PhishLI

Tight lips, my man. The most convenient places closest to my house are all small waters. I've worked hard to figure out these heavily pressured spots. Tons of hours of where, when, and how in freezing rain and extreme heat. Very few people are successful here other than randomly. The only people brought into the fold are others that are just as hard core, curious, and somewhat successful. Only a scant few of those will get a whiff of what I've worked out. I've taught a bunch of kids and a few adults how to use a baitcaster when I saw they were in birdnest hell, sometimes for hours at a clip, or tie knots, but that's where it ends. I don't discuss my portfolio or fishing secrets with strangers. Little good will come from doing either. I'm sorry to hear you were mined for info and regret it. That's too bad.

I'm not an expert, just an ordinary ham and egg'r. It's nearly straight braid time due to where I fish. It may damage older guides depending on which ring material they use. 8 carrier braid is less likely to be problematic. Post your rod models and someone may chime in with advice. I do not use mono backing. Tie the braid to the spool using an arbor knot. Cut two 1/2" square pieces of electrical tape, preferably Super 33 because it's very soft, and place the squares over the line at 180 degrees apart on the spool and wind it on. I've never once, not one time, had braid slip using this method. Leaders are optional. Some people like my buddy have no confidence without them. He also breaks off more fish using flouro leaders than anyone else that I fish with, but they never use leaders. I've never left a fish with a lure in it's mouth fishing straight braid other than one humongous pickerel. If you're going to use a leader, especially flouro, then learn and practice your connection and terminal knots and retie at the hook after you catch a fish. All leader knots are noticeable going through guides. Some people don't mind. It reduces my pleasure so I don't. If I feel that the line type is an issue in clearer water, or I need the sink rate, I simply switch to a rig or mount up reel with straight fluoro or copoly.

40 lb J-Braid X8

I have no choice but to use weedless wacky hooks in most places I fish and have tried every one that I could find. The VMC will come through the junk better than anything I've used so far, including the Mustads with the wire weed guard. However, due to the fact that it's a heavy wire hook with a stiff weed guard, I throw them on either MH rods or stiffer MF rods to get penetration. Not really finesse-y at all, but my hookup percentage is pretty good when the wacky bite is on in or near the thick stuff.

Almost all of my bigger fish caught in the past 3 months have come on the WP75 in perch. It was one of my best baits when the water temp was in the mid 40s, which was surprising. I can't say for sure if the color/pattern has anything to do with it, but perch even outperforms loon at night for me by a huge margin, so I'm sticking with it.

My plastics setups from the bank are a Chronarch on a 7' MHXF with 30lb braid for snaggy spots and a Tat SV on a 7'1" MF with 10 lb copoly for lighter plastics and more open spots. Plenty of casting distance with the Tat SV and it's a wonder in the wind with light baits.

Disregard the part of the video where he's dialing in the reel and the parts where he's doing a one handed cast. Take note of the sections where he's doing a two handed cast. Notice that his torso remains mostly stationary. Do this you'll remove unnecessary motion. Gently load the rod at the bottom of the back cast then sweep forward with a lob. Release the line a bit earlier than you would with a spinning reel. The worst thing that'll happen is the lure will go higher than you like. Better than a late release where the lure crashes into the water right in front of you then blows up the spool. You can calibrate your release and power as you get more comfortable.

I've purchased a good pile of reels over the past year which are all known quantities for the most part. While a few have been slightly disappointing regarding particular ergonomic quirks, none of those peccadilloes truly affect their on the water performance. I like them all. There's one standout based on it exceeding all expectations and then some: The Quantum Tour S3. Fit and finish is tight. It's a smooth cranker with it's fully supported drive train which is up to par in it's basic layout with a Curado K or Zillion. It palms great and is reasonably light at 6.4 ozs. The real kicker is it's turbo charged long casting capability due to it's tall 36mm spool and quite good stock spool bearings. The braking system seems to be calibrated in such a way that allows one to hammer casts for distance without choking the ascent all while maintaining control. The fact that the side plate doesn't need to be removed to engage or disengage it's centrifugal brake blocks is just icing on the cake. I really enjoy fishing with this reel, especially when I want to hit targets that are typically out of reach when I'm working from the shore or wading. I agree. Priced at $159 originally and being blown out due to it being replaced by the Vapor, it's hard to beat at the auction site price. Mine's on a smaller swimbait rig with 20lb Big Game. Seems to have no problem pulling high resistance wakes. Very solid feeling and another bomb caster from Quantum.

