CybrSlydr

That sounds like a great weekend! Make sure to take pics and post a report on the forum!

Seeing as how Pickwick is the location of one of the get-togethers, thought you folks might want to read this. ------------ After more than a year of data collection, analysis and mapping, the University of Georgia River Basin Center and the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute recently published a comprehensive survey of Southeastern watersheds and the diverse aquatic wildlife that live in these freshwater ecosystems. The study's creators say they hope it will serve as a master plan to guide research and conservation work that will ensure the long-term survival of these waterways, which have suffered from intensive human development. "Rivers and streams in the U.S. are the arteries that flow through our landscape, and they carry a measure of the health of the landscape with them," said Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute Director Anna George. "Right now, those rivers are having heart attacks. "What we're doing is like visiting a doctor to learn how to take better care of the health of our rivers. We've identified some of the most important places to start a small change in our habits and how we take care of our waters." Scientists scored each watershed based on three characteristics: the number of species it contained, the conservation status of those species and how widespread each species was. Areas containing a greater variety of species, large numbers of endangered or threatened species or species found in few or no other locations were ranked higher. According to the study, the 10 highest-priority watersheds are: Pickwick Lake in middle Tennessee and northern Alabama Wheeler Lake in middle Tennessee and northern Alabama Cahaba in central Alabama Upper Clinch in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia Middle Coosa in northeast Alabama Lower Duck in middle Tennessee Conasauga in southeast Tennessee and northwest Georgia Lower Coosa in central Alabama Etowah in northwest Georgia Caney in middle Tennessee The report uses colored heat maps to represent the variety of species in a given area—warmer colors indicating greater diversity—and are based on the distribution of more than 1,000 fish, crayfish and mussel species in almost 300 watersheds spanning 11 states. The vivid red-and-orange bull's-eye centered on middle and southeast Tennessee, northwest Georgia and northern Alabama shows why this region is so biologically significant. Experts place the region's plethora of aquatic wildlife on equal footing with that of species-rich tropical ecosystems. More than 1,400 species reside in waterways within a 500-mile radius of Chattanooga, including about three-quarters of all native fish species in the United States. More than 90 percent of all American mussel and crayfish species live within that same area. "The Southeast's rich aquatic communities are globally significant," said Duncan Elkins, the study's coordinator and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Georgia River Basin Center, based in the Odum School of Ecology. "There's nothing else like our biodiversity anywhere else on the continent or anywhere else in the temperate world." More than a quarter of the species included in the study are unique to the region, and some of them are struggling. Twenty-eight percent of Southeastern fish species, for example, are considered imperiled, more than doubling during the last 20 years. The publication of the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute and River Basin Center study, which was funded by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, comes at a crucial time for Southeastern aquatic ecosystems. Efforts to study and safeguard freshwater species in the region continue to struggle due to anemic funding and a lack of federally protected lands, especially compared to less-diverse regions, such as the Western United States. "The Southeast has an incredible number of species, and it's really important that we focus our attention on protecting places where we can get the most bang for our buck," George said. "This project allows us to visualize, across the Southeast, where those places are that are so critically important for our water and wildlife." Explore further: Rainbow snake, tiny frog among new Mekong species More information: Southeastern Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. southeastfreshwater.org/prioritization/ Provided by: University of Georgia Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-southeast-diverse-imperiled-waterways.html#jCp

Ugh, Polk was just terrible. You had it before the days of the internet and the like - you have my sympathies.

I regret waiting to begin fishing until the middle of last year because I was at Ft. Polk in Louisiana - now I know the kinds of places I missed. I was less than an hour from South Toledo Bend! That said, that is the ONLY thing I regret about Louisiana - hated that place.

I thought you were talking about this video.

Wondering if there are any SE Ohio folk here who might have a lake or two to suggest my brother and I check out this Friday? Within 1.5hrs of Beverly, OH if possible. Thanks!

Wow!!! Great looking fish!!!

Yeah, it's nice to go fishing with him. We both suck, so we can console each other better. lol

Because if the fish are 75ft away and I can only cast 60ft, that's a lot of thrashing around for nothing - and we're tired of nothing. I can double-up on a knot or something and make it work - you can't do that with fish standing on dry land.

As someone shore-bound, casting distance is of utmost importance to us. For that, we are willing to compromise a bit on knot security.

You guys were right - I'm very happy with the combination of the Fireline and the flourocast. Worked flawlessly today! Not a single knot slipped.

