Skeeloco

I'm not a fan of leaders at all, a lot because it's just one more thing to lose when I get snagged up. However I had pike cut my tube off three times this past week while fishing the upper Allegheny, so I've decided to do something about it. I'm just not sure what to use that can prevent the cut offs and at the same time won't spook the smallies. I have some 20lb wire leaders I use when throwing musky lures but they're seemingly too thick to make the smallies want to bite craw jigs and mess with the action of tubes. I'm fishing tubes and craw jigs 80% of the time, can anyone recommend a leader style suited to my liking?

I'm primarily a smallmouth fisherman. However nearing 40 years of age and having never caught a muskie, I decided it was time to do something about it. Lost a couple muskies last year, nothing huge...they likely weren't bigger than 30 inches but still wanted revenge. My plan was to target the Youghiogheny, a river about 20 miles outside of the city. Plenty of muskies and the same river where I lost one last year while bass fishing. I made the decision to target the mouth of a creek, as pike and muskie love feasting on trout stockies. I setup right at the point of where the creek met the river, very muddy and about a foot higher than normal. Started out fishing a 7" rainbow trout glider. About half a dozen casts in is when I first spotted him. A monstrous mass looming behind my lure, 6 feet in front of me where there was a nice dropoff. I gave the lure a few jerks and let it fall, but he just wasn't interested. Tried a 7" suick thriller with no luck, seems he didn't want to come up for it. Tried the biggest spinnerbait I had, never got a follow. Threw on an 8" Swim Whizz and fished it deep, making as much contact with the bottom as possible. About 10 casts in as I was bringing it to shore, nearly 4 feet of toothy madness fired towards the lure like a torpedo...but he didn't eat it. It was obvious he was hungry for somethin on the bottom; few freshwater fish can resist the good 'ol crawdad. I dug through my bag looking for the biggest jig and trailer I had. A solo 1/2oz football jig that I had reserved for those rare occasions I'm fishing for LMB, and a 4" craw fatty. I figured that the mud bottom would not be very conducive to the smallies, so if I got a hit it would likely be Mr. muskie. Dragged the jig on the bottom, and about 3 casts in he inhaled it. Set the hook hard. Within seconds I knew it was him because of the sheer force bending my rod in half. The rush I got when he came up to the surface! Told myself to take my time, as the last 2 muskies I lost were hurried. Also only had 20lb mono + 20lb wire leader on a 6'7" Ugly Stik so there was zero room for error. Everything started going right. Began reeling him down, and let him run when he wanted to. Could not have had my drag more perfectly set. Couldn't get into the water because the mud was so deep, realized I would need to drag him to shore so just had to tire him out. Some fishermen were drift fishing out in the middle of the river, and happened to be on the up drift shortly after I had him hooked. They began boating towards me as I was taming 30lbs of carnivorous carnage. Got him closer and closer to shore, his fins sticking up out of the water like a shark. A couple times got his head on shore, but he got back out in the water because there was a dropoff and no shallows. I told myself, if I lose this fish after being so close, I'm going to put a barrel in my mouth! Let him run a bit more and just wore him out. Head on shore again, this time grabbed him by the gill plate and drug him up. By this time the fishermen approached me in their boat with their jaws gaping. They tossed me some pliers, had an absolute perfect hook set in the corner of his mouth that was quite difficult to get out. The hook was somewhat bent....this is a 5/0 strike king tour grade hook mind you. The fishermen thankfully took some snapshots of me with the fish, so indebted to them because selfies with a fish this big can't happen. Got a quick measurement and slid him back into the water, holding onto his tail and pulled him back and forth to get water rushing through his gills. Only took him a minute to be on his way, he was a very healthy fish. Measurement was 44", and had to be close to 30lbs. Got back to the bass afterwards, but the biggest smallie I caught...18.5" 3.5lbs was practically a laughable creek chub compared to the muskie .

