casts_by_fly

a farmers permit is another option, but it sounds like Virginia requires crops for one. Different states are different rules. horses are no problem, especially if it’s archery only. I used to hunt around some horses that were spooky so no shooting around them or they might bolt. A hunter certainly won’t confuse a deer with a horse. Free roaming cows are a pain and I don’t like to hunt around them given a choice. also, can you shoot me the farms address? A couple hundred huntable acres, too many deer for the land, multiple big bucks just dying of old age. Sign me up. I’ll come down for a week and just sort you out…. total sweetie. That’s just a yawn.

@gimruis same here. I won’t shoot anything unless I know I have an outlet for it. That’s what slowed me from getting back into deer hunting when we first moved back here. Then I found the HHH program and looked into it. It’s a really great program. Over the past 25 years over 16,000 deer have been donated across the state. That’s awesome.

@Bazoo I like roast too. I also like tenderloin seared in a pan. Alas, my wife doesn't eat it and its just us in the house. So every deer I shoot gets donated to Hungers Helping the Hungry. I take it to a butcher to donate. They get paid by a combination of HHH donations and state matching. All of the meat goes to local food banks. Its a win win for all.

@Catt 20 lb big game was another consideration. BG is the same diameter as Elite (which I use and like) but Elite only goes up to 17. So 20# BG would be the next step up size wise. And its like $6 for a spool.

couple thoughts in random order: - most hunters will prefer a longer term arrangement I think. A pay by the day doesn't really work unless you're managing the property. With an annual lease (or multi year lease), hunters will have the ability to maybe plan out food plots, do some light habitat work, maybe work with you on felling some trees, etc. All depending on what you're okay with and agree to. - A lease is a big commitment for you as the landowner. It means someone (or a group) can come and go at basically all times of day through the year. Keep that in mind. - if you go the lease route, be sure to have a lawyer involved to protect you. Figure out what's important to you for the property (like level of disturbance, permitted activities, etc). - regardless of the permission route, decide what you want to happen on the property. Are there too many deer and you want to thin the herd? Is it a for-profit motive? That will help decide the route to take. - An easier route and one you could trial this year is to find some local hunters who might just want to hunt some untouched property. I know if you were up here and I saw that I'd snap your wrist off to shake your hand. Set a basic permission slip, maybe some rules that are important to you (see point 4 above), etc. My personal preference is always a handshake agreement for permission (written permission slip, a nice gift at Christmas, help with some chores as needed). I don't like the idea of leases. I understand them and why they exist though. There is a finite amount of land and in some parts of the country they are almost mandatory given the number of hunters vs the land available. Growing up we had a farm like that. We hunted it for small game and deer, archery and rifle. We'd go over for groundhogs in the summer. We more or less had free reign to use it as we wanted. A nice chat with the farmer a couple times a year, a tray of christmas cookies and some home canning, and following all of his rules meant we were able to do that for a long time.

yeah, that was my thinking on Maxima. For fly leaders that's exactly what you WANT- stiffness to turn over flies at range. Once you straightened and stretch it off the spool in the morning it was straight all day. Of course it never went onto a spool at that point. If I stuck with braid and added a leader, it would probably be maxima since I have a bunch of it downstairs to work through (as in every size from 50 lb down to 4 lb that they make).

If the fuel lines are that old and not OEM then I'd just change them too while you're pulling it apart. A pinhole is enough to make for a tough day and you never know when one will pop in.

@Boomstick that could be interesting. I really like Elite and if this is similar though more abrasion resistant then that could solve the problem. Also not expensive to try. I have ultragreen and have fished it in smaller diamters for trout and bass. I have used the bigger diameters for fly leaders. I also have chameleon downstairs that I was thinking of trying as a leader material in front of the 17 lb elite. Both are very hard lines and abrasion resistant for sure. Both are a little stiff too, so not sure how 20 lb ultragreen would feel on a full spool baitcaster.

had my third sit last night. The first sit was a shakedown hunt ~10 days ago to make sure I remembered how to get into a tree safely, get situated, etc. It was a pretty oak tree in a bottoms on a WMA that would let me watch a bunch of area but unlikely that a doe would come through. It was still 'earn a buck', i.e. gotta shoot a doe before you can shoot a buck in September here, but even then unlikely a buck was coming through either. I did have a pair of acorn eating racoons come through. Apparently my camo is good enough. second sit was last Wednesday evening. Same tree I shot a doe from last year. I had three come through at 25 yards, but it was just a little too thick to get that shot. I was drawn and if she stopped in one or two places I was going to shoot. Alas, I have to go back for her another day. My father in law and nephew are staying with us this week so my time out is limited. However, Saturday evening after I got home from fishing I saw a nice new buck hanging around the back powerline. I had set up a ground blind thinking my nephew might want to sit for the evening one night. He came out with me but only made it to 5 PM before he was bored. This guy came through about 45 minutes later and was the buck I saw Saturday. An ever so slightly quartering away shot buried the broadhead in the far shoulder knuckle and he dropped on the spot. Now, this will open up my october for a little bit of fishing. I get a new buck tag at the end of the month for the 'permit' season and I will be hunting the first week of November hard looking for a crusing buck. We have 3 doe bedding zones within 200 yards of the house and the bucks cruise through them the first week of November during the rut. We get some real bruisers (by NJ standards) so he's to hoping. Then it will be some doe management on the other public ground I hunt.

