jimmyjoe

No attempt to threadjack here, just a word of advice: if you get the Curado 70, clean out the bearings or have a professional do it. It seems to make a greater difference with the 70 than it does with larger reels. jj

@J Francho brought up a point I didn't know, namely the one about some fish routinely staying below the thermocline. We have no salmonids where I fish, but I had thought that one local lake, which was quite deep, had yellow bass regularly hooked below the 16-foot thermocline. I wonder whether there are other species which orient themselves to the thermocline differently than bass. It might be possible to use their presence or absence as a "marker" for DO. Just another reason not to abandon river fishing. ? jj

It's always seemed natural to me, because it was the way I learned. I guess old habits are always considered "normal". But setting the hook with casting gear is weaker and slower for me than setting the hook with spinning gear. The speed and "snap" I can get out of spinning, which I use on my strong side, benefits me a lot for twitching and snapping lighter lures. jj

There are people who believe nylon and fluorocarbon stretch too much, so they want to use braid. Some of these people tie braid direct, but some of them believe their braid is too visible, so they use a leader. Some use a fluoro leader, some use a mono leader. Some people use straight nylon or fluoro with no problems. Only use, time on the water and outlay (unfortunately) of cash are going to tell you which type of fisherman you are. No shortcuts to find our personal preferences on this one! Good luck! jj

I don't particularly like micro guides on casting rods, but from all I've seen of the guys I fish with, micro guides are less likely to break or dislodge than macro or regular. jj

You'll have to invest in a new tip-top (they're not much) to find out whether the rod is still usable. I would guess that yes, it is. Maybe not fantastic, but usable. That would be the best combination for rods to give you the best power of the BC and the best finesse of the spinning. jj

You haven't used braid on spinning, and you've mentioned 20 lb. braid (832) on casting. So it's obvious you're new to braid, and MAYBE new to casting. You also aren't familiar with line-to-line knots. You told us that you "heard that you should get a FC leader when you fish braid". DO NOT believe everything that you hear. For right now, you should go to 40 lb. test (or higher) braid on you casting reel. Pay attention to diameter, NOT pounds of test. The higher diameter braid will feed better off a revolving spool reel, and it also won't dig in quite as badly. I'd suggest .014" diameter minimum. And go DIRECT BRAID, with no leader, at least FOR NOW. Not down the line, but just for now. If you add in the problem of a leader knot to the process of learning to cast braid (nylon is easier) I think you'll just add to your frustration. This fishing thing is supposed to be enjoyable, not frustrating .... especially when you're starting. Also: you mentioned pike. I fish for bass where there are lots of pike. The only leader that's really practical where there are pike is a steel or bronze metal leader. Metal leaders can be a drag on lures, damping their action if the lures are real light or small. Since your new casting rod is a MH, the lures you can use will overcome the drag of a metal leader if you use heavier lures. So I suggest 3/8 oz. lures minimum, with 1/2 oz. or more being even better. You said this is the only rig that you'll be using. You'll probably want to cast soft plastic, like Senkos and worms. Casting soft plastic with braid on a baitcaster isn't the best idea when you're starting out, but you can get by. It's not going to be easy. A Carolina rig might be easier for you, because it's a little heavier. Remember: you told us that you're pretty new to all this! But if you take it careful and easy as you start, and work up incrementally, you'll get there. Many, many people have, and you can, too. GOOD LUCK! ??? jj

