MassYak85

I never really understood why some people use spinnerbaits and chatter baits interchangeable. To me they have completely different strengths. Usually I fish spinnerbaits for the flash of the blades, when they are going after schools of baitfish, and chatter baits for the vibration, usually in dirtier water.

Same ban in mass, it blows. I've never even seen a loon in the state but oh well, got to save the minuscule non-native population we have I guess. I transitioned all my bullet weights to tungsten this year. It sucks though because some things just aren't made in lead-free alternatives. I have yet to find a ned-rig jig in tungsten yet, and stuff like *** jigs are only made out of lead. I'm pretty sure if any bird swallows a 3/4 bass jig with a 5/0 hook on it, whether it is lead or not is not going to matter too much, it's probably going to die. If they wanted to cut down on the lead poisoning issue they should have only targeted sinkers with the ban IMO. Also, does anyone know how they actually check whether it is lead or not? Pretty much all weights I have, lead or not, are painted. I would assume they would need to damage or destroy the lure/weight in order to test it, and if they are wrong and it wasn't lead....I'm guessing they are not going to reimburse you.

I haven't been getting to fish as much as I would like lately. Was out Saturday with my dad and his friend. Fishing was slow, had to rig up some carolina rigs and slowly crawl them to get any bites. Had to rig up my dad's friend a 1/20 ounce ned rig with like half an inch off a zoom trick worm to get him a fish, he caught a sunfish on it. Hey, better than nothing. I hope to start fishing some nights in my kayak soon. I'm getting some lightweight longsleeve clothing to deal with the mosquitos.

Improved clinch or uni is all I use for mono/fluoro.

I believe others have said this before but River2Sea really needs to make a 110 size. A perfect medium between the nice snack size of the 90 without the issues associated with it.

I just sent them an email describing my experience. I didn't beg them for another spool, but said I hope it was just a bad spool and that I was very reluctant to get any more based off this experience. If they send me another great, if not I might try some 832. I have some cheap bass pro xps dark green braid lying around that hasn't done me wrong and I will probably put that on in the meantime so I can still use the rod. But one way or another I need some more quality 15lb his-vis braid.

I've had days where the only difference between what me and a friend were using was that I had a leader, and he didn't, and I caught a heck of a lot more fish (just fan casting over weeds, not a ton of actual skill required) on the same lure as he did. That being said I have also used straight braid for years and have only recently started using leaders, and I did fine back then. I'd be comfortable using straight braid for most applications unless it's some kind of finesse technique on a day they are really finicky, then I might not, but that's probably more of a confidence thing than anything. Whether or not the fish see it or not, using a leader has other advantages too such as abrasion resistance.

Update After using the line more I am going to cut it off and spool on some 10lb braid I have lying around until I can find a replacement. I kept getting wind knots, no matter the conditions, and it still feels rough going through the guides. I want to like the stuff but having to cut off 30 feet of line every 50 casts because of giant wind knots (That I can't even undo like is usual when I use normal PP) is unusable to me. I'm going to send them an email about it and see what they say, if they offer up another spool I will try it out but if they don't, or that spool is equally as terrible, I will probably never touch the stuff again.

Glad it's working for you man

Yea I've got both, but I want to be able to set up a light that isn't on my head, so bugs aren't dive bombing my face. I will definitely do some fishing from shore too.

If it continues I will probably contact them. Also, for some reason, it seems to be "rougher" going through my spinning rod guides than regular power pro. I'll give it a few weeks on the rod and see how it performs going forward. Worst case I just cut it all off if it gives me nightmares. I'm hoping it proves me wrong though.

That's something I honestly haven't done a lot of, I might try it more this summer from my kayak if I can get some safety stuff rigged up for it.

Dude you're killing them. Seems like every other time you post you are getting a fish bigger than my personal best (5.4).

Do any of you use this line? I recently bought some to try on my spinning set up, and so far I am not very impressed. I really like regular power pro braid, but first time out this let me down pretty hard. To start, when tying knots the braid almost seemed to separate and fray a little while tightening them, then right off the bat I got two wind knots that I was not able to get out whatsoever, that never happens with regular power pro for me. After those two the line behaved for the next hour I was out fishing from shore but I don't have too much faith in the stuff at the moment. I'm going to leave it on and see if this continues. Anyone have similar issues, or do you think I just got a bad spool?

I've only ordered parts from them once, but when I did, not only did they waive the cost of the parts (it was my fault I broke this particular part but they didn't even ask how it broke), but they sent it priority mail and I got it in like 2-3 days.

From a kayak usually anything between 15-20 is my my limit. It's just too unmanageable for me to paddle to where I think the fish will be, and then finding a place where the anchor or stakeout pole will hold can be a challenge. Plus in that range, depending on the lake, whitecaps can start forming and depending on the direction I have to paddle back to the ramp at, it can be a little dangerous.

Went for a paddle on Whitehall today, saw some guy's truck getting towed out of the lake when I got to the ramp. Remember those parking brakes everyone!

Nice Fish! Although this post isn't helping my continued effort to avoid dropping 40 bucks on an MS slammer....

It does hurt to start drilling in, but I must have 20+ holes in mine now from all the stuff I have added and never had any issues with any of them.

I "needed" a new finesse spinning setup (to be fair I kind of did need it since my old medium heavy is not equipped for light techniques). So I picked up a pflueger supreme size 30, and a Fenwick Elite Tech Bass ML-XF 6'10". Balances out VERY nicely. Now I am just waiting for a TW shipment that has the line for the reel (15lb Power Pro yellow braid) and a few other goodies to try on the new setup.

Glad you like them, they are pretty pricey but they work very well.

Nice fish there man. I've seen similar things with thunderstorms as well, it's really cool. I was on vacation in Maine last year and there were thunderstorms rolling through. After they had passed us I was looking at the radar and waaaaay south Boston was getting a really strong one. We could actually see the some of the flashes in the tops of the thunderheads as it moved off the coast from Boston.

I hear you on that last paragraph. I swear, anytime I paddle to the other side of a lake to fish, I am against the wind, and JUST before I head back to the ramp, it switches direction and I have to paddle against it AGAIN. Itr has happened so many times it's ridiculous. Last time I was out I let it get me mad and I called it a day after just two fish. I knew I was going to be miserable if I stayed out so I just went home. Fishing should be fun, and when it stops being that way I am not going to stay out.

Lews Speed Spool LFS

I fished buckmaster a few years back in my kayak and was talking to this one guy on the bank. He said he got a 10lber out of there on a frog once. It would surprise me if there are still any that big in there though.