PhishLI

Yeah, and give a fool a coupon...

Ran into F&S for one bag of Fat IKAs. One bag, I tell ya...

These looked interesting at $2.10 a bag in the closeout bin at a local B&T.

Perhaps that's true, but somehow I've managed to dodge the bullet with the 6 recent production Quantum BCs I own. They've been flawless, and they get fished hard.

100% agree. I wear cut proof gloves designed for handling wire lath which allows me to drag logs in using 20lb braid with zero fear of being cut. I grab the line every time, one wrap around, and I'm good. No way am I taking a hook in the face at high speed, or any other prized appendage, for the sake of a glory pic. I can't remember the last time I had a fish shake off once I grabbed my line.

Over time you'll get more tuned in to everything about a baitcaster, including sound and vibration, and any issues you're having now will mostly go away. Fishing in the dark was a big help for me as sound and vibration are the things I must subconsciously key in on when I'm zoned out and throwing hundreds of casts. Adding a slightly higher arc to my casts allows me a bit of extra time to adjust if things start to get wooly. There's always the chance you might clip something though. Maybe a branch, seat, or your trolling motor. Wednesday I re-spooled with brand new 30lb J-Braid. There's a spot I was out to that's sketchy with a rod longer than 6'6" due to overhanging branches, but I had a 7'3" in hand. I was careful until I wasn't and clipped the last inch of a branch. Couldn't pick this one out on the spot in the dark, but at home with a dental pick it was no problem.

Thanks, but it was sort of a mixed bag. On the way out I walked through some spider webs, which happens a lot. By the time I got out of there I began to feel an odd sensation as my nose started burning a bit. By the time I got in my truck and took a look in the mirror, my schnozzola was swollen and bulbous. Booked home and schmeared it up with Benadryl cream, and it's beginning to calm down now. Something else to carry with me for now on, I reckon.

It happens. Even has a name: Picking out a backlash fish.

Stopped off after a long day for a quick one. A few nice bites on the Fish Arrow J-Shad, then a good one committed. The heat was still unreal at 9:45, and I was drenched with sweat after just 40 minutes, so I called it a win then danced on outta there.

If you haven't chosen the reel yet, I'd suggest at least a 4000 size. Spool lip friction becomes a factor with 8 strand braid beginning at 30LB, and will choke off casting distance quickly once a certain amount of line is payed out. Larger spool diameters reduce this effect.

Unless it's not practical for some reason, the easiest solution is to walk your dog, and not just once around the block. There are a number of upsides to this, but for your immediate purposes you'll probably encounter spots that other dogs use to defecate. The scent left behind will trigger your dog to do the same. If the issue persists, then get a crate. Dogs, especially females, will rarely release where they sleep. At the same time every day, which is important in the beginning, take her from the crate straight on a walk. Dogs like a routine.

Every other weekend my brother and I check out google maps, then hit a new small body of water in our Jon boat. We asked around, but couldn't get any solid intel on this weekend's choice, so we winged it. I found a small path to the water, but it was a no go to launch, but I just had to chuck a bait. Got one to bite a Fat IKA quickly, but the weeds were intense. The only place we found to launch was through an impossibly nasty field of goose shiznit and mud. Thankfully, we both had our hip waders in the truck or it would've all ended there. This 50 acre joint was 100% choked with a trolling motor's nightmare of weeds nearly right up to the top. Maybe 10% of it offered 3-4 inches of relief between the top of the weeds and the surface. That was enough to throw wake baits, which were the only thing they seemed interested in anyway. My brother's fish was about the same size as mine, but the trebles from his Tater Hog HoochieMomma were a bear to remove, so we set her free without pics to reduce her stress. My boat fish came on a Livingston Bullnose Wake/Crank. Glad we beat the skunk, but we were happy once the rain chased us out of there. Perfect spot for a daylight punching mission, but less than zero pleasure for a night trip.

