plawren53202

So in advance please forgive what is probably an idiot level question. I am a newcomer to on-boat electronics and not very proficient with electronics in any other sense (my wife and kids, all Apple devotees, constantly laugh at me for my Cricket/Motorola cheapy cell phone ?) My dad recently bought a boat equipped with a Garmin 73sv. I have the Navionics app loaded on my phone, with lots of spots marked for the lake we fish in his boat. Is there any way to transfer these into the Navionics map in his Garmin? I tried looking through the manual but it was like reading Russian to me. I'd love to take the map homework I do at home and be able to plug that directly into the unit on the boat. Thanks!

Are you able to get closer to your target in a kayak and maybe trying to muscle the cast more from the bank? That could be leading to more arm action and thus more inaccuracy like others said. If you can fit another rod in your bank lineup, maybe one that loads a little more with the weightless bait? I can toss a weightless 4" Yum Dinger pretty far from the bank if I'm using my ML spinning combo that loads earlier, but if using my M/F spinning combo that doesn't load quite as much, I find myself trying to muscle it a little more.

10# or 15# Sufix 832 on my spinning reels. I would always use a leader with braid on a spinning reel. To me the "no leader" situations seem to be where visibility is not an issue, like muddy water, fishing a frog over heavy vegetation or pitching a jig into heavy cover/punching. If I'm using a spinning rod rather than a baitcaster, it's because for whatever reason I need a more "finessy" approach which would always dictate that I don't want straight braid tied to my bait, even the skinny stuff. 6# or 8# Sufix Advance copolymer is what I use for a leader.

Great post. For much of my fishing life, my shopping for fishing gear consisted of going into Walmart or occasionally BPS and just grabbing what "looked good" and was reasonably priced. Fortunately/unfortunately I've gotten to the point where I depend on having good quality gear--e.g. I can instantly tell the difference between a sensitive rod and a mediocre one, and I depend on having a sensitive rod for detecting bites, feeling the bottom, etc.--yet at the same time I'm at a point in life where I can't just run out and buy lots of things at the top of the price scale. Budget is always a major concern. So there is a challenge to finding good quality gear that doesn't break the bank. I think places like this forum have been a large reason why manufacturers have had to step up their game and make more reasonably priced gear good quality. I see the exact same thing in my other hobby, guitar, where 15 years ago mid-priced stuff was for the most part pretty junky, and now you can get really really solid gear for not too much. My less expensive reels to add to the list: Shimano Sahara, Daiwa Regal LT; the Lew's Tournament MP MSRPs at over $100 but I got one on sale for under that, so I'll include it. Also, I continue to be surprised by the quality of the Lew's Xfinity line that Walmart carries. I handed my Xfinity spinning combo down to my son when I upgraded earlier this year, but it continues to perform extremely well, both reel and rod. Haven't tried the casting combo, but the spinning combo is solid.

Most of the places I'm able to fish, a bigger issue for me is whether fish will be big enough to get hooked on a crankbait sized treble hook. ? If only--I'd love to worry about fishing somewhere where fish could bend out my split rings.

I was just thinking about this the other day (although for whatever reason I have always thrown lipless cbs in fall/winter/spring). Thinking through ledge fishing with deep divers like SK 5XDs and 6XDs. After his big win on Chick Jason Wheeler was talking about how as the summer goes on, bass out on ledges have seen a number of crankbaits and get a little more hesitant toward them, thus his success using the silent DTs from Rapala. I know most lipless cbs like Red Eye Shads aren't silent, but they are definitely smaller than, and have a less pronounced wobble than, the kinds of deep divers like 5XDs and 6XDs that people usually throw out on the ledges--and therefore, seem like they also might fit into Wheeler's theory. Plus, I wouldn't mind throwing a cb that would sink straight down where my cast lands rather than having to get a deep diving lipped cb down to the proper depth over a length of water.

