fishwizzard

How are you fishing the Leech? Drop shot? It looks like an amazing panfish/trout lure, but I cannot figure out how to rig it for them.

Thanks for the input guys. I am not "settled" on MC but am now really leaning that way. I want this rod to be sub $150 as I am not sure if my idea is going to pan out like I hope it will. For domestic rods, only St Croix offers rods that short, but in stiffer actions then I was looking at. My though is that a low-end JDM rod will be easier to resell if my plan fails or succeeds enough that I want a custom rod made. I was somewhat worried about the mod/fast action, as I want to use this rod for plastics in addition to jerkbaits, but we shall see.

I finally caught one of the bruisers in Allen Pond that have been taunting me for a year now. There were four or five of them cruising around in the shallows by the bank/wall. Yesterday I threw a jointed jerkbait, a t-rigged worm, and a senko both ways at them to no effect. Returned today with a slow-sink jig. I got nothing for about 45 min, then saw the school again and pitched my jig about 10' in-front of them. It got hit right away. A bit later I caught this smaller one on a chatterbait also tight to the bank. I have never had much luck there, but it is so close to my house I go once a month or so. I am going to hit it up more often this winter and try to jig around the deep part more and ignore the better looking natural shoreline that has never produced much for me.

In my quest to find a short (6'-6'6") ML casting rod I have found that Major Craft has a bunch of different lines all at around the $109-150 price point. They are all rated 3/16-1/2oz and are 6'3". I am seeing Basspara, Go Emotion, and Benkei lines all offered in this rating, legnth, and price. Does anyone have any experence or knowledge about these rods? thanks.

Reins Bubbling Shaker, 4": t-rigged weightless and worked like a fluke or rigged on a 1/16oz Keitech shakyhead jig. 4" Plasmatail, Easy Shiner, Sexy Impact, all also rigged on the 1/16 Keitech. It is a great jighead and is well worth the price, everything I tried on it caugh me fish. Rage Menace Grub; weightless on a 3/0 Owner straight shank. Can't say enough good things about this plastic, I set out to fish senkos a lot this year but the Menace just killed them in both numbers and size. Ned Rig; a cut down Hula Stick on a 1/20oz head worked the best in current, a 1/2 Zlinker on a 1/16oz head worked best in still water.

This thread has come at a good time for me, if not my wallet. I have never seriously fished hard baits before and decided to start with jerkbaits. I have a small pile of the Rapala CD and J series headed my way to practice with before I spend on more expensive ones. Now that the undergrowth has thinned out I can get at a lot more river bank then in the summer, so I am going to try an "all jerkbait" day soon.

I have a pair of Costa Zanes in Amber that I really like, except for how easily they fog up. This happens with every pair of curved glasses that I have ever owned. I have a big fat head and it is hard to find ones that fit and have a flat front. I just picked up a pair of Smith Optics with the "transition" style ignightor lenses. I got them for a steal, $80 for $250 msrp glasses. I really like them as, but they are comically too small for my face, so to the trade pile they go.

Yea, I have really been liking these as my "heavy fluke" option. They jerk well and wiggle like a senko on the fall. They seem far more durable then a sanko as well.

Another reason I like peddle drives is training and endurance. Paddling a kayak uses a lot of muscle groups that are hard to exercise without a gym or large home machine, while a peddle drive can be simulated by an inexpensive stationary bike. I don't get out on the water nearly as much as I would like to, so my paddling endurance isnt great, but I can always fit in a few hours a week on the bike, which translates to a much better time on the water. I sometimes fish with a local yak group, most of who's members are a at least a decade or more older then I. The strength and endurance these old guys have is incredible and it is very embarrassing how much they can out pace me when heading back to the launch.

Hah, I want a finesse Menace, maybe 2-2.5", assuming that the flappers sill work that small. But who knows what factor or combo of factors make the lure so good and who knows what change will kill the mojo. Right now the weightless action is so great that I cant really complain and I think the size is a good compromise between big enough to attract large fish but small enough for numbers.

You better sneak up on it while it's sleeping to put that plug in. Maybe up your life insurance before hand as well.

IMHO it's your fault for not reading the manual where it clearly states to keep it in shallow water.

I would love a drive that kicks up when you hit an obstruction, a reversible rudder control (I want to swap the one on my Slayer, but I have yet to meet someone with long and slim enough arms to help), instant reverse, and some kind of horizontal rod storage without making the boat a huge pig. I also want a pony. The pony will also poop green pumpkin w/ red flake senkos.

I do want to add that I am always envious of the Hobie guys and their ability to hold the fins tight to the hull and glide through skinny water. I am not sold on their reverse yet, but I can see the argument for them over the Native for a skinny water boat.

For my "fancy" yak I went with a Slayer Propel 10. My reasons were weight (60lb hull weight), small size (I like being able to maneuver in tight areas), and the reverse. I use the reverse all the time, to help fighting a fish out of cover, to maintain position in the wind, and to maneuver around docks. I keep a 4-part paddle stowed in the hull and have found that between the pedal drive and a small hand paddle, I never need to get it out. I have a had a few low speed collisions with rocks, branches, and rebar, and so far no damage. I do miss being able to beach myself without pulling the drive, but the benefits have outweighed the downsides so far. It is more or less a bathtub with rodholders and I suspect as I get more comfortable with kayaking in general I will get a second boat more suited to bigger water, but for now it works for me. This is from it's maiden voyage, on a weird 60f day last January:

I use a 6' custom ML/F (although it is more of a Light Medium rather then a Medium Light, if that makes sense) for the 3.5" Swing Impacts and it works great. They are a skinny, soft plastic and the bass hit them super hard and tend to hook themselves even when t-rigged weedless. I use that same rod for a lot of weightless plastics and have never had an issue setting the hook if I use light wire hooks.

