Big Hands

When I saw the topic for this thread, I thought of this article I read this morning on 'how to catch bass when they're not biting'. Sometimes you see things and aren't able to do the math as to how it relates to whether or not the fish may be active. I do remember going to the wild animal park near San Diego one day and the operator of the train ride that circles the compound commented that being that since it was the middle of the day, that the animals were generally pretty inactive. He also suggested that if one were to ride the train again near dusk that the animals would probably be much more active. So, we made it a point to get on one of the last trains of the day, and it was an incredibly different experience. Even the hippos were running amuk. I confess to never thinking of doing a few donuts around an area to get the shad moving, and thereby triggering the bass to become active.

Whatever line you're using, if you are unsure of the best knot for you to use, have a 'knot war' session. Take a length of line a few feet long and tie something on each using the competing knots and see which one breaks first. Try it a few times to make sure it's not a fluke. A knot war is also good to see what happens to different types of line when you pull really hard on them. You can test two lines against each other by putting a split ring or a swivel in the middle to separate the two different types of line. You can connect multiple sections of line and test a bunch of lines and/or knots at once.

I started with a 13' Boston Whaler, and then had a 19' Ranger bass boat many years ago, but I have also spent LOTS of time fishing as a backseater. I'll fish from the bank too if that's what's on the menu. I also caught my PB from the backseat. I'm generally fine fishing from the back seat. Doesn't really bother me in the least. . . . UNLESS the fish are somewhat deeper (and on a steep bank) and the person up front has the trolling motor on high speeding down the bank. I cast as far ahead as I dare, and by the time my bait hits the bottom, it's already past the back of the boat. Dragging behind the boat is far too deep. If it's someone I know, I may crawl up on the front deck with them. But if it's someone I'm not too familiar with, and I haven't found a good way to successfully address the situation, I probably wouldn't fish with them again. I tend to fish areas pretty deliberately and if I am up front, and as long as someone isn't a complete spode, I have no problem with them fishing side by side with me. If my bait is halfway back to the boat and they cast up ahead of me, I don't mind playing leapfrog.

Geezer Alert!

Probably didn't have much time to contemplate the situation either.

Beat me to it!

Since it is a state water project, there are all kinds of crazy laws and regulations, and a host of agencies that dictate what goes on at the lake. If the fish have waited to spawn, this high water level condition will allow the fish to get way up into the coves to do their deal. My guess is that some have waited, and some have already done the deed.

I hate it when that happens. . . . I had it happen recently on a Tranx 400. The line was put on, nice and evenly, at the tackle shop on their machine. After several casts, a 'hump' developed in the way the line was winding back onto the spool. I hadn't noticed it really until the reel backlashed because of the line rubbing the reel foot. That one cost me a Baitsanity Antidote swimbait ?

So, I just drove over to the lake to see what was happening. There were signs at 'the intersection' stating that both the main ramp and the west ramp are closed. I drove up to a lookout point on Lake Hughes road and could clearly see boats on the lake including the patrol boat. I also saw that the gate leading into the main ramp was open, and there were shore fisherman along the face of the dam. The lower lake was open and there were a number of cars in the parking lot, both boaters and non-boaters. Biggest surprise was that the upper lake is FULL again. In January it was down quite a ways and they were telling us that it was going to continue to be drawn down as much as 125' so that earthquake retrofitting work could be done on the dam. Looks like the work may have been postponed, but I have not heard anything officially.

This is the perfect time of year to fish with lizards.

Believe it or not, a lot of times in ponds like that, especially if the shoreline is a wall and there isn't much visibility, bass will hang out right next to the walls. It gives them a barrier to trap prey against, and even though they may be right below you, you'll be casting out away from them and picking your bait out of the water before it even bothers them. You might try either casting parallel into shallow water, or get back and cast into the water near the bank without letting the fish know you're standing right above them. Bass can be pretty bold when they don't think they're being stalked.

I'm a little surprised that they have remained open, but I suspect that could change any day, especially if people can't manage to keep away from each other.

Congratulations on the new record and welcome to the tribe.

Lots of excellent equipment to choose from these days, but at some point, you need to make a choice. This looks to be an excellent all around rig and a great way to begin building a quiver of quality baitcasting gear.