Coming from a flyfishing background, where knots joining leader to fly line are required, for the longest time I resisted trying braid, simply because I did not want to have to tie a knot to a leader. That was by far my least favorite part of flyfishing and at all costs I tried to get leaders and fly line with the pre-tied loops that would join up rather than have to tie my own knot. I finally gave in, and it was one of the best fishing decisions I have made. Braid + leader on my spinning setups has completely changed the game for me. The added sensitivity and reduced stretch has totally changed my opinion of using spinning combos. Similarly I heard one of the commentators on the MLF live stream today (where everyone was using spinning gear to drop shot for smallies) said that braid completely changed the perception of spinning gear on the pro tours. I tried Power Pro but landed on Sufix 832 as my favorite, after getting many recommendations here to try it. I briefly tried fluoro leaders but found that I like copolymer, specifically Sufix Advance, a lot better. It combines the best of mono (soft, forgiving on knots) with the best of fluoro (sensitive, low stretch). I have 15# braid/8# leader on my M spinning rod and 10# braid/6# leader on my ML rod. For leader length, I usually use the length of the rod as a guide. I want the leader as long as possible to minimize needing to retie as it gets shorter from break offs or changing lures. But I quickly found out that no matter how well you tie your braid to leader knot, I did not want it going on the spool when I cast because it would sometimes grab line off the spool during the cast. Making the leader just shorter than the length of the rod should keep it just off the spool when ready to cast. You'll get a lot of opinions about braid to leader knot. I landed on the double uni knot; I know the FG and the Alberto have a lot of fans. I think (this is just my opinion) more important that which of these knots you use is just picking one and getting very proficient at tying it. I was already familiar with the double uni from flyfishing so it came easiest to me. I feel most confident in my ability to tie a good knot, and most competent when I have to retie one on the water. Knock on wood, the only ones that have failed me for some time are when I'm hung on something solid and pulling as hard as I can on the line to try to break free (I recognize that as I type that, the next time out I'll have a fish pull my leader knot out).

Look to see if there are any Facebook groups local to that area. My dad got a place at Kentucky Lake couple of months ago so I needed to find a source of info particular to that area. I have found a couple of FB pages specific to Kentucky Lake. They aren't as informative or knowledgeable as Bass Resource, of course, but they have provided some useful information. Also a couple of guides in that area post FB updates from time to time, so following them and then reading the comments on their posts has provided some good info as well.

Oh dear God, I hope this proves to be true.

Good grief. So many questions about this need to be answered. First, that looks like a lot of Carolina/bottom rigs for catfish, and then some bobbers up there as well. Two, are people casting with that much arch? Piles of line laying around on the bank really bothers me. Not only is it litter, but it is especially deadly to animals and birds. I have been finding it (and picking it up) everywhere around my subdivision pond. Not just little bundles of line, but massive wads that must contain 50 yards or more of line. What dawned on me last time out, and what I don't understand--all the new Covid anglers are most often fishing spincasting reels or, occasionally, spinning reels. Obviously they don't backlash, so under what circumstances are you needing to peel 50 or 100 yards of line off your Zebco 33 while on the water? ?

Colors that are a combination of green and blue, like Yum "Bream" and SK "Moon Juice" or "Okeechobee Craw." Second place would be purple colors, like Morning Dawn. Junebug is the go-to in dirty water.

Boat or bank? I'm mainly limited to bank fishing, mainly highly pressured public spots with lots of dinks and not many sizeable fish. Obviously don't want to carry 6 or 7 rods so I have gone with a jack of all trades approach. 3 rods, 2 spinning and 1 baitcaster (reflects the slant toward dink city). M/F spinning (Dobyns Fury, Shimano Sahara, 15# Sufix 832 w/8 lb. Sufix Advance copolymer leader) for shaky heads, weightless flukes, weightless creature baits, lighter Texas rigged baits (like worms with 1/8 oz. bullet); even did pretty well the other night throwing a smaller Rebel Pop R popper (caught several). ML/F spinning (Daiwa Aird-X, Daiwa Regal LT, 10# Sufix 832 w/6 lb. Sufix Advance leader) for weightless wacky worm, Ned rig, weightless TX rigged 4" Yum Dingers, and some creek smallie baits like BPS Hellgrammite or tubes on 1/16 oz. jig heads. MH/F baitcaster (Dobyns Fury, Lews Tournament MP, 14# Sufix Advance copolymer) for all the heavier stuff. Whopper Ploppers, KVD 1.5s and Red Eye Shads, 1/4 oz. TX rigged baits, 3/8 oz. chatterbaits, spinnerbaits. Was even throwing SK 5XDs, heavy Carolina rigged Ol' Monsters and 1/2 oz. wobble heads at the lake last week. I realize it's not the "perfect" rod for some of these applications but it covers them pretty well. If I were to add a rod to this lineup it would probably be a H/F baitcaster. Although my current MH/F handles treble hook baits like the 1.5s and Whopper Plopper pretty well, I wouldn't mind adding a M/Moderate baitcaster into the mix as well. But as long as I'm mainly bank fishing, there's no way I'm going more than 3 rods.

