bulldog1935

I do most everything under an Ott magnifier with lamp - makes it easy to see what's there and what I'm doing.

you gotta wonder if your legislators can't find more important things to do had a big one show up in my back yard one day, and had a cup of food my cat refused to eat. the turtle liked it

It's very easy for them to take a piece of pink mylar, plasma-deposit a thin reflective metal layer (of course they buy the mylar foil in rolls), fold it and cast plastic around it. I got the back-light for the transmitted light photo using a bicycle headlight and a milk jug. The jig head was held in a modeling vise.

it's about the angle of the incident sunlight - in our case, light from the sub-tropical sun is not low, it's just low-angle. Many prismatic lures are made to take advantage of it - they reflect green, but they transmit pink - just like the natural bait does. No accident, they made them this way on purpose, and nobody is stretching anything, except maybe their pride. good photos I took, huh? ? The lure just above is Flash-J wasabi or something - can't read the color, it's in Japanese (but the word "color" is in English). The lure just below is YoZuri Wakebait - Gizzard shad - replaced the bronze trebles and split rings for salt. starting or ending the day to take advantage of it pays off

+1 for Texas Tackle split ring pliers. When I had to work smaller split rings on 45 mm JDM plugs, picked up a set of jeweler's split ring pliers on Amazon and they do the job for me. Also, "Magic Eye" hooks make a big difference in getting the new hook started in the split ring w/o spreading the split ring too far.

using Stradic for example, the reels are $50-$70 cheaper than buying the US-market version here, and with Asian Portal, they pick up the Fed-Ex Express tab for any $100 order. If you keep it at that level, you'll never get a Customs invoice. They'll also get it to you in 3-4 days (I've had as short as 40 hours), and we know how USPS and UPS can bog down on our shores. Any time the dollar is worth more than JPY 100, it's worth buying in Japan. Found this on US Customs website, when you're charged import duty, its because a customs inspector makes the call the item is not for personal use. Ordering two rods at a time is probably pushing it - big packages stand out. Personal vs. Commercial Use: Many import regulations only apply to goods imported for commercial - business or resale - purposes. For instance, most goods imported for personal use are not subject to quota. The one exception to this is made-to-measure suits from Hong Kong, which are subject to quota restrictions regardless of the use they are imported for. On the other hand, import restrictions that are based on health, safety and protecting endangered species apply across the board. Note: U.S. Customs and Border Protection is authorized to make judgment calls about what qualifies as personal use. Several suits that are identical or a number of very similar handbags will have a hard time passing the credibility test as items for personal use. For Commercial Purposes: Goods imported for commercial purposes must comply with a variety of special requirements, such as marking of country of origin, which vary depending upon the particular commodity. Please see our publication, "Importing Into the United States," for more detailed information. Be particularly aware that an invoice should always accompany commercial shipments. Can't blame Fed-Ex for the fact that you were charged Customs Duty. The only reason you received it at all is that Fed-Ex paid the import duty for you so that US Customs would release the item: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases Customs can hold your package 45 days, in fact, before you're allowed to submit a Customs trace, it must be held in customs that long. Believe me, ISC Customs shipping EMS postal through LAX, SFO, ORD, or JFK is worse than courier through Memphis or Cincinnati.

pure porn - I love this rod. It's also the lightest-weight glass rod I've ever fished. Lotsa backbone, moderate action. St. Croix did good.

we just gotta get you some corn tortillas ?

You can do that if you limit yourself to bench-made reels - Seigler, IRT. (betting their barstock still comes from China, though Seigler claims not). Rod blanks rolled in the US include Lamiglas, St. Croix (a few other customs) generally priced above $250/ Crowder still makes cost-effective rod blanks in the US. My buddy has a gang of IRT spinning reels ($500+/), but last trip, improper spool shimming from the factory shut down his day with a spinning reel birds nest. Of course he sent the reel back for them to solve, and I'm sure they did.

