casts_by_fly

the water looks good, but 40% of the angler's have caught a fish yet and the bulk of the anglers who did are going to weigh in 8-12lb bags for the day. 5-9 fish caught to get a 10 lb bag isn't going to make me come fish it. Also, what the heck is tucker smith doing that he caught 17 bass already?

In fact, I have it sitting right next to me (I didn't stick it in the boat yet). I would say that's not unfair in some ways. It has a light tip. Not quite as light as the solid tip versions or the PA UL/M but lighter than the ML 6'9" Zodias or the 7' M zodias. It will cast a true 1/8 total bait weight off that tip. But there is a lot of power down low and 1/2 to 2/3 the way up the rod. It's a very fast action to go from something that can throw that light of weight to that much power. Thinking about the bottom half of the rod it is in line with the 7' zodias M (my dad has one and I've fished it). I've landed largemouth to just under 5lb and other fish to just under 10 on the rod and never felt underpowered. The biggest difference between it and the 7' M Zodias is tip. The M has a little more stout tip to support casting lures at that 1/2 oz mark. I've done that on the ML, but that's not what it's for. If you're in that 1/4-3/8 total bait weight range then that's the sweet spot (and of course it will extend far above and below that). The 7' M is more of a 5/16-7/16 sweet spot. And I know that's a very fine line to draw between them, but they are really close overall.

Trick question. It's the same fish. The second picture was straight out of the net and I whipped the phone out. After I unhooked and weighed her I wanted a better shot so I zoomed out on the phone and did a better job of framing her (and put the light behind me). I wasn't intending to show the differences in camera angles and such when I took both, I just wanted a better picture. But afterwards when I looked at them I saw how very different she looked both ways I thought it was a good example of what this thread was talking about.

Bringing this conversation back to the original topic, anyone want to hazard a guess which fish is bigger?

I don’t know how good of an analogy a cat is to a bass, I know this sure sounds fun and I’m going to try it at our friends house with some soft plastics next time.

If you’re catching them with a weightless Texas rig (presumably stick bait) but the wind is making that tough, just put a 1/4 oz sliding sinker in front of it. It’s not the same presentation, but it’s the same profile they were eating and the little extra weight makes it a lot more fishable with the wind.

I believe they are down to the tidal zone around Philly but practically speaking you’re going to want to be above Trenton.

Had the first actual fishing trip in the boat today. Not bad to start the year with a 4# fish as your first. Caught 4, missed 2-3 more, all on a vibrating jig of some type and color. Air was 50-52 and the water was 48 on the cold side of the lake, but the 15 mph constant wind was pushing all the warmer surface water into the old weeded shallows to make it 51-52. Every fish was in 2-3’ and they definitely haven’t been sitting in 52 degree water long- they were COLD still. Barely hitting it, just enough to feel the blade stop. I’ll take that for the end of March.

What these guys above said. If you do a search on this forum, we had a topic about it last year with a lot of good replies. Here are some of the examples from navionics. The first one has the main creek channel in red from a larger lake arm. The line in green is a small hollow that is where water would have drained off the hillside before it was a lake (there is no creek in that arm). Erosion would have made the drain and then the lake filled up. In the second picture that's a similar story except I think that was off a main lake area. No creek, just a hollow going up the hill and this is the wet end of it. In both cases they are fairly large drains and I would be looking hard for fish in them when the water is in the 50's. They both have relatively deeper water very nearby such that fish can slide shallow or deep without swimming very far. And both have some docks that abut the deeper stuff for some cover (and possibly some brushpiles dropped off them). They are both limited a little in the area available for spawning up shallow which could be a limiting factor for how many fish fill it, but both are worth checking for sure. Drains/ditches don't have to be along shore or in creek arms. That are just a spot where at some time erosion made a linear depression to drain water out. Same concept that makes creek except creeks have a pretty constant water whereas ditches were most likely created from seasonal runoff before the lake was filled. And now they are wet.

for most of my lakes, a bladed jig, a rage bug, and a neko rig. A jighead minnow is already rigged, just whether it is on deck or not depends on the specific lake I'm in. To Pat's point, that gives me shallow, mid and deep with a fast bait, a slow bait, and a finesse bait. The color and weight will change but those are always rigged up. This year I'm going to leave a spinnerbait on the deck more (as in literally leave it sitting out where I can see it) because I know it will catch fish more than how much I throw it.

