PhishLI

Tough finding bites last night, but I managed to get one squirt on a Diesel Minnow and my buddy nabbed a solid chunk on a 7" wacky senko.

7'4"https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/13_Fishing_Defy_Black_Crankbait_Casting_Rods/descpage-CRHDF.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Quantum_Vapor_PT_Casting_Reel/descpage-VAP.html Composite rod with straight braid has the right combination of delay and backbone. 30lb braid is strong enough and doesn't hurt distance as much as larger lines do. 30lbhttps://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Daiwa_J-Braid_x8_Braided_Line_Dark_Green/descpage-JBB.html

I'm guessing you weren't on the net for the old usenet rec.Dot discussion groups. This place is powder puff central in comparison. If you're sensitive about this joint, well, you're just sensitive.

Final thoughts: You thought this guy was punking you. To your credit you've admitted this by wondering if he measured you as a pushover. Perhaps he did, or maybe he was just oblivious. Regardless, you flashed your frustration, or anger, even if you weren't screaming at him like a nutcase. He didn't like whatever you transmitted and came and told you so. End of story. Good thing nobody got dead.

I've been running these lately. Not rigged upside down either. It's been working.

I'm not going to opine on this point as it's irrelevant. As my dear departed father told a younger, hair triggered me: You might be right, but you might be dead right. What I will say is this: Right or not, if you flash anger at a grown man, which you've admitted to, and a total stranger at that, you shouldn't be surprised if you spark some sort of response. Sensible people might walk away, but others not so much. Then you have the crazies. No way to know where that'll go. Right or wrong will mean very little if someone gets injured or worse. Grown man stuff isn't Jr. High on the playground stuff. I'm not saying that you deserve abuse, or that you should take it, but if you're throwing hard eyes at someone you're going to find them looking back. I'll leave you with this tidbit. It's something that helped me get my head straight when I was young enough for it to have mattered. My sensei kept me after class one night to have a talk. He was curious about the intensity of my training. Specifically with my focus on more damaging offensive tactics and my lack of intensity on restraints. He was actually worried about what I might do out there. I answered that in my head I'm fighting the 6'4" 240 guy in close quarters that can't be otherwise restrained or deterred. He said two things to me that really sunk in. First: Don't you realize that a civilian is basically moving in slow motion at this point in your development? I didn't really buy that completely and said so. He nodded, then went on: OK, do you think a person who's either drunk or stupid deserves to be maimed, possibly for life? I hadn't really visualized something like this at all before this conversation. My only thought before then was winning, or not losing, but not about real consequences. His choosing of the word "maimed" was the kicker. It illustrated his point perfectly. I won't lie and say that I was a perfect diplomat after that being only 20 at the time, but it was something I seriously worked on over time, and especially after I had far more to lose as an adult. If you are as you say, a tough 45 year old, who cares what some schmuck at a lake thinks? Does it matter if he thinks you aren't? Does it make it less true. Best to keep your powder dry for when someone's truly threatening you or your family. Do yourself a favor and let stuff like this go unless it's impossible to do so.

17lb. Tough. Low stretch. Very affordable. Try it. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-SUFX.html?from=basres

So just concentrate on fishing and forget about it. If you can't then just buy an Alphas 800. No.

I hit my spot super early this morning. It was cold and the water was dead flat at 3 am, but thankfully the flock of swans were on the other side of the lake. The water is so unusually clear from the colder temps and wind, and none of my trusty shallow areas are working yet. I finally found some bait pushed hard to the shoreline inside an emerging pad field just as the wind kicked up at 4:00, then got some bites right away. Got a few midgets on small wake cranks, missed something heavy that wouldn't let go but was never hooked on the Zman Texas Eye/Diesel Minnow, then finally got a decent fish on a NorieS spoon tail shad. My buddy, who was at another spot on the lake right after dawn, had snagged his crank in some weeds. He's shore-bound and I was in waders, so I met him over there and saved his lure. He was done for the day, and since I was already in the water I asked if I could take a few casts from his spot. A few casts later I hooked into something with some nice horsepower. Carp were jumping while I was saving his lure, so I thought I'd snagged a carp at first, but that's because it got wrapped around a new pad stalk just as soon as it bit. She jumped about a foot out of the water and unsnagged herself and my diesel minnow just like that. "That 'aint no carp!", my buddy cried when she flew. 4-12lbs. Good way to end the session.

Invest in the best graph you can afford. You haven't mentioned acreage, but I'm guessing it's large. Once you've eliminated dead water at a given moment in time and find fish, then you can begin to figure out what they want and don't want gradually. Start with basic presentations like the guys here have mentioned, then go bold if you're feeling it.

