FishDewd

For a BC reel, line-twist is basically a non-issue when spooling. I use a box with a pencil through the middle and keep it stable by having larger spools on either side on the pencil to keep the one I want to spool stable in the middle. Seems to work fine for me lol. #redneck engineering! Spinning reels, best way I have found is to first figure out which way the line turns onto the spool and compare it with the rotation of the bail. Usually label-up is the way to go. You lay it on the ground and reel it in nice and smooth, running it through a sock held firmly against the rod with your hand. Drag should be medium to high for this. The problem with spinners is that the spools are often bigger than the spool the line is going on which is where line-jumps from memory come from. Which is why you spool it on pretty tight, but not super tight! I sometimes even dunk the entire spool into some lukewarm water for a few minutes if I have any doubts as to the line memory. I've never had any issue with line twists doing these techniques, ever.

In my experience, public pond tend to be the most difficult to fish because of the noise, the activity, and the fact that people are often throwing in lines, lures, and not to mention losing them to underwater snags. While I am not much for believing the fish care a lot about leaders, I think to some degree they do figure out they may be getting duped, especially when people fish there most days of good weather weeks. My best advice is just to use what you think may work and just have fun being outside in nature, and enjoy the peace time for yourself. Catching something is secondary, imo. I only say that because I am the same boat as you! I've been out loads of times this year since my winter has been fairly mild minus a few odd days, and I don't always catch something. Lately the only pond that's been readily producing for me is my own pond that's stocked with generations of catfish and perch. So if I just -really- want to catch something I just fish there and enjoy pulling out 2-3 pound catfish that I can fry for dinner. View the ponds as being a good way to practice different techniques if nothing else. Maybe if/when you can go somewhere better that practice will pay off and produce more/better fish for you. Have you considered live bait? I find that live craws make excellent bait for both catfish and bass. It's fish candy. Back to your rod question... I also use 2 baitcasters and a spinner set-up at ponds. Not to mention I bring a tackle bag with lots of options. My lightest BC is a ML power and this is my finesse rod for ned rigs or light/weightless plastics. I have a 50 lb stealth braid on this because of snags, with a 10 lb fluoro FG knotted on it for a leader. Then a heavier BC that I use for jigs, heavier plastic rigs, or carolina rigging as chosen. Same braid, but I vary the leader on this one. My spinning rod is good for moving lures of many types: spinners, bladed jigs, topwater. I use copoly on this one, straight or with a lighter test tied on for a leader.

I too am wondering about the dorsals. How's a bass get around that? Even the small ones can mess you up if you're not careful.

Definitely a Calcutta, I used to have one a lot like that! Gave that to a friend who was in a bad financial spot and was trying to budget together some reels/rods after his got stolen. Afaik, he's still using it.

Yeah they have some power for sure! Big cats can be reel jammers, they just smash the bait and fight their tails off all the way back to the bank. Lol. Great catch!

I could be completely off-base and this rod may well be terrible for other's opinions, but... I like the ml carbonlite I picked up from the BPS spring sale not long ago. It's low cost and works well for neds and weightless plastics I throw. Downside: idk if they make longer than 6'6" for it. It's my shortest BC rod. I would love a 7'. A 7' version of it would be a killer.

Catfish are so bad about this... I've caught a bunch that have sucked it in too hard and I ended up eye hooking them or have already been eye hooked before. But they seem to do fine with one or no eyes. Not as sure about bass, the ones I have caught so far I have gotten through the cheek or on the roof of the mouth. But if these more experienced guys say they do okay, then I am inclined to lean that way. If it ever happens to me I will do the same thing I do with catfish. Try to turn the hook away and try to remove the hook as gently as possible. If that fails, squish the hook barb and remove it that way to reduce damage. One thing about eyes, human or not, they tend to be one of the best body parts for healing. But sometimes you just know you blinded one, no way around it.

Here's the thing, I prefer to take my fish home and filet them for dinner. Hence, I would have a hard time catching the perfect edible size bass and letting it go unless local laws prohibit that. However, this comes with limitations. I have a pond that's been well kept with catfish and perch for decades now. We don't keep female cats or bluegills over a certain size cause these are breeders and we want them to stay there to continue to spawn. With bass such a concept is easier cause they don't taste as good over a certain size as cats and bluegill do, or so I hear. I'm yet to catch or even see a really nice bass irl. Most of the laws here prohibit keeping one under 14". To me, that's too large for a bass to eat and I wouldn't keep it anyway. But for a catfish... that's pretty much darned perfect!

The one I hooked but lost on a crank I am pretty sure was my bluegill colored one.

"Spring tides" are what they are called, brings in the highest tides, but this really only pertains to oceans. Lakes and ponds are too small to have tides because there is no appreciable difference in gravitational influences from one side to the other. But perhaps it has some other effect I don't know about. Maybe it brings out the crazy fish like it does the crazy people!