I tried fishing tournaments many years ago I do enjoy fishing competitively on the day(s) of the tournament, but I don't necessarily want to feel like I am pre-fishing for a tournament EVERY time I hit the water. And in order not to be just throwing my money at the ones that do pre-fish, pre-fish, pre-fish, I would also need to do the same. I don't really want to feel like I am only fishing for bites and then shaking fish off or bending my hooks over so I don't actually hook a fish that I could have waited until the tournament to put in the boat. I've known people that feel like they have to have something at stake or they're not enjoying fishing for all the other reasons one might enjoy it. I am serious about fishing as one should be when they spend a lot of time, money, and energy on something. But the reason I might approach it seriously might be any of a number of reasons. I might be going to test out some new tackle (although I'm not necessarily what I would call a "gearhead" - and that's a completely different subject). I might be going to spend time with a friend, just enjoying their company and goofing around. I might really be trying to catch a fish, or as many as possible, or targeting big fish. I might be going just to get away from the grind of everything else that competes for my attention. I am serious about each of those reasons, but those are the things that feed my soul at that particular time. If my soul hasn't been fed in some way, that might bother me. However, sometimes the goal may change mid-trip. Scroll down for the TL/DR version. I had a day back in January when I wanted to check out a new swimbait rod. I had practiced with it one other time for about half an hour, so it wasn't actually the first time out with it. I rode my bike from in town up to the west ramp at Castaic to do some shore fishing. If you have been to Castaic's west ramp, you know that is a grind to get up the hill to the ramp. All I brought was the rod/reel and I had a $40 swimbait tied onto it with brand new line. I locked up my bike at the lifeguard station and made my way down to the water (which was down about 40 vertical feet lower than normal) and took a short cast just get the line wet and make sure my reel settings were OK. On my second cast, I took a pretty good whack at it and of course the line blew up into a 'professional overrun'. I thought I could probably pick the bird nest out before my supposedly slow-sinking $40 swimbait hit the bottom and it wouldn't be that risky since it looked like a sandy bottom out in front of me anyway. As soon as I mentioned that the only bait I brought with me was a $40 swimbait, YOU KNEW this wasn't going to end well for the swimbait, right? Turns out I was wrong about several things. I was wrong when I tried to spool as much line onto the new reel as I could because instead of winding it on the spool as it had been wound on at the tackle shop, which was flat across, it was now looking a little high in the middle. That caused the line to rub on the reel foot, which in turn caused the backlash. I was wrong when I though I could pick out the bird nest before the bait hit the bottom. I should have hand lined in the bait and took my time picking out the backlash. But hindsight is 20/20, right? I was wrong to think that just because the shoreline was for 75 feet to either side of me that it would be sandy for 100 feet in front of me. I was wrong to think that I would be able to get it out of any possible snag that might be lurking. After finally picking out the bird nest, I wound down and the bait would not budge. There was a point that jutted out quite a ways to my left and I made my way out to the end of the point and was pulling form the side, and somewhat behind where I had cast. Still would not budge. I ended up breaking off the bait. . . . on my second cast of the day. And, now I get to the part that explains why I have bothered to tell this tale in a thread about fishing just for the heck of it. So, I sat for a few minutes contemplating my comedy of errors (which wasn't really comedy until some time had passed), and then the guy next to me offers his condolences for my loss and we started chatting about nothing in particular, but just having a nice chat. And then I began taking the walk of shame to head home. They had stocked trout the day before, so there were a number of people (light line fishermen) there fishing for them that had all witnessed me walking down with a big stout 8' rod and a big reel with one bait and saw me lose it on my second cast, LOL. But, each person that I passed offered some sort of condolences, if you will, and I spent a few minutes pleasantly chatting with each one of them. I even got to watch one person that been there all day without catching a fish, reel in a four pound catfish. Eventually I made my way back to my bike and rode down to where I had parked in town, where I sat in my car for a few minutes to take in the events of that afternoon. As I thought about riding up that heinous hill only to lose the only bait I brought on my second cast and how I could have prevented losing it, I decided that I had a choice to make. I could choose how I decided to remember this day. TL/DR Version: My goal when I set out was to try out some new gear (which I don't get all that often), and maybe hook a good fish that might be around snacking on the recently stocked trout. That part hadn't gone well AT ALL. A complete failure to be honest. But, I was still feeling good of being able to ride my bike on a pleasant January afternoon, about being able to go fishing just for the heck of it, and about the overall experience of having a succession of total strangers each offer words I am sure were meant to lessen the sting of what they had witnessed. They could have silently sat there and let me pass, and even laughed a little inside at me being a bonehead, but every one of them chose not to. My goal when I set out that day was to feed my soul, but I wanted it to be fed by trying out some new gear and possibly hooking a nice fish. That didn't happen, but at the end of the day, my soul was still nourished. Just not the way in which I had intended. I am a 'soul fisherman'.

