thediscochef

My Lew's reels all have that option but this curado DC doesn't. had the same issue trying to put braid on the tatula SV

it's why i don't venture far here without a buddy. I'll hike miles with a friend but by myself I tend to stick to populated areas. who knew there was so much crack in the woods?

Caught my first decent size smallmouth today, followed by a one-eyed meanmouth (I think), and a LMB. Smallmouth are a very different brand, the thumps were a new experience. All on pearl chatterbait. Not bad for about an hour and 20 of time, especially considering how late I started. I'll take it.

The baitcaster cops will come and write you a ticket. I believe the penalty is 15 yards. 1st down.

The shallower nature of the DC spool compared to my lews tournament pro/xp's and inshore customs are what make me not want to do monofilament backing. There's about a 10yd difference in 12lb capacity between what I normally use and the DC. I like the tape option for its small profile and there is a video where Glenn suggests doing this, but I do have to wonder if the combination of tape + leader knot hitting guides would effectively marginalize any distance gains with the braid. My gut tells me to use fluoro and not worry about it, but if there's an extra 3+ yards to be gained with braid on that reel...I'm listening lol

So the forum rules prohibit promotion of your own youtube channel, etc. I'd think posting a link to your friend's channel without some sort of relevant conversation pre-existing on the site would probably fall into that same promotions basket. That said, on occasion you do see "who's your favorite fishing youtuber" threads, those would probably be an appropriate place for your friend's channel next time you see one. Mods also seem to be cool with conversationally-relevant personal video, but extra emphasis on the "conversationally relevant" part. I'm not a mod so I probably shouldn't be commenting but ?‍♂️?

So I just came home with my first DC reel, a shimano curado. I exchanged it for a tatula elite that had some crazy bearing noise. the elite was in exchange for a Tatula SV with messed up mag brakes. I pretty much chose to go with the curado DC to use as a long-bomber for lipless crankbaits, swimbaits, and 110-sized jerkbaits. Now the part relevant to the post title: Some of these reels have insanely lightweight components, specifically the spool. For instance, the tatula SV doesn't like it when you overspool it, the weight of the excess line is noticeable and changes the casting dynamics. I was wondering if the Curado DC would be sensitive enough to be thrown off by using the traditional 'electric tape' mounting method for spooling braid. I'm not 100% sure that the SV spool (let alone the DC spool) would have a problem with it, but if a few dozen yards of line can be a problem, why not a heavy tape? By adding even a small amount of weight, it changes the way the spool spins. I know the chips probably adjust for that but I have to wonder if that's enough to throw the balance of the thing off or rob distance. Furthermore - whatever negative distance impact that may have with a braided line - will the braid still cast further than say a thicker fluorocarbon line? I'm looking at either 30# 832 or 15# P-Line Tactical Fluoro. I'd think the braid would still be the better choice for distance but I wanted to see what y'all had to say about that. I'm probably over-thinking it, but what is the other point of bass fishing? ? also any pointers for a DC noob would be appreciated. I don't expect it to cast itself but I am hoping for fewer backlashes in windy conditions.

Man that crunch is always sickening. It's like hearing a glass break in a restaurant or something. Always cringe. Sorry for your loss

I was on the bank slaying dinks on a lipless when a nice man graciously offered me the back seat on his boat. It's the second time he's offered so I figured I'd take him up. Guy knows his fishing and has been at it a long time. It was a very cool experience. It was real windy out today so we didn't venture too far out. Lake was choppy. I caught probably 10-12 with this fat 4lb fish being the heavy on the day. Chatterbait Minimax with a yamamoto shad shape worm. I'm very thankful he invited me on his boat, we exchanged info so I assume I'll be back out with him. It's been a good day.

I have a hard time with this. A year ago I only really used one lure. Right now, I have about 7 different lure types I have supreme confidence in depending on conditions. If I had to pick just one it would probably be a wacky rig simply for its versatility; you can fish it at many speeds with many actions and colors. Covers more bases (basses) than most other lure types I use and will produce a heavy fish once in a while.