Since my brother recently got a job, our opportunities to fish together have been few and far between. Thankfully, today was a day we had a chance to go together. So, we decided to hit up Cutler Lake at Blue Rock State Park. We left home around 10:30am and arrived around 11:15am. We started off on the Dam just to get a feel for our new line and if the knots would hold well. I have 8lb Berkley Fireline in "Green Flame" with about 5ft of 6lb Stren Flourocast flourocarbon as a leader. My brother was using 8lb Nanofil with approximately the same length and test Stren Flourocast. We each tied on a snap since we were planning on starting off with jerkbaits and swapping on other stuff. After about 15min at the Dam, I decided we should try the part of the lake separated by the road and a bridge - there are doors on that side and the water flows into it, especially with how windy it could be at times today. So I figured this would be the perfect spot to try the jerkbait and some Ned rigs. I didn't have any luck with the jerkbait at the above location - Strike King KVD 200 in Sexy Shad I believe (just bought it yesterday) - so I went over near my brother and tried it some more. You can see him below in the yellow Columbus Crew SC hoodie. Didn't have any luck with it near him either. So I switched over to the Ned rig and rigged a 2.75" TRD stickbait on a 1/8oz jighead (I really suck at rigging those jig heads, can never get them straight...) and gave it a go. Didn't get any bites near my brother and decided to go further down the bank on the lake and give it a go. Tried that for about 10 minutes and no luck either so I came back to my brother. When I came back over, he was laughing and said, "DUDE, you've gotta see this". So he wound up and cast his Rat-L-Trap and HOLY COW. That thing flew like nobody's business - he has 8lb Berkley Nanofil on his and WOW. Insane cast distance with a well-weighted lure like that. So, I pull out my Chartreuse Red Eye Shad and hook it on the snap and give it a go - thing absolutely BOMBS across the lake. I gotta say, I was extremely impressed with the Fireline 8lb and flouro leader combination. Easy to cast, goes a long way and quite accurate. So my brother says his went farther so, me being the older and more mature of the two of us, decide to really load up this RES and see how far I can bomb it with a concerted effort. I bring the rod back and absolutely whip it around. FWAAAAAAANG!!! I never did see where the RES landed - because I was sure I'd just broken the tip off my rod with the sound it made. Luckily, the flourocarbon knot broke at the snap and sent the lure flying but I didn't break the rod tip. It was about this time that I decided that I was going back to the Ned rig before I got more stupid and lost more lures... lol We fished around for about another hour at various locations but never got so much as a nibble that we could tell. Despite our failure (again...), we enjoyed ourselves and were glad we went. I was happy to see my first tries with a double-uni knot held well on the Fireline and flouro leader. Less happy about losing my RES (though I've never caught anything with it anyway...). So, yet another goose-egg for the worst anglers in Ohio. lol Until our next outing - tight lines!

Thanks for the tip - I'll give that a go when I need to re-tie.

Honestly, I think "Flame Green" is just their fancy name for Chartreuse. lol

Well, I figured since I'd be putting the leader on anyway that the color of the line wasn't that important - besides, it'll offer a bit more contrast with the water and make it easier to see strikes when I Ned Rig or something similar.

Just making a thread as I'm going out tomorrow with my brother to do some fishing. I was down to my 12lb Trilene XT and very little of it and some Stren flourocast. So, I went to Dunhams's Sports at the mall and picked up some 8lb Flame Green Fireline and some 12lb Nanofil. I really had to be careful as they had some very old looking Fireline in the cardboard packages that, when I opened (and I'm glad I did), there was staining around the adhesive strip holding the end of the line on. Like it was so old that the adhesive ran and just stained the entire spool near the patch. Yikes. I ended up going for a newer looking version in a blister pack instead. Now, I know I've talked of my disappointment with Nanofil in a previous thread - it cast like nobody's business, but the knots kept slipping. I tried the "Nanofil Knot" as it said, but no go. Lost a lot of lures. However, I've learned a new knot - the Uni. So, I decided to give Nanofil another shot. I would have gone with 8lb again but they only had two 4lb and one 12lb. I've spooled up the Fireline first though - since it's something I've not used before. I also put about a 5ft leader of the Stren flourocast tied on with a double-uni and tied that to a nice double-lock snap (going to be using cranks so ease of switching out is a priority) with a palomar. Fingers crossed folks, we'll see what happens tomorrow!

Great to see a lot of fellow vets here.

US Army, 2010-2013 A BTRY, 5/25 FAR, 4BDE, 10MTN DIV (L) OEF 10 & 11 Link to a photo album of pics I have from my deployment - https://www.flickr.com/photos/cybrslydr/sets/72157626205272993

Dp

Would I have a different experience with a spinning setup vs your casting? Especially with some in the sub-10lb.

Oops, double post.

Mine is a spinning setup. http://no8tackle.com/shop/freshwater-gear/blackout/

Says its fast action. No.8 Fishing Blackout 6'6". It was a small Rapala crank, thing wouldnt cast for anything. Lol

So, I've been very disappointed with the 8# Nanofil. Absolutely adore it's ability to cast a country mile (especially since I shore-fish) but I've had similar issues as above - the knot will just not hold. So I'm asking you folks - is there a similar line out there that can cast similarly but the knots actually hold? Gliss? Appreciate the input!

Wow, that's really surprising.