GetFishorDieTryin

Uni uni is a good knot, but its a bit chunky. A #10 smackdown-#10 blue label alberto gets through my Tatulas guides really well. You dont need more than 2 additional wraps at the end if you're concerned with slippage and or want to add some strength, but its a BFS outfit, and its not going to have a ton of pressure on it. The wraps do add a little bit of bulk and make the knot uneven causing it to favor one side little more. Albright knots are a little easier to seat and plenty strong if tied correctly. You dont have to worry about the crossing the wraps back up to the loop and its a thinner knot. Just like any Albright style knot, the people who have problems with the are doing 1 -3 things wrong. 1- When finishing the knot the mainline has to exit the loop on the same side it came in. 2- You have to seat the knot tight, just under the top of the loop, so it has enough materials to bite into and a check at the top to keep it from slipping. You don't want it so low that there is any space in the loop and you dont want it too high where the braid is about slip over loop. Ive seen quite a few instructional videos where the knot isnt tight enough. If the knot isnt tight it will tighten under heavy load and slip over the loop. You will know when the braid is tight when the color of the wrapped line brightens slightly when compared with the rest of the braid. Sometimes, especially when tying Albertos with heavier 4 or 5x PE, you may need a glove or something to keep the braid from cutting into your hand. 3- The last mistake is leaving too much tag. You need to cut the tag lines almost flush with the knot, especially the leader tag. As long as the knot is tight it won't need any tag to tighten. The leader tag is what causes most of the problems people have. The tag will be very stiff and creates a catch for line coming of the spool. If the line does catch the tag on a hard cast, it can cause a nightmare that is referred to as a blow-by knot. Good luck, I hope it works out.

There arent any red, orange, pink or firetiger baitfish, but they still get bit. I fish white all the time in lakes that dont have any shad, but generally the water is dirty. Ill fish a white/pearl base spinnerbait or bladed jig in clear water when its windy, cloudy, rainy or all of the above. Even if hey dont relate a white jig to anything they feed on, white stands out and can get reaction bites.