If you're pushing braid to its test limit, you need the added stretch of leader for shock resistance. (a big snook will pop your low-test braid before the drag has time to pay) Knots are also really important. You think in terms of bigger is tougher, but the problem with knots can be having a load-point where a single bend of lower-diameter, even lower-test line wraps over a bend in the larger diameter line. Even same composition, fluoro, mono, etc - the smaller diameter line can cut the larger diameter before you get anywhere near the line test. I know double-uni is really convenient, easy to tie when you need it, but it's the worst for the lower-test fluoro cutting through the higher-test.

here's an A-strain endemic Guadalupe bass from Cibolo headwaters above the aquifer recharge barrier. Warmouth (Lepomis sp.) from Guadalupe headwaters - N fork above Hunt Rock Bass (Ambloplites sp.) from Guadalupe tailwater this is a smallie hybrid from the middle Guadalupe (Mueller Falls above Rebecca's Creek) all these fish can turn their bars on and off - we normally see their aggression colors when we handle them

One to show off. My buddy Donny is coming down in a few weeks to kayak fish the coast flats. He's a Colorado high-country trout fisherman, can disappear for weeks with his survival skills, flew rescue in AK, with a love of the salt and itching to get more salt time. I have a 7' MM ready to go for him. When another friend pointed out the worm-drive Tica Samira 2000H with $50 loss leader pricing on Amazon, I couldn't resist. Also couldn't resist Japan Tackle pricing on the SLP 60 mm handle, and the closeout Ulucus knob, $19, almost a twin of the Daiwa knob (and better matches the reel). The high speed gearing is improved for this niche (redfish) by the extra 5 mm. Matched with the 7'7" Omen Green ML, 1/16th to 5/16th ounce, and 150 yds 10-lb Tatsu with Blue 15-lb abrasion leader.

I fish tandems with glow in front and blue in the back. Occasionally get doubles, but 90% of the fish are on blue. (my overnight 5 plus my partners - min is 15" - we were only keeping 17+", and all are schoolie males, which travel 25 mi/day to find food) Same with white bass, bottom bouncing blue whistlers in the hour before first light will get a fish every cast. We camp on gravel bars and get up when we hear fish splashing. I've been fishing in the dark 40 years.

my experience is fish queue on flash with small baitfish that form moving balls for defense. Fish may hit flashy lures very much larger than the bait - their reaction is slashing into the bait ball.

There are no rules, only generalizations, and you'll find exceptions to all of them. My buddy fishes pink for everything and catches fish. Baitfish try to hide themselves, and there's a tradeoff between lures blending and being visible enough for the bass to find, vs. outrageously too obvious. Clear water bright sun is blend colors. Clear water and overcast is darker blend colors. Turbid water and bright sun is bright colors. Turbid water and overcast is dark colors like purple. Red is for low angle sunlight, early morning and late afternoon. Blue has always been my best night color.

turbid water and bright sunlight

There's a blogger in NY who focuses on and also sells JDM rods just for trout. A good place to review what rod and reel models may be out there. https://www.finesse-fishing.com/

Back to that red lure discussion - where pink and red lures become important is low angle sunlight, both early and late - rather than reflected light, the fish see light transmitted through the baitfish insides - the blood in the baitfish acting like a lens filter.

We have a trout tailwater in America's 100 Best Trout Streams (I fished with John Ross when he was down here). Our infrequent, though often massive floods wash stripers over the dam, and they munch the rainbows, especially from the end of folks' fly lines. Several times tried Castaic rainbow in a known striper pool, pretty much dialing the whole structure, with never a sign of interest. One monsoon summer, swinging streamers in the same pool to check for holdover rainbows, brought two stripers to hand (on 5-wt and Hardy click reel - serious work in the high flow). Barely got the second one landed before the size 10 streamer gave up. Went back with more appropriate fly tackle and slightly stouter streamers, and managed to harvest 7 stripers into fall. One friend accidentally landed one on a San Juan worm, and would have been the record, but he ate it. (my theory is the striper flared on the baitfish attracted by the SJ worm) Another friend set the state record striper in the same pool - 37 lbs, 43" - there were five 5 rainbows to 16" in its stomach, but John caught it on a 3" streamer.