15 days after seed down (roughly 10-11 days after germination) and I cut it yesterday. Some thicker spots and some thinner spots, especially looking down from above, but not bad for 10 days of growth. In another two weeks it should be pretty thick. the same seed over seeded into the adjacent yard has thickened it up considerably

Yes, straight mono. I fished this rod with braid until this last trip and its a thumper with it. I much prefer how mono casts and handles if I'm using it for other things, and for shorter line pitching the stretch of mono isn't important (and maybe beneficial). I might just have to bite the bullet and get a spool of Armilo.

Fair enough. That would be hard on braid.

The Siebert Dredge brush jig is my favorite pitching jig. Even through we don't have that much brush around here i still prefer it for docks, pitching to grass, and as an all around jig. The hook is outstanding- thinner wire but I have yet to bend one. Supremely sharp. As a swimming jig, I like the siebert mini swim jig for the more pointy head. I also like the dirty jigs swim jig and the strike king tour editions for the same reason. The strike king was my first good swim jig, but they only go up to a 3/8 oz and that's about as light as I fish. Vibrating jig? Siebert tremor without hesitation.

It might be thin, but 10 lb braid is plenty if you're not around heavier cover or sharp boulders. Even then, a 10' leader will keep you good. As noted above, 10 lb 832 breaks considerably higher than 10 lb and has a higher tensile strength than what most guys fish in mono or fluoro. I agree it makes great crappie line (you can cast light stuff a mile with it) but don't discount it for what you're doing. You'll straighten out hooks from snagged jigheads before you break it.

By that you mean a place really known for it but not actually that good at it with far better options available? I'm speaking strictly of the chocolate and the movies. I can't speak to the bass in florida much.

just use 10 lb and don't overthink it. Its a closer match diameter wise to the thinner lines you're talking about and will be plenty strong enough.

@WRB I've considered armilo but the price is certainly steep. I tend to change out my line 2-3 times a season which I obviously wouldn't with Armilo. How is the memory in both armilo and Ande? I seem to remember Ande as not too bad. I remembered what I used to use it for- centerpin fishing for steelhead. I ran 12# and coated it in fly floatant. The pink was great for visibility and it was a good floater when coated. Very good choice for that application at the time.

That’s my bread and butter range for crank baits. I’m a falcon guy and the 7’3” Hudson special/deep runner range is the right fit. Medium heavy, moderate fast. Plenty of casting power to throw 40+ but good balance of power and poise to hook and land treble hooked fish. I have the expert version (Hudson special) and it’s a great rod for the dt10 and similar sized rods. I don’t fish mine enough because I don’t throw baits in that range enough. I go lighter because I tend to throw dt6 and even lighter cranks as much as anything because we have too much grass to throw crank baits past may.

from the second picture I can get a sense of the total size. It’s small enough to run a Texas rig around the perimeter in not unreasonable time. In that case, I’d throw a small plastic around the edges and just keep covering water. A boar hogz, small beaver (3” type), or smaller worm on a lighter weigh it where I’d go. That’s still clear enough I’d still be throwing green pumpkin variations or maybe a black and blue.

I’ve used Ande pink in the past for other things, but I forgot how it handles. I think it was for fly rod heavy drifting which is a different area. How is ande for memory and abrasion? I assume better abrasion given your post.

A heavy chatter bait will cover a lot of water. A 1 oz will be good to stick to the bottom out to 15’ or more. Mike at Siebert makes them. Grab a tremor. a big heavy soft swim bait will do it too. Something like a mag draft but plenty of options available.

As a follow up, I threw some 17 Elite (0.016”) onto a spare reel and fished it today. The cover is thinning but in general light grass and a little wood it all felt pretty good. The only downside was abrasion from the wood. After one fish down in a tree I had to cut back 4’ of line that was roughed up pretty good. If it was a bigger fish I might not have gotten him back. We don’t have much of that type of timber that I fish but I’d still like just a little heavier. I’m going to give some 0.018” a try and see how it handles. The rod was a very different rod. With 50 braid it’s a real whupping stick. With mono it’s a little more tame. Still plenty of rod to stick it to a fish on a beaver. unfortunately the rod broke on my next to last fish. Just a 12” 1-pounder in a little grass. No idea why. It must have been damaged there since I’ve fished it for two seasons now with no issues and catching bigger fish and snags than that. I’m probably done for the season so time to sort it out.

Well as follow up, the fish weren’t chasing moving things. They were definitely on the bottom in 4-15’ of water. They weren’t roaming either. You needed some cover, ideally grass, with deeper water nearby. That said, if you worked for it and put it in front of them they would eat. Nothing picture worthy but I scratched out 6 in a couple hours. All on the rage bug.

Todays conditions: overcast- generally good. post frontal- generally tough breezy- generally good wind from the north north east- weird and not normal Stable barometer- depends who you talk to recently falling water temp for fall- should turn fish on who knows what I’m going to see, but my wife is away all day so I’m going fishing for probably the last time this year. Archery season is kicked off in earnest so the boat is being put away.

at this point in time, I think the species that are where they are should more or less stay. Its well and good to say that brown trout or largemouth are not native to where they are now. But they aren't going anywhere. Things happen. Unless you have a way for a total fish kill (like in a lake drain down and dryup), you're not going to erradicate non natives or even invasives once they get into a place. I don't think we should be putting new fish in new places. What's there is there. Don't make the situation worse. The only mild exception for me would be put and take trout fisheries in warmwater lakes. The majority are caught be fishermen and birds. The rest are fish food or die in the summer heat. Sure its not sustainable but that's the point. If you stop, they will cease to exist.