Big Hands

Jankytown has no geographic location. You're certainly free to start your own 'susky-centric' thread, but otherwise. . . . Bring it on down to (this) Jankytown. It's all welcome here.

When it comes to absolutes in bass behavior, nothing is rarely always never a certainty. Yes, you can quote me on that because I promise you that I doubt anyone has ever said that before.

equals this: There might not be law against it and there might possibly be someone nearby that occasionally enjoys it, but probably not.

I prefer the semi-sane Alberto, with a wet kiss to cinch it down. . . YUK. No craziness experienced using 7 lb fluoro leaders tied to 10-12 lb braid. Does that confidentiality agreement extend beyond the shores of Lake Menderchuk?

I have exactly one Vision 110. One of the first times I used it, I caught an 8.5 lb bass from a 'fishing pier' at night . . . in February no less ;~). There are lights shining onto the water so it's lit up like an aquarium. I saw the fish and worked the bait until it was about ten feet away and the fish turned to look at it (along with another of about 5 lbs). I stopped it and let it sit for about ten seconds and gave it one jerk. The 8.5 pounder charged it so fast I couldn't believe it and slammed it. It was new and suspended fairly neutrally on the 8 lb yo-zuri co-poly line I was using at the time. Not long after that, I had another big one follow it back and when I got the bait back to the pier, I just stopped it. The fish followed it and came up about six inches and just stared at it. I lost count of how long I just let it sit there suspended and I finally gave it a tiny twitch and the bass just turned and swam away. I snagged the stock hooks on my fishing back pack and had to cut the hooks to get them out. I first tried some ST-36 treble hooks and it would sink like a stone. I ended up getting some stock Megabass Katsuage outbarbs and put them back on. I had put different split rings on it with the ST-36 trebles and was having a heck of a time just to get it to suspend slightly nose down and pretty neutral. I had to play around with various split rings and finally got the balance pretty good. It was a unique experience to see the situation unfold like that right in front of my eyes. I can't say if 'perfect suspension' (or nearly perfect) is always necessary, but it certainly didn't hurt to be close to that IME.

For quite a while I wondered what a wind knot was. . . and then I got one. They definitely suck when you get a good one.

I fished with 6 lb monofilament for decades and it did the job, but line twist was just part of fishing with spinning gear. Tried fluorocarbon and it wasn’t for me. Currently, 10# or 12# braid (tied with an Alberto knot - 7 wraps) to 6, 7, or 8 lb leader is what all of my finesse spinning rods are set up with. By far my favorite way to use spinning gear for the fishing I do. My current leader of choice is Daiwa Samurai (clear) 7 lb fluorocarbon. It’s performance and bang for the buck works for me with a 200 yard spool lasting a full season at least. Monofilament is a little more forgiving with stretch and knots that aren’t tied somewhat carefully. The stretch part isn’t a big deal to me with longish leaders and light to medium action rods. I start with no less than twelve feet of leader and then tie the on a new leader once it gets to less than five or six feet long.

The lake I fish 95% of the time never gets close to freezing, maybe down around 50°, so this could be a local thing, but I wholeheartedly concur with those saying get after it earlier than you think or you'll be reading about others that did. For me, I think all of the winter months are the best time to catch bigger bass. Way BITD, I had carpal tunnel surgery for my wrist, and tendonitis surgery on my elbow at the same time so I would be laid up for three months. Surgery took place the first day after New Years Day that the doctor was operating. After a three weeks the stitches came out of the hand and I just wore a brace to somewhat immobilize it while not rehabbing it. I also took the time to go out fishing a LOT with a friend that was able to go in his boat. Since I was not able to cast, we started trolling these large 'plugs' on leadcore line. We had out best success dragging them across main lake points and letting out enough leadcore to get the plug to drag the bottom at 25'. The plug is over 11" long and when it caused a ruckus, that's when we needed to pay attention. There was a five day mid-week period in the middle of February where we caught a 10 lb bass on each of those five days (among others). We only caught one bass that weighed less than 5 lbs and it weighed 1-1/4 lbs. Every bass we caught was on the front hook and we hooked up much more frequently as the plug was dragging and bouncing on the bottom as opposed to swimming in open water. The second pic shows the condition of the lip from dragging the bottom. I have more that are much more scuffed up than that. Most people don't think of this bait as anything other than a shallow swimming or wake bait. I feel that just because they hammer a bait, it doesn't necessarily mean they were looking for a meal. Most people around here feel like February is the worst month of the year to catch any fish, let alone big fish. . . . Perhaps. . . .