Gotten to where the first things I try is a weightless T-rigged senko. If that fails after an hour, I switch to a wacky rig and try a few different worms. If that fails after another hour, I'm best off packing up and going home cause they either they aren't there or aren't biting. Senko is my #1 choice, I've caught more on that than anything else. Only gotten lucky once with a ned.

I have two reels that I sometimes switch between 2 rods depending on what I want to do, but its not too often. About the only time is if I am going from freshwater to salt or vice versa. Its not too bad changing out rods. What I do is leave the drag loose enough to pull out the line and just pull out enough initially to feed it through all the guides in one go. One hand to push through, catch in the other. Takes maybe 15 seconds at most. What takes longer is retying the rigging needed. Line feeding is the easy part.

Nothing wrong with the dark side- the cookies taste much better, and the light sabers look a lot cooler! In this case, light sabers = fishing reels!

Cinching the knot slowly with FC and CP also seems to make a big difference. Never just yank the knot down, make it a slow, steady movement. For a lot of knots that use wraps I will often slide the coils down with my fingers while holding the mainline to finish it. This will prevent overlap and twisting. In fact, when I do a SD jam knot, my first move is to actually slide the coil UP towards the little loop the tag line passes through to make sure it is seated properly, then slide the whole thing back down onto the eyelet. Makes it look pretty and ensures it sets perfectly. Key with knots is to never rush, just because you can tie one in 10 seconds doesn't necessarily mean you should do so.

That's okay, rip it out of there! Might get a reaction bite if you're lucky.

I'd probably use the last $20 to fuel up my car for the trip. I have plenty of bait/lure selections already.

How about a rocky bottom with lot's of current? Cause that defines the San Marcos and Guadalupe lol. Fun as heck to kayak down.

I could cast 300 yards... if I casted off the Grand Canyon! Too bad there wouldn't be any fish on the bottom.

That little thing looks like it would kill going down the San marcos or Guadalupe... gah I want to go river fishing so badly! Water here has been trash this year.

It's pretty nice here in Texas too... hitting over 80 during the day pretty much every day now. Only downside? The WIND! I swear it will never stop lol. But I'll take wind and warm weather over ice and snow any day!

I was told that magnetic helps more at the beginning of a cast, while centrifugal helps more at the end of a cast. Not sure how accurate that is, but it seems to hold pretty true whenever I am casting into a wind with my BC reel that has both brakes. Most of my backlashes when windy happen near the beginning or the middle, and when I up the mag brake it seems to help with those issues. It's always windy here though, there is no such thing as a "calm fishing day" so I'm always having to play with it until I dial it in just right. I usually don't mess with the centrifugal setting. Probably advisable to not try and set a casting record when dealing with a head wind at any rate. Less lob, more dart board trying to keep it low.

The ML-fast carbonlite 6'6" rod I picked up during the BPS Spring sale loads with as little as a 1/20 oz jig head and a finesse TRD on it. I don't know how much lighter a baitcaster can get, but it works for me! I just wish it came in a 7'. It's rated 1/16-1/2. Tbh, I don't think you'll find a baitcaster much lighter than that, and remember you still need some backbone on it to fight with a powerful fish. A good sized river trout can put up a pretty good fight.

Well if everything is stated is true, you all cast quite a bit farther than I do on average! Granted I rarely throw more than 3/8 oz though, usually closer to the 1/8 to 1/4 range. I'm more concerned with accuracy, too bad I'm not really that accurate especially when trying to pitch or flip. My pitches and flips have minds of their own. If I'm within the general vicinity of where I wanted it to go then I consider that a win.

I've never really hadthis issue lol. But I know people are different... I wear a lot of sandals so what I'd say is that anything fabric- no. Look for something that has a synthetic/rubber sole. I have some Magellan close toed sandals that I got for $20 at academy that are all synthetic and well-known to be water friendly. Also, Columbia Sportswear makes some very water-friendly sandals as well, I also have a pair of those in open toe. For flip flops I would recommend something like a Reef. Bit more pricy, but mine have held up pretty nicely minus one pair that I over abused getting them stuck in mud and one of the sides slipped. But for the most part, I've worn them all over rivers, streams, in the ocean, across water parks... very comfortable and durable. Give them a drop of krazy glue on both sides when brand new to make them last even longer, just for extra assurance if you're as rough on shoes as I am.

Strange, I wasn't aware of starting this as a topic, so I guess a mod took the liberty... lol. Fair enough. Anyway, thanks for the info! Maybe it's the lures I buy but I've never actually seen it listed anywhere. I do tend to go more for the shape and color firstly when considering which to buy. I'll try reading the finer print on the back next time to see if anything about knock is mentioned, but I've only had limited crank success so I'll probably stick with what I have for now. I feel like I have a fair selection of varieties that should work in different situations, just a matter of getting better with them and being in a location the fish want to bite them.