jsh32

I did install it with the help of my brother. Ill double check that. I checked them while on the water and they seemed to be in all the way. Ill make sure next time I can get out that they are all the way in. Thanks for the advice.

Finally bought a fish finder for my kayak and got to use it this past weekend. Spent the first day on the water mostly playing with that and hardly fishing unless I was marking a lot of fish. The second day it worked great just like the first day and put me on some fish i probably wouldn't have found with out it. The third day however was spent mostly fighting with my unit. I would randomly lose the bottom reading and mark fish, then the bottom would appear again and the fish marks would go away. Sometimes I would just lose the depth reading. I thought it could be just i was in super shallow water (the wind was brutal and I could barley stay off the bank for a while) but once I moved to a different section of the lake into some deeper water, it was still happening, maybe more than in the shallow water. So my question is, what happened? Why did it work so well the first two days and suck butt the third? Could my battery have just been low? Could my transducer have come loose from the bottom of the inside of my kayak? Was it the settings? Im totally new to using a fish finder and have no real idea what Im doing, so any help would be great.

I have the Phenix blue cranking rod and I can throw 1.5s as far as ill ever want to and the sensitivity of that rod is outstanding, love the look of it, but the one thing I don't like about it is the weight. While Im using the rod I don't notice how heavy it is but the second I put it down and pick up a different rod, it feels like Im holding 7 foot feather.

I am changing out the line on my spinning outfit. I bought some 20lb Daiwa J Braid I wanted to try out, but it only has 165 yards of line. I plan on using a leader because I bought the bright green color to help me see the line as Im fishing. So my question is should I put some cheap mono backing on my reel to fill up most of the spool then tie on the braid, fill it up the rest of the way, then add a couple feet of leader? Also should I take into consideration line diameter when using backing and leaders?

Thanks for all the input!

Guess I should pay more attention reading, I really thought it said SCll lol. Would it be more worth it to spend the extra money on a rod or splurge on the reel? Then what would be the major different in the Mojo and Avid at a $70 price difference?

Im looking to buy a rod that I can use for mostly drop shot fishing and maybe some other finesse fishing. I was on TW and looking at St Croix rods and noticed that the Bass x and Avid both use the SCll blanks. Is there much of a difference in the rods since they are based off the same blank? Is it worth an extra $100 bucks? Will the 6'10 ML Bass X be good for drop shot fishing. Any good reel suggestions at around $100 bucks? If it matters I fish from the shore or my kayak about 90% of the time.

I tried some of the suggestions this weekend and guess what, I actually got some fish to give chase and even had one nibble a little bit, but was a little late on the hook set (I think I forgot what to do). My one bite came on the dropshot with a small white fluke type soft plastic. I only used the ned rig for a little bit of time but I was on a much larger pond and Im not sure where the fish actually were. Had a cold front come in (air temp went from high 50s-mid 60s to high 30s-mid 40s and heavy wind) so I tried going back into some of the little coves to get away from the wind but didn't have much cover I could reach from my spots on the shore. Thanks for the advice though.

I just bought some 1/15th, I think the other ones I have are a lot heavier, like 1/5 or so.

I've tried the ned rig but the bottom of my pond is very soft, and I pick up junk sometimes on it and the fish don't really seem to notice it. I just bought some lighter ones so I may have to give them a try.

This winter has been extremely warm where I am compared to what the weather is normally like. I have been fishing a lot this winter because of it, but I have not caught a fish in months. At first I assumed it was because the fish were getting prepared for winter by moving deep and staying put for the most part. However the last few weeks have been in the high 50's to 60's most days. So I thought I would at lest get some fish. I've tried a few different spots but keep going back to my home pond where I know there are some good fish and know exactly where to catch them. But I'm not catching them, I started with my normal colored senkos/jigs/cranks/lipless and even topwater, everything I usually use-nothing. So I changed to other colors/retrieves/rigging and still nothing. I can see several large fish (by that ponds standards) swimming around or about 2-3 feet from the shore in shallow water doing absolutely nothing. If I pitch to them with a jig or senko and work it back by them they just look at it for a second and swim away. If I swim a jig or a crank past them same thing, Im pretty sure I've even hit some fish on the retrieve and still nothing. Im at a point where I just have no idea what to do. Have I fished this pond to much? Should I leave it alone this year? Any help would be awesome. Also, any suggestions on other lures to try if any?

I just recently bought a Do-It 5 in senko mold and started playing around making some cool colors and figuring out the amount of salt and glitter to use. I have baits that I like the look of and that fall at about the same rate (from what I can tell from sink testing) however my baits seem to almost spiral on the fall as compared to the fluttering type action a real senko has. Is the only way to get a similar falling action to use softener? I want to keep the baits as close to the original right now as possible, and I will try some other recipes later on.