Then pick between your preference of a JDM zillion or a JDM met. Both are around $250 and the best bang for the buck you’re going to find.

@gim - the LiTime we’re talking about will do 1200 CCA. The battery chemistry isn’t the limiting factory it is the build quality of the wiring and BMS that limits the cranking amps. Now that big motors are being rated for LiFePo you’ll see more and more come along.

@king fisher - you know, I used to worry about other anglers. "They are fishing my best spot". And sure, angling pressure has an effect on fish. But not seeing other anglers catching fish in a spot doesn't tell me anything other than 'that guy isn't catching fish there right now'. Doesn't mean the fish aren't there though, or that he doesn't know how to catch fish. Or that he does. Do you know how bad the average angler is? Now consider that half of the anglers are worse than that. And a lot aren't much better. That kinda puts things in perspective for me. Of course the corolary is true though- if you seeing someone catching fish then they are clearly doing something right.

If you're using a fish finder to gauge the temp, remember that you're just reading the surface temp. It is easy to raise the surface water temp by 5 degrees in just a couple hours and you think you've hit paydirt. But if you just stick your hand a little lower or catch a fish out of more than 3' of water you see that only the surface has warmed. Keep that in mind when you're trying to decide where they might be. if you know where they are going to bed and they aren't there, start working backwards to the next deeper water until you find some structure or cover that is going to hold them. They are working their way from their winter depths up to spawning depths. If you were able to catch them or find them in the winter then all the better. Draw a straight lin from winter hole to spawning grounds and fish along the line.

I went lead for the cranking battery just for price reasons. I hadn’t seen the little LiTime you mentioned or i might have done that since the price is about the same. Just don’t put the boat electronics on that same little lithium cranking battery. Put them on a dedicated 12/100.

that's correct. You need a model with 'N' in the name for networking. And with the discontinuation of most Helix models they have dropped that option. Going forward, the helix are intended to be smaller standalone units.

I would skip cranberry and go other places, but if you decide to go there drop me a note as I’m 20 minutes from there.

@Motoboss All SI units also have down imaging of the same quality and type. It’s poor nomenclature from HB, but if it has SI then it has all the other possible features (di, 2d, gps) also. The cheapest SI unit from HB is the Helix 7 SI G4 at $600. They have the MSI version for $800, though currently on sale for less.

Thanks, that’s what I thought. I had considered fishing the river when I had the kayak but never did. And it’s only borderline big enough to put the boat in even if there was a ramp. I’ll stick to the alternatives. Do you know pompton lake at all? I fished it for the first and only time last year (first day of trout season to avoid people on all the other lakes). I was only breaking in the boat at that point and only kinda fishing but it looked good, if small.

@herder are there any boat ramps on the river? Gravel is fine. I haven’t found one but thought you might know better.

Coat? No. Keep them clean. Depending what has accumulated you might need goo gone or rubbing alcohol. Windex is a good basic cleaner for them to keep them clean. Are you a smoker? My parents are and any fishing gear that my dad sends my way typically has a ‘patina’ to it that takes a couple goes to get off.

Motoboss, Curious what you mean about one or the other? Seems you’re saying that the HBird units come with either side or down imaging? That’s not true if you get a side imaging unit. Side imaging models have DI also.

Is it backlashing at the beginning or end of the cast? You say there is no side to side play of the spool- is there more tension on the spool than “just take the play out”? How do you have your other baitcasters set up to eliminate backlashes- with brakes or with spool tension?

Anyone want to go Easter Saturday? My wife is busy all day so I’m going from daylight until ‘some time’ later. Not sure where but have a few ideas and going to watch the weather.

Looking good. Can’t wait to see the next fish in the boat.