Wow, that does look like a fantastic deal. Did see Kastkings on amazon but not the Stealth, looks fantastic for the price and all the good reviews speak for themselves. I think I should just get it because I'm more broke than I thought and could use the extra money for a new tackle bag and some lures. The rod I picked up is a 6'6" medium Shimano Sojourn. Yes it is a cheap rod, but it is so ridiculously light I just had to get it. I trust it however because I was using a $25 Shimano FXS spinning rod for over a decade without issue. As far as line I'm a fan of the copolymer/ hybrid line...currently using Maxima ultra green but want to give the Yo Zuri hybrid a shot because there seems to be a lot of fans of it here. I was never a fan of braid nor having to use a leader. I mostly shore fish city rivers and it's just absolutely brutal on your line, it seems the hybrid line has the best abrasion resistance. Also a little bit of stretch works great for jerkin and helps me work out snags a lot easier, fluoro and braid tend to just snap within seconds. Mono/ hybrid line just seems to have so much more versatility as well. I think I will just grab the KastKing and see how the setup treats the wrist. And you know having a LH and RH reel sounds like a great idea, more so since the injury is only in my right wrist. Thing is I grew up using a spinning rod so RH retrieve just feels so unnatural to me, as well as my right arm being my strong arm. 8 years ago I lost a 60-70lb grouper deep sea fishing in Florida because my left arm just didn't have the strength to keep the fish up off the bottom, and was so ticked I vowed to never use a RH casting reel ever again! However bass fishing I wouldn't expect arm strength to be an issue so I should probably consider getting RH reel in the future...you'll never catch me muskie fishing with a RH reel however .

Get a lot of wrist pain jerking with my 6'6" St Croix and Mitchell 308 spinning setup. Seems to me casting setup requires a lot less effort, especially when I can get in the habit of snapping the rod downward instead of to the side. I discovered the Ardent reels the other day, they do seem very underrated for the price. I just can't understand why they're so limited on the 7.x ratios though, and biased against lefties. The elite and pro models have 7.3 ratio for RH only...and the only LH 7.3 reel they have is the grand which is $200 .

Trying to find a casting reel to be used exclusively for jerking, an old wrist injury prevents me from using too heavy of a setup especially if throwing jerks for an extended period. It'd be great to drop $250 on a nice light 4.9oz reel but right now $100 is all I can afford. Currently set on a AB Revo SX which is 6.7oz, but I'm willing to bet there's other reels out there closer to 6oz or less for my budget. Also shooting for at least 7.x gear ratio. Be nice if websites let you sort searches by reel weight, but that'd just make it too easy .

The segmented Pointers...why are they so hard to find? I can't find any evidence of them being discontinued. No longer available on Cabelas or Tacklewarehouse website. Was only able to find a few of the 3" on Amazon, I'm after the 4". There seems to be a fair amount for sale on eBay however. Maybe they are being discontinued?

I agree. Also some of the methods and baits he recommends are obsolete these days...the book was published in 2012 but a lot of the writings are decades old. Do pork trailers even exist anymore? His stories however made it a good read and did pick up a few things. Really can't complain for $4 kindle edition.

Not a fan of backpacks, not exactly sure why but I prefer the should strap bag over everything else. Yes this I'm already doing this, I have four 3600 trays and I will swap them out depending on what kind of fishing I'm doing. However room for just one more tray would make my life a lot easier. I do often find myself flipping through bag after bag of plastics so losing stuff in a big bag is something I took into consideration...definitely need to stick to medium size. This looks like a nice bag, a lot like the one I currently have. I can't however find any measurements on it. Thanks for the suggestions everybody. I decided the best way to find a bag I like is to just go to a store and try em out, just wish there was a Cabelas near me. Plenty of Gander Mountains and can probably get a good deal on one since they're going out of business. Checked out the Spiderwire Wolf bag at Dick's today, I did like it but I'm now reading some reviews that it isn't very durable. My search shall continue, hopefully soon at a Field and Stream store I discovered just outside of the city. I'll give an update when I find something I like.

Picked up a AG Pro Max 2 reel at Gander Mountain closeout sale. Spooling it up today and noticed line would come off reel too easily with thumb bar clicked so attempted to adjust the break. Tightened it all the way down and line came off the spool just as fast. Only gave it a few turns the back the other way and brake knob went flying off along with two click washers and click spring. The ball bearing and retaining spring appeared to be in place, so I put click washer back on, click spring, another washer and then the knob and now it's still not working. Looking at the parts sheet the order is Brake knob, click washer, rubber washer, friction washer, click spring, click washer. However it doesn't appear that the rubber and friction washers are anywhere to be found, and I'm 90% sure they didn't fall to the floor when the knob popped off. Anybody have an idea what's going on here? Did I get a reel with missing parts or is brake knob assembly just not together right? I don't have long to get it resolved because the Gander Mountain will be closed for good by next weekend, and I sure as heck don't want to have to deal with mailing a new reel back to AG for servicing.

