casts_by_fly

dependswho you are and what you like. Like I said above, I like zero tension and higher brakes. My dad is opposite. We can both cast as well as the other though he uses less force to do it some times.

@jimanchower that looks really good. Definitely more substantial than the mariner sails. The curved top means you won't have to have the reels perfectly aligned to put them in place. I see you have a round reel in there. I don't think mine would take a round reel except for the outside slot. I have to align all of the handles parallel to the rod to slot them all in (all low profiles). 1 warning before you have an oops moment. Keep your feet on the pedals when you flip up the rudder. The AP rudder tends to swing all the way to one side if you don't. I don't think it would catch your rods as they sit there but it would be close it it turned hard right and then the rudder flipped over and nipped a tip.

I might mix and match to get just the right balance or feel for a new setup, but once its on there its on. If I get a new reel that's an upgrade to one I'm using I will see which rod I want to put it on and reoptimize the full set, but for the most part if I'm buying a reel to upgrade something I have then I probably have a rod in mind already. All of my rods have the same reel seat, so size and feel aren't much of a concern. A few of my reels feel a little different in the hand so depending what I'm throwing with it I might chose the bigger reel for one thing and the smaller for another. In terms of casting, once I have a rod and reel set up I can usually pick it up and cast it without issues. If I go from one extreme to the next it will take a cast or two before I have the pinpoint accuracy I like to have, but backlashes are rare. Not sure how you set up your reels, but there are a couple ways to do it. Most people either set low to moderate brakes and then adjust spool tension depending on the lure (the slow drop method) or you set the spool tension to be minimal and then turn up the brakes enough not to backlash (no zero spool tension method). I suggest learning both and seeing which works better for you. They each have their benefits. I started with the first 35 years ago and have gone to the second currently. My dad hates that style and prefers negligible brakes and uses spool tension. Each has their benefits.

Diesel isn’t good for them, but at the same time it doesn’t mix with the water. It will get on the solid matter along the edges and absorb into some organic matter. If it’s small amounts that are leaked I wouldn’t expect much harm. If it’s all 9100 gallons then I would worry.

For the most part, I use the basic 3700 pro boxes that came with my tackle bag. They work for just about everything. I have the 3700 spinner bait and buzz bait box and I like it from the perspective that it holds. Decent amount and I organize them by weight with 1/2 and up on one side and 3/8 on the other (for the most part). Buzzbaits lay down in between the rows. The downside is that I can only fit 35-40 in there plus 6 buzzbaits. I’m fine with that number of buzzbaits but I’d like more spinnerbaits. The 3741-1 is a neat box I just got. Double deep and can be 1/2/3 compartments. Good for bigger packs of things without cutting the dividers on a regular 3700. Not sure how I’m going to work it into my lineup yet but I have some thoughts. the one I’d advise against is the worm pack. Double deep 3700 with slanted dividers. Intended to hold worm bags, it’s just an inefficient use of space. I just kvd speed bags instead.

that’s how I do it as well except I have to decant my big bottle into a smaller sprayer I had after the dog chewed the sprayer cap on the big bottle…

all of the above. I guess you don’t have a hard water season where they are collecting dust. And I fully support diy in most aspects. I’m pretty handy myself. But my time is precious so I’ll send mine in as needed.

For all he charges, send it to dvt and be done with it.

depends on the plastic and the reel/line. A stiff line with a lighter plastic and I agree with you. A boar hogz would be a light one and would be tough with 3/16. However a rage bug or 5” senko is enough to cast on its own so 3/16 on top of that is fine. If I was primarily fishing 3/16 and plastic then I’d pick a different rod (probably the Cara swim jig) but for 3/16 and up it’s a good choice.

Hunting and blowing out is a feature not a bug. If you don’t want that to happen, pick a Different vibrating jig.

Got the replacement rod yesterday and today had great weather. I couldn’t go out for the season like I finished on Saturday (miserable) so I got a couple hours in tonight. I thought for sure that the new rod and pitching a beaver would get me some fish. Maybe it would have. I picked up a spinner bait while I was transiting from the ramp to my first spot and before I got there I picked up a bass. 10 minutes later I had another one. In the first hour or so I had 3 bass and 4 pickerel so I never put down the spinner bait. Managed 4 bass and 6 pickerel on the spinner bait before they slowed down and I picked up the new rod and 20lb big game. In short, I think this is what I was looking for. I fished the same weight and beaver through the same cover I put the 17lb elite through last time. There wasn’t a nick on the big game. It wasn’t too wiry and I think some L&L will make it even better. If not, I can put fresh line on every trip for all the more it costs. thanks all.