I had looked at the Premier Line, but I have a 6' L Premier and it feels a lot heavier then other L rods that I have fished. This rod will be sort of a trial run for an eventual custom rod, so I want to see if a true "medium" will work for what I have in mind. EDIT: I saw that St Croix is selling a 6'6" M/F TRIUMPH X for $60. I have a 5" UL/M from that line, but it is such an odd rod that I don't know if I have a good picture of the Triumph line from it. Anyone know how they fish? It's longer then I want, but the price is right.

I also see the wisdom of swapping rods and reels around. I already do so for my L and UL gear, as I have different lengths and speed rods for different lures or locations. For bass, I am trying to hold myself to two spinning combos and four casting combos. My house is small so a double sided 12 spot rack is all I can fit and my panfish/perch/cat/surf combos take up one side, leaving only 6 for bass stuff. Reels are easy to store, but I would rather spend money on more spools, which I can keep in the car. I also have a pile of unloved rods but I am not quite ready to get rid of them all.

Hi, I am looking for a 6' M/F or XF casting rod. I want to use it for 5" senkos and flukes as a primary use with smaller cranks and spinner baits as a secondary use. I am looking for a sub $150 rod as I am not sure if going that short is going to work how I hope it will. I prefer split grips but am not super picky. Short casting rods are hard to find, other then pistol grip ones, which is a whole other project The Daiwa Procyons have caught my eye as they are available for well under $100 but I cant find much info about them. It looks like Daiwa has a few different lines of cheaper rods but again, info is thin. Thanks

I fish for white perch a lot and have the most luck with small spinnerbaits or inline spinners. Chartruse seems to be the magic color around here.

Unfortunately you are about at the limit of my knowledge relating to tiny fishing. I would say that unless anyone else can chime in, just read the amazon reviews and spend what you are comfortable "wasting" if the rod is pure garbage. In any case, amazon has a great return policy, so if the rod is truly faulty, you can eventually get your money back. For line, I would get a 200ish yard spool of the smallest line you can tie comfortably. My lower limit is about 4lb mono and 6lb braid. If you are looking for a rugged inexpensive reel, the Okuma Avenger line is good for the money and my little 500 sized one has survived some awful abuse and still keeps catching. It is a very small spool, so I am not sure how mono would work on it, I use 6lb braid on mine with a leader.

I also used them almost exclusively before I found the Owner Twistlocks and Cutting Point straight shanks worm hooks. I still like the Skip gaps because I some times like to swap a senko between t-rig and wacky while walking the bank and the twistlocks are not great as wacky hooks and tear up the worm more if you remove and reattach it a few times. The skip gap you can just roll the worm 45d and get a good grab 2-3 times.

I have started using steel weights when I want a light weight but a larger size, usually to protect the nose of a t-rigged plastic and prolong it's life. However, I have yet to find a quality steel weight and the cheap ones fray my line. I use two bobber stops to insure it don't move but it still happens. I wonder if brass would be better? At the very least brass will be easier to buff and smooth then steel.

This is the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/Retractable-Sections-Telescopic-Blue-Fishing/dp/B005TF1OW4/ref=sr_1_24?s=hunting-fishing&ie=UTF8&qid=1476028163&sr=1-24&keywords=tenkara There are many others in that range if you click around for a bit. Remember that this is a sub $10 rod and it fishes like it, it's main advantage over a length of bamboo is portability, if I was fishing at home I think I might rather use the bamboo as it might have better action. But as a dip pole it works well enough and I can make some crude casts with it. I think I use 10 or 12 sized hooks, I literally just bought the smallest one that looked like I could hold comfortably with my fat little fingers. With dexterity and patience (which I both lack) smaller hooks would work. I find that the long shank/short bend hooks are best for the fish as you can rarely not get one out. I also pinch the barbs for the same reason. For bait I either use trout/crappy bites or any of the 1" Gulp baits. I also started trying little flys on the same hooks, using bits of flash and feathers I had from a perch jig project. If you look around the net there is a lot of diy mico-fishing stuff out there and if you can walk to your spot then almost anything is worth trying, minnows don't seem too picky. Google "paracord fly fishing lure" and you will find a ton of ideas,

To keep myself sane, I try to limit myself to four colors per lure type. I do a light and a dark, (so like a black/junebug and white) and a "natural" and "annoying". The latter two depend on what the lure is trying to mimic. I tend to start natural/dark, then move to light/annoying if I am not getting hits. There is obviously some overlap depending on the lure, but it seems to be working ok so far, and I only end up with four bags of each plastic. The only way I have managed to "test" color is with schooling white perch. I can catch fish after fish on a chartreuse spinner, but if I tie on a brown one the bite dies off, but then changing back to chartreuse it will pick back up.