It's really strange that they named a reel "Castaic" that is primarily designed for flipping. There is very little timber, the water is usually pretty clear, and the shoreline is mostly pretty steep compared to lakes in other parts of the country. I think Castaic Lake was really kicking out some huge fish around 1992 and they just wanted to cash in on the name recognition. On the other hand, the Casitas (named after another lake here in SoCal), is much more suited to fishing Castaic, and the Castaic would have better suited as the Casitas. Lake Casitas is no Louisiana bayou, but there is much more of that type of fishing than in Castaic. The lake record for Casitas is over 21 lbs, and a team caught a six fish 63.26 lb bag in a tournament back in the mid-90's.

I use a medium casting rod with a fast tip. Where I live, I don't use anything heavier than 10 lb test with lures other than big swimbaits. I have no issues using spinning gear to fish a jerkbait, but most of the time it would not be my first choice. YMMV. My first 10+ bass was caught on a 5'10" medium spinning rod with a 1000 size spinning reel and 6 lb test. My spinning gear is mostly geared toward light plastics.

I think (early-mid 80's was a while ago) it was either an ABU Garcia 5000 or an ABU Garcia Ultra Mag XL Plus (which I still have). Or maybe it was a Daiwa PMF 1000. LOL. I honestly can't say I know for sure *facepalm*

I caught a seven pounder earlier this year on the stock 110 hooks, but I was fishing with 8 lb Yo-Zuri hybrid and didn't horse the fish in like I would with a worm hook in timber on 20 lb test. Then I made the dumb maneuver of burying all three hooks into the material of my fishing backpack. I ended having to cut two of the hooks to get them out. After much hand wringing about not wanting to alter the action of the bait by putting larger hooks on the bait. I ended up going with Owner ST-36 trebles in #6 size, and put a red one on the front. I haven't had a chance to check to see if the action or buoyancy has been altered.

8+ on the mag brake is pretty heavy. You might try tightening the spool tension ever so slightly and then back off on the mag brake. I find my sweet spot at around 4 (or possibly less) on most of my reels, including 6 Daiwas with magnetic controls. As for the thumb, it's too bad they don't sell 'educated thumbs' at BPS or TW. They'd sell a grip of them. The old saying goes that practice makes perfect. I disagree. Practice makes permanent, and only perfect practice makes perfection possible. I know if I haven't fished for a while, my thumb gets stupid until I get some casts in.

I have seen other rods as well where the MH didn't feel as balanced as the medium and suspected that might be what is going on here. I agree that balance is important, especially if you'll be casting with it for hours on end.

Just curious: Was it a particular SLX rod you didn't like the balance of? I could understand that more so than them being unbalanced across the range. I have an SLX 6'10" medium action casting rod that I think feels fantastic. The MH, on the other hand, I could see someone possibly not liking the balance of that rod in comparison to the medium.

I have seen people set the hook in what they thought was stump, and then the 14 lb 'stump' tail walks and takes them for a ride. The funniest thing I think I have ever seen while fishing was two guys fishing in a rental boat, sitting back to back, fishing out opposite side of the boat. One of them feels a 'hit' and sets the hook. Strangely enough, that's when the other guy gets slammed and he sets the hook too. They were whooping and hollering for what seemed like forever fighting their 'fish'. It was especially funny to us when one would pull up hard, and the other guy thought that his 'fish' was suddenly going on a run. They were back to back, so they couldn't see what everyone else was seeing. Finally, one of them turned around to look at the other one and they realized they had been battling each other and things got real quiet, real fast.

They may have just recently put it up there. When he got it last month it wasn't up there. It was an in-store only deal and I was about to post it as such here and just went to the site to make sure.