casts_by_fly

You already have everything you need for a perfect steak. Throw it on the pellet grill at ~220 or so first to add some smoke and bring it to just under your target internal temp(125-130 off the pellet grill for a med-rare/med border steak). While doing that, fire up your webber to the hottest you can get it (lump charcoal helps). Pull it off the pellet and sear the outside hard for 1-2 minutes in total, flipping every 30 seconds or so. Assuming you've got the coals hot enough, that will produce a beautiful brown crust and a perfectly cooked interior. I don't see anything special about the PK just looking at the specs or descriptions. Unless I'm missing something?

I watched a small tiger musky shark my frog last year. 50 lb 832. About 25-30 yards away. It came out from under a weed mat that was 20' away and annihilated it. When I pulled back, it was nothing but air. Similar experience on a small tiger this spring on a rage bug. I got a hook set, felt the weight, and gone. Even getting a good hook in the mouth wasn't enough to keep the braid off its tooth tips when it turned. Then again, sometimes you get lucky. This was 6 lb mono leader on 10 lb braid. I thought it was a bass cruising on livescope. Put a jigheaded fluke in front it of and got a good hookset. Halfway to the boat the line snaps so I assumed I tied a bad knot and it was a big smallie. Next cast (probably the same fish) the hook was in the roof of the mouth and the fish was almost under the boat when it hit. I must have managed to keep the line straight up and down enough to not catch a tooth.

Do you have the livescope pole on the right with the head unit in the left? Then the opposite for the 360?

If you want to go further down the YouTube rabbit hole, Ty Berger talks about similar but alternative presentations at times. The gist is that if bass are hitting one of them then there is a good chance they would hit another one. For example, a chatterbait and a lipless. Not the same lure, but they will catch the same bass a lot of the time. Sometimes if you’re fishing one and the bites stop or are inconsistent then swapping to the other will pick things back up again. A beaver, a tube, and a brush hog would be another set. for me, rather than thinking about a specific brand or model being the deal, I think about size and location first. A big top water, a small bottom presentation. Get that right first. where a different brand or model DOES make a difference though is efficiency and component. Sometimes a specific shape of bill or angle of a wire bait arm just comes through the cover better with fewer hangups or less slime on the lure. The extra time spent picking slime off a lure is lost efficiency.

6 lb supernatural mono. After using supernatural in 14/16# for my casting rigs I put some on my trout rod this spring. Great line for it. I like 6 lb if I am using split shots for just a little more pinch protection. If it’s weightless single hooks then 4#.

They turned out pretty good.

We have a big group of friends staying with us for the week. We all like good wine and are going to do a steak and wine night tonight. But, 9 adults and 6 kids means a dozen big steaks. I wanted to sous vide then grill so we had to figure something out. redneck ingenuity at its best.

zoysia is great if your climate can do it. It’s too cold up here. Bluegrass is our equivalent. Once established, feed it well and just keep cutting it. It spreads and fills everything. on the other hand, I’ve got solid rye in my pool yard and an 80/20 tall fescue/kbg blend in the dog yard ( and tall fescue everywhere else). I have to seed to fill damage spots which can limit preemergent use. The good thing with rye though is that even in the bad growing season I can go from bare dirt to fully grown in about 3 weeks.

I endorse this statement. I’m working through grubs myself. They weren’t treated for years and have proliferated. When my grass wasn’t great you didn’t notice them. Now that I have good grass you do. I had grubs and fungus both at times this year, both of which are preventable if treated at the right time. Both are also curable if you’re late, but it takes more work to get there. between grub, fungus, and weed preventative (preemergent) you can have an awesome lawn with negligible other chemicals required. Just cut and feed now and again. this was my latest project. The area behind the grass and in front of the fence has been scrub since we bought the house- branches, leaves, rocks, concrete block, etc. The dogs poop there and I don’t bother to clean it. When I cut out a bunch of trees to make room for the magnolia in the middle last fall it left a mud pit that the dogs would dig in. And now that you can see so much of it I wanted to make it nicer, but cheaply. The local tree cutters give away chippings so I got a load and moved it over two nights. It’s not as pretty as mulch but I can’t complain for free. Ended up nearly 20 yards of chips.

