Bankc

Pull a bit of line off, tie it to a tree, wrap the line around something, and give it a hard yank. See if you can snap the line. I've had bad line and line go bad, where it just snaps with a fraction of it's stated rating, even when the line is fresh off the spool. I haven't had it happen with braid, but I don't see why it couldn't happen. Otherwise, you've probably got something wearing the line down or maybe toothy fish. There's a pond near me with a good spot to fish from the bank, but there's some metal cable submerged about 15ft from the bank. It ate a lot of my lures before I eventually got out there on my kayak and found it on my sonar. Now I avoid that spot unless I'm throwing topwaters.

I do a lot of electronics work as a hobby, and the number one rule is, if it worked fine before you did some modifications, and then stopped working right after, recheck your work at the modifications. Chances are high you made a simple mistake somewhere. Even if you don't think it could be the source of the issue, it's the best place to start.

Last year I found this little guy floating up next to me on a lake. The hooks had rusted out, probably freeing it from it's watery prison. I threw some cheap treble hooks on it that I already had lying around and decided to fish it. The fish didn't care. Wouldn't sniff it. So I decided to keep it for those times where you think you'll probably lose a bait. Somehow it got cracked, and now it no longer floats. It's a slow sinker. The weird part is, almost immediately after the crack, it started catching fish! Now it's proven itself to be my best producer this spring! Anyone else got a broken bait that works better broken than new?

Used boat prices will come down, probably around this fall or winter. The thing is, they're not going to return to where they were two years ago. Once prices go up, they don't like to come back down without a strong reason. The market has already proved that it will tolerate the higher prices, so people will probably still ask them for a long time. It'll take a hard hit to the economy or some other major factor to bring boat prices back down to where they were. I don't see new boat prices coming down. They'll likely stay where they're at, since people will obviously pay it. But it's up to you. Used prices should come down once new boats become plentiful. If you want to wait out a year or so, you'll likely save yourself a bit of money. But, you'll be without a boat during that time, and what's that worth to you? Personally, I'd hold out for a good deal. You might find one sooner than you think. But I kind of enjoy hunting for good deals. Not everyone does.

I prefer to fish alone, but I also enjoy fishing with other people. I think it helps that I don't do it that often, and when I'm fishing with someone else, I set the rules ahead of time. That way they know what to expect. And I let them know there won't be exceptions to the rules and there's a high chance that they'll hate it and want to go home, but that's not gonna happen. I let them know I take this stuff seriously and it's not gonna be fun. And no drinking. We're going to fish, not socialize. I might slide on some or even all of the rules, depending on how the day goes. I'm not a tyrant. I just try to make it sound like I am one so I don't get stuck with someone who thought it was going to be something else entirely and is immediately disappointed. It's a trick I learned from my grandfather. He always said that fishing was about patience and taught us to love the act of fishing, not just catching fish. He always made it known ahead of time that this was serious business and we were not going to have a good time, and he always made sure we had a good time anyway.

Use whatever you're most comfortable with. The biggest downside to using a baitcaster for finesse presentations and wacky rigs is they tend not to cast as far. The biggest downside for spinning reels is line twist. Either problem can be worked around. It's like the difference between a sedan and an SUV. Are there differences? Sure. But is one gonna be that much better than the other at getting you to work, buying groceries, or dropping the kid's off at soccer practice? Probably not. In a few, rare, extreme examples, they'll begin to separate themselves. But for most of what you encounter, they'll be virtually interchangeable.

Spinning reels, by the way, typically cast further than baitcasters. They just don't tend to handler thicker lines as well, the drag usually isn't as smooth or powerful, and they get wind knots. Plus, it's a little more difficult to control a spinning rod than a baitcaster. But, a spinning rod will likely be easier for you to learn, and if you do a lot of bank fishing, then distance is usually pretty important. So spinning rod wins again. Not to mention the fact that they're usually cheaper. But if you're fishing in a lot of heavy vegetation along those banks, then the baitcaster might be better due to the thicker lines and higher drag that you'll be wanting if you're trying to horse bass out of that stuff. Really, just get whatever you want. The differences between them are noticeable, but they're not insurmountable. Some people only fish with baitcasters. Some only fish with spinning reels. Most people fish with both. No matter what you choose, you can make it work.

