casts_by_fly

If your goal is to take what you have and thin it down, then the question is what do you use every trip/month/year? Keep what you use, drop what you don’t. If you already own them though, it doesn’t matter what brand they are. Pick the ones you use and like and expand them. Take the ones you never use and sell them.

I’ll take you to two because that’s what I have and fish in my box- rapala and strike king. From the OG tiny 4 up to a dt-20 you’ve got the entire water column covered with wide and skinny. Throw in some SK red eye shads and the assorted ‘other’ that you prefer and you’re not missing anything.

I’ll also recommend 12 lb big game. Put it on one of the reels and leave the other two empty u til you fish the first one a half dozen times. After that, come here, say what you did and didn’t like about it, and get a recco from there. For me, I’d have one braid and two mono setups for what you’re talking but ymmv.

If it’s the same fabric our sunbrella outdoor umbrella and cushions are, then it’s heavy duty. I’m sure they make a couple weights though so better to get the specs of the cover material and find some outdoor furniture locally with the same fabric that you can touch. Or, just ask for a fabric sample from the cover maker. They should have a 6” piece laying around.

i thought connections was brutal today too. I got the purples on a wild guess for something else. I wouldn’t have gotten there without a lot of luck. Connections Puzzle #243 🟩🟦🟦🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟪🟪🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦

I'm not on the water if the water is under 40 degrees. I've done it once or twice and its just not worth it. Even the lightest breeze across that temperature of water is frigid. Above that, I'm also layering like others. I'm not wearing a drysuit or neoprene. I'm layered in thermals/fleece/waterproofs to keep me dry from spray. In freshwater it is practically impossible to flip my particular kayak, so my risk is in falling out for some reason. I take fewer risks and more breaks when its cold water. If its windy I just don't do it. I also don't do big water early in the season. A lot of the earlier season places I'm fishing I could stand up and walk to shore if I fell out. If I do get caught out in the open some where, first task is to get closer to shore. That happened once last year maybe (maybe the year before?). Fishing my usual early season lake, about 40-42 degree water, overcast and light breeze (4-5 mph). As I motored to an offshore hump I was surprised by the wind that stirred up from behind me. It was 5 mph at the ramp but 10-15 in the middle of the lake. I was going with it and didn't notice until I stopped. When I stopped and realized it, I just kicked the motor back on and made for the next spot near the shoreline. It isn't worth the risk of fighting the wind and waves in the middle of the lake like that. I ended up making a full lap of the shoreline and lake that day because running back to the ramp across the middle was a no go. The wind picked up even more (the forecast was very wrong that day) so I stayed in the lea of the hillside to get back. I used to swim in cold water for various 'things' be it triathlons, lifeguarding, teaching, etc. I've been in sub-50 water (just a swimsuit) and its bracingly cold. The worst is the first immersion when your body contracts and it rips the breath out of you. If you get over that and can calm your heart rate and steady your breath then you have a chance of managing it. Panic and you're done. Its much easier said that done.

I’m going to say that the 2000 sized body is going to better balance the rod. A 1000 is light. I just went through this with a stradic. I got a 1000 for the same uses and put it on a 6’9” zodias ML. The setup was tip heavy and that was on a quite light rod. The 1000 size is barely over 6 oz. The extra ounce or so for the next size up helps balance and you don’t notice it in hand.

I think you're probably right about Elite being a little softer than supernatural. I don't have the same diameters spooled to compare, but I run 17 lb elite on one rod and 16 lb supernatural on another. The elite 17 is about the diameter of 25 lb supernatural and I think the Elite 17 is just a touch softer than the 16 supernatural. Elite is very big for is rating. 17 lb elite is 0.016". 25 lb supernatural is 0.016". Supernatural 16 lb is 0.013". The same size in Elite would be 11 lb. Elite and Big game are the same size/rating. Supernatural aligns size/rating with other japanese lines like shooter.

The elite series is like this. They will air it on FS1/2 until noon, but that's because at noon they can swap to college sports or professionals with an hour of commentary and then the game. Those leagues and conferences get paid a LOT more for the television rights and they draw a lot more eyeballs. I too wish there was a way to just put it on FS4 or 5 and swap the channel but no. Usually I just turn the TV off and go do something else.

Funny enough I was just looking at that last night. I have the ML zodias in the spinning and like it. I'd love to fish the baitcaster for a day, but not enough that its woth buying one when I already have a ML in the basement that I don't use much. Then again I'm a sucker for a sale...

I fish mono on some rods. I fish straight braid on some rods. I fish braid to leader on some rods. Here's why I do what I do: straight mono- user friendly, easy handling, low visibility, little bit of stretch (flexibility in the total rod and line setup). I've fished mostly mono since I started fishing and its what I like best. There is a very wide range of mono out there. Chameleon and big game are harder and stiffer, something like sunline supernatural or Suffix Elite are super soft. Once you learn what you like in line you can choose accordingly. For me, that's supernatural for most things. Very thin diameter for its rating (most monofilament tests much higher than rated so buy mono based on diameter not rating), limp, good coating and good knots. The downsides are that its soft and prone to abrasion (which isn't a problem for me since we don't have heavy cover to throw it in mostly. Straight braid- I use straight braid for three reasons: (1) because I want a zero stretch hookset like a frog in heavy grass after a long cast and (2) throwing lures in grass, and (3) because I'm fishing a rod that's softer/slower and don't want the stretch of mono on top of that. The first is easy. When you bomb a frog 40 yards across a grass mat and a fish hits it immediately, mono is going to have enough stretch that it will affect your hookups. If I'm throwing a frog or toad on mono I'm going to limit myself to closer in work. With braid I don't worry about how far I'm casting it- so long as you take up the slack before swinging you can get a good hookset. The second is common here. We have a TON of grass in all of our lakes and thinner braid (30 lb) works great for ripping swim jigs through it. Similar if you're pitching plastics into the holes or heavy pads. The third is a 'me problem' but is instructive. I have a particular rod that I've never thought was 'quite right'. Soft tip, good butt, but the mid section was just a bit mushy. I tried a lot of things on it and caught a bunch of fish, but when I put 30 lb braid on it the rod just came alive. Its my #1 setup for lipless crankbaits that way. Because of the softer middle I don't worry about overpowering fish with braid and trebles. But the no stretch of braid means I can feel every little tick of grass, rod, or fish. Its instructive because if you're going to fish braid you need to think about the rod and what you're fishing also. Moving baits (like spinnerbaits) with fast actions and braid can be tricky. There is no 'give' in the system. So if you're picking braid, then go with a little softer rod. Braid to leader- this is my spinning setup. No stretch, excellent feedback of the bottom, versatile for many lures by altering your leader. Braid is limp on the reel so never any issues with line twist. You might say the best of both worlds or the limitations of both. I'll occasionally throw braid to leader on a baitcaster if I'm in clear water and worried about it or if throwing topwaters and that's the rod I put them on. Mostly not though.