Like many people, I have the best luck in cooler water with jerkbaits. My all-time favorite is the Bomber 13A, which is 1/4 ounce. I use that in spring, in shallow water that's warmer than the rest of the lake. Yes, it's a floater. A lot of people really hate floating jerkbaits, especially in spring. I don't know what to tell you; it works great. I'm not going to abandon something that works great for me just because other people say it doesn't work for them. For that little baby, I use a ML/F Avid-X spinner from St. Croix. Right now I have 6 lb. Stren on it, but I have used braid in the past. I got better action out of the lure with braid, but I had problems with the braid (line twist) so I went back to nylon. Your Sierra would be perfect. As water warms up a little, I also use the Bomber 15A, which is 1/2 ounce. It's OK, but not equal to the 13A. I think this is because the 15A won't act as crazy and erratic as the 13A. Post-spawn I use the Rapala Countdown. I use the CD9 and the CD11. No, they don't have rattles. No, you can't walk the dog with them. But if you keep your rod tip a little high, you can fish them stop-and-go from 4 feet to 8 or 9 feet of depth quite successfully. I fish them with a 6'-06" Avid spinner, M/F with a Stradic 2500 and 15 lb. test PowerPro. I use that rod for other things, too, but I LOVE it for Countdowns. I also have some 7/8 oz. chinesium knockoff suspending jerkbaits that I've had for a couple years now. I regret that I got them. I've learned my lesson. I don't waste my money and time on cheap stuff. I've not caught one fish with them. I got them because I wanted to try jerkbaits with baitcasting gear. Now that's one thing you might want to consider; namely, the difference between using a spinning setup for jerkbaits and using a baitcaster. I find that using the spinning is far more effective for me, because I'm using my strong side. It makes a difference. At least to me it does. I'll be 70 next spring. A lot of things make a difference to me. ? So ... as you can see from my choice of rods, I like a stiff-tipped rod for jerkbaits. I want them to act erratic in the water. This business of "swimswimswim - pause - repeat" has gotten me fish (it's how I fish the Countdown), but not as many fish as making the Bombers go crazy with persistent and random snaps. I have no idea whether this will help you. I hope so, because catching lots of fish makes fishing a LOT more fun. ??? jj

That was the case with my Fuego. jj

I have the Fuego 2000SH and 2500SH, immediate precursors to the BG series. Spool sizes and drag specs are the same. On the 2000 size, I use no greater than ,009" mono or 10 lb. test braid. I have put a carbontex drag washer in it. On the 2500 size, I used 15 and 20 lb. test braid; that's why I originally got it. Drag washer is original. If I horse the fish around, the 2000 size with braid may slip ..... a little. With mono, I DEFINITELY tire the fish out and don't horse it. With the 2500 size, I can do just about anything I want to. It takes it, and it dishes it out. For your ML rod, I would suspect that the 2000 size is all you will ever need. I say "suspect" because different people fish different ways and expect different results. YMMV. Good luck! jj

I do something that a lot of people think is crazy, but it works for me. Maybe .... just maybe, it'll work for you. Try knots first, and get used to your casting setup. Then ....... Get a ball bearing swivel (not snap swivel) that is rated a little stronger than your leader. I use these in #0, #1 and #2. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/VMC_Ball_Bearing_Swivel/descpage-VMCBBS.html Tie to your braid, and then tie your leader to the swivel. Yes, it has to hang outside the last guide, but then again you don't need a real long leader for bass. Walleye, maybe. Not bass. This gives you several advantages. Remember that one lure that always has to "helicopter" on the cast? Remember how it would twist your line after using it little while? Well, this reduces that. You can also change your leader rather quickly compared to line-to-leader knots. Not only that, but you don't have to worry about whether the particular leader that you're thinking of using will be good with whatever particular knot that you'll choose. And best of all ..... you can use the same ol' knots that you use for tying on lures. You know ... the ones that you use now, the ones that work OK and that you already know well. I use the Pitzen and the San Diego Jam knots. So to me, there is only one downside to this arrangement, and that's that the swivel won't snake inside your tiptop, and the knots will. Once you become comfortable with using different lines and knots, then you can decide whether you want to try this or not. Good luck! ? jj

You're welcome. jj

Congratulations on your new combo! 1) Use it awhile so as to decide whether you want to stay with the 20 lb. braid or jump to 40 or 50 lb. braid. 2) Which braid BRAND is it? 3) For which purposes/tactics will this be used, and for which purposes/tactics will it NOT be used? 4) Which KNOT do you think you'll use if you want to use a leader? 5) have you used braid before on a spinning setup? With just a little info, we'll get you set up with hundreds of pieces of different, conflicting advice! ??? jj

