Big Hands

What's your backcast with a spinning reel and rod look like with a long leader? Occasionally, it looks like a modern day version of "The Three Stooges Go Bass Fishing". When there is nobody in the back seat, I have thrown caution to the wind (pun intended) and put some extra sauce on it. Regret soon follows when I catch the plastic bait on something , which then adheres to it like it was attached by rivets. Usually, I just lose the bait, or all the terminal tackle. Once (recently) it caught hold of my most prized baitcasting rig and launched it twenty five feet in front of the boat. I was ready to watch it descend to a watery final resting place, but the full length cork butt section kept it floating until I could pluck it out of the lake. Thankfully, I was alone and didn't have to share my undignified moment of shame with any fellow anglers.

I have used mine (SLX MGL 70XG) with 50 lb power pro to fluoro leader for carolina rig fishing. I can throw a 3/4 oz carolina rig out quite a ways with it. I have had it for less than a year, and haven't had any issues.

Line capacity, I think is probably what he is alluding to, although I have fished it up to 30' deep myself. But there's not much left in reserve when you cast out a ways, and then let it sink.

https://megabassusa.com/product/orochi-xx-f3-5-70xxs-shakyhead/ My local tackle shop has one of these in the rack, and I have been putting hands on it every time I am in there. If I didn't already have three rods close to this one, I think I would be tempted to plonk down on it.

Me too. It's a niche reel and has it's limitations without question, but it's really good at what it does and very fun to use. I am looking to get another because finesse is what I do much of the time, and a second one would be nice to have on the deck. If I am fishing finesse (a relative term for certain), there are probably a couple different techniques/baits that could both call for the same rod and reel, or slightly different rods with the same reel, and I don't want to have to tie and re-tie to switch among them. I have three similar, but slightly different spinning combos for the same reason.

He was using light line, and bomb casting them, and sticking his rod tip as far into the water as he could without submerging the reel and grinding as hard as he could. This was in the days when most of us had flashers on the bow as our depth finders, so possibly the depth was a bit off.

I have a Phenix X-13 C (7' 6") rated for 1/2 to 3 ounce baits paired with a Curado 200 that works well for what you have described. I also have the X-14 T for heavier duty action, and an X-12 for lighter duty. The X-11 would be the 7' version of the X-13 if you prefer a shorter rod length (it doesn't go in exact order as the X-12 C is a lighter duty, but longer rod than the X-11 C).

I had remarked to a friend that I called July "Little Fish Month". He told me to be ready, he'd pick me up at 11 the next morning. I laughed and asked why he couldn't fish until 11 am. He just said "be ready, I'll pick you up." He flat put a whoopin on me throwing a Bill Norman Deep Little N on light line, and grinding them down close to 22' - 24' on the main lake points and when they would dig into the bottom, the smallest fish he caught was four pounds and he had a couple of six pounders in there too. I could get down there with my DD22's, but they didn't want them. I think they preferred the smaller profile cranks if you could get them down there. It's a lot of work getting those things down there in the midday sun & breeze, and it gets kinda rough with the summer crowds doing their thing all around you too. But now I know where at least some of the bigger fish go in the heat of the summer.

I rode dirt bikes when I broke my hand and had it in a cast. . . . . which will never qualify me to be considered the world's smartest person. And just to back that up. . . . I fished when I had my arm and hand in a cast from carpal tunnel and tendonitis surgery too. A conventional reel was easier on my hand than a spinning reel. Caught several big bass at that time because I was off work and was able to fish a LOT and get very dialed into what was working. At the time we were trolling 'big wooden swimbaits' on lead core line at about 25' deep in the middle of winter. Disclaimer: If your hands are your moneymakers, it might be prudent to listen to your doctors. I am not qualified to give medical advice even if I had slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night (I didn't).

In all sincerity, Hank Cherry is a worthy two-time champion, without question. Still, I found myself pulling for Matt Arey to pull it off. I think Matt Robertson will eventually have his day. He is the real deal and so much fun. Imagine the heads that would explode if he won the Classic fishing Ugly Stik rods. . . . . I would include my own head in that TBH.

a) Yep, and b) thaaaat would be terrrrrrible,

My guess is the one on the left is the $30 rod.

