PhishLI

Your reel's level wind will engage with the gears when you crank the handle and will distribute the line on the spool relatively evenly from left to right. It doesn't matter if it's not laying perfectly on the filler spool the line is coming from. Big Game isn't precision wound from the factory to begin with. Just spool it on and go fishing.

Never said I didn't, but I can empathize with the competitors who are struggling through a dinkfest. Sorta like seeing someone else take a shoe to the junk. You can sort of feel it yourself. Many come to the stage crestfallen, bewildered, and anything else on that end of the spectrum. Look at their faces at the weigh-in. Tough is one thing, but when you're pulling cocktail bass up much of the time it clearly wears on these guys. I'll be watching though.

This reel, like 99.8% of all low profile baitcasters, has a disengaging level wind. It's not supposed to go back and forth when the spool rotates. There's nothing wrong with it. As hard as you might find it to be, don't start another thread asking if this is true or not. It's true.

Good for you. Your testosterone level will thank you later.

True, but I'd rather see kids fishing than becoming antisocial video game vegetables. There's enough of those already. I imagine most of the ones who stick with it will straighten out over time. Can't do much about the numb skulls though. They'll always be there.

Everybody ready for some 6lb bags?

Unless it's been established that the population is truly stunted, which by the way is easy to see after you've caught some, I'd go by the rumor that bigs are in there. I wouldn't pay too much mind to what the tournament results were. There are plenty of factors at play to have led to those results. Aside from that, you can't know of every stealthy guy out there quietly finding them. There's probably more than a few. There's always some. Do you want to be one of those guys? You need to go by your gut and use your senses. Uncorking a lake is a long game, even if that's only 2 days a week. But you've got to want to do it. If that's where your head is at and you like a challenge, you will figure things out if you don't look at it as a race. However, if you get spun out by failure instead of it fueling your drive, this isn't the angle for you. Personally, I get bored quickly fishing at honey holes. We have them around, but I rarely go. My buddy will hit them now again for what he calls a "mental health" day, and I get it. But throwing a wacky worm for 25 fish doesn't excite me in the least. Been there, done that, and I'd rather swim in the ocean than splash around in a kiddy pool. By the way, if I had gone by what everyone I'd encountered said about The lake of Tears instead of following my gut I wouldn't have pulled a pretty good stringer of big fish out of it. Regardless of what I'd heard, or who it was who told me, I just knew they were in there, and with that belief, I made a mission of it and found them. Once again, this is something that's got to be for you. You need to be built for it. Circling back to the tournament results. Over time, I've networked a little bit. By doing well by the standards of this area, I've been connected with others who have too, and from one end of the island to the other. These guys are bonified big fish catchers. They crush it. They know what they're doing. Some have popped out to this lake with me for a session or two, but none have found the juice. Maybe a 4 pounder. That's simply not enough time. Even if you don't suck at this, and even if you're pretty good at it, it takes time to process information, especially in places where they're not jumping on your hook.

I could've written this post myself about a local 35 acre spot dubbed "The lake of tears" by replacing the water sports aspect with commercial poaching by our very clever "friends" from the east. The daytime regulars complain about not catching a fish for weeks at a time. What they don't get is that casting senkos and poppers to the same spots relentlessly only magnifies their misery. Talk about a self-inflicted wound. Same here. Same thought. A few of us figured it out eventually, but this took a lot of work and a long time. That's not to say it's easy now, but there are whoppers in there, so I'm continuously buzzed by the prospect even when the bite is tough. The regular lakeflys who struggle mightily are confounded when we show them pics, but no number of tips or advice given changes their luck. They simply can't dial in. They think it's about specific baits, but it's not. They think it's about specific locations, but it's not. In places this small with monolithic shore-to shore weeds and little structure, predators pound the baitfish from location to location continuously, and the bass can literally be anywhere. Other than the bluegill spawn, bait location is ever shifting. You either find the bait then learn how to trick the bass, or you fail endlessly aside from random dumb luck. The good news is that fully outfitted new guys who look the part don't last long. It takes a certain level of grit to outlast the learning curve. I'm glad you found something special like I have where the locals and regulars are convinced that it's dead. That notion is entertaining in itself.

