casts_by_fly

clear water, bright skies, smallmouth. chrome vs sexy. I had planned to throw sexy and pre rigged it. My dad had planned to throw chrome and pre rigged it. I figured no sense in both of us throwing the same color so I stuck with it (for probably too long). Once I swapped the numbers started to even up again.

fine and no jail time. what she did was stupid and reckless. It is against the law. There is clear evidence. Her pursuing the gator was wildlife harrassment. Definitely a citation. Definitely not worth jail time. level of citation and whether it is a misdemeanor or not? meh.

welcome. What part of the UK are you from? I lived there for 12 years.

yes, I've seen it matter (being outfished 8-1 throwing the same lure with the same speed/presentation just a different color). I've also seen it not matter by catching fish on 3 different colors and 2 sizes in the same 2 hour period (I had 3 rods rigged with the same bait. 3 different colors, 2 sizes. And I would swap around seeing if they wanted one more than the others). My rule of thumb anymore is that for bright days and clearer water I am throwing chrome. Darker days I want a more solid outline and throw some combination of sexy shad or similar with a white belly. If I am getting refusals on those, I'll swap to a natural or tennessee shad. I don't throw black as much as I should.

Seasonally dependent, fishery and conditions dependent. You can chase fish on FFS at the right time of year (pre-prespawn) with some consistency but the consistency from day to day comes down to the layout of the fishery and the conditions. I don’t fish tournaments but every time out I go for a best five mentality and how a tournament might look on that day. If ‘bass chasing bait’ is your pattern then finding pinch points (ditches, ledges, saddles,etc) which are normal fish magnets are going to be more consistent and then bounce around a bunch of them until the bait gets there. Chasing the balls of bait around the lake is a fruitless endeavor.

For what you're talking, I'm set up with 10 lb 832 or 131 braid and Sunline FC fluoro leader in 5-10 lb depending on the cover. I've really like the Sunline FC leader for the past couple years and while there might be cheaper options I don't have a need. I go through so little of it. I started with 832 a couple years ago. I moved into 131 which I prefer for handling, but not for visibility (it doesn't come in high vis). So my latest setup is back to 832 in yellow.

not sure what's on them, but if you want a really thin wire but incredibly strong hook, the gamakatsu G-finesse are fantastic. I swap them onto the front hooks of my topwaters to keep them front light and on any cranks that I want a light wire hook. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_Aaron_Martens_TGW_G-Finesse_Treble_Hook_MH/descpage-NFMH.html

In a 'normal' swim jig type and shape, the strike king tour grade swim jig. They call it a medium wire but it's on the lighter side for sure. They offer 1/4 and 3/8 now (used to be 1/8 also). I throw them on light casting gear but they would be just fine on a medium spinning rod. Mine wear 3.2 and 3.8 swim impact fats but you coudl go to a full 4" trailer. The dirty jig finesee has a slightly heavier hook and would also be okay with a stout medium spinning rod and braid. If you're fishing 10# mono then I might hesitate. The siebert mini swim jig is in this same realm last I held them. For other shapes, the Siebert lil man is a great finesee/spinning rod jig in a sniper style. It won't hold a 4" trailer but you can put a 3" trailer on with no problems and swim them. 3/16 and 1/4 oz.

The current JDM 100 bantam is an infinitely better reel than the 200E (curado/chronarch). Size differences aside the bantam has a better profile for palming (for my hands), it more solidly built, and has a better spool and breaking system. I have both in the boat rigged right now for tomorrow. If I could have a 200 size version that is the same just a little bigger (for 22# fluoro on an 8’ rod) I would swap in a second.

last year there were a couple kids fishing from the dock and having some challenges. The kid had a cheapie plastic baitcaster on a broken rod missing the top 8". I wasn't in a hurry so I help him set it up a little better, helped him pick our a lure that would actually load what rod tip he had, etc. Got it casting out to 30 yards or so which was a win. But man it was really weird having to reel back in with my left hand. For nearly 40 years I have cast with my right hand, switched, and reeled with my right hand. It is so engrained in my muscle memory that anything else is just weird. I tried casting with my left hand and even both hands more than a few times this year when I was going down with the bank on the starboard and I needed to get around cover that was there. What a mess that was. I accept my limitations will continue to be a hand switcher.

Another thing I'm sure you have and might alreadey be throwing into it is a spoon. A Johnson's silver spoon with a 4" grub on the back give or take. Throw it back into it and hop it across the top of the thick stuff (popping a high rod tip making it splash on the surface) and then when you get to an edge or hole just drop the rod tip and let it flutter down in for a second or two. Then give it a pop back up to the surface. You're in shallow enough water that any bass you're throwing over will be able to see and feel it. You should be able to get some reaction strikes.

The zodias and poison adrena aren’t that far off in sensitivity. If you said the expride is halfway between then I’m going to tell you that you won’t notice the difference. The grips are definitely different and I much prefer the PA. The PA is lighter and has lighter guides. But sensitivity is going to be really close.

@gim - that looks awesome. Well done. For anyone that needs to pressure wash a flat surface like a deck, concrete, or a fence, I highly recommend the karcher surface cleaner. For $100 they attach to your pressure washer and instead of dealing with spray all day it is like running the vacuum.

I like Jason Christie’s method- just put the wire hangers on a sticky back hook holder that is on the underside of one of your lockers.

hi all, At some point last year, I rammed a rock with the trolling motor which turned the nose cone 30 degrees or so. No biggie- got out of the water, turned it back, and no issues since. Fast forward to two weekends ago. I was trolling across the lake on a long troll (30 minutes or so electric only lake) and part way across it started to make noise. It was clearly happening as the shaft turned as the pitch would go up as the speed went up. It would still do all the normal speeds, just with more noise. I thought I had killed the bearing somehow, so I fished it slow all day and got it home safety. I pulled it apart this past week and first the through bolts were bent. One only a little, the other a LOT. Looking at the rest of it though, nothing seemed out of place. So I ordered a set of through bolts and today I installed them. This is the old bolt against a straight edge. The gap between the corkboard is almost a full bolt width and you can see the kink towards the threads. Put it all back together and… still clicked. While I needed new bolts, that wasn’t the problem. So pull it all back apart, this time all the way to pulling out the armature and brushes. I had done this before on the autopilot so was familiar with all the bits. These were just much bigger. Everything looked alright. I was at my wits end so I called minn kota service. I told him what it was doing, what I had checked, etc. He was at a loss as well. I was using a flashlight to light up the insides and telling him how clean it looked when I saw this. What you’re looking at is the main body of the lower unit with the nose and prop sides removed. The black cable is the transducer cable. The silver piece is a guard for the cables. That thick black ‘liner’ is a magnet inside of which the armature spins. I asked him if the guard is supposed to be crimped at one end. The answer was a definitive no. Remember when i hit that rock last year? It turned the through bolt enough that it pinched the guard. In the full resolution picture you can see the threads from the bolt impressed in the aluminum guard. I pulled the entire guard out and used a combination of flat screwdrivers, pliers, and some round metal stock to get it back to a close enough shape. A quick reassembly (including greasing up the bearing and seals) and all works as normal now.