Reel

This fish is called different names : quillback, carpsucker, long-fin sucker, mullet, etc. In French: couette

I'm sure I will have a lot of disbelivers but, I scare more fish with a dark lure than I do with a light lure. We have cormorants were I fish.

Mick D is right. The boot material is important,. I used to have all neoprene waders but that would be to hot for you ( I live way north). Neoprene boot material is important and a good fit also (not too big) but the rest of the waders can be breathable. Mine (Orvis) can be folded down inside to make wading pants and that's practical when it's really hot. If they are allowed in your state get felt soles with cleats. That's the best for rocks.

Bootfoot are easier to put on and take off and they are usually less expensive because of only one thing to buy. Stocking foot are more confortable when you walk but more expensive because you have to buy the waders and the wading shoes. For rocky bottoms I would suggest cleats. Some states allow felt soles others don't. I like the lightest waders you can find because this make walking and wading easier.

Maybe it's not as old as that. MinnKota motors with I Pilot appeared on the market in 2017.

I can't agree more with Pat. You can't be stealthy enough. I fish ultra clear water for smallmouth and I have seen fish about 45, 50 feet away, slowly turn when I put my electric motor down. They know something is different, but not necessarely dangerous. But I've also had bass under the shadow of the boat in 20 foot of water follow me around for more than an hour. I've thrown a ned rig ( no splash) and had a visible fish dart 15 feet to get it. That distance( about 50 feet) is really important. My results for surface lures is about the same except for the 40 % that hit withing the next 3 feet. That doesn't exist where I fish.

Your motor is recent enough and needs a 60 amp circuit breaker. A lot of older boats came from the factory with a 50 amp breaker. At that time motors were not as powerful. With a 50 amp breaker when you go over speed 5, it draws too much and the breaker trips. It a resetable breaker so it goes back on after a while. Out of the water, like it has been said, the prop is not under tension, so it does not happen because it doesn't draw as much. This will also happen if your wires are too long or not big enough. (gauge).

One of the key things for distance is using 2 hands to cast.

Not as savy as you on the mechanics of reels but I have been using reels for flipping (in the past) and now pitching for many years ( since the 90's). I have used the Castaic (first gen) and after the Castaic SF (with modified Instagage) and the Core MGFV. I believed Shimano modified the original Castaic for fisherman to have a better contact for their thumb on the spool. Thumbing the spool gave better precision than stopping it with the bar when pitching became popular. I think flipping switches went away because a lot of people forgot to turn them off when they cast in a regular fashion making them dangerous. Today most reels can be used in one hand operation because the thumb bar can be raised by simply putting your thumb under it and raising it to engage the reel. Not a lot of people use that feature or even know about it.

Shimano SLX 7' 5 Mh/Xfast for frogs and heavier stuff.

I use heavy mono, 17 or 20 lb.

I live in Canada and I've ordered from the states in the past and here how it goes. For an order of around 60$ US, you have to pay shipping and that is about 15$. So a total of 75$ with the exchange comes to about a hundred dollars Cdn. Shipped by UPS ( try to avoid that ) there is another 20 to 25 dollars for duty and a 10 dollars for handling. Then some sales tax are added to that (15%). You can pay when they get to your door or they send you an email with the amount due and you can pay on line. I've got to really need something to buy that way.

Ask the other fishermen there if they are catching some. Fishing success is relative to the quantity of fish in a pond.

This .

852 S

Agree 100% The stopping part might be a minute or an hour and that's when you should be there.

Not Kayak Koz but for me working the bait is not varying the retrieve. Give an example. I fish mostly clear water so I often see the bait and the bass. I pitch the creature bait close to a mat at the edge of reeds. I give line so it falls as close as possible. The plastic bait lands at the edge and is there at the bottom. Nothing happens. After a few seconds, I shake the rod. I don't want the bait to move ahead, I want it to move in place. Just a shake to show LIFE. A bass comes out to investigate. Sometimes it just grabs it but most often it stops a feet from the bait at the edge of the mat to look at it. Then it's time for some movement, but not too much. Just an inch or so forward. A natural prey reaction when it glimses a predator. The bass surges ahead, gils flare and it's time to strike. Here the bait has moved maybe a couple of inches... not a retrieve. Chucking and winding is another approach totally. It' a numbers game. The more fish that are agressive that see your bait the more success. It works also.

Going back to the original question: Are bass seing what we think there seing ? No. Bass see a disturbance on the surface and their instinct associates it with the satisfaction (need) of eating. If that disturbance is similar to one a couple of hours ago that ended up a satisfactory meal, you have a good change that it will hit your frog.

Just as a comparison, 30 years back, hunting was a silent sport. You walked on tiptoes in the forest, not talking, hoping not to step on a branch, even standing still. Today, they crash antlers against trees, the call out and break branches with their hands and it works. There are no steadfast rules.

Softer tip rod but not smaller braid. Big braid helps with the floating.

What's a sweat patch ?

If you compare an NRX to another rod using mono on both , yes, it will be more sensitive. I feel spinnning rods in the NRX series are more sensitive than casting rods. By fluke Texas rigged, you mean with a sinker on the bottom. Yes, for bottom contact a NRX is very sensitive. I would not use one for fluke fishing without a sinker. You will get the most from a NRX with braid or braid to leader. Yes beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A Toyota will get you there and back. A Jaguar might not !!!

For a long time, I didn't believe that a high end rod would make that much of a difference. I used quality tackle and caught more than my fair share of bass and other species. But, I like to experience things by myself so I bought a NRX 852 spinning rod. It wasn't the lightest rod that I had, but it had a combination of components that made it special. When I dragged that tube on the bottom, I would feel it come up on a rock, reach the top and then, cascade down to the bottom. I would feel it brush weeds. At first it was too much and I questionned myself on the use of that much retroaction. Then I began to feel fish. Not the bites, but the absence of feeling when a fish takes the lure and doesn't move or moves towards you. And I can tell you that a lot of bass do that because my rate of success went up. And I don't think you should buy only expensive rods. I've got a 49$ frog rod that I would not give up for anything. For that, sensitivity is not the most important feature.

I use 2 Exprides for my dropshotting- a 6 foot 8 and a 7 foot 2 I use Vanford reels (2500) with 10 pound braid and 8 pound fluoro leader (7 foot) Baits vary but mostly small goby like. I use 3/8 and 1/2 oz weights. I use No 1 hooks Aaron Martens Gamakatsu

You not only changed bait, you changed technique.