casts_by_fly

As I was typing my response, Phish's popped up (yay new forum software) with the exact same answer as me. I have no interest in a DC reel anyway. And I also just put fresh line on an STX.

If you have gift cards then that's a different story. That isn't your own money to spend and they aren't useful in any other store. Might as well use them fully. Absent gift card, given that you're looking for a specific rod that isn't brand specific I would shop around based on finding the right rod or rods. What I mean is, there are a lot of 7' ML/F rods that will do what you want so do some searching around these forums to find a couple that sound good to you and then see where you can find the right price. Seems like you're in that $100 price point so look at options and source from the best deal Considering gift cards, BPS is probably the best deal for you right now. And the tat xt 7'1" ML/XF seems like a pretty good option. I don't have one but they are rated highly here on the forums.

I'd say that for the $10 you're going to get as the tradein I'd keep the ulgy stick and not limit myself to BPS offerings.

I like it. And I feel you. I have two rods ‘rigged’ behind my desk and when I’m on calls during the day (not on video) I’ll pick one up and start pitching. My 10’-30’ pitching accuracy is on point right now.

I had one on the autopilot and it was a godsend. I just used the double sided tape it comes with. The key is prepping the surface clean and then giving it 24 hours to properly set before you use it. I also enver sharpened mine. The design isn't such that absolute sharpness is critical. You need to get the blade as close to the rotating part of the prop as you can without interference and the prop works like a pair of scissors in conjunction with the blade to pinch and cut the grass at the same time. Moving to the boat, I didn't put another one on. On the autopilot, it was a real problem to get access to the prop because it went through the hull. On the boat I just lift it up, clean it, and drop it back in.

Have a look at @pdxfisher 's trip reports as he's fishing the same area you're in and doing well with it.

DEPS- if 832 is your old reliable I wouldn't be so fast to change. One failure vs old reliable I'd chalk up to a bad spool or unseen damage. Routine fails? Yeah that's coming off. And if you absolutely have to change I'd say give 131 a look. I love 832 but 131 is even nicer. More expensive, but nicer. A little stiffer, more round, slicker.

For one fish, I wouldn't worry about pulling it away from one. Possibly it only had the tail, possibly it was opening its mouth when you pulled. I find that a neko rig is the least likely of all the soft plastics I fish to deep hook a bass so I don't mind giving him an extra second when he hits it just in case he grabs the tail. That isn't common- i find that when they inhale it the first time they get all of it- but I can't think of a single deep hooked fish on a neko last year. If you're talking about the VMC redline hooks with the stiff mono/fluoro weed guard, that's what I'm using also. I have used the 1's and I carry them, but the 2's are my preference. Both work just fine.

very nice. Wishful Wednesday this week is looking like I have some good karma to spend. An ~inch of above freezing rain plus the balance of snow melt is going to get some water moving in the streams and then next week's forecast in the upper 70's should kill any ice that's still hanging around. I don't love the temp drop, but that's just air. It won't refreeze anything. This weekend we took a trip to a lake an hour south and the upper third was open in the middle, but lots of shore ice. That will definitely be open next weekend if not sooner.

@Shinmothy - also I forgot to comment on drag. Drag setting is a personal choice, but for me I don't want the drag pulling out when I'm setting the hook. On a spinning reel that means a reasonably tight drag, especially on something like a neko where I'm throwing it near some cover. When I set the hook, I want to maintain tension and start turning the fish's head. If you are pulling drag as you are setting the hook, that is less force going to the hook point to penetrate and then since the drag is already turning you've overcome the startup friction to get it moving and it's easier for the fish to pull drag and turn into cover. For a neko, I'm throwing 10 lb fc leader and on a heavier ML with plenty of backbone. I'll take the chance that my drag is too tight rather than it being too loose. The rod can absorb some fish craziness. I'm not hooking fresh from the lake steelhead that will burn off 50 yards of line in a heartbeat.

With a medium light rod and braid to leader, I just reel into them as I raise the rod on a neko. That’s with a #2 vmc hook. To the point above, I assume you’re rigging them hook point up.

As with a lot of things bass fishing, there are times when the infinite choices can be a detriment to actually catching more fish. Spending time worrying about the differences in two things or what else is out there can just be a distraction. If you like to try new things and want to experiment then go for it. For me and hook selection, gamakatsu offers just about everything you could want in a top of the line hook. So I keep it simple and go with a proven solution. The only two exceptions that I use with any regularity are the VMC weedless neko hook and the owner swimbait hooks whether the lite or the beast.

I guess in theory you could launch a but. You just wouldn’t make it very far. We swung past Assunpink for something to do. The ramp was iced in as was the lower half entirely. The upper half as far as you could see from the parking lot was about 1/2 open. With the forecast upcoming I bet it is fishable just after next weekend and in 2 weeks it will be open. I’ve never fished it but I think I’ll make a trip this spring.

@TnRiver46 definitely the best NA beer around assuming you like regular guiness. I’ve had a lot of regular beers that are far worse that this NA beer.