Not many, and this is likely because the vast majority of people aren't fishing while wearing glass lenses. Likewise, the vast majority of people don't wear glass lenses where getting nailed by fast flying metal projectiles is a risk. Few normal recreational activities present the risk of a small yet heavy piece of metal flying at high speed which concentrates energy on a single point like a jig head or weight would. You do you, but you only have to be wrong once.

This Lucky Craft pointer 75 must've been snagged underwater for years. Both hooks were vaporized leaving only the split rings. The entire lure was totally blackened, and it didn't want to come off. Not even off the bill. I grabbed a bottle of my wife's Spray Nine, hit it with a shot, waited a few minutes, and the black wiped right off. A couple of #4 VMCs and I'll have a LC Pointer in Tennessee Shad to play around with. Neat.

Open water? A minefield of Lily pads nearby?

Heavy swim baits are a different thing though. I never backlash throwing them with mono. Sometimes a slight fluff up that corrects during the cast is a bad as it's gotten, or a small over run if I miss on the splash down. However, throw up a single loop with braid and lock up the spool and the knot will snap easily, even with 65lb.

And that's the whole ball of wax right there. Not worth the risk for fishing, and I've been smacked directly in a lens more than once.

I run straight Big Game mono from 20lb through 30 lb for all swim baits beginning at an ounce. No connection knot issues and its strength is remarkable.

Rain was in the forecast last night, and I managed to sneak up for an hour before it hit. I couldn't buy a nibble throwing several reliable presentations that typically get bit in low 40 degree water. The other day I swapped out the day-glo yellow tail on my Rat 40 for a red/purple one. It's spring, right? It's kinda red, so why not? I did the old chuck-n-wind and a few fish followed and waked on it, but no bites. Tied on a Yo-zuri 3DR just in case they wanted something smaller. Turns out a Pickerel wanted it. Total PIA as the treble pinned its top and bottom lips closed. Good thing I checked my line. One nice pull on the 15lb Big Game, and blink, it popped easily about a foot above the lure. I dropped the slimed Yo-zuri in the bag and went back to the rat. I chucked it as far as I could down the bank over an emerging pad field and a scrapper green bass hit it hard about 10 handle turns later. He fought well for his size. The wind was blowing, my hands were soaked and freezing, so I called it a win and scooted, but I have a feeling I left a lot on the table. It felt like they were just about to really turn on. Oh well. I'm pretty hard-boiled when it comes to cold weather, but wet and cold not so much.

If I've covered the zone from the bottom to top, then no. Sometimes they're just not there, or have just eaten, or are keyed in on something very specific, or just not interested. Sweep through the same zone an hour later and it might be a jackpot. While I had wake baits with me yesterday I really didn't expect much throwing them in 43 degree water, but I had them. In this weather a Hail Mary pass often produces results, even when it doesn't seem like the correct move. I learned this a few years ago throwing a Whopper Plopper as a last resort in mid 40 degree water. I wrecked em for weeks after that in colder water. Go figure. After everything sensible failed yesterday a Spro Rat 40 and a Yo-zuri 3DR 75mm wake saved my trip. Next week, or next trip, they might not be willing to come up to eat, so it might be a small slow sinking glide that gets it done. Gotta mix things up.

Congrats! ?

North East Hammer! ?

Which shop did you buy from?

Take the sideplate off, turn the brakes off, replace the sideplate, then try spinning the handle.

My brother had the entire hook/head assembly blown out of a standard Magdraft. Mend-It fixed it perfectly. You can barely tell. Plus, unlike superglue, the repair is as soft as the original plastic. I fish a lot of plastics. I'm never without this stuff. You can fix baits just about endlessly. Even the noses of swimbaits can be repaired when a screwlock get ripped out. Ripped senkos get tossed in a bag and repaired whenever. Even ones nearly torn in half. Saves me a fortune

Here's an offbeat budget suggestion: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/13_Fishing_Defy_Black_Crankbait_Casting_Rods/descpage-CRHDF.html#customer_reviews I bought the previous gen 7'3" composite for my yak. Same specs as the new 7' 4" at 1/4-1 1/2 oz. A tad crisp, but no problem keeping cranks pinned, and sets hooks in chatters very well. It has backbone. I use it for both. I've also thrown 1 1/2oz Shellcraker G2s and Gantarel jrs with it doing hero hooksets just to see if it would break, but it's held up just fine.

X2^^^^. In this case teflon tape may make it harder to get the cap started correctly on the plastic threads, which is touchy to begin with. Strip those and you'll need a new sideplate.