There's NOTHING like a home-cooked meal. Period. Not even whiskey .... although that comes close! ??? jj

As far as comparing apples strictly to apples, I don't know that it can be done. But...... I had 2 MH/F casting rods, one Alconite and one titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide is about the cheapest ceramic guide insert that you can get. I also had 2 M/F spinning rods, one Alconite and one just plain stainless steel (no chrome plating or anything). I have also used about 11 other of my own rods and tried other fishermen's rods. I have been fishing aggressively in the rivers (dirty, muddy water) since before 1985. I have used braid (Spectra and nylon), fluorocarbon (very little) and all kinds and diameters of nylon monofilament. As far as wear, NONE of them other than the stainless steel have shown any wear. None at all. But as far as sensitivity ..... that's a different story. The stainless steel had very little sensitivity with mono, but was acceptably useful with braid. All the ceramic inserts were more sensitive. Naturally, they were more sensitive with braid than they were with nylon. The line made far more difference than the inserts did; my old, tattered Mitchell Classic rod with braid outdid my (then) new Avid-X with Stren. The thing is, it didn't outdo it by all that much. As far as I can tell, the blank has an enormous contribution to sensitivity, almost regardless the guides. With roughly the same construction of guide insert, I'd definitely start comparing blank material, blank construction, taper, energy absorption and settling speed. I believe that's where the sensitivity secret lies. This doesn't mean that you can saddle a fine blank with guides that are total junk and have a good rod. Remember I said, " ..... With roughly the same construction of guide insert." I meant to compare the blanks under reasonable conditions rather than compare the guides. I believe from use on the water that 1) the difference in guide insert material is negligible to nil. 2) the difference in guide SIZE (mass) is moderately important, but 3) the difference in blanks is overwhelming. And I'm not talking about the feel of hooking a fish on a steady retrieve. That's not sensitivity; that's action. Sensitivity is really only a factor in bottom contact, including jigging, feeling the hit of a fadeaway lure, figuring out minor "bumps", and twitching slow-retrieve lures. If I had Bill Gates' money, I could test my opinion here. I could get 20 or 30 different blanks, with 5 or 6 different kinds of guides on each of them, and then compare them. But I don't have that kind of money. I also don't worry about it much. Experience has taught me that what works, works. I'm not OCD ..... at least not any more. ? jj

Hey @Catt! .... what is The Cajun Navy? Are they for real, as in "Are they legitimate"? The word is that there are many fakes. How do we tell the real one? jj

Very few musicians who play stringed instruments are fishermen. They can't find rods with frets on them. ??? jj

Why is that "magic lure" always the one that they don't have? Hmmmmmmmm...... ? jj

There have always been two kinds of people in the human race. The first kind picks you up when you're down. The second kind kicks you when you're down. It doesn't take too many of the second kind to ruin your day. ☹️☹️ jj

Dang you! I've been trying to LOSE weight, not gain it! ?? jj

Do I sense an upcoming city-wide sale on firewood? ? jj

If you're throwing above the bottom, no matter which lure you're using, and you're not getting fish, then go ahead and change to what you're NOT doing; go to the bottom. jj

I don't believe that "brand" has much to do with it. If you want to reduce backlash, watch your diameter. I would go .014 (fourteen mil) and up to be safe. Yes, you can go smaller. I wouldn't. jj

There are lures where I'm finicky, and lures where I'm not. When it comes to spinnerbaits, I'm not. I use cheap spinnerbaits that look good to me and catch fish. It boils down to knowing when to use it and where to put it. jj

You know how Tennessee got its name, don't you? After God made the whole world, He gathered all the angels around and told them about all the work He had done. He pointed out one small area in particular, and told of all the special things that were there. He said, "It's heaven then, y'see." The angel that was typing all this down couldn't type fast enough without making mistakes, and he wrote, "It's heaven, tennessee." When God saw that, he thought about it a minute, and said, "Well, that's okay." So even to this day, when the angels look down from heaven, they look at one particular place and say, "It's heaven, Tennessee." True story. ?? I have no idea how they named "Kentucky". ??? jj