Sweet! There is a set of 5 ponds about 20 minutes from here that gets hammered hard all year. Tons of beaver dam wood in it. Overhead trees. A lot of inexperienced anglers lose a lot of baits. That’s usually my first stop after ice out because it thaws first and that’s the only time of year I’m going to fish them. It’s usually good for a few lures that the split rings or hooks have rusted out and the lures floated up. Maybe half of my squarebills have come from there.

Sounds like a storm came through. That can be tough as you saw. Around here, that first day after a storm washes in junk is rough. When the fish are used to really clear water, the sudden change to no visibility shuts them down quickly. Two summers back I thought I was going to be onto a great day- the lakes had been low and we just got a big rain. That should flood the bank with water and fish, right? Not when the water looks like chocolate milk after having 6’ visibility. It’s different if they are used to 1’ visibility and it goes to 3” but 6’ to 6” shuts them down for a hot minute. Also, that warm 60 degree water that just flowed in isn’t what they are used to. They have been sitting in the low to mid 50’s and that’s the temp their bodies are at. They will move up to that warmer water, but that color is going to slow them doing it for a minute.

I have them and use them. You have two choices. The VMC (or other) with the screw lock works great once you get good at putting them on. Get it on straight, deal with wrapping the tail around the hook wire as you wind it up the screw lock, and you’ll never need to replace that bait on that head. You can’t wear them out and it isn’t coming off. ‘Other’ more standard hook keeper style baits. You can make most any of the other keepers work. The single wire with a hook on the tip (ala VMC moon eye) are probably the best for elaztech because they slide in a lot easier and the little hook holds them in place. The dirty jigs guppy shown above works once you get it on, but a drop of superglue is your friend on them. With any of this style, getting them in place is the tricky part. You can’t push them up onto the keeper- you have to pull them. Thread them onto the hook like normal and when you get it close, pull the bait from the tip of the nose (bottom side of the bait, like you were gripping its lower jaw) stretching it well past the end of the ball head. That will pull enough of the internal plastic up past the keeper to get it locked in place. A drop of superglue and you’ll lose the lure before replacing the plastic.

Nope. Spinning reels for bass aren’t about high torque (certainly not for me). And the pick up rate for spinning reels for a gear ratio are a lot higher than a casting reel of the same.

Are you referring to the strike king skipping toad buzz with a thin wire connecting the top of the wire behind the blade to the wire in front of the head? If so, the design reason is to keep it from bending out when you’re skipping it all around but it will help keep it from bending out on fish too. If you’re going to fish buzzbaits, you need to learn how to tweak them to get the to run right.

I’ve had a few more in the two months since my last post but my preferences are trending back to the same place- the padrons are still by far my preference. The Olivas are pretty good and there are a few more that I’m happy to have one of, but the padrons are the one for me I think.

@herder magnify is great. Our friends live in little falls and are friends with the owner. They started going there when they first opened and their daughter was a baby. They are hit or miss on some of their styles that they push too far, but generally i like most of their stuff. When it was just big hoppy IPA and smoothie fruit beers it was good, but once they branched out a little they have really rounded out what they do. This is what I’m drinking tonight. Some do dry January. Last year my buddy put us all onto a new timeline- Super Bowl to st paddy’s day. There are no playoff games, no parties, and nothing of interest. No social pressures to go drinking. Nada. Since we already had plans, I am doing Valentine’s Day to St Paddy’s. Incidentally, one of the other guys doing the same is Irish and throws a big st paddy’s day party so we are going to be the biggest bunch of lightweights around. Guinness Zero Non Alcoholic Draught 16OZ - Gary's Wine &...The Guinness with everything except the alcohol. Guinness 0.0 boasts the same beautifully smooth taste, perfectly balanced flavour, and unique dark colour of Guinness, just without the alcohol. To cr

With this forecast, I’m guessing I’m going to be on the water in 2 weeks.

I’m liking what I’m seeing. The 11th is a Wednesday (my usual evening day) and the weekend is the 14/15th which is that mid march prediction. Might just hit it.

I think it was Catt that would say that once they spawn they are already into the next pre-spawn. They spend a year getting ready for the next spawn. More timely to your question, if the water is in the 50’s the fish are somewhere between winter and beds. For me, when the water hits 50 the activity picks up steadily and probably more importantly the sun and days are getting steadily warmer. The progression accelerates most every day and it only takes a couple sun days to really push them shallow. Also remember that the surface water on your graph is warm but the lower levels are still cooler. That means shallow water might pull them up but also that if you find them deeper still then they might be a little slower than you think. Either way, 50 degree water and I’m on the water as much as i can.

Ok, so you do mean actual flipping it also pitch with the same setup. If you want long, the 8’ falcon Cara super duty would be the modern equivalent of a flipping rod. Soft tip but a lot of backbone. The 7’11” Jason Christie special would be there too and doesn’t have the shipping surcharge. I have the big bait rod which is 7’9” but it’s rated 1-4 oz. It’s more of a big swimbait type rod though if I’m punching with an ounce plus plastic that’s the rod it’s going on. Soft tip and for the rated bait range it’s great. I haven’t seen any telescopic rods for sale for a long time. I have a 7’6” all star telescopic in the basement that’s a great rod for what you’re talking also.