I'll echo rangerjockey on the multipurpose aspect as well. You've probably seen that in the other comments you've found on the rod. Its a fantastic walking bait rod for the KVD sexy dawg jr (1/2 oz)- you can cast it a mile and even with mono plenty of power for a hookset at range. I've really liked it as a buzzbait rod this year. With a 3/8 BB it loads perfectly for those 20 yard going down the bank casts but can bomb out a big one of you want. It fishes great for target casting them in particular. Same for spinnerbaits. Its been my swim and vibrating jig rod for a while when I'm throwing 1/2 oz sizes (my default weight for both). Before I picked up some of my other falcons I used it for a pitching jig rod a lot. I'll throw bigger squarebills on it in the summer when I'm not normally carrying a crankbait rod (we usually have too much grass). I even used my bucoo version with braid for lighter duty frog work. Overall a great rod for lots of things. If I had to pick three falcon rods to outfit a boat (multiple copies of each) this would be one of my three. From a product line perspective, Falcon offers the same taper in the Bucoo, lowerider, expert, and cara lines (maybe also in the other newer lines). I have the bucoo SR (called the pitching stick) and the expert. They have the same action. The expert is a higher modulus graphite and more responsive for bottom contact, but the bucoo is pretty darn good too. For the moving bait side of things, the bucoo would be just fine. I don't have the cara in the HT, but probably will end up with one eventually. Both the cara and expert lineups are great (I have some of both). I've been gravitating to the cara's lately because some of the tapers are only available in that line.

ok, I can specify more. I was intending the period when the water temps are dropping from their late summer highs down into the pre-winter temps. For me, that means we've gone from low 80's in late august (clear summer temps) down into the mid to high 50's around now (clear fall temps). Still water, largemouth. In my case natural lakes with clear water (2-8' clarity), but I'd love to hear others experiences in other conditions. Cover sparse (isolated strands of grass, occasional single branches, some hard spots) to light (dying grass beds thin enough to get a spinnerbait through clean but not a treble hook crankbait, an occasional full tree laydown, some boulders here or there). Weather is what it is- variable fall weather.

Hi all, I never get to fish this late in the year. I also never fish plastics as much as I have this year. My default shape is a beaver of some type- usually a rage bug, sometimes a palmetto bug. This year I also caught bass on craws/craw worms, a swimming worm, a boar hogs, stick worm, maybe a couple more. I fished big worms and neds. I’m curious what others do as the water turns cold. Traditional wisdom is that bass will usually prefer less motion and appendages in the colder water. But what about your preferred shape? Do you stick to a worm and change between ribbon tails, swimming, and straight worms depending on the water temp or do you swap from a worm to another shape? Beaver vs worm vs creature? im probably heading out tomorrow (Saturday was awful between 47 degree air, 1” rain, and generally miserable conditions) so that my last trip isn’t an awful one. I’ll have two Texas rigs ready to go (one on a new to me rod I want to try before I put it away). One will be a beaver. The other might be a jig instead of a Texas rig. I figure the water will be 55-60 degrees. thanks rick

Very awesome. You don’t have to lug the kayak up and down the hill anymore.

Yes, it would be a great choice. The head turner was designed as a shorter pitching stick originally. I use mine for lots of jigs plus moving baits. I have other falcons that use for Texas rigs but the head turner will do just want you want if you are looking for a slightly shorter rod.

I guess I have reels on the brain. I’m looking at a bantam myself right now. I think I read that he was getting a new rod and thought he was looking for a reel to go on it.

If you can feel them both in hand, one of the two will feel better for you. Both are good reels and will do the job. I lean shimano over diawa, but have no problems with my zillion and swapping back and forth. The Shimano just fits my hands a little better.

the rage toad also has a pretty good plop on the water. I haven’t fished the Stanley but the rage has the most plop and bubble making action I’ve seen on a toad. Definitely my first move if I want to fish a buzz bait but there’s too much stringy grass on the top.

For the past couple years I have fished the strike king swinging sugar buzz exclusively. I throw a split tail trailer primarily but will also throw the Kalin’s split tail grub also. I fish a buzz bait as slow as you can reel it and keep it on top. The sugar buzz seems to be the slowest I’ve found. I’ll fish a 3/8 as my main starting point. If I’m looking for big fish I’ll go half. If fish are eating short I’ll go 1/4. I added the wheeler buzz bait and the finesse buzz bait recently. Not enough time to be sure but I like what I see. Definitely not tuned out of the box though. First one I tied on came back at a 45 degree angle.

https://www.amazon.com/Borboleta-Pervesa-Subsurface-Twitch-Bait/dp/B00NXQGBYC/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_2/132-6439734-3136941?pd_rd_w=iVVBl&content-id=amzn1.sym.43d28dfc-aa4f-4ef6-b591-5ab7095e137f&pf_rd_p=43d28dfc-aa4f-4ef6-b591-5ab7095e137f&pf_rd_r=YA26VVBM5QJ0140WRRAY&pd_rd_wg=QUuo0&pd_rd_r=7847a17d-bfa4-4bc3-8ae8-8444d330d904&pd_rd_i=B00NXQGBYC&th=1

The cold weather has them moving a lot more now up here. The rut is going to start kicking off in a week or so and get things really moving. Careful on the rods for sure.

the turning motor noise is the only thing in the AP that I think I would change. It’s a whiny higher pitched sound when you’re making a manual turn of the motor over more than about 30 degrees of turn. If the boat is in heading mode then it does it in short little corrections and you don’t hear it. I use that most of the time so not as big of a deal. Going down the bank in 15’ of water and 30 yards off the bank I don’t think is a big deal. At that point I’m on super slow constant prop speed which I don’t think is a major factor for the fish.

Congrats. Out of curiosity, what did it take to win?

I’ve never had pedals and can’t see a single situation for me that I would ever want them over the motor.