Seems like an alright guy as a person, but a bit of a luddite and sometimes seems to state his opinion as if it were the only factual truth. It took me a while to warm up to him and I'm still not a huge fan. I'd much rather watch Johnny Schultz walk the walk on the water than watch Randy ranting from his mud porch or while he's driving down the interstate.

This is a pretty versatile system: https://daiwa.us/products/ardito-tr-travel-rods The 5+1 system at the bottom of the table

In order to have a secret spot, I would need to have a second boat to use to explore other waters, or have a mandatory 10 day wait after fishing somewhere else. There are two lakes that allow boating (three if you count only being allowed to idle around a small park lake), and the other one that allows normal boating activity is a 250 acre bull ring. The lake I live near and fish regularly is 2,200 acres when full (currently 50' below full pool) and is the lake in a metropolitan area of over 10 million people (Los Angeles County). The only saving grace (if you can call it that) is that the state and county have managed to make boating so inconvenient (Quagga mussel protocols) and expensive ($24 to launch and park, so I buy a yearly pass for $285) that many don't bother or go to destinations further away (out of state even) to have a better boating experience. In spite of all that, the fishing is surprisingly decent most of the time and we can fish year round . . . . . under the close supervision of the various government agencies and only between sunrise and sunset. But there are no secret spots to find or fish and it just is what it is.

Which forecast graphic would I consult for Lake Menderchuck? I was hoping to check it out later this month and want to be prepared. . . . ;~)

We call it (Lake Casitas) "Lake No-Fish", which is of course, not exactly true. It can cough up some very nice fish, and occasionally be OK, but it's been mostly hard for me. Most people I know prefer either Castaic or Casitas, but rarely do people like or fish well at both. The good news for me (if you want to call it good news) is that since they require a 35 day quarantine after they inspect your boat before you can fish the lake, you can bet that I am not going to drag my boat 60 miles both ways so they can inspect it and then wait another 35 days before I can fish there, and then wait another 10 days before I can fish the lake that is a couple miles from my driveway just to fish there. In that respect, Lake Casitas is certainly dead to me for the time being. I would like to go check it out again sometime, but with those restrictions, I am not even close to being tempted.

The folks at my local tackle store told me it was because the design allowed it to be sealed so well, that it should essentially not need to be serviced, therefore there was no need to make the inside accessible. For me, that could possibly justify the price increase that goes with the MQ models. In the case of the Kage models, the MQ version is actually heavier than the non-MQ Kage. I'm not sure the body of their reels had any strength related issues with the bodies themselves. The reel feet can be a bit flexy though, but that isn't anything that MQ would solve.

I usually toss the same bait that got the strike in the first place.

Isn't that the whole point of the monocoque body: To not have a need to get inside of the reel? ------------------------------ OP: If you like your Tatula, I think I would stay with something I like. There are a few sellers from Europe offering some unique reels, or unique versions of reels we already know. I bought a Fuego LT2000S-XH from a seller there last summer that did charge $15 for shipping, but I ordered it at midday Friday (PST) and it was delivered on Monday afternoon here in California, which I would have been happy with if the seller was here in the same state, let alone half way around the world.

I wonder if Bois D'Ark is going to go off like Fork did? Hopefully it's filling faster than planned with the biblical rain storms y'all have been getting.

If stretch is what you desire, then I would go straight to P-Line fluorocarbon. I don't find I want or need that much stretch, but I found that stuff to be quite . . . . 'stretchy'.

I would put some cohesive athletic tape around the arbor of that 2500 spool until it only held 100 yards of either 10 lb or 15 lb braid at most. Braid usually breaks at a much higher strength than it's advertised at. The smaller size line will have less wind resistance and that can be a consideration when fishing lightweight baits in order to maintain contact without having to resort to heavy sinkers that get hung up easier. Quality fishing line is expensive (but worth it to some degree) so if you can get two fills from a 200 yard spool, that will be like paying half price if you were going to fill the ridiculous spools that they ship to us here in North America. Even if I bought a 150 yard spool, I would have no qualms about putting 75 yards of braid on it if I am using leaders of fluoro or mono on it and only losing a foot of braid when I attach a new leader. JMHO and YMMV.