I have always used Rage Swimmers and more recently started using some 6th Sense Divine Swimbaits as well. I have always been really happy with the Rage Swimmers (the Divines are good too, but definitely firmer and I feel like I haven't exactly figured out their niche yet). Rage Swimmers have a good motion but are pretty durable. Curse words I know, but I had never owned a Keitech until just recently. I saw some of the Swing Impact 2.8s and thought they would be good for the dinks in places I fish. I also really liked their version of the Bluegill Flash-type color I use a lot. I know Keitechs have a huge fan club and I'm in the distinct minority on this, but I was shocked at how soft they are. So soft that I had trouble getting it to rig straight on a belly hook. So soft that it felt like it was one step removed from a Jello fish. Granted it was 90+ degrees when I used it. I could see an advantage to the softness if I were fishing in colder water or otherwise needed pronounced action at a really slow speed. But for fishing one at average speed in warm water, I think I'm going to stick with the Rage Swimmers. I understand now why people say they don't survive more than a fish or two; I also understand why people like them in colder water.

I have a lipless box, a squarebill box and a deep diver box. Most of my fishing is bank fishing so I only need the deep diver box when I'm out in a boat. Squarebills and lipless are generally organized by color, each in a 3700 box. Red craw patterns together, chrome together, bluegill patterns together, etc. Most of them tend to be SK (KVD 1.5 or Red Eye Shad) but I have different brands mixed together. Because of my bank fishing frequency, all of my squarebills are 1.5 size. Not sure how I would organize them if I had some 2.5s or other sizes mixed in.

I haven't used a Neko rig much, but I throw a wacky worm almost every time out on ponds. So I'll give you a couple of my observations about that, which I think will transfer to a Neko rig too. Maybe it's because of my specific application of a wacky rig, but I would never throw it on a baitcaster. Mine is always on my 7'0" ML spinning (10# braid/6# copolymer leader) or 7'0" M spinning (15# braid/8# leader). That's not to say a bigger worm with a nail weight couldn't work on a baitcaster, just for me the wacky rig is far to the finesse side of the bait spectrum so I always use a spinning rod with it. 4" Yum Dingers are my usual wacky rig bait. If I'm fishing somewhere with bigger fish I'll bump up to the 5", but most of the places I usually fish are highly pressured public ponds (i.e., Dink City) so the 4" works much better for that. For weedless rigging, I tried a variety of hooks with the wire weedguards (like the VMC Ike Approved Weedless Wacky and a Mustad wide gap weedless wacky). Seemed like I was missing a lot of hookups on bites. I finally switched over to the VMC Neko Finesse hook and my hookup ratio improved dramatically. If I'm going to be fishing weeds that are too heavy for this setup, then I just switch to a weightless Texas rig. USE THE O RINGS. Get an O ring tool and a bunch of O rings. Prior to using the O rings I was very lucky to get 2 fish per worm, and often they would pull it free from the hook without getting hooked. Two nights ago I caught 6 fish on the same worm using an O ring. For the nail weights, I have been getting the Eagle Claw lead nail weights. I want to say they are $1.29 or something like that at my local store.

