casts_by_fly

fountain pens are the devils work. When we lived in the UK they were popular with some people who had one pen and the same nib that they had been using for a dozen years and that had broken them in just right. I've tried using them and I'm a smeary SOB. I can't even use gel pens for the same reason. Give me a medium point bic white barrel (in blue) and that covers every writing occasion I have now (which is few). For the most part, I just grab the free pen at hotels, conferences, or other places that are giving them away (I have a few auto body and funeral home ones now too). My wife has a really nice Mont blanc that she likes and uses (it was a work gift I think) but it's not for me. I do appreciate the workmanship and beauty of a hand turned barrel. But I can apprecite that on a knife handle or elsewhere just as much.

regardless of the tools chosen, I highly recommend the WS tool system. It bungees to the front of your seat around your calves so that your tools are right there when you are sitting down. I would carry a wacky tool and dye marker on the end, pliers and scissors in the middle, and a scale in the biggest one (it fit well enough). I had clippers on a retractable lanyard clipped to the orange strap and tucked them into a pocket for travel. For me, it was a perfect fit system. Tools wise, I listed what tools I carried and where. For the specifics, fiscar sewing scissors for braid, cheap 3 for $5 nail clippers from the drug store, and an old pair of needle nose pliers that I've had for fishing forever. I don't use fish grips for landing fish, I only have the grips that are on the end of the scale. I went with the folding yakattack leverage net in the bigger size with the rubber netting. When I sold the kayak I kept that net as it works great from the boat to net fish either sitting in the drivers seat or kneeling on the deck. Faster and safer than trying to lip a bigger one.

In that case, I would make a list of the places that you fish or would fish listed by kayak and boat. See what is needed and what would fish best. If you have electric only or hp restrictions note them. I did the same and it's a useful exercise. It also means you're making a conscious choice that you live with later. A jon boat or small aluminum will give you some flexibility between an electric on the back or a gas engine. You also have the option of how deep to go. On a kayak you can take a basic one or go up to what Frydog or Koz have done. On a jonboat you could just take a craigslist jonboat and add a little trolling motor or you could do a full on build yourself like MN Fisher. I always advocate to start small and build up as you go unless you know exactly what you want. I did that with the kayak and it was super helpful. I learned what I liked and how I liked things laid out. I know what's important for me. When I moved from the kayak to the boat that was really helpful so that I could make the big decisions easily. I did consider a build, but decided that while I'd love it I didn't need it. And I wouldn't have followed through to finish it. It would have been a lot of work and I'm glad I went premade.

@Harold H The rattletrap design makes it better as a forward moving bait. It doesn't yo-yo as well as others. You can do it, but it doesn't have the same shimmy as a RES. For ponds and shallow flats a rattletrap is a straight line reel it in bait. Vary the speed, give it a burn, let it hang up on some grass but keep reeling until it pops, hang it on some grass and pop it free with the rod tip. Throw it up in 6"-12" of water near the shore and burn it parallel to the bank (bass will sit shallow facing shore this time of year ambushing in the warm water). Try them all until you see what the fish want and where they are hanging that day.

the vehicle is the difference. Boat on a trailer vs kayak in the bed of a truck? If the vehicle is an SUV and you'd put the kayak on a trailer anyway, then I'd just go with the aluminum boat. You're going to be motorized either way so the boat gives you more flexiblity, space, and stability for a given price. You give up the smaller waters that don't have a ramp but if your kayak is trailer only then it's a wash. If it is Kayak in the bed of a truck then that's a little more consideration and I'd base it on the waters you fish. I loved my autopilot. For the <300 acre lakes around here it was great. Spotlock is awesome and I won't not have it. I could carry enough gear to fish and catch fish. I could take it on bigger water, though you had to plan your day a bit better- you weren't going to beebop around the lake trying spots. Having moved from it to a trailered boat, I've given up a couple of the small lakes that are hand launch (one that has a free hand launch but a paid ramp). I kinda miss being able to drop into one or two of those small lakes. But I've picked up a lake that I really couldn't fish and I've added some flexibility in how I fish another one or two. I did manage to put it on the river once and maybe I picked the wrong ramp but there is some river work possible now too. since you'd be looking at used floaties, I'd start looking at pricing and what's available around you. If I were to look around here, good kayaks are slim and expensive. Small aluminum boats are plentiful and cheap. A 14' aluminum in decent shape with a decent trailer plus a 10 hp motor is going to end up cheaper than most of the used Kayaks available.

please do. I'd be surprised if it is open given the temps we've had. Plus dropping 2' of snow on top of the reservoir on Monday didn't help. How much is a ramp permit?

USGS monitors say the Big D is 37-38 degrees last I checked. With all the snowmelt still to come, I don’t see that coming up much in the short term. I think it is going to be the smaller lakes that are going to thaw first this year. I’d love to see 2” of rain or more coming in the short term.

Just glue them to the top of the bobber. The beads don’t have to slide, they just need to stop the stop knot.

Same. I’ve looked for ethanol free around here and it isn’t.

Shallow water steady retrieve its a smaller rattle trap (1/4 or 1/2). Just a little deeper, burning it fast, or yoyoing it’s a 1/2 oz red eye shad. Color for conditions and lake, but chartreuse black back, chrome blue or black, sexy shad, and red/orange craw.

Those are the ones i was thinking of.

Is Manasquan ice free? I'm locked up up here (see Ajay's ice out thread). My guess is mid march though that may end up the latter half of the middle of march. I could fish tomorrow if it was open (hence why I took a ride last night to see what was going on). With 57 degrees and sunny saturday I would have put in.

