BrianMDTX

Things may be picking up. Only had a few hours to fish this morning. Based on yesterday, I started with a 6th Sense squarebill. Once again, nothing of size, but the bass did like it. I caught three in about 20 minutes. Tried a chartreuse spinnerbait after that with no luck, as well as a Megabass popper. Tried a Whopper Plopper and had a strike about 3’ from the boat but that was it. Started tossing a #196 Senko WR and caught a dink. Tossed it out again and caught another dink. Tossed it out again and on the retrieve it got hit hard. A little bigger than yesterday’s bass. About 2-1/4 lbs. Caught a few more smaller bass for a total of 10. Good morning!

I was going to fish Lake Raven this morning, but the report was it was extremely muddy due to heavy rain earlier this week. So I stayed local. Haven’t had much success lately. Been a dinkfest and not in big numbers. But I had off, so I was going fishing! Got in the water just after sun-up. Started with a Megabass Vision jerkbait, followed by a jig-n-craw. Nothing. Went to a Ned rig and got a strike but missed it. Went to a #956 Senko WR and caught two dinks. Not on the initial drop, and not lifting and letting it drop again, but on a decently fast retrieve. Tossed it again and when it broke the surface it got hit, but missed it. Tossed it out again and this time it got hooked. Not a giant. But I haven’t caught a 2 lb. bass in a while, so I was happy. Thought it was bigger as it put up a good fight. Caught another dink on a Zoom Trick Texas rig, but figured they were chasing. Took the jerkbait off and tied a squarebill onto the Dobyns. Caught a dink, but it was fun! All-in-all, a good morning. Beats working!

Thanks. I think I’m good but I’ll look at it regardless.

That’s another great thing about braid. You can use different leaders or none at all.

I tied on a jig and trailer and went to the pond for a few minutes to see how it casted. I have some brake adjustments to make but it casted well.

Ok, so all opinions were likely spot on, but I did use a wet sponge to really hold it under tension without burning my fingers. I had 12 lb YZH on it, and took off yards and left the rest as backing. I just spooled it on last week (it was a year-old spool) and it was so kinky it coiled off like a spring. That’s one thing I like about braid. No Smackdown at Academy, but they had 50 lb Sufix 832 (which I like) so I spooled that one with a 10 lb mono leader. It spooled on great. Thanks for the tips

Or was that #6 Tatsu on baitcasting gear…and #12 Tatsu on spinning tackle? Wait. What’s Tatsu? God, I hope I never get to that stage!

I save all that info in Notes on my iPhone.

That looks relatively easy to tie. I may have to try that.

Thanks. I thought it should have decent tension, just wasn’t sure how tight. I’m going to assume no issues with digging in with 30 lb? I like Smackdown. Especially the bright green.

I am going to spool braid on a baitcaster on a HF rod for frogs and jigs. I will have some 12 lb. YZH as backing line (that’s what is spooled on it now) and will likely use 50 lb. braid (likely Sufix 832 or Seguar Smackdown- haven’t decided yet). My question is, when spooling braid on a BC, do you set the drag down tight and spool it under a lot of tension? I have 20 lb braid on three spinning reels and have had zero issues with the line digging in, but baitcasters are a little different. How much tension should be on the line when spooling it on?

I think the only Bomber that I had over 30+ years ago was a Water Dog.

I started on a Daiwa Millionaire 3H. No thumb bar. Had a fancy, rainbow-colored spool tension knob. The first time I casted a bait on a modern, low-profile baitcaster with a thumb bar and a magnetic brake I was like “wha-a-a?” I have 5 now. I still use my thumb. Maybe not as judicious as before, but it still works as advertised.

lol. You still in MD? We moved to Texas in 2019 (my job).

God, you must in my age range lol. My buddies and I were in our early to mid 20’s in the 80s. After the ‘83 season we were (after getting decent jobs and $$$) going to buy season tickets for the ‘84 season. It’ll be 38 years to the day in one week since they left in a blizzard. Where the heck did the time go?

No, born and raised in Baltimore, but lived almost 30 years in Harford County. But used to hunt the Watershed frequently and back in the day, my friend from Eldersburg and I used to go cruising in Frederick. Was it called the Circle?

I went. Only had one bite. On a Ned rig. And it was a decent one. But it threw the hook about 10’ from the boat. It’s Sunday morning. Heading out in an hour lol.

One thing to look out for is keeping the line away from the end of the eye of the hook. If it gets caught there, it can nick the line.

I should be fishing, too. …and as soon as my wife texts me that she’s in a seat CLT-BWI, I will be! But if she misses that connection my phone will blow up, so I’m waiting lol!

My phone. How else can I access the Latest Catch Pics forum to see what I’m missing when getting skunked? ?

It’s simple. I like being on or around the water and out in nature. I like the challenge of trying to get a bass to take my lure. And I like the excitement of the fight.

Better than family. We don’t borrow money or slop your boat up! ?

I just spooled the reel with 12 lb. YZH a week ago. It’s an H2O Ethos HD baitcaster that I got for Fishmas. 6.6:1 ratio and practice casting it did a great job with a frog.

So I just finished reading the Frog Fishing thread, and I didn’t want to hijack it in a different direction, so I thought I’d ask my question here. It looks like every single person that responded in that thread is spooled with braid (most using 50 lb.). Which I assume is due to throwing frogs in slop. Most of the waters I fish do not have much vegetation on top. There are plenty of subsurface weeds and in summer duckweed is prevalent, but nothing that poses a threat to adding serious weight to a bass when reeling it in. So in waters that don’t have an issue with topwater vegetation, do you still normally spool with braid? If not, do you use mono, hybrid or FC? And in those waters, what is actually a better choice, a frog or a popper? Needless to say, I would not be using my Fenwick HMX76H-FC for poppers. But if poppers are a better choice, I may need to call the Monkey.

Tom, jealousy is an ugly thing. But anonymity on the Internet makes it so much easier for those who would never say a single word face-to-face. Your accomplishments documented by photographs are the only ammunition needed to stifle any arguments. Let petty people stew in their own juices. They always do.