Texas is nice because we can fish year-round with good results. There's also several major reservoirs in my part of the state, I can be at 8 different lakes over 5000 acres in about an hour. I don't super often, but it's there. If you drive 2.5 hours, that number more or less doubles and includes Lake Fork and Possum Kingdom. The river fishing here is a mixed bag. There's a lot of species to target, and coastal fishing too. It's a great fishing state but I wouldn't consider it the best. I think that title has to go to CA simply for the diversity of species, though the droughts are affecting some. I understand the trophy bass potential of the big public CA bass lakes to be beyond that of all the public Texas lakes, even with the issues affecting the fisheries out there. What I would do to fish Castiac in its prime...

Bite is slowed back down. I think we may have just finished a shad spawn, the bass seem to have moved back deeper and I'm not seeing the hand-sized shads up in the rip rap like I was last week. Until rain and further cooling take place, I expect this to be the pattern until the next food spawn. Caught 5 total today, this one had the prettiest markings but was the runt of the group. Still catching at least a bass per day, I'll take it.

Yes, this is the small chatterbait experience. "On plane" is a great way to describe it. Vertical-finned or shad-shape plastics with a slimmer profile have been the quickest to plane for me. Paddletails are a no-go. The 1/4oz is less temperamental to plane in my experience at low speed. Love the minimax. Great, great baits. Just wish they cost less and had a more removable skirt.

Nothing to write home about the last few days but as I understand it, nobody's exactly killing it on Ray Roberts right now. Lake's turning over and today is a steady 15mph SW wind. Still managed 5 including the fish sandwich. Best bass of the day got away without a picture...flopped out of my grip in the water as I fumbled with my phone. Couldn't have been more than 2.5lbs though.

More wacky bass. Didn't get out for very long and got out mid morning. No big fish today but every day of catching is fun. The st croix rod I bought recently makes every fish fun too. ??

Wacky rig continues to produce, as it does. Best this morning was probably about 4-5lbs best I could tell, didn't have my scale handy. My buddy got one that was about 3-3.5. Together we caught about 20 from the bank. Gotta love it.

My guitarist and fishing buddy took us to Texoma and hired a guide at Ray Roberts. I caught a pair of lmb about the size pictured and about a dozen between 1 and 2lb. Texoma sent us home with a cooler of meat. Good times.

Dose makes the poison, I don't worry about it unless they state explicitly not to eat fish from wherever. I don't eat enough fish for it to be a problem

Second vote for Blue Heron. I don't know many birds, but I'm surrounded by these guys. They're hilarious birds, full of personality and many squawks. Also skilled at fishing. I usually consider them a sign there is life in the water.

They're bold enough to pull this BS naturally I'd think they'd do all the bad things

Stumbled into four bass with a wacky rig this morning, and quite possibly my first appearance on TV while fishing. I gave a quick underwater wacky rig demo and then caught a 3ish lb bass for the PBS guys who were out at Ray Roberts. Super cool experience. Yamamoto and Berkley owe me for the promo lol I also started testing a theory I have about copolymer and line-to-line knots. I had an experience earlier in the year where a setup of 30lb 832 to 15lb CXX would work great with a double uni, but an Alberto almost always broke after an hour or so of casting. I think it has to do with the layers of copoly and the different securing actions of the two knots. An Alberto on a fully fluorocarbon line did great today with all four bass. Gonna keep testing it. In other news now I want to work productions for TPWD

Sounds like you caught bass already, so I'd say sooner than later ?

First two wacky rig bass I've ever caught this morning. Neat

I've pulled out softbaits but never metal...that's wild. I think the two things I've seen like that were: - a 20lb blue catfish with a swimbait in its mouth. The jig head was the the only part left, and it had been there long enough that skin had grown all around it. Would have done more damage to remove it at that point. - a small bass choking on a chatterbait micro I'd broken off the day before. I'd gotten my line snapped off in some sharp timber, came back and saw a bass that should have been swimming away. Managed to get it ashore and get the hook out of the gullet without much sign of trauma (thanks to info on this board). I have to wonder if I'd hooked the bass and it pulled me into the cover without me feeling it. I pulled a senko out of a 3lber earlier this year. Had to have been a relief.

I love the largemouth mailbox, there's one by Ray Roberts and one by Whitney. Always lets me know I'm five minutes from a line in the water. There's one guy across the street from me who asked me about fishing a few months ago, I gave him good info on the ponds and lake around town. Haven't seen him out so who knows. I have fishing buddies, one is just as into it as I am and would probably fish as much as I do if he did different work. He's my guitar player too, we're very close. Yes, I am the bass player in the group as well.