It would help to know what kind of line you are using and if you are fishing from the bank, and what kind of cover you want to fish in. Whatever the line and cover you fish there are few lines of rods that are a great value at that price point. The Oath line by 13 fishing is one of the more premium $100 rods you can get today. The material they use to make the reel seat is similar to that which you would see on rods 3x the price. The actions and powers are consistent. In just about all of their lines, 13 (and many other companies) offer a 7'4 Heavy Fast. It's essentially a do it all H action. 13 also has an $80 lineup called Jynx that is a decent value as well, but the extra $20 for the Oath gets you a blank that is 2 levels above that which is used on Jynx. The better quality 36T Toray blank is much lighter, more sensitive and recovers fast. Tatula always gives you good value for the price and I feel Daiwa makes some of the best rods on the market, and Tatula XT isn't an exception. IMO I think the 36T blank on the Oath is a little better than the blank on the XT, but Daiwa really knows how to squeeze every bit of performance from a blank. There are some things Im not crazy about with the XT, like the bulging reel seat. Despite my preferences for thinner reel seats, Tatula XT is definitely close to the top of the list when it comes to $100 rods. Ark is a smaller company that has a certain formula for building rods. Ark spends more money on the "soul" of the rod, the blank. and spends less money on the components. Fuji makes outstanding guides and reel seats, but you pay for that name. By designing proprietary guides and reel seats that have similar performance to some of Fujis' designs, Ark can build a $100 rod uses a blank (40T) that you would have to spend over $250 to get on most other rods. 40T blanks are light sensitive and offer crisp actions. Using the same blank for almost every rod, means that powers and actions are really consistent throughout the different line ups. For every H pwer rod bought, a company may sell 5 or 6 MHs. You can see the popularity of MH rods reflected in the different options of a given rod line. There may be 4 or 5 MH designs and only 1 H power. If there is only 1 H design, they will try to make it as versatile as it can be. 7'2 or 7'4s are common because they are long enough to have good casting distance, although they may not be ideal, they can be used for close quarters. In the Cobb series ($100) Ark offers a 7'1 and 7'5 H. The 7'1 would be ideal for short accurate casts and the 7'5 would be great for flippin or slinging frogs. H power rods can be a little weighty and when they get over 7'2 or 7'3 they can be tip heavy. Even if the rod was light, if its tip heavy, it will feel much heavier than it really is. Last and not least is Dobyns. While there are lighter and more sensitive options, if you're looking for a H power rod, especially if its going to be 7'3 or longer, Dobyns should be near or at the top of the list. As Ive stated, there are lighter and more sensitive options, but Dobyns have always had more progressive tapers, which is what you want. Broomsticks are powerful, but dont cast very well and are a drag to fish with all day. Just a little give in the tip will help with pitching and launching frogs, as well as getting enabling you to take up slack and set the hook without the fish feeling too much resistance. I really like Gary Dobyns approach to powers and actions as well. His H power rods are more like stout MHs, that makes them very versatile. Dobyns and other brands, (including Ark) offer a Mag Heavy. A Dobyns Mag H is like a traditional H, but there may be just a little more power in the lower end and again the tip will have some give, which makes them so much better to use all day and just more effective to fish. This drives me nuts, because I dont know why every brand doesnt do it, but Dobyns always builds the guides on the spline and counterweights are added to the butt. This is debatable, but IMO, running the guides opposite the spline (on the spline for spinning rod) to ensure the blank doesnt want to lean left or right when under load, is a good thing. To me, a properly splined rod just casts straighter loads better and functions more intuitively. One of the reasons I don't favor Dobyns for lighter rods is that the added weights make them a little heavier when compared to other rods. Once rods get over 7'2 pr 7'3, they start to become tip heavy, especially more powerful blanks. Say you have a super light 7'6 flipping rod, that weighs 4oz. On paper its light, but its not going to feel good in hand, particularly after a couple hours. The extra ounce or 2 doesn't look good on paper, but that weight keeps the center of gravity at or below the reel seat. The lower COG means a better balance. Good balance results in a lower "felt" weight, and lifting the 6.5' ft of heavy power blank above your hand is essentially effortless. Its exactly like a shotgun. The Remington 1100 was a hefty shotgun, but it was engineered to have exceptional balance. The great balance makes for a shotgun that feels as if it jumps into your shoulder on its own and perfectly straight with little effort. As for which Dobyns to get, its hard to say. They have similar actions and powers in most lines, but the different blank materials cause some lines to have a little more or little less bend when compared to the same length power and action. For example the Sierra line has more bend than the Kaden or Champ lines. Personally, I think the Frenzy (DSG exclusive rod) feels better than the Fury and Fury is about double the price. I came really close to walking out of DSG with a rod that I don't have any use for. That monkey on my back kept whispering, "$80!? I can't afford to NOT buy it." See if you cant get any of these rods in your hand at big box store like BPS/Cabelas or smaller tackle shop. As the guys working there what their opinion is about the rods, then pick them up yourself and see which one jumps out at you. If it were me the top 3 would be 7'1 H F Ark Cobb 7'3 Mag (Heavy+) Dobyns of which ever line you prefer. 7'4 H F 13 Oath Good luck The FIN

Thats a big reel for kings lol, like 13oz. Ive got the 4200-6500 with the exception of the 5500 in the mid to late 90s models. They werent the best when it came to line lay. They weren't the best stacking braid, but even with all the fish and abuse I subjected to. Although i retired them, they still work well.

Yeah, they really picked up some heat after taking a bunch of #40+ bass up and down the coast. For whatever reason the CCC was getting a ton coverage on YT, websites and publications. The current in there is crazy and it can get tight structure wise, so the rods, reels, plugs and components are made for the CCC or heavily customized to be effective there. Sebile had fast sink version of the bigger model, that could be used in the canal right out of the box. The rear hook was already replaced with a blade. (which most guys removed anyway) Although the stock rings were pretty dang good, the canal guys would use those XH triple wire Wolverine rings and put either the 4/0 4x VMCs or ST 76 5x 4/0 Owners. I use the VMCs in 2 and 3/0 and that about as heavy as I go. The ST 76s are tuna, billfish and other large pelagic grade hooks.

Daiwa does a lot of things right, but one thing I feel Shimano has over Daiwa is the durability of the finishes. The spinning reels hold up well, but the bait casters, especially the dark Tatulas get a good rash if they're within 50' of an AL boat. They remind me of the oler graphite bodied Penn SS reels. The rotors would get that trademark Penn rash seemingly overnight. I think there's a new Zillion coming at icast. Im curious to see what they do with it.

Just one "P", but I know what you mean. I think when they first came out, the bigger sizes weren't available. As Pat Sebile started to striper fish more and more, the big Stik Shads, Magic Swimmers and Soft MSs came out. Seemed like about 10 years ago the Magic Swimmer and SP minnows were all striper anglers were talking about. Theyre fun to catch em on, but they are terrible casting when compared to other plugs.