Lots of things are fair game in service of a laugh between brothers. Body shaming, including weight, height, or lack thereof, clubfeet, hammertoes, hairline, you name it. But teasing about the skunk is a real no-no! Way too sensitive of a subject. It's totally taboo, and who'd be foolish enough to drop that type of bad karma on oneself?

Swap gears in the Revos to see if the problem goes away. There could be a number of reasons you're feeling this. One that might be hard to solve is a sprung frame casting. It happens during manufacture and can mis-align the gears just enough that you'll feel the gears meshing. Doubtful that it'll amount to a problem though. A geary reel is unlikely to grenade during normal use. It can be annoying, or in some cases an intolerable high crime, if you're focused on such things.#Baitfinesse?

"My brother and the five skunk funk" I hit a lake with my brother that we've been to five times over the past two years. Each time I've hooked up, but he's been blanked. When we got there the last time this past November he said "If I don't get a fish I'm never coming back here". When we left he said "I hate this place". Skunked again. I convinced him to return this past weekend and was surprised he gave in so easily. It's a nice football field walk from the parking lot to the water. Our 12' Jon boat is light, but starts feeling heavy quicker than you'd think, especially since we had to lift it over a fence first. The wind was kicking up too, which meant a battle to stay put was on the way, and it was. The temps had also dropped like a rock into the 50s and nothing was happening throwing topwater. I got a few nips dragging baits, but couldn't convert. My brother tied on a Eco Pro swing jig with a Googan craw then chucked it into the pads. He hauled in a nice 4.3er and the curse was finally broken! He got a few more smalls grinding the G2 into the bottom. We were blown a few hundred feet in just the amount of time it took to unhook one of the G2 fish. He's a large human, so I suggested that his giant head was a acting like a sail. Brothers can joke once the skunk is off the boat! So much for stealth: Here's where it gets interesting. We motored back to the sandy shore where we launched. Right before we got there I pointed my flashlight into the water and spotted a bunch of bass hanging out about 15 feet from shore. The Jon boat boat's aluminium hull made a racket as it scraped against the rocky bottom and we got out with headlamps blaring white light. My brother ran up to the truck to grab the rod sleeves and I began casting and getting hits right away. When he got back I told him they were biting, so he grabbed the rig with the Eco Pro/Googan craw and lobbed it out. He knew right away he had a nice one. She broke the surface with a big tail slap and I saw it was a dandy. 5.7 lb. He went from zero to hero in the course of an hour, and I was happy for him. This guarantees a 7th trip now. Good stuff.

Can't wait to throw this Scum Frog Launch frog. Super soft bodied! There aren't enough deep lakes here to warrant a deep cranking rig, but there are some way east of me. This 7'9" Defy will get me in the big crank game for low $ the few times a year I can get out there, and will double as a Ganteral, G2, WP 130, and other 1.5-ish oz type treble baits stick the rest of the time when I'm working shallow water. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to chuck a 2oz Bull Gill in a pinch with it too. It'll get the Icon PT with 20lb Big Game. Perfect Yak rig. If I dump I'm only out a shade over 100 Bucks.

This isn't a secret: Fish the shadows. If there's a single Lily pad or a random twig sticking up in the middle of nowhere then drop your bait on the side of it where a shadow is cast. Whether the moon or sun is up, there will be shadows. Always fish the shadows first. Mix up your baits, rate of fall, and retrieve. The fish will tell you what they want.

If I'm working from the bank on a tree lined lake with overhanging branches then I'm bringing a 6'7" MHF. Makes pitching easier too when the shore's the same level with the water. Open shoreline, or when I can wade in to avoid tree branches, I'll have a 7'3" MHF. Insert any reel you like for either rig.

https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/rapala-9-floating-fish-gripper-16rapafltngfshgrpfac/16rapafltngfshgrpfac?sku=16430169&camp=CSE:DSG_92700040964918496_pla_aud-878140242411:pla-504581123936&gclid=CjwKCAjw8pH3BRAXEiwA1pvMsSwkhoL9VkgZ9wXtabFXhGnybze0RPNtlGk_oacuAUYVUvHlIa3AARoCkmIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Rapala offers a 6" and a 9". I'd say get both, but if you can only get one I say to get the 9". When using the 9" a thrashing fish is less likely to get you hooked with trebles. I've had some very close calls with the 6", so it stays attached to my scale.