2-piece rods from 15 years ago were still good rods. There's nothing wrong with multi piece rods and ferrules are not a strength limiting factor (weight and action maybe, if not designed correctly). My problem with 2-piece rods of today is that there aren't many of them! I prefer 2-piece spinning rods because spinning rods are usually my truck rods for the spring. I keep one in the back seat or the ramboxes all of the time from about now through the summer (which reminds me to go put it in the truck).

well that’s awesome. As a thank you, here’s a picture of an EARLY season smallie from two years ago, my current pb at 4-03.

TW has the Stradic on sale for $135 right now. It’s a fantastic reel in that size. It was too light for what I wanted so I returned mine for a 3k size but for what you’re describing that’s where I’d go. If I was still trout fishing and didn’t have a 20 year old one that is like new that’s what I’d get. rick

Is it native iOS letting you resize? I use a third party app which is fine but I’d prefer to do it natively. Now, I have to create a second smaller version to upload which means twice as many pictures.

I don’t have one but the phenix light rods are the usual first ones for the ‘not quite bfs’ range.

this is the same for New Jersey except it’s any boat whatsoever. I’ll have to check the date but that’s about right. For me, if the water is below 55 or so there is no question.

even within the bass realm where we are talking about 6-8’ rods. There is nothing like a long limber rod for cushioning the runs of a fish that is barely hooked. You could be talking about a 7’6” spinning rod with 4lb leader and a 5# smallmouth vs a 6’6” and the same 4#/5# combo. I know which I’d rather have.

casting distance as you mentioned. Fish fighting forgiveness on a more moderate actioned rod (look up noodle rods and catching 10 lb steelhead on 2 lb test). Line pickup with less motion (which can be accomplished in other ways also).

ooh, I haven't seen those yet. I get a lot of black algae slime on some of my lakes which precludes a football shaped head a lot of the time. This might be the trick.

I don't have the same picture issues with streaming sports. I'm only on a 500 mbps line and we can stream two TVs of football games on big TVs without a problem (often while kids are watching Disney inside). Prime is one of the better ones actually. What app/device are you streaming them on? I'm using the streamers app directly on a samsung smart TV. A Roku plugin will be slower and buggier in my experience.

True broadcast (aka via antenna) and cable TV will disappear. I don't want to speculate on the time frame, but having an extra cable box, pay for a cable subscription, and paying for channels that you don't want are all unnecessary. Everyone has the internet now. 5G boxes that don't even need a hardline are faster than many wired connections. More and more people are cutting the cord which will have two main effects- cost of service going up for cable keepers (thus incentivising them to cut the cord) and expansion of infrastructure supporting cable-less TV. Eventually there will be a tipping point that the cable companies will be SOL. I bet they are close now to that financial tipping point, but will hold on as long as possible. Yes, it will certainly be a subscription service. Live sports is the only TV that people actually watch 'live' anymore. Whether you need this new one or not depends on what else you have and what they offer that you want. As reference, I just priced out a comcast cable package if I were to replace what I get now on Hulu Live plus my addons. I would be just about $150 a month. With Hulu live plus Disney and Max (HBO) I am no where close to that number. Even adding in the cost of netflix and apple TV (which you can't add to a cable package) I'm about the same total cost and getting Netflix and Apple TV. And I have no cables or boxes to deal with which is a nice small bonus that means if I ever add a TV in another room (or in our case we added outside) I don't need to run cables or manage boxes. Just hang a TV and plug it in.

if you haven't tried it and want something softer, then Elite is a lot softer with a lot less memory compared to advance. Comparing both side by side, advance is downright wiry. Only in the fluoro. I think it was the KVD fluoro in the BPS excel line. It was 'fine'. Fairly stiff stuff, but again it was the fluoro, not mono.

You know, I thought this sunshine and slight warming was going to be amazing. My wife is traveling this week and my work week is really light. We're iced off so I could go anywhere. Yesterday I decided to make a quick run to a local pond to try out the new spinning rod setup (it was great). It was 40 and sunny. That's perfect fishing conditions this time of year, right? The steady 3-6 mph wind said a big fat "go home". I thought I was bundled up well enough. A couple layers, fleece lined pants, etc. Didn't matter. I made 2 dozen throws and decided it wasn't worth being out there in that. I swung past another pond on the way home that is a little more sheltered and made a few more casts but its still too cold for me. Both ponds still had skim ice on them (from the night before) so its not as if the water is suddenly warming up. I think I'm going to use today to 'honey do' a few things instead of pulling the boat out. I can clean the boat up, check all of the wiring and batteries, etc before the season kicks off properly.