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He got the hook back in May. I was reading his post on budget BFS, reloaded the page, then poof it was gone. Maybe it was because he posted several links to a certain overseas webstore in that thread and it's forbidden here?

I bought two Fuegos 4 years ago, but they were purchased about a month apart. The first was fine, but the 2nd was giving me the same issues you've described. It turns out that the spool bearings were packed with clear grease. The shields on these bearings are pressed in. Instead of soaking them in solvent I elected to simply add a few cycles of oil. This cut the grease and resolved the issue quickly. No major disassembly required. Simply remove the palm side plate and spool tension knob to access the spool bearings.

I actually threw that rig for the first time today. @roadwarrior touted it recently, so I was inspired. Too bad I was dumb enough to go local during daylight hours today, so not a sniff on it, but I have high hopes.

The majority of the most convenient places to fish that are nearest to my house are shallow 4-20 acre ponds with a mean depth between 3-4 feet. No boats are allowed in any of them, so my only edge is wading. One thing that's shared between all of them is that the night bite rules. This doesn't mean a fish cannot be caught during the day, but the day bite is brutal, regardless of when. The Bass are aware of Ospreys, Hawks, and Cormorants, and tend to hunker down and do not chase, or come up to the surface, but once the lights go out it's a different story. This doesn't mean there aren't active bite windows, and inactive bite windows at night, because there are. It's a constantly moving target that can easily be missed. The real difference here is that the bass feel safe to move and chase, so my odds go way up. There's a reason my posted catches on this site are nearly all shown in the dark. P.S. My only real answer to the mosquitoes here is heavy clothing. Even during the depths of summer I sometimes resort to wearing a wool hat to keep them from stinging my head and to keep them out of my ears, and a heavy sweat jacket. I'd rather sweat profusely than get lumped up.

I understand that this could be a thing, or has been a thing, but I've never experienced this with anything other than treble hooks when using straight braid. We're as choked out as you can get around here, so I'm fishing straight braid, for the most part, 6 months out of the year as are the majority of my friends, and I prefer crisp, stiff, fast action rods. None of us have straightened out a worm hook ever, and we hook into some solid fish that often come in encapsulated in a mop of weeds weighing as much or more than the fish. Bent out a skosh? Sure, sometimes, but not enough to cause a loss. On the flip side. my buddy who's a braid to leader guy gets broken off way too much for my liking, and he rarely if ever out-fishes us straight braid guys.

Bucca Bull Gill Wake.

If you're not interested in a mix and match process and would rather grab a combo, the Lew's Mach Crush at DSG is pretty good. My buddy got the 300(3000) size reel version mounted on on the 7' medium fast rod. It's a crisp fast, not a noodle. The reel is metal bodied and smooth, and the rod is pretty good, and you can touch one in the store to see if it fits. $179, but if you buy a bag of plastics, or other miscellaneous item that you probably need anyway, then fill out the survey at the bottom of the receipt, you'll get a $10 off $50 coupon to apply to the combo.

A few custom painted SBs on the way back from the painter.

Last night was windless, cloudless, and insect-less. A blaring moon lit the place up like daytime, and I got a spanking. Tonight we had some wind, and full cloud cover, but the mosquitoes were on a rampage. Nothing will stop them from getting through other than a thick wool hat and heavy sweat jacket, and sweat I did. Soaked through, but I kept my blood, so it was worth it. It was still a tough bite though, but right toward the end we found a few good ones. Mine came dragging an ECO Pro Tungsten swing head jig with a 7" BPS worm, and my buddy got his on a Spro Rat 50.

Agree. This is the key in the super shallow places I fish. Last night I knew I was a dead duck by the time I made it out. It was humid, but there was zero wind and no clouds, and by midnight the waning full moon was just coming up over the tree line. Not a single flying insect to be seen, and none skittering across the water, so not a single bluegill popped on the surface. Everything was on lock down.