Or they could be exaclty the same except that bucks are larger than does and subsequently have a larger/longer tail.

It depends when the animal was harvested. Female tails in the spring are pink to attract mates in the spring. The older more mature bucks have super bright chartreuse tails. That way the younger deer can easily see them coming and tell each other, "Get back! He's crazy."

Ive caught a TON of bass on the Sebile Magic Swimmers. Sebile isnt around anymore, but Berkely bought the rights and mold. I think the Sebiles were a little more refined and came with better components, but the Berkely versions have mostly great feedback.

Bucktail is a really great material to fish with. Its naturally tapered and hollow, so its buoyant and moves very well under the water. Surf and Inshore guys that truly master the art of tying and fishing different types of bucktails are few and far between. Just coming proficient and knowing what color, density of tie, head style and trailer for max efficiency is a real accomplishment. While it doesnt translate as well in the FW I fish, I've found that smaller/lighter ball and aspirin heads with hooks from #4-#1 are lights out in cold water. I just take the shorter lengths of tails I have left over tie then on a light wired crappie jighead, add some colored tinself or flashibou for an accent. I use a 2"-3" grub, swimbait or little jerbait style trailer on that tail and I can just shake the slack and stroll it dead slow in less than 2' of water on a sunny January day and just smash em. Really great to throw on a BFS outfit as well. The availability for bucktail has recovered a bit, but its still scarce in comparison to a few years ago. The more colored whole tails, like white(natural), chartreuse, flor. yellow , red, wine (deep red) aren't terribly hard to get in smaller tail sizes for $10-$12 or $13. The more premium larger tails are with longer fibers, typically labeled Saltwater Tails are $15-$25 depending on quality. Bucktail being a natural product means that there's a process to curing the product. Its time consuming and can be a little "too much" for people who aren't used to processing game or fish. Some companies like BPS's "White RIver" gets them from the cheapest bidder. I think they try to rush the process, especially with heavily dyed tails. When you bag up a bucktail that isnt cured, it gets moldy. If youre willing to do go an extra step and save some money, ask a friend who deer hunts or if you know a butcher ask them. I don't go this far, but I know a couple guys who have cut tails off deer that been hit recently. Its a fun little hobby that isnt as involved as fly tying. Its nice to do on a winter Sunday if the water is frozen or the inlaws come over. Of course you can buy them premade. They arent as easy to find anymore, as most big companies are using cheaper craft hair, duck/chicken feathers or other synthetic materials. VMC still makes a bucktail. Works well, but doesn't last more than a few dozen bass or a couple pickerel. Good Luck and tight lines.

Pinks been a huge inshore/river color here since forever. I bought some bubblegum senkos back in the day and smashed some smallies on them out of state, but havent devoted too much effort to slining them at greenfish. I dont know how they perceive pink, but purple and red work, so wouldn't pink be like an in-between color? 1 thing is for sure, morning dawn works in clear water in a DS or ned rig, why not a jig or senko? Even if it doesnt catch fish, every major bulk skirt retailer has been sold out of every shade of pinks, morning dawns, light purple and like shades. Even if pink never catches another fish in North America, its already caught thousands of anglers and it wont stop anytime soon.

They go higher than that, Morning Dawn is 30 and the older styles had numbers in the 60s and 70s. Also considerer that all colors arent the same throughout the brand. Evo Golden Shiner has barbed wire patterns where the JH does not. They have had a number of different lines in production at different times with different skirt designs. They have 2 styles of EZ skirts, original and project Z, banded skirts, the skirts on the super early plastic bladed pro series 2 were different too. You just may be trying to rationalize something that isnt very rational. Best of luck to you.

I like the Duo Pencil 85 in Ghost Gill in tight or calm water. Yo Zuri makes a really good pencil too. They have a ton of colors, good number of ghost colors, sound profiles and they walk easily. Tough to beat for $10

If its a really small bait, like a 3" Bubbling shaker or 2.5" Armor Shad I use a 3/32, especially if it doesnt have a swimming tail that creates lift.

The previous gen Regal LTs werent heavy at all. To get a Shimano the same weight as Regal LT you had to spend more than double actually the same weight as Exceler and Fuego, just over 7oz (7.3 I think) for 2500. The 3000 is just over 7.5, 8 and change with line.