My walmart was having some sales so I picked up 3 SK RES, 2 bags of missile craws, 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 gammy EWGs, 2 packs of 2/0 gammy wacky hooks, a super spook, rapala shad rap, 1 spool of stren fluro, 2 spools of stren mono, one spool of big game, and a spool for vanish fluro. and 5 packs of SK tungsten weights (1/8, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2). I went in to buy some salt for my new soft plastic making projects and came out with all that for 100 bucks. Couldn't pass it up, nothing I bought was over 5 bucks.

Thats one good looking jig, Ive been thinking about getting some skirts from Siebert for a while. That might be my new go too website.

I have no experience with fishing electronics so I wont have any learning curve with the interface, just trying to learn how to actually use electronics

Went back out to my pond and after a few min of not catching anything (I think I really just wanted to try to skip again lol) I gave up and went back to practicing skipping. First try, a beautiful cast hits the water and skips about 6-7 feet but only once. Think to myself, okay that was good but I forgot to raise the rod tip up. So the second try I put a little more power behind it and as soon as I let my thumb off the spool I lifted my rod tip up...and nothing. I look down to a huge blacklash and my jig all tangled up in a bush. I guess I learned that I still need to pay attention to my surroundings lol. Oh well, ya live and ya learn.

I guess since I started this I should chime in on the few things I have found that I like to use the most of the brands I have. Rods: I have Daiwa, Lews, Shimano, and Abu. Edge going to my one Daiwa here, but still looking.. Reels: I have 3 Daiwa Tatula CT's, a Lews Mach 1 and a Lews CarbonFire. Forgot how much I liked that Mach 1 until i threw it the other day but I like my Tat CT's better so I'm gonna stick with the Daiwas for the T wing and feeling for now. Cranks: Squarebills I love the SK KVD 1.5 and have a few of the 2.5, haven't tried many others but have been very happy with what they give me. Medium divers I haven't really used all that many of them, but I do like the Rapala lures I have and I'm looking to try some of the new Wiggle Warts soon. Soft Plastics: I love the Yamamoto Senko, I know they cost more but I started with the Dinger and the Senko has out-preformed it in every pond I have fished. I like the BPS Stik-Os when they go on sale for like $15 for a 50 pack. I like Zoom for brush hogs and lizards. I also use SK for craw style baits and trailers, but not super set on them yet (If I do well this year I will be though). I also plan to pick up some of the Z-man TRD's and other Ned Rig style baits soon. Frogs: Ill let you know when I can finally get one to walk like I want lol. Line: Fluro is Seaguar all day. Braid Im leaning towards the sufix 832 but have some P-Line I got on sale from TW this year I wanna try out. Mono I really don't use as much as I should, so I'm not loyal to any brand there but I have a lot of Berkley mono (Its most available where I am) Dont have a boat so who knows what company is gonna take all my money when it comes to that down the road but I love my Ascend FS12T kayak right now and am looking to get a fishfinder for that, leaning towards Garmin for that.

Ive been looking at Falcon. I like them and powell the most right now I think. But I have never help either of them. Next time I can get to a store that carries them, Ill try to take a reel with me and see how they feel and look and all that good stuff

How many people have a large amount of loyalty to a certain rod/reel/line/lure brand? Ive been trying to find a certain brand for all my stuff so that I know what I have and how it reacts to a certain situation. For example I tried out a few different brands of reels and really like Diawa Tatula CT's, in fact 3 of my 5 baitcasters in rotation are not Tat CT's. I have been looking for a good rod company that makes quality rods at the $200 and less price range. Just bought a Diawa DX-Bass rod for light T-rigs and Weightless plastics and I really like it the small amount that I have actually got to use it. So basically how loyal to a brand are you? What would make you switch? Any suggestions on a rod company that makes quality rods in my price range(preferably cork handles, made in the USA, large selection of models)? TIA

Thanks for the advice, I think I got something like that in a LTB/MTB a while ago, Ill have to check them out.

If I find a lure they are actively hitting, Ill tie directly to the split ring. So when Im using a clip, would you suggest going straight to the eye on the lure? I have also decided to stop fishing jerkbaits for a while until the sting of getting my Vision 110 caught up and broke off in some rocks, still stings when I look at my jerkbait box. Havent put any of the suspenstrips but might have to try some next time Im buying.

The only reason I had the swivel/clip (which is how it came, not something I rigged) is because I was switching cranks a lot that day and didn't want to keep cutting and retying. Nothing about line twist just saving a little time and line

Like I told my friend, the luck I've been having lately fishing, Ill take anything that swims on the end of a hook.

Caught this little dude yesterday, not really sure how but I'll take it. It did however show me what color lizards to use now on. I used to use only green pumpkin and black and blue but I need to add in something with some orange flakes now. These guys are all over this pond so hopefully I'll have some luck using lizards here.

I was using 3/8 oz jig with a BPS chunk trailer. I found that to get one skip with a bout a two foot hop, actually throwing a little easier than I was at first. I do know that to get more distance I will have to put a little more power on it but as I'm just starting and its the end of January, I don't mind wasting a few minutes here or there getting a hang of it. I've heard that kind of peeling the skirt of the jig away from the back helps it skip a little, might have to try that next time. Thanks for all the advice.