A- Not by any means. The fish being chased on FFS and the fish you're going to flip and pitch for are entirely different fish, often different times of the year. Early season (ice out to mid may for me) I don't have much cover to pitch to in the first place. I am almost all grass based for cover so before it grows I don't have much to pitch to. After it grows there isn't much I can see with FFS. Two very different techniques for different areas and fish. B- the classic question- are you talking true flipping (extra long rods, a fixed length of line off the reel, dropping it in and pulling it out) or are you talking pitching with the reel. You mention an 8' rod which implies flipping but you tell me.

michaels will be your best bet. Or a Jo-Anns if you have one. Hobby lobby probably has them but I haven't been in one. The beads I am talking about are called seed beads I think. They are about the size of a grain of rice. Alternatively, you could just get rid of the bead and knot entirely and use a rubber bobber stop. I keep them in the boat for pegging weights but they were originally for the purpose you have.

@king fisher - I too had a similar arc (minus the DDs). I grew up fishing moving baits and hard baits. They are/were by far my preference and starting point to every trip. I'm a topwater-a-holic so any trip that starts in darker than normal conditions is going to feature a topwater right off the bat. It's usually not the right answer, but I just have to check because when it's on, I'll take it as long as possible. I never liked plastics- they were for trailers not for the main event. I know larry nixon made a career on throwing a texas rigged ribbontail but throwing any plastics on any rig was always just too slow for me. A jig-n-pig was the slow bait for throwing into the heavy stuff and swimming it back out. And so it continued for me until I decided that I needed to expand my horizons. I did the all plastics outing almost 4 years ago now and that was the tip of the wedge that has inserted more than a 5 gallon bucket full of plastics into my boat (ignoring the ones used as trailers). Like you, I've come to the point where a texas rig (or two) is always rigged and on deck. Specifically, a texas rigged rage bug. That has become my default bottom rig. I will pitch it into any cover. Punch it into thick cover. Cast it to search more open water. Docks, rocks, weeds, wood. Doesn't matter, I have one tied up all the time. Most likely with a 3/8 oz pegged weight too. When I know the fish are feeding down I might also have a ribbontail worm on the deck. Occasionally a craw or stick bait. If it is a finesee kinda day and I'm starting at 2PM I'll probably have a texas rigged stickbait or straight worm. Decent change I have all of the above on the deck some days. And like you, if they aren't hitting a texas rigged plastic on the bottom, I am assuming that they aren't hitting anything more aggressive either and it's just a bad day. I know that's not right, but that's what my brain says. God I can't wait to get onto open water and not catch fish.

go to the craft store and look at bracelet beads. They are tiny and work well.

thanks Ajay. That was my thinking too. The snow reflects heat and slows down the melt so once that's gone there's no shield. And same thing on the overnight lows. Let the sun make some melt during the day and then don't let it freeze overnight. Rinse and repeat. That's what makes the 5-10 day forecast above exciting for me. Then past that any of the streams that get high with a warm rain help the upper ends and then wind helps break up the sheets (once the melt starts to happen). We've close enough now that I'm going to start spooling up the rest of the reels. @Swamp Girl - you can always drive south if you're itching. My boat has two seats.

well, maybe I spoke to soon. Maybe I'm getting too excited over 10 day forecasts. Maybe it's silly season and we just want it to end. The next 3 days haven't changed, but the snow is basically gone form the forecast now. The sun and warm through the weekend will help clear some of this but 50's and rain will put a hurting on some ice. If this holds it might just pull me back on track for mid march.

@Bluebasser86 - I can't tell from the website so two questions. Is the rustrictor molded into the primary container (the grey bit) or are there separate dividers with it? Also, it looks like it was designed to be waterproof from the closure lip design, but I don't see a gasket to be truly waterproof. Is that all accurate? Presumably better than a normal box but not quite as waterproof as a plano with a gasket.

A-jay has tanker Tuesday. I have wishful Wednesday today. Took a ride to the lake that I thought might not freeze. Wishful thinking. I jumped on the dock and it wouldn’t move. Jumped on the thin ice and not a crack or sound. Looks more than a couple inches in the main with only a tiny sliver of water along shore on a mud bar. So now it’s officially ice out watch for me. Mid march still seems right at this rate, but nothing in the 10 day forecast says rapid melt. And we’re only 18 days to mid march. Obligatory Wednesday catch (because I fish a lot of wednesdays).

at least you can get at your firewood. Mine is burried under 2' of natural snow plus another 2' that I had to blow off the driveway. I'd have to trudge through almost 4' of the stuff to get at the woodpile now. Uphill to boot (both ways!).

well, the blizzard of '26 has come and gone and we are faring better for it. For once, my local area wasn't the worst hit of the region and we only got 12-14" vs 27" along the coast. We got another inch last night into this morning, but it was cold enough and fluffy enough I could use the leaf blower for most of it while the sun is taking care of the rest now. Still forecast for 4-5" on Tuesday (when I'm out of the country) but almost all of the time in the next 10 days is above freezing so anything that drops should melt away pretty quickly. Less and less time below 32 degrees says spring is actually starting to come now.

Well, the snow seems to be forecasting lower and lower now so I’m going to count that as a short term win. The snow is cleared and down to the bare pavers from today’s sun. I have to get a new blower for sure, so scoping that out, but thankfully it doesn’t have to happen this week. Heck, maybe I’ll get lucky and not need it this whole winter.

4’s are the norm for most crankbaits. You’ll see 6s some times (especially on older lures) and they just look tiny. 2s on bigger baits.

I put LiTime in my boat when I rigged it a year ago. The price of one was half the nearest big brand so even if it lasts me half as long I’m still breaking even. That said, the litime have rated well in every breakdown test that’s been done so I have some faith.