I have both, and I concur with your assessment. I fish my ML with 7" power worms sometimes with no issues.

I'd be more inclined to say: "If you can't enjoy fishing when you don't catch a fish, you shouldn't be an angler." But that's just me and fishing means different things to different people.

My favorite local truck.

Makes it easier to load up a gangion rig too.

I've owned probably 50 baitcasters and conventional reels since I bought my first Ambassadeur 5000 in the early 80's. I think of my thumb hovering over the spool like security at the door of a nightclub. Most of the time just their gentle presence is all that is required to maintain order. I have a Curado 150 DC and an SLX 150 DC that I bought at used prices ($200 and $90. . . . with new line), but were essentially new. I have no regrets, I actually like them a lot (even more than I thought I would TBH), and have never felt like they were particularly limiting for what I have used them for. Mostly crankbaits, spinnerbaits and bottom contact plastics like texas rig worms and shakeyheads. Stuff that 150 size reels are made for. I have an SLX 70 MGL and a couple of Curado BFS reels for lighter weight baits like weightless Senkos and other smaller BFS-adjacent baits.

You're not wrong. I just don't know what size is best so I resort to other implements of destruction, like o-ring picks.

With fishing buddies? Almost immediately. With myself? Constantly. With family or anyone else? Only if they ask, and even then, only briefly.

I'm pretty sure the plumbers tape is supposed to be pop-riveted into the lower unit in at least two places on each 'clamp'.

I guess you'd have to have a mud flat of some sort to have a use for that. To me, a flat is a bank with less than a 20° slope ;~)

Jankytown Submission v2.0 I sit in stupified amazement that this could just be something I should know about, or it's as odd to others as it is to me. I amazed either way.

Or wildfire debris?

To quote the TD website: "Many of your favorite Shimano products will be facing a price increase on 2/1/23. Buy now and save!" How does a product 'face' a price increase? Their retail partners and customers will be the ones 'facing' the increase. Does product already on the shelf (paid for by retailers at the pre-increase price) increase in price on 2/1/23 too? Asking for Bait Monkey even though BM probably already knows it will. Except my income.

If I wouldn't mind carrying three rods and if this was about cost, I'd get a Daiwa Aird-X MH/F and a Dobyns Fury 705CB. If it was about carrying more than two rods, I'd consider a less expensive MH/F, again like the Aird-X because less expensive rods like that tend to be a little less 'fast' than more expensive rods and maybe back off on the drag a little. I caught my PB (12 lbs 14 oz) on a MH/F casting rod with a crankbait on 10 lb monofilament. It can be done with some skill and a little luck. The monofilament can also add a little stretch so your MH/F rod setup has a little extra forgiveness. I'd have a little less confidence in feeling like I could drive a jig or larger worm home with a mod-fast rod. You could also fish crankbaits on the M/F spinning rod knowing that line twist is going to be an issue. Obviously none of your gear will spontaneously combust if you use it for something it isn't ideal for, but that's a personal issue and you'll have to figure out how to negate/reduce the concerns with technique and more focused bait choices.

I’d be more inclined to say that practice makes permanent and only perfect practice makes perfect rather than practice makes perfect. My first evidential claim being to observe Charles Barkley’s golf swing. He plays a lot of golf, but his swing is hideous and he’s a far better basketball player than he is a golfer ?

I have the Zodias 7’ ML and the Expride 7’ L. I like the Zodias, but I like the Expride even more. Great for lighter baits including weightless Senkos. All around excellent rod.

Castaic has come up about 20 feet in the past three weeks.