jig for small tubes. Other than that I prefer the 1/16" Ketich Shakey head or a Confidence Baits Draggin head for all my other finesse plastic needs.

I fish the 4' Impacts on 1/16oz Owner Ultra heads with a 1/0 hook. It still leaves plenty of the body free to kick at low speed. Decoy makes a line og jigheads called "Nailbomb" that is similar but has a longer shank than the Ultras and a more vertical line tie. I also like them a good bit but have yet to do a real side by side test with the Owners.

Got this guy on one of the small trout magnets. The pic in my AV is what the jig head looked like after. Broke my rod tip getting him out of the canal, but it was worth it to catch my first smallie in the middle of Washington DC.

I keep a glue bottle with a little brush in the lid in my tackle sling. I carry it to glue ned heads on he fly or to repair baits if needed. I sometimes brush a bit on my knot, but usualy only when I am perch/pickeral fishing and using 4-6lb braid to like a 10-12lb leader. On my kayak in the bright sun It is really hard to tell if I have the Alberto tied perfecty in such thin braid.

Hah, well I love hiking but hate camping so I never rough it too badly. My idea camping scenero would involve about five mules full of gear.

I do a ton of hiking in the winter, the lack of ticks and thorns is very nice. I also plan to do some wading this winter and see what's still biting. I mean, the fish have to still be in the water somewhere in all the small rivers around here.

Can some who has a 15lb boga grip do me a favor? I am trying to get an idea about the size of it but can't find a good picture online. I would love a shot next to a dollar bill or something common like that. I want a scale/grip to use when shore fishing but I just take a tiny fly fishing sling with me and don't have a ton of room or like to carry a ton of weight. thanks.

If you fish it right at your feet it is really apparent when you have it on straight. I am always searching for the perfect hook that lets me dart it quick but also keep it deep and the Zoop Supers are pretty resilient in terms of holding up to re-hooking so you can just keep messing with it until you have it right.

Actually I travel a ton for work and all my fishing stuff is paid for out of per diem or reimbursement checks. It isn't quite "free money", but by the time I spend it months later, it feels really good not to see a dip in my checking balance whenever a box lures shows up at the house.

Flukes are my favorite plastic to fish. Here are the my main three: The Zoom Supers weigh a little over 1/4oz and fall slowly and dart around in place very well. They are pretty durable, inexpensive, and work on light tackle The D-shads weight a little under 3/8oz and fall a bit faster then a senko. They do have that wiggle on the fall but I have a hard time keeping them in place and working them slowly. The Caffeine Shads are pushing 1/2oz and fall even faster than the D-shads and also have a nice wiggle, but fall a bit too fast imho. I use them when I want to get deep quickly.

Yea, I too have really never fished the ika, despite owning a few packs of them. I used them a few times with no hits, then another time where I was getting bit, but my rod was not up to making the hooksets. They are on the list for next year.

It is all pretty flat here in the coastal areas. Mostly you have thorns and ticks, so so many ticks. It is too built up for to allow enough hunting to keep the deer populations under control so I go through like $25 worth of spray per month and still get hit bad once or twice a season. We also have bad erosions problems so a lot of the rivers have steep and muddy banks, so most people stick to the more easy to access spots. The first time I went to Colorado and walked right down to a river without dealing with thorns or a slick bank I thought I was on another planet.

Please report back when you use it some. The 14lb does cast very very well and is proving workable if frustrating on an UL spinning combo.

Central Maryland is very very built up with little sizable open space, but there are some hidden gems. I have a great one I found over the summer, it's a gorgeous pond that is a 4 mile round trip hike from any legal parking. The illegal option involves some advanced off-roading or a pretty awful rail crossing up a thorny bank. I am so excited for spring.

Have you used the G-soul before? I didn't read carefully and bought some of the 14lb, which is so thin I can barely hold it to tie a knot once my thumbs get roughed up. I want to try it for real, but I can't decide what size to get or what application to use it for.

Oh man I love running into someone else fishing when I am out in the boonies. It gives me hope that there might actually be fish there! Also then we can pick ticks off each other's heads.

The Stroker hooks are great, but once you get used to the Owner center pin screwlocks, nothing else satisfies. It's easy enough to swap them in, but I wish they were offered as an upgrade.

I bought a pack of the finesse size ones at the beginning of last year. I wanted to use them as sort of a tube substitute for smallmouth in a river I fish, so I stuck one on a 1/0 twistlock and cast it out. If I hadn't given up and reeled it in, I think it would still be drifting to the bottom to this very day. I stuck the rest of them on small 1/16oz jigheads and they perform about the same as any other small tube. Now that I know a little more, I might pick up a pack of the full-size ones to see how they do verse the ika.