yeah, our cat watches tv also. This was a really cute one with the aquarium - how do you get in here? and this... Adventure Kitty All-time-greatest Adventure Kitty photo honorable mention

I use the 30-lb for surf leader. Here's my allbright to 35-lb X-braid. Seriously stiff leader - it was difficult to roll the braid turns to collapse the Gold loop. Note, however, it's also the same diameter is 20-lb Red (the green was a 1-m mark in the X-braid)

if you want to work out the differences between Japan-spec reels and export models to the US, search the reel on JPFishingTackle News https://www.jpfishingtacklenews.com/shimano-stradic-19/ What you'll find is they offer us 5 or 6 models they think meet our tastes, while they offer 13 or 15 variants to JDM. By comparing spool capacity and gear ratio, you can match JDM models to US models. Just like their rods, and while they fish bass and trout, they have that many different offshore niches from XUL to XXH. https://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/default/language/en/cPath/38/rod.html

One summer trip stands out. Had a buddy who was making the transition from construction slab supervisor on contract to salt fishing guide and USCG-licensed Captain. I was working contract myself then, and when neither of us were working, I'd zip the 140 mi on the back roads, and we'd be on the water. At breakfast that morning, told Tim I was going to catch a 32" redfish today. Of course that instantly put me in the barrel for this trip, and the ribbing wouldn't end for two days. We made the run from Goose Is. SP across big Aransas Bay to the San Jose Is. barrier lakes, in particular, Fence Lake. He could run his Majek way to the back (more importantly, could get out). We all took off wading with fly rods. Caught a few small reds as I was working farther back and looking for the largest feeding slashes across the lake. Got hit by a couple of those fabled TX thunderstorms that barely cover a city block and can drop 2" of rain. Saw my fish downwind, his wake and back just out of the water. He was coming up too fast, so I held my cast - ankle deep water, and he swam by me leaning on his side to keep his back down - took up grazing again as soon as he passed me. The thing is, if you keep your cool and your motions stealthy, they see you, but don't know you from a heron in a funny hat. I made 5 upwind casts, maybe without breathing, definitely skipping heartbeats, and managed not to line him. He took the last one - 32" red. On the mylar spoon. Tim laughed at my crab, and next morning at breakfast, told him I'd get a 25" black drum this day on that fly. Same drill to Fence Lake, same ribbing, and we all began wading toward the extreme end. On the way, we got into shoaling reds beating mullet into our feet, and the three of us hooked up a triple. It was the first day to throw this roach pattern, and we named it Fence Lake Roach in honor of the excitement. My partners began working their way back toward the boat, but I had already seen the largest feeding slash across the lake, and kept going to the far back. Tim was trolling a red size 6 popper on his way, not even trying to fish at the moment, and picked up a slot red. When I got to the mud stripe along the mangroves at the far back of the lake, my 25" black drum was there, with half his back out of the water. My epoxy crab was perfect for sliding on the mud bottom, the drum would follow it, then turn away - did that for a half-dozen casts. On the last cast, I thought the drum was gone for sure, but the fish shuddered, spun around, shot back hard and grabbed the crab. Maybe the most fun I've had on a fly rod (including mackerel), the drum wanted deep water. Took everything I had to stop the run, then a series of charges and turns - one of us was going to be unconscious before this was over. Did manage to revive and release all the fish on this post.

never had a bad fishing trip. Visits to the internet may vary.

I usually buy braid in spool charges, and don't skimp. The braid should be there awhile, and you will never suffer line memory problems from it. I normally buy fluoro in bulk, because it needs changing more often. The exception is high-quality leader in 25- or 50-yd spools. Also made an effort here to answer in the terms of @ATA's choices to keep it simple. There are many good points on the thread, but for the bird in hand, probably choose between the 30 and 40. What you gain with thicker braids is much easier filling the spool, the tendency for the line to dig deep in the spool lay goes away, and backlashes may be less frequent and severe. Pretty much the opposite is true on spinning reels, where line twist is the primary concern.