Esoxfreak

Sometimes scent can turn a follow into a commitment. I can attest that the gulp stuff works really well.the gulp alive stuff in particular, the Leeches just knock em dead on tough days. Couple of cool tidbits:anise and garlic work very well to mask sunscreen, bug repellent, cigarettes and other human scents that can totally turn fish off. There are also two basic formulas for attractants: oil based and water based, the former being more desirable due to the scent hanging on to the bait longer leaving a thicker scent trail...truth be told I feel that both of them have their applications, and it's always better to have it then not! Just don't leave me in your tackle box.lol!

I couldn't agree more about those numbers being a guideline!!!! Some rods will readily handle baits far out out of its specified "comfort zone". I fish a abu Garcia volatile daily (no longer in production sadly) with lures from 8 to 16 ounces, I don't get much delineation from below 10 ounces and 16 is still castable...i think it's rated for two ounces, lol. 5 years and the rod is still going hard.

Totally a factor for any predatory fish that hunts visually. Especially if they are pressured. I know smaller(sub 25s) esox will hit almost anything though, but I feel the floro can make a 1 fish day a 2 fish day. I agree that the big ugly components can turn a fish off. I don't use any metal in my leader. I run a 120# leader into an 80# hollow core mainline, holds it like a Chinese finger trap, and tie my lure on the leader with an appropriate knot depending on what I'm throwing. If I'm gonna change baits a lot then I tie on an afw 150# clasp and cut the swivel off. The less junk on a leader the better.

First I want to commend you on your catch and release policy. Much respect!!! I always carry a decent pair of wire cutters and long nose pliers with me so if I hook one too deep I can cut the hook and pull out the two pieces, yes it is worth it to me to sacrifice a hook to save a fish. You will get better at removing hooks as time goes by. Sometimes and I'll be blunt, you won't be able to save the fish, especially if it's past the eye of the hook,deep in the esophagus. The barb wil prevent the hook from being swallowed into the stomach. This results in a 99%mortality rate because the fish can no longer eat,they still try but can't swallow cause their throats is closed. Larry dahlberg (known for developing a number of insanely cool lures)wrote an article ( i think it was actually an analysis submitted to game and fish to try to thwart the use of bait for smallies due to heavy loses, which he got tons of flack for it) years ( late 80s or early 90s???)ago where he analyzed the mortality of gut hooked fish. It's a good read if you can find it. One more thing, hooks don't dissolve like they used to either, metallurgy has changed a lot over the years to make hooks stronger. Your average pack of eagle claw hooks will start to decompose in the tackle box with no acids, but something like a trokar takes a very long time.

Your palomar knot shouldn't slip at all. I hate coated lines! I hope I don't get anyone angry but sometimes I feel some companies coat a line to keep loose braids from falling apart, and it casts like a dream for a few days .i like naked raw unaltered line from companies that aren't afraid to show what the line truly is.I fish a lot of big swim/glide baits so line is the most important thing for me, as some of my baits get very pricey. I fish 2 braids: gamma tourque and sun line fx2. You also might look at increasing your line strength. your hooking them in the throat because they are pounders! That's what they do, they eat like it's their last meal. It's gonna happen more often with plastics. You can smash the barb to make it easier to remove.

grassies eat micro bugs and algae,things of that nature.period. we fish them on the fly here in nm with small rabbit strips, kinda like a Strip Leech.they kinda look like moss. Legally we aren't supposed to target grassies and they are to be released immediately according to New Mexico game and fish.they are protected because they are expensive to raise.totally different from other more common carp so the same methods won't work for catching grassies. They get huge and fight like nothing else,there is no quit in them.

floro all the way. 60# is way too light I think...depending on the size of lure I guess...and how often you fish.I have a friend who has flossed several muskies and lost both lure and fish with 60 floro. A lot of guys out here fly fish for tiger muskies with 80#floro, they may have to re-tie occasionally but no big deal. The reason I mention that is 9 times out of 10,the fly is completely in the fishes mouth, unlike us lure guys sometimes the baits are so big the leader dosent get near the teeth, the fly leader is in constant contact with teeth.some of them are using braided titanium wire but the down side is that the good stuff is really expensive.they all o back to floro at some point.I live a couple hundred feet from bluewater lake in nm and fish tigers almost everyday, it's how I earn a paycheck.ive been through every leader set up you can imagine. I have settled on 120#floro into 80# hollow core braid. Never pinch pennies on the most important part of your setup, get the good stuff, saves money in the long run.

Savage 10in slow sink line thru trout, for me this season. But it's probably way different out where I live, and ours are tigers. My most productive has been an 8in hellhound super slow rolled. Won't let me load the pic cause it's too big but I caught a majority of them with ice still on the edges. I know most people downsize but I have found 8 to 10inch glides and swim baits work well for me. I do understand that most of you fish pure strains but we don't have them here so my view may be slightly skewed.

Sick. Our Walmart in New Mexico started clearing out I guess it's old stock three weeks ago and they had these for three bucks also, I was broke unfortunately but went back two days ago and they still had em for some reason...but this time for a buck, along with the kvd swimming shads and 1.5's, they had the havoc soft plastics for 75 cents and all the power pro braids was 1.50 or 3 bucks. This time I had money lol. They no longer have any soft plastics.?...or crankbaits...and I'm eating ramen all week. Mark it on your calendar this happens twice a year there...well here it does.

I think you nailed a great point home, a bill Lewis rat-l-trap IS expensive compared to other baits in its class, I think r2f makes one you get for .97 cents at Walmart, but the real deal can range from 5-10 bucks higher! 5 times as much as the authentic version still made in the US by humans for the most part, and fused together with an ultrasound process, not glue, hence the high price. American labor isn't as cheap as Chinese labor either.

1st everyone talks about loosing expensive baits. I've lost 1 "expensive" bait in 4 years, and that was due to a clasp failure. Most people who throw top quality baits don't throw it on spider wire ez-braid, or stren 12lb mono. You will have an "expensive" lure for a very long time if you do your research first. I fish 2 lines: gamma #80 tourque hollow core, so I can run floro leaders with no knots, and sunline fx2 in assorted tests. I fish for muskies and pike mainly nowadays but I use roughly the same gear and lures for bass and stripers( I do spend more time out on the water than your average weekender,it is what I do for a paycheck). Those are the two lines that never have failed for me. The whole point here is that if someone buys a pre rigged Walmart rod for 15 bucks and thinks they can throw out a deps250 they are sorely mistaken,lol! Even a vision110 without the proper set up won't fish properly. I've seen people run steel leaders just in case, but it dosent let the bait "work". Yes I catch more fish..a lot more fish, on a 10 dollar biggie poppa from river2sea, yes it out fishes,for numbers, both the roman negotiator and mother, but the Mother has an 11 lb largemouth, a 48 lb striper and several 45in plus tiger muskies. For New Mexico that ain't bad,lol! Yes, I fish a $400 lure,that's what it's for ain't it??? How much did you spend in soft plastics last year? Yes, to fish high quality lure, takes special attention and we all know fishing has 4 stages: 1-just catch a fish 2-catch as many fish as you can 3-angler starts targeting big fish 4-angler method fishes, most people who fish big glides and swimbaits are here. Fishing for the passion, the experience, and the safe release. YOU CAN CUT CORNERS ON SPOONS and stuff like that, but before balking at a price tag consider what went into that bait. Most of these pricier baits come from the US and Japan. A lot of them are handmade with high quality components, or hand painted,there are loads of things that make them expensive so a little research goes along way.