This would apply to a ferrari as well, but they're still charging $300k+ for one, so that's not a good argument. You could be servicing your Lada five times a year, and your Honda once per two years, guess which will have more issues? That's my experience with reels with plastic handle side plates, servicing doesn't matter, i service everything i have once per season, and have been doing so since 2013. Actually, a Ferrari is a perfect example of perceived value vs practicality. Just about every part of Ferrari is handmade to spec by a skilled craftsman, no mass produced parts, which is why they are so customizable. All parts are made with extremely light materials to improve performance. Those light materials can only handle a very minimal amount of use before they are no longer effective or completely fail. In other words if Ferrari was a reel, it would be extremely light, look great and cast very well in the morning, but it would seize before sunset. To get it fixed would cost just as much to get a new one. Except Ferrari refuses to sell you another reel because you actually used it to fish and destroyed the previous one, instead of doing the mid life crisis equivalent of an attention starved child saying "look what I can do!!!."

Make sure the line coming off the spool is going OVER the crossbar just behind the level wind and through the t wing, instead of under the crossbar and through the t wing.

I would have agreed 4 or 5 years ago, but not now. You can get a BFS reel that will cast a light bait farther than spinning gear in most conditions, for about $100-$150, which is now an entry level or budget spinning reel. I have a gravity BFS, which is $150 and it can cast a 2" Easy Shiner or 2" swing impact 1/20 head #4 hook really well.

I think straight shanks have much better penetration vs most inline EWG and offset round bends. The drawback to straight shanks is that they are generally more destructive to plastics when compared to hooks with an offset throat. The points on straight shanks hooks generally have a wider angle to those on EWGs. The gap, or space bewteen the eye and point are often greater with straight shanks as well. Im not entirely convinced a bigger bite is always better. Ive found sproat and O'Shaughnessy bends, which don't have a very deep gap or "bite," = or surpass the landing % of wide gaps or round bends, so long as you arent using a bait thats too big for the hook.

Right out the pack, I think the zinker has great action. Just like a senko, the zinkers action changes as the salt dissolves. The hangup is that zmans elastomer formula (and other brands ive used) is considerably more permeable than plastisol. Thats good in 1 respect, in that you can soak zman baits in pro cure and the bait will actually absorb the scent. Even after the pro cure or bait fuel washes off, the elastomer will still emit that scent for some time. The drawback to that is that the salt content in those baits degrades quickly as the water dissolves the salt. As the density and weight of the bait changes, especially in the case of the zinker, bouyancy increases, decreasing the ROF and changing the action of the bait. If you start out with a 1/32 wacky head, the longer you fish that bait and or catch fish, the heavier jig head you need to use sustain the ROF. Eventually the zinker will float, even with a heavy wire hook. Zinkes get softer too, as the salt disolves. Eventually you need to use an O ring, instead of just skin hooking it. My other issue with them and other elastomer baits, like Duos slim wriggle stick, is tha baits are prone to lose their round shape. Any kind of weight on the front or back of the bag, will cause the baits to have 2 flat sides, where they should be round. Heat can have a similar effect as well. The baits become very soft and are prone to deforming.

In terms of "budget reels" it doesnt get better than Regal LT. Regal has the lighter LT frame, same as Exceler/Fuego, where Revros and Laguna have the heavier composite frames. The handle is 2pc and uses a hex shaft fitting instead of being threaded. While the threaded 1pc handles cut weight and offer a superior connection, Regal runs smoother than most $100 offering son the market. The several regals my friends use have held up well, with 1 exception. My buddy, who is very hard on gear has a regal with a sketchy bail. Im about 99% certain it comes from whacking the reel against the bridges we fish constantly. Ive seen him drop it on concrete and pavement, both pretty hard. The reel runs ok, you just have to manually close the bail, which he doesn't like, so he stopped using it. As far as line management, its really goof for the $. Ive only seen them used with braid. I would imagine mono would be ok and maybe even some really light FC.