Rubberized tape or Plastidip/liquid electrical tape. Maybe some silicone glue or goop. Lots of options here. As long as you don't get it on the cork, it ought to be non-permanent. But, of course, non-permanent options mean you'll likely have to reapply it. Otherwise, you're looking at sanding it smooth. On the extreme, you could take it to a rod builder and have them redo the reel seat to one you like. They might have to redo the grips too.

I'll often stand to pitch from my kayak, as I get better accuracy in short distances that way, and it's faster to repeat. But for more distance from my kayak, like more than 10-15 feet or so, I often just stay seated and do a side arm cast instead of a pitch. The trick is to keep the entire rod parallel with the water throughout the cast. You want the bait to stay about a foot or less above the surface the whole time as well. Don't let it lift up at the end of the cast. Just launch it straight forward. Then, after release, just before it's about to hit the water, kill it with your thumb on the spool. You can get the same soft entry as you would with a pitch, but a lot more distance. If you kill the forward momentum with your thumb before it hits the water, then the only thing that effects the splash is the distance above the water that the bait had to fall, which in this case should be only a foot. So you can cast it pretty hard and still get the soft entry, so long as you kill it with your thumb in time. It's a technique that I think you really have to be in a kayak (or other small vessel that allows you to sit about water level) to pull off, as most boats will sit you too high up to keep your rod so low while staying parallel to the water.

I got out Sunday and didn't have any issues. It wasn't even crowded. But I did go to a different lake than usual. I purposely chose one that was a bit more out of the way, and one that wasn't known as a good fishery. That way I wouldn't have to deal with crowds, which was more of a safety thing since I'm in a kayak. It worked in that I was mostly alone all day. It didn't work in that the fishing was rough, because it is a poorly managed lake. I'm not the kind of guy who gets upset easily. If nothing else, fishing has taught me the value of patience. If you see someone taking forever at the ramp, just ask if they want a hand. It'll either help speed them up, or it'll give you something to do while you wait. Getting angry about it is only gonna hurt you. And no self imposed burden is worth carrying.

I actually don't use them that often. They're great in the right water, but for most of the water I fish, it's just to muddy for a T-rig to be really effective. And there's very little cover to specifically target. I do better with things that make more noise. But they still get pulled out from time to time. It was the rig that got me into bass fishing, after all. I used one to target some standing timber this weekend. But ultimately, the squarebill turned out to be the winner. The water was just too muddy.

That's pretty much what I do. Keep your thumb on the spool the whole time. Maybe once you get better, you can avoid having to do this. But for me, I don't have to worry about bird's nests while skipping because this is how I do it. I do, however, have issues actually getting the darn thing to skip. I might have to try upsizing the baits like you suggested. As it stands, I'm about 50/50 as to whether I'll get a decent skip or not.

I use something similar to this. But it was a DIY project made out of a large, heavy bolt. Also, I can easily take the chains off. I find they usually work better without the chains, as they can get more momentum. But sometimes you need the chains. The trick to these is to know how to work them. They work really well if you can get directly over the bait, though you may have to work them for a while.

I use a trailer hook and skirt. I'm more worried about short strikes than profile.

It's my primary mono knot. I use other knots for fluoro and braid. But the Trilene is the one I trust for mono. 7 wraps for good luck!

I'm about 50/50 with clips. Sometimes I use them and sometimes I tie direct. I can't even tell you why I choose to do it one way or the other. I just go with whatever seems easiest to me in the moment. The majority of the lures that I lose are from not checking the last few feet of line for frays and nicks often enough.

They speak in code, and I've cracked it! 30% means is guaranteed to storm hard. 50% and 80% means it will stay as dry as a bone. 70% or 20% means there's a 50/50 chance. 90% and 40% means it will be a light drizzle for 10 minutes. And 10% and 60% mean moderate showers lasting about an hour or two.

That's usually what I do, and I do have an ultrasonic cleaner. It's just not usually worth the effort to get it out, unless they're really gummed up. Acetone is an amazingly thin lubricant. When a bearing is coated in acetone and you give it a good spin, that ought to tell you if the bearing is good or bad. If it doesn't spin well after a good cleaning and while still having a small coating of acetone in it, then it's a bad bearing. At that point, go ahead and replace it.

