casts_by_fly

Braid with no backing?

NJ has an entire week forecast from 35-55 degrees the next 7 days before it drops down, but I bet the drop is just the model reverting to long term averages. At this rate I’m targeting January bass. @A-Jay- you’ve talked about your ice out philosophies here for large brown bass and what they do. Without ice, there is no ice out. Then what?

just to be clear (given some of the replies above), I don’t mean to dunk it or submerge it. Just wet the outside of the blank with some lightly soapy water, let it sit for a couple minutes, and wipe it all off with a rag. I don’t like a magic eraser because even though it’s a soft foam it will still grab grit and dirt on the rod and become abrasive. That’s fine for the cork, but I don’t want to run scratches onto the rod.

Wordle, connections, spelling bee, and vertex basically every day. Wordle 917 3/6 🟩🟨⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I lost about 400 days when it swapped to the NYT and I had cleared my browser. Click ‘share’ and then ‘copy’

Dawn dish soap. Dampen the rod for a little and then wipe it down. A scotch brite pad for the soaked in bits in the cork.

I carry a couple bitsy flips in my box and they are a decent jig. The skirts are long so you'll want to trim them shorter and probbly thinner (they are too thick to me). They are a good value though last I checked the price. And sorry to add, but the strike king tour grade swim jig is another to look at. At the 1/8 and 1/4 sizes the heads are still quite small. The hook is a finer wire hook and the skirts are fairly thin to begin with. Trim to length and you have a mini swim jig.

Did you mean to quote me on that one or were you trying to quote some other text?

Do you know which Falcon it was you tried and which series? Based on what you're describing above (a medium+) that would line up with the Finesse jig rod. thanks rick

Afraid I can't help on the MHX blank but if you like that length the have a look at falcon. They have two rods of that length, one a MH, the other a lighter H which some might call MH. The MH ("topwater/finesse jig) is very light weight. rick

New guy hanging around my stand area. I’m tied up until Jan 3rd but if he keep around I’ll be in my stand that morning. in fact, I think that might be the 8 I saw in the yard in October.

17 in May, plus another 6 years together before that.

That's called the Heavy Cover Jig rod for anyone looking it up. Its a great rod for a lot of things. Lists as fast action but its not as fast as you might think. Great rod for 15-17 lb line and bottom contact baits. Its rated 1/2-1 oz which is an odd rating but I think its describing the sweet spot of the range moreso that the total range. It will fish up and down from there. Interestingly, I've found its a great plopper rod for the 110 size. The length lets you really hammer out a cast and it has the backbone to set the hook at the range. thanks rick

This is where I am with yozuri superbraid. Its fine for all the more I use it. It ties good knots and its strong (I don't think I've ever broken 10 lb). Past that I think I like 832 better (which comes in hi vis yellow for the OP). rick

that's warmer than we're getting here in NJ. We're clear and 25-45 degrees except when a storm rolls in at which point its rainy for 2 days and 40-60 depending on the storm. I can't complain. Instead it could be (1) bitter cold, (2) feet of snow, or (3) ice. I'll take this 'coming out of winter like February' weather now. Its only going to improve from here.

I thought for sure it was going to say "to help pick out the next one"!

Afternoon north bank with cover on a sunny day- maybe find some bass. Otherwise find some isolated cover and fish it for perch and crappie. They are eating this time of year and if you like to keep fish you can grab a handful for the table.

Rage bug (or palmetto bug in heavier cover) and a boar hogz. One for bigger stuff and one for thinner stuff. Pinch off a leg for less action.

I feel like there were plenty of comments in the previous annual thread about ice out predicting early open water or even never closed water. And yet it was April anyway…

This year has the longest span between first and last trips. I wet a line in every month except January. My first trip was Feb 20th (we didn't really have ice last winter) and I was out in the boat December 9th. Funnily enough, the water was warmer in Feb than it was 2 weeks ago by a couple degrees. If the lakes stay liquid, I'll hit all 12 months in 2024 and start looking for early season smallies in Jan. That said, I definitely had fewer trips in 2023 than 2022. Family health issues in July-Sept knocked a lot of time out. A 3-week holiday in May shot my spring a bit too. I'm going to say I got out 25-30 times throughout the year, mostly 4-6 hour evening trips. I had very few early morning trips this year and I'm struggling to think of some saturday morning or all day trips like I'd have taken in the past. In 2022 I got out 2-3 trips a week from march to September. I was about half that on average in 2023. Next year should get better.