I've spent hours this past week looking online for a new tackle bag but can't seem to find anything to my liking. I've also gone through old forum threads and couldn't find any recommendations for a bag that suits my needs. I'm looking for a medium sized bag that has the capability of storing three 3600 tackle trays as well as 8 to 10 bags of plastics, and a nice amount of pockets for other amenities such as pliers, clippers, scale, etc. Here's my current tackle bag which I like but just does not have enough storage for me anymore: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Plano-Medium-Bass-Fish-Scene-Bag/16351087. It measures 14.25 x 9.25 x 8.00 inches...while I currently have two 3600 trays and a good amount of plastics inside it's a pretty tight fit, so I figure something a few inches taller/ wider would probably be my best bet. All the bags I've been looking at seem to be too big or too small. I'm mostly a shore fisherman frequently on the move so that's why I'd like to stick to a medium sized bag. Trying to stay in the $50 range, please let me know your recommendation if you are a similar style angler.

Has anyone ever tried one of these? The reason I'm asking is there are very few reviews on this rod, only 2 on Basspro and that's it. I'm having an incredibly difficult time finding a 2 piece 6'6" medium casting rod in the $50 range. They claim this rod is all fiberglass too which kind of blows my mind for such a low cost rod. Please let me know your thoughts http://www.basspro.com/Browning-SilaFlex-Casting-Rod/product/14020809215014/.

19 inches. Bass get so fat in this lake, my previous PB was 18.5" and 3lb so guess that means 1lb per half inch. I'm after that 20" 6lber next time I go up! Fun time.

People are having a hard time believing the actual length of this beast, but I'll tell you it came from a lake where they're extremely well fed. Hint, weight is 4lbs on the dot. Southern Tier NY.

Oops kinda forgot about my post, but looks like some good info here. I always spool the reel in the same orientation that it is on the spool. I use plenty of tension when spooling as well, I usually hold the line against the rod as I"m reeling to make sure it's nice and tight. The fact that it seems to be happening with both mono and fluoro doesn't lead me to believe it's line twist, especially when it's happening with newly spooled line. Line isn't unspooling like a slinky as someone mentioned. I switched to 10lb mono because I had a spool of Trilene Big Game laying around and started getting tired of losing so much line, and I have to say it's been happening a lot less but I really can't stand line more than 8lb/ .26mm diameter. It happened again today, although it was a tangle a lot smaller than I usually get on 8lb line. After casting I heard quick scraping sound, reeling back in the tangle was about 15 ft from my lure and had to cut the line. I think a wind knot/ loop in the spool is the most likely culprit, and I haven't been making a regular habit of closing the bail with my hand. I should try switching old reel on new rod and vice versa and see what happens but it sounds like it's the Mitchell which kinda sucks, I really like the reel and don't really have the cash right now to try something else. I've never once used braid either, but maybe it's time to give it a shot. Thanks.

Hello, new to the forum. I've found a lot of good info on here through Google so figured I should sign up for some advice. Recently I got a new spinning setup. St. Croix Triumph 6'6" 2 piece rod and a Mitchell 308 Pro. I have to say I am really liking the setup except for one major problem...getting some absolutely nasty tangles when casting. They're usually so bad I lose at least 20 yards of line each time. It's almost like a bird nest outside the reel. The only reason I can come up with is that the line is somehow getting hung up on a guide. It's almost like a bird nest outside the reel. When casting, I'll hear a clunk, the line will bunch up...yet somehow still make it through the guides. I'll reel in and have a giant clump somewhere in my line. I've inspected the rod, can't find any problems with it. On my previous reel, a Pflueger president, I'd sometime get similar tangles after over-spooling the reel. However after losing so much line on my Mitchell, it is still happening with 1/2" or more of space between the rim and line on the spool. At first I thought it had to do with line memory, so I switched from fluoro to mono, 8lb test or 10lb if it has the same diameter of 8lb. Tangles still happening. Tried Berkley Nanofil yesterday, some very low memory line. However 3rd cast with a brand new Rapala, line clumped up and lure snapped right off and flew into the middle of the lake. Later realized that top piece of rod wasn't completely lined up with guide on bottom piece of rod, so made a small twist to get it lined up better. Few casts later, whipped a Zoom fluke...felt a tiny bump when casting, no tangle. However reeled in the bait and the line just came right apart, leaving about 20 yards of line and my bait in the water. Needless so say, I'll never be touching Nanofil again. Anyone have any ideas as to why this may be happening? As I said, I've looked over the rod and can't find any issues. Can't be an issue with my casting, or at least I don't think? This is a medium power rod, and my previous rod was a Shimano MH rod, same length and never had an issue. Stumped and really bummed as I spent $90 on this rod, so really looking for any suggestions I can get as to what might be going on here.