I change color based on visibility. So if the water is stained or muddy, or if the sky is dark and cloudy, I might go with a higher contrast lure. If the water is clear, I might choose something more natural, or if the sun is bright, I might go with something more shiny. I change lures when the fish don't bite what I'm throwing. I try to not get too caught up in colors, as I don't want to spend all day tying on lures. And I usually won't cycle through sizes either. I'll try a spinnerbait, and if that doesn't work, I'll go on to something completely different before switching out sizes, colors, or blade designs. Then, if I notice a pattern, like they're keying in on smaller lures that make more noise, I might go back to the spinnerbait, but this time grab a smaller one with Colorado blades. I want my first several lure swaps to be drastic ones until I start to pick up patterns. Then I'll narrow things down with more minor changes.

There's some truth to that. I went through a phase where I was upgrading bearings in my reels, and even the best bearings didn't really make a worthwhile difference, in my opinion. That's assuming you're comparing them to freshly cleaned and properly lubricated bearings that weren't worn out. If the bearings are dirty, worn, or have too much or too thick of oil in them, then new ones will make a huge difference. But if you're replacing good bearings with better bearings, there's not a whole lot to be had. Spools don't rotate at ultra high speeds, nor are they subjected to high pressure loads that would warrant high end bearings, in my opinion. In my opinion, the best thing you can do for bearings is to clean them regularly and use a very, very small amount of a low kinematic viscosity lubricant. I prefer Nye 140C. It won't last long, but it'll get the most out of your bearings if you're into such things. That's a much better upgrade, in my opinion, than swapping out bearings. Try not to get bogged down in ABEC ratings. The ABEC number, if it's even accurate, just describes the tolerance under which it was created. It doesn't describe the quality of the materials. Reels aren't running at speeds of 50,000 RPM's, and aren't subjected to high loads of lateral torque, so advantages offered by such high precision bearings aren't going to be fully realized anyway. Besides, a lot bearing manufacturers lie about this number. I've seen ABEC 11 bearings, when the scale only goes up to 9, as an obvious example.

Well, you've got me stumped! Perhaps you have an allergy to Polyethylene? I'm running out of ideas here!

It probably is the inability to move. Long plane rides and car drives do this to me. If you get a stable enough kayak so that you can stand and crawl around in, it really helps to prolong your day without pain. Even if you don't stand up, it's nice to be able to drop your legs over the side or kneel near the front or turn around towards the back. Just the stability to not have to maintain one seated position the whole time makes a huge difference. But you have to remember to take advantage of that and get up and move around often. I always make it a point to move around. I have lower back and knee issues and if I stay in one position too long, I'll get stiff and find myself in a world of hurt. Only I won't know it until it's too late. So I make it a point to not stay in one position too long.

Ain't that the truth! I've been on a lot of forums, and most act like a bunch of drunk people at a bar trying to start a fight. And good job with the sponsors. I've become aware of a lot of different products, retailers, and services that I didn't even know existed through this site. And, best of all, they're pretty much all related to fishing! It makes the ads feel relevant rather than intrusive.

Sometimes I try to hit the water an hour before sunrise. That's mainly just in the summer when it gets really hot during the day. I don't like having to load or unload in the dark, so I don't mess with anything too early or late. Also, disrupting my sleep schedule too much gives me a nasty headache. So getting up too early or staying up too late isn't worth it for me.

It's a personal preference thing. If you fish a lot of waters with open access on the banks, then a longer rod will help you cast it out there further. If you fish a lot of waters with lots of trees and bushes along the banks, then a shorter rod will get hung up less often. If the waters you fish have steep hills along the banks then you can use a longer topwater rod without having to worry about the rod tip hitting the water. If you fish waters where the bank slopes up gradually so you're basically standing an inch or two above the water line, then a shorter rod will help prevent the rod tip from hitting the water. If you fish all kinds of different situations, then you're going to have to make some decision on which compromises you feel most comfortable making. The perfect scenario would be to own a bunch of different rods in a bunch of different lengths so that you'd be ready for anything, and to hire a caddy to carry all of that equipment around for you.