That's my vote. I have far more expensive reels, but I almost always have a Fuego iCT n the mix. It's braking is well suited for night fishing which I do mostly. Both of mine have a ton of hours on them and a ton of fish and still feel fresh. I add my vote to garryo130's. I'm a big fan of this rod. The Aird-X 7'H is a really good rod. My brother lent me his for a few weeks, so I've fished with it. I prefer this particular Lew's rod for it's action and it's feel using a wider range of baits. It's very versatile and seems to be indestructible. Great frog rod too. I've thrown single hook baits like Berkley Champ swimmers up to Magdraft Freestyles with it, and even some treble baits in a pinch like Shellcrackers and 130 Whopper Ploppers. You should get your hands on one at DSG before you make a move. The Fuego CT on this rod will be a super versatile long lasting combo. Both have been fantastic to use and bulletproof for me, and I fish alot.

95% of my fishing's done at night. I prefer it in every way. It's a much bigger rush.

The season opened here on the 6th and my grand plan was to hit 'em hard at 12:01 a.m., but heavy rains all night put the kibosh on that. My first trip out was a night yakkin adventure with some buds on a new lake. It took me a little time in order to not feel wobbly out there. It was quite dark. My friend was going on about how beautiful the night was, but I had mixed emotions at first! I got over it after a really nice fish crushed the G2 Shellcracker. The water was warm and she was fired up. My pal heard the head shakes and splashes and paddled over to take a picture, but I'd forgotten my lip grippers and so did he. Worse than that the fish was hooked dead center of it's bottom lip by the front treble, plus it was going nuts. The Shellcraker was whipping around. I tried to lift it slightly to grasp the hook with my pliers and it tailwalked up the side of my yak. I felt the hooks scrape my hand and I was done. Tossed her out then I finally grabbed the hook with with the needlenose and let her shake off. That was the end of treble hook baits for the night! Lots of shorts strikes and shake offs, but I managed to land two fish on friendly single hook baits, a paddletail swimmer and a buzzbait. I'm doing it again tomorrow night.

Fun stuff.

Sure, but the question is how well they'll handle it. 6 grams is under 1/4 oz, and here's where the gap in performance while throwing those baits becomes an issue for heavier spools as you know. The 2020 TP has a 10-ish gram spool, which is rather low for the price range.

It's the MGL 50, not the BFS. 8 lb Tatsu. 1st bait was a 7" Berkely Powerbait ribbon tail. 5 grams. 6 grams with a 2/0 fine wire worm hook. TRD at the same weight. The worm is tricky without a bullet or nail as the tail catches air.

It's not that simple, and they're not. Having fished the Alde MGL and the 2020 TP Pro LFS side by side, the TP gives up little other than weight to the Alde. Regarding actual fishability and casting light weight lures, practically nothing. The spool is super light and free. I think I measured mine at 20 grams with a full spool of Advance 8lb including the bearing. Honestly, the TP brakes are easier to dial in. No popping off the side plate and engaging/disengaging brake blocks is a bonus, and not messing with that miserably placed dial of the Alde is a plus. BTW, the sideplate of this particular Alde is at the bottom of a lake right now because it popped off fighting a fish. $111.00 later...I'm not saying the Alde is junk. It's marvelous. The TP Pro LFS is a fantastic performer too, and a different thing compared to typical cheaper Doyo, and at that price its a hidden gem, IMO.

IMA Bill Lowen Squarebill crankbait https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Ima_Bill_Lowen_Squarebill_Crankbait/descpage-IBLSB.html Run nicely at 2 ft, so a tad deeper than a Mann's 1 Minus https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/brandhardbaits.html?from=basres. Both are good options with different actions if a shallow floating minnow isn't interestening to them.

Throw in a S-Waver and a Ganteral Jr and you'll really have all bases covered, but if you're already refreshing the page every 10 seconds on SU during a bait drop....LOL!