What he said.

good info above already. If you decide you want a shorter rod in the end, the falcon eye crosser is a great frog rod. 6’11” 1/2-1 1/2. The eye crosser is the Cara series. There is also the bayou in the expert that is similar. I fish the Cara for frogs primarily but it’s also a great 6” swim bait rod for that 1-1.5 oz range and also a big spinnerbait rod (3/4 oz and up).

I’m a rage bug fan. It would fit the ‘slightly more’ action bait you’re looking for. Blue craw is my best but plain green pumpkin is just as good here (same water conditions you’re fishing). I like a palmetto bug also but with considerations. It’s elaztech so obviously don’t mix with other plastics. Durability in use is great, but when it starts sliding up your hook or line after catching a couple it gets to be a pain to rethread it if you have a big bait keeper by the eye. For that, I stick to a more plain hook. It also fits your less action bait description.

im about where you are. My local buddies like them but it’s never been my thing. Never smoked a cigarette first hand. I’ll smoke a cigar once every couple months when they want them. That said, acid blondies are something else. Super mild smoke and sweet on the lips. I could see keeping one around.

Because you’re in a small inflatable, light is the order of the day. I’d go lithium. Not sure how long you want to fish on it it, but I can’t imagine a 17# thrust motor pulling much amperage. A 60 ah lithium should do wonders.

find your combo and it should list the connectors needed. https://humminbird.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/support/networking-diagrams

Gamakatsu for me. I carry them 2/0-5/0 depending on the size of the bait I’m throwing.

Physics says that won’t work. At least not in an equilibrium state. Probably a nearby stream or spring flowing in causing some stratification below the regular thermocline.

Sometimes the rain turns them on (maybe due to lower light) and sometimes not. Given the seasonality and big swings from hot to wet you’re seeing, I’d suggest consulting with someone with local experience. @king fisher

Throw in an inline spinner like a mepps.

The helix 8 Msi is discontinued. The transducer is the same as the 9 (the big transducer) and the features are the same. The big humminbird helix transducer is fantastic and the garmin won’t be as good. It will be good, but the hbird is a step up. The garmin will get you touchscreen and an extra inch though which is nice. And if you want live imaging later garmin is better.

Next time you go and its sunny when you're finishing, take a paddle across the shallows where you can see bottom. Bluegills only need a foot of water or so, but anything out to about 3' is good bluegill bedding water. Just have a peek over the side and look for the honeycombs. There should be a lot of dinner plate sized circles clustered together, often in a honeycomb pattern. When you find them, mentally mark those spots to fish next time. The bass will be hanging around them for a while to fatten up. Some places the bluegill spawn all summer and the bass relate to them all summer. Some (like my local) the bass are still around those spots but its not the same bluegillfest like right after the bass spawn. My dad's local the bass move 'offshore' and don't relate to the beds as much (except at night) but they are still hammering the bluegills.

the elites/opens/BPT fish Champlain this time of year every other year or so. The more recent tournaments have been FFS heavy but if you go back just 3-4 years they aren't. I'd dig through the tournament recaps and videos to see what guys are doing and on what type of water. And I know this is the smallmouth forum, but don't sleep on the largemouth too. Before the FFS boom targetting big offshore roaming smallies, it was a 50/50 shot whether smallmouth or largemouth would be the winning formula.

very nice. You are now officially in the post post spawn period. All your fish are going to be skinny as rails but starting to fatten up. You're not going to catch a PB right now, but they are sure going to be eating just about every trip out. Its bluegill chomping season (did you see any bluegill beds?) for those bass now. No surprise that the green pumpkin worm did well given that. Enjoy!

With a baitcaster, sidearm and roll casts to start. Try to have the lure moving horizontally (or even up) when its just over your target and then thumb the spool. That will kill momentum and the lure will just fall into the water. If you throw a higher overhead cast you can't control the downward speed that way. A spinning rod is similar, but you have to feather the line with your casting hand index finger and pinch it to the spool instead of thumbing the spool. Also, a 4" mini fluke rigged weightless is your answer here (on a spinning rod). It casts softly, is fully weedless, and they will suck it up on the fall.

This is a pretty easy one for me. Texas rig (and all of its variants) a jig (and all of its variants including pitching, swim, and vibrating jigs) a buzzbait That covers the entire vertical water column. Fish them fast, fish them slow. 50 degree water to 85 degree water.