No. Catching even a 4 pounder in lily pad fields loaded with arrowheads and water chestnut is a challenge for 30 lb braid. When the fish dives and wraps around a stalk or several stalks at the base of these plants, there's a good chance 30lb will pop. 40 lb is usually good enough if that happens with a fish of that weight, but maybe not if it's a 6-8 pound fish. 50lb braid is safe.

If the "sticks" you're talking about can find them when they're simply fishing but struggle in tournaments, then the issue is probably more about pressure on them. Whatever combination of developed instincts and intuition they have which makes them good under normal circumstances is getting shut down whilst under pressure. The signal gets interrupted. I know guys who'll knock your socks off in a game of horse. All net most of the time too, but they're mediocre in an actual game on the court. They just can't put it together and hit shots. It's two different things. I imagine the vast majority of us fall into the category of those who might struggle when there's a finish line entered into the equation. Another factor is particular lure resistance in heavily fished places. Northerns take sometimes 6-7 years to get to 3 pounds. 10 years for a 5 pounder on average. They've seen a lot, probably been caught or stung a lot, and have a survival instinct. Figuring out what bass in a particular body of water won't bite is as important as what they will. Figuring that out would probably take a good amount of time. Maybe months. Maybe a season. Probably longer than a practice session. Adding in the fact that there are probably a bunch of newbies chucking senkos at them all day non-stop doesn't help either. If I were you, and I felt like you seem to feel, I'd use my tournament time as practice sessions, or cracking the code sessions, and completely forget about winning anything. Perhaps you'll find yourself in the zone eventually, like you would if you set out to find them in a known to be tough lake if you'd just gone fishing. Getting in the zone is more than simply throwing into high percentage areas. It's more than that. It's a headspace thing too, and if you're not in it, you'll probably make less than ideal decisions. That's not what you want when there's a fine line between success and failure to begin with.

Not unless the line is rubbing on the metal frame or if the insert pops out. If it's a new rod, then exchange it if it irks you. Otherwise, don't think about it.

I'm never thrilled about missing two weeks of fishing, but it really doesn't bother me much either during this part of the season. Up until last year Bass fishing was closed from May 1st through June 15th, so I've been conditioned to not fishing during the spawn. I'm not into bed fishing regardless and have no desire to pull guarding males away from their broods. That's a self-defeating enterprise in lakes so depleted that catching 5 bass in an outing elevates one to god-like status. I think the powers that be had it right all along by closing it previously, but somehow that changed, but the "why" isn't a mystery at all. It was a revenue-generating decision dressed up in flowery language about access and opportunity, and one not made because of excess fish populations. That's for sure. That situation is worse than ever because of the commercial poaching problem coming out of NYC. I almost fished last Sunday night but left after finding an entire shoreline populated by the merciless bucket brigade who were live-lining under bobbers which is totally illegal. Taking bass here is not allowed in the first place, and so is selling them. The idea of a 15 year old lunker sold for peanuts then ending up in wonton soup or an egg roll really burns me up. Ultimately, it's depressing. My brother and I stayed far away from that scene last night by heading 60 miles east of the big city. The heat wave of 6-7 weeks ago during the still-cold-water period caused an algae bloom everywhere. Spring-fed natural lakes with an outflow along with dammed millponds with some flow have been affected, but their weed growth hasn't. A degree of water movement in those places seems to have alleviated the algae problem somewhat, however, particular natural lakes with no flow have been hit hard. Other than lily pads and arrowheads, weed growth there is nonexistent. Zero. So it was at the lake we'd mistakenly chosen last night without gathering any recent intel first. It's usually lush with weeds, but not a sprout was found while grinding crankbaits on the bottom. Fishing in zones where we'd caught them well in the past was a dead end. The entire place has been rewired and it was tough, but eventually we got some after we found the right spot and the half-moon dropped below the tree line. The spawn is over around here for sure as we ran into a bunch of starved-out males away from cover, but also landed two decent fish on the Spro BBZ1 Shad and a WP75. Honorable mention goes to the Keitech Noisy Flapper for getting work done too. I realize that most of this report is a downer, but it's nothing but awesome having my brother to go fishing with. We always have laughs no matter what. And to all you youngsters out there, honking-loud farts are still hysterical well into your 50's, especially in open spaces. Shoutout to barbeque with steakhouse baked beans.