Another thing to consider is 'new lake' phenomenon. When a new lake is built and fresh fish are stocked, the bass will have a higher than normal growth rate for a while. My dad is seeing this in one of his home lakes (that I fished with him a bit last year). It was drained for a couple years and then refilled/restocked. The lake was dry- there was a 3' wide creek down the middle that could hold minnows and that's it. All fish currently in there came from state stockings, of which I asked the regional biologist for records. He and I had some back and forth about my/my dad's observations on size and age. The first bass were stocked in 2020 as fingerlings. In 2023 at 3 years old, a typical bass in PA would be around 10" (3" per year growth rate). In a new lake 12-15" would be normal (4-5" per year). Throughout the summer between us we managed to catch upwards of 250 bass from that lake across 8 trips or so. The normal fish that you expected to catch was 16-18". There was a year class of fish that clustered together all in the 16-18" range (5-6" per year growth). Of the ~250 bass I would say 80% were in that range. There were equal numbers above and below it with few in the < 12" range, though I suspect that has more to do with how/what we were fishing with than the lake itself. Biggest fish were in the 20" bracket and just under 5 lb mostly (my dad might have caught 2 that topped 5 if I remember correctly). They were also heavy for their weight. For both PA and NJ, a 15" fish is going to average right around 2 lb, 16" around 2.5, 17" around 3#, and at 18" you can expect about 3.5#. These fish were a solid 1/2 lb heavier or more for a given length. An 18" exact fish on a dink board was pusing 4.25#. we caught quite a few that were 4.5# and just a touch over 18". Heavy, solid fish. The pictures aren't great but all three of these are over 18" and 4.5#. Will this growth rate keep up? At some point it will taper. I suspect he's going to catch a bunch of 5-6 lb fish out of there next year. The main forage the state is stocking is golden shiners, but they are also putting in bluegills and trout (for people to catch). A 9" trout is already on the menu for a 4# largemouth and it doesn't take many of those to accelerate growth. I can't wait to see what this lake does the next couple years. I only wish it wasn't trout stocked so that it was fishable in the spring without hundreds of other guys trout fishing (you dont' go there before june). All of that is to say that its not out of the realm in some unique circumstances to significantly outdo the 'norms'. Over time lakes will come to equilibrium based on the nutrients and baitfish available. If there is a steady stocking of baitfish or a stream of nutrients to boost productivity you never know what will change in the equilibrium. A 12 lb bass is a lot, but a lake with an established population of 5-8 lb fish could pop out a 12 if there's a sudden stocking of trout for instance.

I have yozuri on my two spinning rods right now and its fine. I think its a 4-carrier braid given the feel of it. I don't love it, I don't hate it. Its never caused problems and it ties decent knots. Certainly could do worse. I have 832 on rods from 10 to 50 lb including 10 on my BFS. Once you get used to the thin diameter which wants to get into every little crevice and the fact that the wind is going to blow it around if you have slack, it fishes great hence why i was planning to use it. I think I'll probably start with it and see how I get on. If I don't prefer it, then I'll have to try 131.

thanks, that’s helpful. I’ve fished some of the rounder braids that are more wiry to me. I don’t prefer them to 832. Maybe it’s because I was fishing them in heavier sizes. I know what you mean about 10 lb 832. I have it on a bfs reel and it’s like sewing thread. I’m planning to use it on my soon to be new to me spinning rod in the spring, but I can see you’re point about limpness. rick

Significantly better than 832 (to justify the cost)? I've fished 832 as my main braid for a couple years now and love it a lot. I'm curious about 131 and would love to hear a direct comparison. thanks rick

My dad's phrase is 'anything that pulls my string' and I don't disagree with that. Pickerel are common here and are a skunk saver, but they do make a mess of lures. Crappie are around and I'll target them once or twice in the spring for a good cookout. Catching walleyes on topwaters is fun when it happens. A couple of the lakes I fish have muskies and I LOVE catching them, even if I am underequipped. Most any fish is fun, but if you're fishing bass lures/tackle but want an occasional rush, then a big hybrid striper is the answer. They eat bass lures in the places bass live but when one hits you know you don't have a bass on. They just go electric for a bit until you wear them out. The best bit- just lip them to handle like any other bass. rick

@Koz used a switchblade for a while and can tell you the ups and downs. I have a helix 9 with the long transducer and its mounted under the boat for me (autopilot). Its tucked up as high as it can get and I've not had any problems scratching it or hitting anything.