jimmyjoe

Had an hour or two this PM, and thought I'd go fishing for pike in the river. The river is low, so I found a sand bar just off a current cut. The water was only two feet (or so) deep. Pike love these as ambush places. Threw in a spinnerbait ..... and caught two big bass! No pike. There was deeper water nearby. There were blowdowns nearby. There was riprap fairly close. But the bass were on the sandbar, and in only two feet of water. That's a very exposed position. Anyone got any idea why there? jj

I started using tubes this year, and those were the ones I chose. I tried T-rigging them, and had no luck. But now I use the 1/8 oz. tube jigs, and the combination works great. jj

Y'know, I never thought of that, but ...... trolling for bass? Walleye, sure. Bass? ? jj

That would explain my wife's sweater collection! ? jj

FWIW, science tells us that bass see green and red as colors, the same way we see them. Everything else is grey scale. Grey scale shows up like B&W photos; very fine contrast. So bass see red, green and highly refined black-and-white, But that's just the appearance of the lure or bait. There's also the consideration of the contrast of the lure compared to its surroundings, and (for a moving lure) reflectivity. Forage creatures don't survive by being standouts. They survive by blending in. Couple those considerations with water displacement being more important than visibility (in my opinion), and the game can get complicated. jj

Evidently American Pondweed has a good side: https://magnoliafisheries.com/american-pondweed-the-good-guy-in-your-pond/ jj

I use 6 "colors", or actually contrasts; dark, medium dark, medium, medium light, light and redhead. I hop them over mud or sand bars in the rivers, but retrieve them steady in lakes. My favorites are Johnson Thinfisher and these: http://www.elkenlures.com/zonar.htm jj

I really hated braids .... including 832 ..... because I used them on spinning reels. Braid builds up twist differently than monofilaments, and the birds-nest or wind knot on braid is worse and more sudden than monofilaments. But I recently got into using braid on a baitcaster for a frog rig. I tried Power Pro, but it was so noisy that I couldn't hear myself think ..... not that I think much at my age. ? Changed to 832, and my, oh my! Quiet and great distance! The only negative is a negative with all the braids I've used or seen used, and that's tip wrap. Not really a biggie. The only other braid I'd like to use, just to see what it's like, it the YGK family of braids that @Team9nine mentioned. Unfortunately, no retailer near me stocks them ...... which is another plus for 832. You can find it just about anywhere. jj

Just idly scanning Falcon Expert rods. They have a 7'-08" Medium Heavy that's SLOW action. I haven't used a slow action rod for over 50 years, and when I did, it was a cheap fly rod and definitely not a MH casting rod. What is the intended use for this rod? Thnx. jj

I know. That's why I included the adjective "acceptable". ? jj

"Personal repertoire of confusion", huh? That's not fishing, that's LIFE! ? jj

Amen, brother! Been there, done that and more than once! I'm experimenting with a H/F rod and braided line to see whether I can get it to stop. jj

Occam's Razor at work! jj

Yeah ...... and? Which rod is it on? Which line are you using? How heavy are the swimbaits? How long have you had it? Any downsides to it? C'mon, man! Out with it! This is a FISHING FORUM!!!! It's not like we're disinterested third parties here! ??? jj

Please see Tom's post below. ? jj

Lakes definitely can turn over when water temps reach the low-to-mid 60's. Lakes can also turn over before the junk from the bottom rises to the top. jj

You're correct. I should have written, ".... for comparison purposes within a brand." You may castigate me unremittingly. ? ? ? jj

If one car maker has their speedometers printed to 120 mph and another car maker has their speedometers printed to 140 mph, is one car faster than the other? Not necessarily. That's the problem with "fast" and "moderate fast"..... or even "moderate". There's no industry standard, and most descriptions are just for advertising purposes within a brand. You need to actually try them out to get a definitive answer. jj

TranX 300A is a veritable beast! jj

Alan Hawk has commented in the past about spinning reels that have the axis of the spool aimed at the stripper guide vs. ones that don't. I don't remember which brands and models were under discussion. I myself have noticed line hitting the stripper guide unevenly in the past. I didn't like it. jj

That's when I start using my thumb! BTW, @Catt ..... you said you have landed 35 double-digit bass on a Calcutta reel that only has 11 lbs. of drag. Which reel are you using that has 20+ lbs. of drag? (Inquiring minds want to know. ? ) jj

The only Seaguar fluorocarbon I have ever seen (and I haven't seen everything) has been leader material, not mainline. Leader material is liable to be much, much different than mainline. Is there a fluorocarbon mainline from Seaguar that is labelled Salmon/Steelhead? jj

1) At about 1/3 of their rated drag, most reels start to "chatter" and lose their smoothness. For holding a fish on a treble, that's dangerous. For a large single hook, not quite so much. Lots and lots of big fish are caught (and lost) on treble hooks. As @Captain Phil has said, you can put duct tape on your thumb and use that for drag. That's a pretty good drag. Some fishermen don't want to do that, though. 2) Monofilament lines, fluorocarbon or nylon, are susceptible to abrasion. They also weaken from a backlash (especially fluoro). 3) There are knots that guarantee 100% knot strength, but most fishermen don't use them, especially in a hurry. This is especially true of braid, which is reported to have roughly 45-50% intrinsic knot strength. 4) revolving spool reels ("drum" reels) work on tangential feed. This means that as the spool rotates around to the point you want the line to come off, the line has to be ready to lift off the spool. If the centrifugal force is not great enough, the line buckles, and you have a backlash. If the centripetal force is not great enough, the line "fluffs" excessively, and you have a backlash. So you have to have the correct line characteristics for the way you want to cast, on the reel that you have. The only characteristic you can vary easily is line diameter. You need to find the right diameter for your reel, your weight of lure, and your casting velocity with the line you've chosen. If that diameter corresponds to 20 lb. mono (or 10, or 14) then so be it. Same with braid; the correct line diameter might be 40 test, and it might be 80 test. 5) Revolving spool (or revolving drum) reels that have brakes need to follow a curve of resistance (roughly) that starts high at the beginning of the cast (for control) and then gradually feeds down during the rest of the cast. If it didn't gradually reduce the braking effect, your cast would be about 1/3 of its potential. Larger diameter lines feed down into the spool supply at a higher rate, sustaining a higher RPM, and therefore a higher sustained braking effect at the end of the cast. Just watch people using a baitcaster sometime; the two parts of the cast during which they backlash most often are the very beginning and the very end. So if you find a line you like and it backlashes every time you try for distance, either reduce the amount of line on the spool or move to a higher diameter ..... and therefore test. So in essence, there are lots of reasons to use different lines .... even heavy ones. Good luck! ? jj

The bean counters just can't get it through their heads that algorithms don't produce acceptable quality. Not in reels, not in shoes and not in airplanes. jj

"Poorer weather, better fishing. Better weather, poorer fishing." From my Dad, b. 1902. Looks like things haven't changed. ? jj