Cephkiller

Some days I can do it great, other days...not so much. I think the way I do it is to stop the spool with your thumb as the bait hits the water and then slowly feather and release as it lifts off again. Practice first with baits that are easy to skip. I think a hollow body frog is about the easiest thing for a beginner. It skips really well and doesn't hang up too easily if you screw up.

I was bass fishing today with a 4" shaky head and hooked up with a 36" tiger. Boy, was I surprised! What in the heck was a muskie doing biting on that bait This thing ran me all around the boat twice, wrapped around a couple trees, stripping drag and diving like a bat out of H-E-double hockey sticks. I fought the beast for 3-5 minutes and got it up to the net. It thrashed around and swam away When it did, it coughed up a shredded 8" rock bass that was attached to my shaky head. The muskie was never even hooked! I can't believe it fought that long and hard and refused to give up its lunch. WOW!

Thanks for the suggestions. I have had this happen too many times so I guess I need to get over my line visiblity phobia and go with the shorter leader. BTW, I use primarily 7' rods so pitching is not a problem with the 6' leader. It only happens when I decide to swim the jig, cast the worm, etc.

Spiders are my thing. I scream like a little girl. My wife actually kills them for me :-[ Snakes are no problemo. Heck, I'll even fight through a grizzly bear if I have to. I am pretty much fearless except for the spider thing. It's embarassing. I've thought of trying to get treatment for this, but I hate them so much I don't even want to like them. Does that make sense? BTW, Mike, if you are just seriously creeped out by the bees, I understand (because of my spider thing), but the carpenter bees don't even have a stinger. Seriously, look it up. The large ones that are really scary and look like bumblebees are the males and they are stingerless. The females are smaller and resemble a yellow jacket only they have more black than yellow. The females do have stingers, but are really docile. You almost have to grab or smash one to get stung. Honeybees are the same way, really docile. Bumblebees are a little scary, I must admit. I'm not really aware of their personality because I give them a wide berth.

Anticipation, I wait Familiar tap, tap Set hook....Violence ensues Let's keep this going. Any poets wanna contribute?

Main line is 50 lb braid and the leader is 15 lb fluoro. I mainly use this for jigs and plastics in clear water. if the water is stained, I forego the leader. I have been using 6-8 ft of fluro. Are you suggesting I should try to get by with less so I don't reel it up into the eyelets? I guess I am trying to be careful about visibilty, hence the long leader. I have been using a blood knot, BTW.

BTW, if there are actually any physicists reading this, please don't critique. Some of this isn't technically correct, I started out typing gibberish and ended with a semi - correct flourish

No no no. According to the arc described by Foucault's pendulum, when the lure touches the botttom of the lake, it invokes Special Relativity (which of course overturns Newtonian notions of absolute space and time) and could thus be said to actually be at rest depending on the perspective of the observer. We could then utilize quantum theory to hypothesize that the lure could actually be at the end of the line while simultaneously residing at the tip of the rod. The actual position of the lure could possibly be calculated using Schrödinger's wave equation and the lure could thus be said to resemble Schrödinger's cat ;D ;D ;D Trust me, if there are any physicists reading this, I am hilarious ;D ;D

I have used BPS Extreme rods for a couple years and I have been using two high end rods for a couple months (Loomis GLX and Lamiglas XMG 50). IMO, there is a HUGE difference between a garden variety $20-40 Wally World rod and the Extremes. The difference between the Extremes and the high end stuff is about the same level of improvement. So you spend $30-40 more for the first jump and $160-280 more for the same level of the next jump. This is pretty typical with a lot of products. Is it worth it? I think so. Many people may not.

That's the deal I'm talking about. Nice rig.

Hey Russ. I am curious. You have been pretty open about money being tight with you and I know patents are expensive to obtain. I've looked into myself. How did you manage to get one? If this is too personal, just tell me to buzz off. I just thought maybe there was a trick I am not aware of. Thanks.

Unless you keep a trickle charge on a battery leaving it unused will ruin it faster than heavy use. It's gone. Always charge your new battery as soon as you return and keep it fully charged.

Great product for the money. They last me 3-4 years and no problems.

Congrats. Trailer lights are such a pain. I just installed LEDs and I hope they will last a while.

I've used these for a long time and I get 3-4 years out of them.

I ahve hauled around a borrowed boat like this on my Dad's 4x8 utility trailer (you know the type: Steel diamond mesh with a single axle and 12" tires) with no problem.

The first time I decked my boat I used regular exterior grade plywood. I applied outdoor carpet and nothing else, no sealant, paint, etc. I left it uncovered throughout most of the midwestern year. I only covered it when the lakes were iced over (probably 4-8 weeks per year). It lasted for seven years. If you can afford any of the above suggestions by all means I would follow their advice. I'm just saying that plywood is much more durable than you might think.

His answer's not that good if you're fishing where they ain't. In fact, it's quite easy to skunk with a Senko (or anything else) if you haven't located them first. Notice the OP said "private ponds". In my experince locating fish is not that difficult in private ponds. Correct me if I'm wrong. BTW, I agree that there is no such thing as "sure fire". I just gave my opinion of the closest thing of which I am aware. You wouldn't have said that if I had suggested a Jitterbug

I have never fished them that deep, but I just want you to know that is cheating. That fish doesn't count and should never be mentioned again ;D Oh yeah. When fishing them on top you should let the fish run with the bait until you feel it. Then set the hook.

I had a horrendous backlash a couple weeks ago because my connecting knot snagged in an eyelet while casting. Every time that happens with braid (which is the only time i use a connecting knot) it costs $5-6 and this particular time it took me approximately 10 minutes to cut it out. That sucks! Does this ever happen to anyone else and/or how do you prevent it?

Thanks. I may give it a try, but usually bulky = bad in my opinion. I had a horrendous lash a couple weeks ago because my connecting knot snagged in an eyelet.

Oh, she mentioned that the other day as well. "Why do you always look at every boat for sale in someone's yard when we go by? You already have a boat." It's just that I don't get hit for that

Shiner? BTW, I can't believe you pulled those fish out of that little pond in the background. It's so clear and rectangular! ;D

I don't think I've had the blood knot fail. What are the advantages of the nail knot, Supermat?

I would certainly hesitate to use it, especially for soft plastics and jigs where the fish will get a long, good look at it. I realize, though, that these are the techiques when line watching is a must. I would suggest you use a fluoro leader if you can see well enough to tie a good knot to join the two. If not, at least you are fishing! It may not be as bad as I imagine.