jimmyjoe

You guys have amazing keyboarding skills. Really. ? jj

Exactly. I "accidentally" learned jerk-and-twitch baits on a Rapala Countdown, which has no rattles. I was fishing in rivers, and quickly learned how much the effectiveness could drop with dropping water clarity. I was happy (again) when I was introduced to the Bomber Long "A", which has rattles. Even it has its limits, depending on how bad the visibility happens to be. I occasionally experiment with new lures, but those two are my ol' reliables. jj

"Features" or "cosmetics"? I had heard some things were changed, but I hadn't really paid attention. Specifically, I had heard that the safety was changed to a "push-to-fire" from the old pull-to-fire design. True????? jj

That describes 90% of my crankbait success. ...And that's the other 10%! jj

Yes, you made good choices. Definitely good choices. jj

Glad to see you here, tundra-trundler! (Try saying that 3 times real fast!) ?? jj

Yeah, I never get that lucky. I'm fishing backwaters of the Mississippi and several tributaries, and although the water is sometimes fairly clear, that condition doesn't last very long. The three stages of water clarity in the rivers around here are fairly clear fairly muddy extremely muddy When the water is fairly clear, both bass and pike are aggressive. When the water is extremely muddy, nothing bites aggressively during the day except catfish, but bass will hit topwater at night. When the water is so-so, you have to work for the bite. That's where the jerkbaits come in handy. The thing is, you just don't know what will hit your lure. jj

Two things: 1) I have no idea how to solve your problem, but .... 2) Welcome to Bass Resource. ? jj

I can lose that many in one day. I am soooooooo jealous! ? jj That's what I like to hear. Thnx! jj

Yeah, it's the best option for bass, but not the only one. Even though I don't want to, I could step up in size and weight. Then I'd be using lures with strong actions so that they'd tolerate the drag of regular metal leaders. That's what I always did before. But nooooooo ....... I had to start using jerkbaits and twitchbaits. And they caught fish. And I had fun. And before I know it, I'm hooked! Oh, well .... I guess there are worse problems in life. ? jj

Well, I've got a fly tying vise to use if I have to. I'm gonna have to see whether this stuff interferes with the action of my lures first, though. I've got hopes .... I've got hopes. ? jj

Hmmmmmm....... there MAY have been times in my life when I got that backwards. ? jj

Heck of a testimony, coming from you. I'll try it. So much cheaper than the titanium that it's not funny. See? You CAN teach an old dog new tricks! ?? jj

Wow! That's a big claim! I'm used to thinking in terms of the old sleeves. I can understand my mainline-to-leader knot, but what kind of knot do you use on the lure end? jj

When I river fish for bass, pike usually make their presence known. Since I don't like losing lures left and right, I use a steel or bronze leader. For most larger lures, that's fine. But for jerkbaits/twitchbaits, it's not. The weight of the metal leader ruins the balance. So I saw these Titanium leaders, which are supposed to be very light weight. Light in weight, but not in price! I double-checked; these things are 8 to 10 bucks EACH. https://www.rapala.com/vmc/terminal-tackle/leaders/tls-titanium-leader-7-strand/TLS+Titanium+Leader+7-Strand.html?cgid=vmc-terminalTackle-leaders&taglist=VMC|Terminal Tackle|Leaders#start=3&cgid=vmc-terminalTackle-leaders Has anyone used these? Are they reliable? Most of all, would it ruin the action of a #8 or#10 X-rap? Anyone have any complaints about them? Thnx for all help. jj

The time I really pay attention to sun angle is when I'm using in-line spinners, and even then when the sun is lower in the sky. Whether I'm using a Mepps Aglia (wide swing), an Aglia Long (narrower swing) or a Roostertail (narrowest swing), I try to retrieve the spinner at an angle so that the sun is reflected (in my mind's eye) off the blade and into the target area I think holds fish. It has worked for me for several years, but only when the spinner is shallower than the fish. The most obvious place that this works is a place in the river near me that has a cutoff (ledge). The spine of the cutoff runs ESE on the northern part, curving around to SSE on the southern part. Water depth is 3-4 feet on the east side, forming a flat. Deep side of the cutoff is 8-12 feet deep. At 4:00-6:00PM, an Aglia Long retrieved directly over the southern leg of the cutoff produces fish. They rise up from the deeper water. If I move the spinner to a parallel track 4 feet east, I get nothing. Why? Because the flash or glint off the blade is being blocked by the lip of the cutoff. If I move my retrieval track too far to the west, out over open water, I get nothing, because the glint off the blade is aimed at open water, but the bass are holding just under the lip of that cutoff. If I move to the west and retrieve the Aglia Long from ESE to WNW on the upper leg, I get nothing. If I switch to an Aglia, I get fish. The higher reflection angle "bounces" down to where the fish are. If I move back east and try the southern leg again using the Aglia, I get nothing. The reflected angle is "coned" too far ahead. At this time of day, retrieving the spinners lower in the water column on the deep side produces nothing, or next to nothing. At noon, however, it can be productive. Higher sun angle. Another fisherman showed this to me several years ago. He always caught bass off this ledge when other fishermen didn't. So I did what he taught me, and I caught fish. I then taught two friends of mine, showing them what I was doing, and now they catch fish there the same way I do. When the river is really muddy, this system doesn't work. I use other lure types. This last year, I tried this in a lake I frequent. It seems to work, but I use spinners in this particular lake much less frequently than other lures. I guess I'll have to fish it another year and see. ? jj

Very impressive! Makes me want to try it ..... not! ( I'm the only guy on this planet with 11 thumbs.) ? jj

Ouch ..... my bad. OK. St. Croix makes a Premier and a Triumph both that are 6', M/F 1/4-5/8. Possible? Maybe? Premier also has a 5'-06" pistol-grip rod, M/F 1/4-5/8. Berkley has a pistol-grip 6' Lightning Rod that's 1/4-5/8, composite blank and M/MF. Zebco also has some short Rhino rods. I never used one, so I don't know about them. The #5 and#7 are going to be hard to cast into the wind, though, no matter which baitcasting rod you use. jj

This is all I know: St Croix Premier spinning PS60MF and maybe PS60MHF. I would use braid for the #5 and #7. St Croix Triumph TRS60MF (same) jj

And which size Rapala floater? jj

Y'know, you might have something there! And I mean that seriously .... no joke. ? jj

In rivers? Spinnerbait, double Colorado. In lakes? Twitchbait, usually Bomber Long A. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. jj

I forgot about the Lew's reels. I think they're the unsung heroes of the spinning reel world. I especially like the fact that the feedback I've heard locally has been consistent and good. jj

New Sahara FI evidently has a plastic frame: This one is goofy. They quote an "anodized body" and then a "graphite frame". You don't anodize graphite. https://saltedangler.com/spinning-reels/shimano-sahara-fi-spinning-reel-review/ All the rest of these mention either graphite frame or composite (graphite-reinforced plastic) frame: https://gearoll.com/product/shimano-sahara-fi-spinning-fishing-reel https://www.ganderoutdoors.com/shimano-sahara-fi-spinning-reel-342096.html https://www.cabelas.com/product/SHIMANO-SAHARA-FI/2973080.uts https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/shimano-sahara-fi-spinning-reel https://www.jandh.com/products/shimano-sahara-fi-spinning-reels.html https://www.overtons.com/shimano-sahara-fi-spinning-reel-342096.html I have no idea about the older Sahara models. jj

Amen. jj