Some elastomer baits are good, others aren't. The Zman baits with 0 salt, streaks, floating worms, trick shots, finesse shads, lizards, tubes, and a few others have very little or no salt at all. Theyre so bouyant, you can use a 3x hook and it wont make any difference, those baits will stand straight up, which just isnt natural. Thats not to say I havent caught fish on them, because I have, especially with the lizards and floating worms. I try to rig a heavier hook as close to the center of gravity as I can without causing the bait to roll or look goofy. As far as mojo/T/Free rigs, my favorite Zman bait is by far the palmetto bug. You can fish all day with 1 pack. I like to use them with a 2/0 G finesse heavy cover hook. BKKs fliping hook should work well too, I just havent got around to using it yet. With a free rig you want a fast separation from the weight and the bait so it falls as vertically as possible, otherwise you may as well use a T rig. You either use a heavier weight, like a 3/16 and 1/4 and or use a bait that has some kind of resistance. The resistance could be in the form of a wide ribbed body that catches water adn glides, like a bellows gill, or the crowd favorite, dolive beaver. There are so many good baits that ae overlooked, its not hard to stumble on a good one that you already have. I think the Biffle Bug (now scutter bug under yum) is a great free rig and T rig bait. It has small tabed arms that slow it down and a long tail that glides like a champ. The appendages make the biffle bug versatil, but the cavity in the bait steps it up another notch. You can add a rattle to give it more weight and sound, you can add an ear plug soaked in pro cure or megastrike to get fish to hold on longer or you can just leave it as an empty air pocket for a slow fall. The only real problem is that they can be a 1 or 2 fish bait. Theyre cheaper now Yum is making them in Guatemala, but the plastic quality has suffered slightly, as well as not being available in the great colors they were when Gene Larew made them. The other 2 baits I really like are the Bubbling Craw and the discontinued Berkley Water Bug. You can look at the Bubbling Craw and can tell it would be good on a free rig, but they cost. You can get them for 50% or more off once or twice a year, so i take advantage. The water bug is another one of those Ike baits that just didn't catch on. Its made of light buoyant plastic, and has a flat bottom with a small kicking tail. Ive caught fish dragging them on a mojo or free rig. I dont know why either. They dont look a lot like anything, but look a little like a lot of things, if you know what I mean. Bottom line is you just have to test baits out yourself and see what works for you. One of the reoccurring motifs in this sport is, "Its hard to catch other people's fish." Meaning just because someone can catch them on a certain bait or using a given technique doesn't mean anyone can.

Yes, there are differences. Tungsten by itself is a very dense metal and has properties that make it difficult to retain its shape as it cools. As hard as pure tungsten is. it has a tendency to become brittle after cooling. There are several formulas different manufacturers use to make tungsten alloys. The higher quality tungsten is generally 95-97% tungsten with a 3-5% mixture of nickel and or iron. Lesser quality tungsten or tungsten compounds remain brittle and have poor tensile strength. JIgheads or jigs made of lower quality tungsten/ tungsten compounds that have collar on the shank, are prone to shattering with sufficient vibration of the hook or when the shank has enough pressure on it to flex or bend slightly. As much as I like Keitechs products the micro jigs and super round jigheads shatter often. Tungsten naturally has a reflective surface. Unfortunately paint doesn't bind to it very well and has a tendency to chip very easily. Although it cost a little more money to produce, heating tungsten to extreme temps and immediate quenching in very cold water will produce a matte finish that is incredibly resistant to chipping or scratching. I think you can also add some kind of powder during production, that results in a matte finish. Being that tungsten is incredibly hard, the interior of tungsten bullet weights that lack an insert can damage line easily if there is a burr or sharp edge that wasn't polished out. Weights with inserts dont translate vibration as efficiently vs weights without inserts. I've had a few weights that damaged line, although it very rare, like 3 weights out of hundreds. 2 of them were from the same brand, but I cant quite remember which one it was. The shop only carried a few brands and I know i wasn't a R2S or Picasso, pretty sure it was Eco Pro or TD. In terms of quality, there quite a few good companies. I really liked Swagger and was saddened to see they are no longer available on TW. I think Reins and Picasso have the best tungsten Ive used. Never had any issues and the weights are exactly the weight they advertise. A bunch of companies offer tungsten with inserts. I know Picasso does and I think Reins all have inserts. You can even make your own inserts. There are a bunch of videos that show you how.

The Hobbit is a like a wider hybrid style hook. The Anemone Is typical round bend I have both hooks in larger sizes. If I had to guess it would #2 for the Hobbit and #1 or #2 for the Anemone. Both are light wire hooks, but are fairly strong, especially the Hobbit. Theres a heavier wire LT Ryugi that would work well, but I have no idea what size to go with. The Decoy Dream Hook has a hybrid style bend and is made of an impossibly strong light wire. Just reeling down on a fish hooks them. The light wire Rebarb #2 would work, although I think a #1 would be better. The first pic shows the Rebarb #2 rigged in the Tiny BH and the #2 Dream Hook above it. The second pic the #2 dream hook rigged. IMO the #2 dream hooks is about perfect