casts_by_fly

Im not sure how to count innings but im on hour five now and only one in the boat to show for it. Everything just shut down entirely after the sun popped up. Off to do some exploring and see what I can find.

definitely going to be a tough one. Fished all of the shaded banks minus one I’m motoring to. high blue sky. Flat water. All of the grass is gone this year. Like every strand. A couple reed beds with tullies exist and that’s it. I guess that’s what winter at 25’ low will do.

Finally on the board. After some missed blowups on a sexy dawg, one finally hit a follow up jig. Gotta love when they truck it and keep swimming.

Hi all, I’ve got a full day available to me for once so I’m going to chronicle it when I take a minute to rest. It was an early start but I love the two hours either side of sunrise. It’s going to be a tough one today.

Take it off auto and set it to a high speed. The unit may not be recognizing the need to scroll faster.

Have you already gone to led bulbs? In my truck I put these in the cargo light on the top of the cab and also in the reverse bulbs. Big difference in light output. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H57FXWA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Scroll speed. Crank it up and play with speeds until you find what you like. I don’t know that unit but on my humminbird in the kayak I keep it at 5-6 out of 6.

People that chew noisily and often with their mouth partially open. That really gets me, so much that I just put on ‘dinner music’ all the time.

water gremlin. My grandma used to carry them in her shop. I have a bag of 1/16 at home. Great if you want to fish weightless but need just a pinch. https://www.watergremlin.com/my-tacklebox/bull-shot-bullet-shaped-split-shot/

I wouldn’t. Deep water isn’t my bag. I’d go at 3am and fish the 2-8’ that they’ve come up onto to feed overnight. if forced to or if I knew there were fish there, I’d scan around until I found them and depending on depth either deep cranks or a Texas rig. If it was a cruising and feeding fish situation with mega live I’d look there.

thanks. I’m meant the spinning rod. I have a bunch of other falcons and am considering a spinning rod. I’m looking for a fast or extra fast and I don’t think the drop shot is the one.

my recent trip I did a ‘what would Catt do’ after going through a stretch once and decided a Texas rigged rage craw was the right answer. Picked another down a 100 yard stretch i and another guy had just fished.

koz, which falcon do you have? I’m thinking about a new spinning rod and love my falcons. I am looking for something 1/8-3/8 with a fast or extra fast action.

That was my post. I had a similar realization last year, that I fish hardbaits, wire baits, and jigs pretty much exclusively and needed to get better at plastics. I pretty much only fish a baitcaster and I prefer moving baits. having done it twice now, the things that I have added to my regular repertoire or at least into the ‘carry it and fish it better’ list are: power pitching/light punching- I was doing it before but I’ve expanded where and when plus I put more effort into it. I’m talking 3/8-1/2 oz plus a beaver or creature. Pitch, drop, hop, repeat. soft jerkbaits- I know they will work and I’ve caught a few on them, but I just picked up some that are going to be better for me and that fit my style better. I’m going to try to have one on with some rig on every trip for a while. texas rigged worm/creature- obviously they catch fish, but I’ve never slowed down to fish them to cover water. I’m doing that more now. also, the only way to gain confidence is to fish them and catch fish. And the only way to do that is to commit to fishing them.

That was my post. I had a similar realization last year, that I fish hardbaits, wire baits, and jigs pretty much exclusively and needed to get better at plastics. I pretty much only fish a baitcaster and I prefer moving baits. having done it twice now, the things that I have added to my regular repertoire or at least into the ‘carry it and fish it better’ list are: power pitching/light punching- I was doing it before but I’ve expanded where and when plus I put more effort into it. I’m talking 3/8-1/2 oz plus a beaver or creature. Pitch, drop, hop, repeat. soft jerkbaits- I know they will work and I’ve caught a few on them, but I just picked up some that are going to be better for me and that fit my style better. I’m going to try to have one on with some rig on every trip for a while. texas rigged worm/creature- obviously they catch fish, but I’ve never slowed down to fish them to cover water. I’m doing that more now.

