MassYak85

I've never had the knot actually break once I learned how to correctly tie it, since it will be stronger than any knot you tie to the actual lure, but if you are not finishing the knot correctly it can come undone and unravel while fishing it like you describe. What I do is tie a series of overhand knots after finishing the main wraps. That way even if it does start to unravel, it's the extra wraps, and not the part of the knot actually holding the two lines together. And NO. You do not need to retie often. I've had the same leader knot on some setups for weeks and even months at times. If I fished tournaments I would retie more often but the knot had never failed me, so I don't. Now obviously if I notice the knot is starting to look beat up I will retie. But if you tie it right, that knot should never break. If you hang up, lock down your drag, and pull hard, either the line should snap at some nick or fray in it, or the knot you tied to your lure should fail.

I'll try that, thnaks

I'm currently studying plastics engineering and for one of our projects we had to design and print a"chess piece". I did a small "replica" of round reel on a stand, I'd upload a picture if I had one. The piece was pretty small though so many of the finer details didn't print that well. Yours is pretty cool though. You can actually use it, I can't lol. We did a lot of that rotating a function around an axis and finding volume last semester too. Cool to see it put to practical use.

Either the Uni, Palomar, or Improved Clinch for tying lures. FG for leaders. Sometimes snell for hooks.

On ponds with stumps I usually tie on to one of them. My issue is on some lakes there is little cover besides the shoreline, so if I want to fish a drop off that's in 10-20 feet of water in the wind it's a real pain if the anchor doesn't hold.

Awesome catch! I also matched my personal best this year. 5.40lb's exactly both times. Different lakes though so it wasn't the same fish.

It is sad to see all the trash at some of these places. I do my best to pick up line people leave laying around, if nothing else so that birds and other animals don't get tangled in it.

Wow Kieth! Sounds like an awesome day. I was debating going out this afternoon in my kayak but I was a little tired and didn't want to deal with anchoring in the wind. Looks like I should have gone out.

I've switched to mono backing just to save cost on line. There really is little downside, just make sure not to add so much backing that you are getting down to your connection knot on a long cast.

A softer frog, bending the hooks a little bit, and even adding a stinger hook can help with hookups but will all make the frog less weedless. Generally frog fishing is one of the worst techniques in terms of hookup ratio, it's just something you have to deal with for the most part. Also make sure to feel the weight of the fish (seems like you have that down) before setting the hook. Otherwise you are liable to pull it away from them before they really have it, as sometimes they will completely miss, or just pull it under by the legs.

I'm thinking I also might not be letting out enough anchor line. I most definitely do not use the 7:1 ratio a lot. I've probably been doing more like 5:1. I'll try that and the chain and see how it goes.

Thanks Darren. I have a make-do stakeout pole I use but I generally use the anchor when trying to stay put in 10+ feet of water. I might try adding 2 feet of chain to the anchor and see if that helps keep it stuck to the bottom.

For those of you who fish from your kayaks, what do you use for an anchor? I use one similar to this: ...but I have had some issues. In high winds it does not hold unless it gets wedged into a rock or a log. Even in thick vegetation it will just drag and uproot whatever it catches. Anyone have better luck with a different type?

This is important too. I usually do about 20-25 when using a 30# braid to 12# fluoro leader. Plus about 10 overhand knots to finish it. So around 30-35 wraps in all. Exactly. The FG knot is the thinnest, but also probably the longest leader knot. But I don't think the length of the knot is ever going to cause issues whereas the width of the knot might. Especially if you are having the knot go through small guides or even through the line guide into the reel.

Here in Mass it seems like there is a couple weeks of overlap. Where you will still have males on beds while the bluegills start.

Agree. For the most part it's only braid and leaders except for frogs/punching/thick vegetation, then it's straight braid. I use straight fluoro on my jig/t-rig set up for the slack line sensitivity but that's about it. If I ever get a dedicated cranking rod I might do straight copoly.

I use 12lb all the time and I have no issues. However that's with 30lb braid. The higher diameter braid might have more of an issues biting into the leader. It's a great knot once you get it down. Used Uni-Uni for years and will never go back .

Classic carp behavior

Generally I avoid talking to any of the sales associates at Bass Pro for advice on things. I go in the store knowing what I need. Some guys might give you great tips, some might just try to sell you stuff, and some might have no idea what they're talking about.

A pack of bass pro stick-o's and some EWG hooks is enough to start the addiction. From there you better find a good job.

Almost always, unless it's a complete dink, the first "tick" that you feel on the line is them completely inhaling it, so you should swing when you feel that. When I fish them I usually let them sink all the way to the bottom on completely slack line. I use braid + flouro leader so my line sits on the water and I can watch it travel on the surface as the worm sinks. Actually, my favorite thing in bass fishing is watching that telltale "speed up" or "twitch" the line does on the surface when a fish has it. It's like the equivalent of watching your bobber go under as a kid. If I see that happening, I reel up the slack and set the hook. Now if it gets to the bottom and I don't suspect one has it, I reel up the slack and feel the senko for a second. If there is any extra pressure or my line starts swimming off to one side I set the hook. If I am actively working the senko and twitching it on a slow retrieve, or if there is too much wind to watch the line on the surface, I usually don't swing as soon as I feel the tick, I make sure I feel some of the weight of the fish first.

The first couple seasons when I was first understanding bass behavior I completely missed the spawn too. It's only been the last two years really where I've been able to capitalize on it. Spawn is wrapping up here too right now. A few still on beds, but mostly males. Water termps getting up to and exceeding 65. One day I saw the surface temp hit 70.

I had something pretty cool happen today from shore. So back story, last time I took my kayak out I noticed a 4/0 EWG weighted swimbait hook on the ramp when I was taking my kayak out of the pond after fishing. I ended up keeping it, not that I really needed it but hey, it's free. Today me and a friend went fishing from shore at a couple places. The last place we stopped at I rigged him up a little 4" swimbait with that same hook. About 5 minutes in, he sets the hook and the line goes slack. I was kind of surprised since I had just retied it for him. But I rigged him up another and we kept fishing. About five minutes later I get a bite on my scatter rap. It was about a 2ft pickerel. When I was going to unhook it, I notice something in it's mouth. It's that same swimbait my friend broke off. It was almost completely in it's stomach but amazingly the entire thing slid out easily. So I got that back, tied it onto my rod since the scatter rap bite died, and got another one on it.

What do you guys who use backing usually use for mono? All I've used so far is random stuff I have lying around. Does anyone consistently use one thing?

Personally I do prefer one that hunts in open water, but around cover I don't think it matters.