+1 to this. If I want to fish something Ned-like around grass, I usually go with a weightless Texas rigged 4" Yum Dinger. Seems like I have good luck with it sinking nose down, but occasionally I will put the tiniest of split shot right in front of it (I forget what size they are) to make sure it does. If I want to make it even more Ned-like I might use a SK Ned Ocho. I've used the Lifted Jigs EWG heads, as well as some similar ones made by Big Bite Baits. They work really well, except that I had bad luck with using them with the original Zman/Elaztech baits. It seemed like even with the hook texposed, that rubbery Elaztech bait made it hard for the hook point to come through and I was missing quite a few bites. I have some other TRD Finesse-like baits from other companies, like Strike King Ned Ocho and Roboworm Ned Worms, and these seem to do better for me on the Texas rigged hook. Of course, the Elaztech is a big part of a Ned rig for me because it floats, so I feel like I'm giving something up by using these others.

Part of me would of course love to buy $300+ rods and reels just for the fun of it, because let's face it, really high end stuff is fun. Because of life circumstances I have accepted that that ain't gonna happen, and I'm perfectly happy (and feel blessed to own) just good solid gear. I hate it because I have been fishing long enough that if I'm fishing with a rod that isn't sensitive or a reel that isn't solid, I can feel it and it affects both my ability to fish like I want, and my enjoyment of the experience. That's why I'm so glad that some of the manufacturers have really stepped up over the past years to offer really solid gear at manageable prices. Guitar is my other hobby and the exact thing has happened in that industry. 20 years ago when I started playing guitar, a $200 guitar (adjusted for inflation) was pure junk. Now you can get some really surprisingly good stuff for cheap if you know what to look for and what manufacturers to buy from.

Actually a hair bigger than a 3700, 3700 is 8.8" x 14", the Academy terminal tackle box is 9.5" x 15".

The struggle is real...see another thread on here, I've been fighting the monkey to buy a Duckett Jacob Wheeler rod just because I think it looks really cool ? In all seriousness, that was a big reason I made the original post. I'm at a point in fishing, and life, where my fishing tastes/needs far outpace my budget. As in, I have gotten really dependent on good quality gear, like using really sensitive rods to pick up on bites you might otherwise miss...but I've got one in college, another headed there in a year, a special needs kiddo, blah blah blah, so I really have to put some thought into finding good quality gear that doesn't break the bank (or else I need to find a sponsorship deal LOL). The Aird (and the Regal LT) is definitely one that falls into that category...and I suspect there are lots of other people who similarly need to find good quality stuff on a budget.

OP, you may have already thought about this and shot it down, but what about something like this? https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-WINNINCORP.html?from=basres I haven't used them but know several people who love them and put them on every reel they get, picking the appropriate shape (slanted, barrel or straight) depending on the reel.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I hated fluoro on my spinning setups. In particular I put 12# fluoro on my M/F Dobyns Fury and Shimano Sahara size 2500 reel, and I couldn't get it back off of there fast enough. The fluoro seemed like it always wanted to just spring off the reel no matter how much I soaked it in KVD line conditioner. I went from that to Sufix 832 braid (20#) with a Sufix Advance 8 lb. leader and I couldn't be happier. OP, I would suggest going with a Sufix Advance or other copolymer leader especially if you are new to fishing. Copolymer to me is the best of both worlds, soft and forgiving like mono but much less stretch and better sensitivity. In particular if you are new to fishing, copolymer is going to be much more forgiving for knots. Even as someone who has been fishing for years, I am admittedly not the most careful knot tyer and when I use fluoro I have knots breaking all the time, I'm sure from my poor knot habits.

Lew's YouTube channel just put out a video on the new KVD line. I watched it yesterday, I'm 95% certain they said it had both centrifugal and magnetic brakes.

I'm sure the Edge terminal box is awesome. I'm at a point where every buck saved makes a difference, so I got the Academy terminal box. I have to say that I'm really impressed by it. It has some nifty features like the foam inserts for weights, but the biggest thing to me is that when the lid is closed it really seals down. So I don't find hooks or weights that have migrated to the wrong compartment like I constantly did with a regular 3700.

Dead on...and I like your way of thinking ?

Great info, thanks very much. That is really helpful.