In have these in my cart. Uses a titanium arm that's quite flexible and acts like a weed guard. Debo on YT knocked off about 30 throwing it in a recent vid, so the wire's resiliency sems to be legit. Also, I like where the line tie is located for coming through weeds. I've had some luck with compact SBs, so these make sense to try. 1st Gen Topspin - Tackle Warehouse

It depends on the species of weeds in the lake where you're using them. We're just about at the point here where I can no longer use them in many spots. Soon I'll be switching to the VMC Wacky Weedless with the metal leaf-spring weed guard which is very weedless. I've read complaints about them on these forums, but I've had no problems with hookups using crisp MF spinning rods.

Sell all your possessions. Move to Mexico. Beg @king fisher to adopt you.

I'm the least wound person who you don't know. Just having a little fun at nobody's expense.

That's OK. The like-sized bait fish active over the weed tops don't wobble either. They suspend within inches of the surface, dart a few inches or a foot, then pause. If you're getting pestered by mosquitoes and gnats with very little wind blowing, you'll usually see these minnows popping them on the surface. Sometimes when they pause, and sometimes when they dart, and sometimes when they're popping, a bass waiting in ambush blasts them. Ever hear or see a tail-slap killshot? That's often a bass blowing up on small minnow sized bait. The SRS is a slow floater. It can be made to mimic minnows behaving this way and you can control that by following @Vilas15 and @basser27's instructions. It's a real patience game to be sure, but if you can put yourself where the bait is and where active feeders are present and keyed in on them, you'll probably get some. You need to be there when though, or nothing will happen for you. It's easy to fish dead water if you're not marking subtle signs, and what was dead water an hour earlier might be the juice an hour later if groups of predators push bait into that zone.

Here's my rule: If a place has 19s, then it has 24s too. Keep going!

Correct. Refer to my post from Thursday where I got it right. I'm a little woozy on Mondays. And you can get obliterated by a falling jet engine walking your hamster to the bus stop. Anything made by man can fail. In general, they're fine. Personally, I haven't had an issue yet, and I'm a snap using son of a biscuit. I've had my fair share of different snaps fail though, and not just once either. Enough to where I'll never go back to them. I agree that some odd baits can be tricky to get on, like certain poppers, and some jerks where the bill is closer than usual to the line tie. Nothing's perfect, but these work well most of the time. BTW, if you keep the knot cinched tightly it won't slide around. Giving it a pull occasionally while locking it down with a fingernail does the trick. I realize that this isn't a helpful tip if you're one of those ghouls who chews their fingernails down to the nub. In that case, I'm plumb out of advice.

I use VMC Touch-Lok snaps for everything above the 00 Spro, so I gave the other sizes away. The VMC's clasp/latch won't pass through the smallest hook eyes though, but the 00 Spro will, even a typical a Ned. The 00 measures a breath under a 1/2" long. Prime Snap Mini – SPRO Sports Professionals

Cayuga was a smashfest last year. Let's go!

So don't do that. Put them in a sleeve, chuck 'em in a bag, and don't worry about it. I don't and I don't know anyone else who does, and I fish with a few big bait freaks. These baits are helicoptering through the air on the cast and crashing down into the water. Often tail first. Once wet, they'll straighten out if they happen to distort slightly during temporary storage in a sleeve. Just don't purposely bend the sleeve and it'll be fine, if you're concerned. Hanging them to dry tail down after fishing at home somewhere safe is a good idea though. I have a storage space downstairs with open wall studs where I stapled wire horizontally onto them and use this as a drying station. Drip drying helps to keeps the rust off any wet bait. So that's a plus.

Ott is still zero'd. What a crazy game. Wall is tuning them up with the glide.

Search for this vid on YT from 2 weeks ago: Deep Dive into Worst Finish of My Entire Career Look at him now. Just shakes it off.

Fixed it for you. Congrats! ?