Unreliable charging cords. They work when you try them and then at some point mid charge they stop. You could on one for a trip and you’re SOL when it stops working.

you can also search for Kayak hatches and google will sort you out. I'd never plan for a truly sealed hatch lid and rely on the attached bag for waterproofness. In my experience, every hatch leaks to come extent. If you want it to stay dry, put it in a drybag. In that case, I wouldn't even use a hatch with a bag. Just use a regular hatch and tie a rope to the drybag. My kayak has a front hatch and I use the hatch lid string to store my spare props, otherwise I don't store anything up there.

tough from the pictures, but a couple observations. the last picture kinda looks like Niad. Long thin strands with the occasional branch off and a tuft of weed. We have them here. They are more of a pain than they are worth. https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/naiads-water-nymphs-waterweeds the first could be a number of things. My first thought was milfoil because it looks like its growing straight up with the regular puffs of branching out you can kinda see in the second picture. Only way to know is to put your hands on some. That said, I don't think it matters what it is. 1- you've said bass are there and that's all that matters. 2- I bet the mounds you're seeing in the first two pictures are actually bottom variation which the fish will be relating to as much or more than the weeds itself.

I aim for once a week on the regular from April to August and in march/September I pick and choose when to go based on weather, ice, and deer hunting. I also try to get a couple multi day weeks in there. Next week I have a day off plus two afternoon appointments on the next two days. All of which my wife has international work visitors and evening events. That's a full day and two half days straight. The following weekend I'll get some time in also. Any time I get some time to be on the water I'll take it. As for being single again, if I were single I'd be poor. My wife and I met in college in the same major. We started working at the same company together and that opened so many opportunities to us. Its allowed us to move all over the world and build some significant success in careers. She's been a lot of the driver (and me the enabler). If we hadn't met or stayed together and I ended up single, I'd have never done a quarter of the things I have and never gotten the career I have. I'd be poor and who knows where. And since I'm not the lead career in our house I can take jobs that are less time demanding to make more time for me (and taking care of the house, dogs, etc).

I was thinking of you as I was going around it. Its very bog-like at the ends, probably a quarter of the lake. Very natural untouched setting, especially for NJ.

I had an afternoon/evening to myself last night so of course you go fishing. But we're in the weird phase of the season here during a weird season. We had 72 degree water at the start of May. We have 65-75 degree water here depending on which lake you're on. There were largemouth on beds on May 6th. There were largemouth on beds June 6th. Even in a normal year this mid June time period has always been my toughest. Bass have pulled back after the spawn and should be in summer patterns, but haven't turned on to the hotwater/weather patterns i like to fish. The grass is thick in some places, but not in others and the bass are variable in how they relate to it. This is the time of year where I often pick a new place to explore or do something a little different (all plastics outing for instance). Last night I decided to check in on a little lake I found last March. I was heading for a bigger lake last spring but when I got to the parking lot there was a tournament. At the parking lot for the next lake up the road, I remember it was trout stocked and off limits that time of year. I passed a tiny lake with a boat ramp sign so I backtracked to it. I didn't have any better options, so I explored and managed to catch a few chunky 14-16" bass in mid-40 degree water on a new lake. I went back there in August and found that the lake turns into a grass fest- Anything less than 20' and the grass is on the surface. 10' visibility. Big blobs of algae floating mid-lake. I caught a few, but it wasn't nice fishing. But the beauty of this lake isn't in the fish, its the surroundings. This lake is 30 acres nestled in against the mountain in a state park. There is nothing developed visible from the water and a 1.5 lane road off in the distance. You can drive a gravel path to launch the boat at the water side, but you can't launch anything on a trailer. Last spring a pair of bald eagles were fishing with me. In the summer there were deer keeping me company. Since its nestled into the mountain, when the wind blows and other lakes have whitecaps, this one just has a light swirling breeze. The redwing blackbirds fill all of the rushes, red ear sliders all the logs. If you're not looking to catch your biggest bag of fish, its a great place to spend an evening and that's why I went last night. I figured a frog might be a plan. I kept a Texas beaver at the ready. With the wind rippling the surface maybe a spinnerbait would be a good choice. I wanted to try some new lil'man jigs and small trailers from Siebert. Of course I had a swim jig since I have one tied on every trip for the rest of the year. I started with a swim jig and had a couple hard hits quickly. After the second I knew what kind of night it was going to be on a swim jig. I swapped to a more durable trailer and while I had a few more hits (pickerel), the 8' water clarity and complete lack of anything in the shallows said that wasn't the bag for bass. I worked my way down a grass line with a frog and picked one small bass. I saw another little one cruising and threw the lil' man at him. He followed it to the bottom and inhaled it when it hit. Both were more of a fluke than a pattern and neither was over 12". Since I know there to be bigger bass here, I cruised up through the shallows for a bit to look around and didn't see a single bass squirt out. With the clarity, the sunshine, and the weeds, I figured they must have moved to the deeper weed lines. I shared some pictures in the electronics forum on another thread, but the grass is up off the bottom at 23'. At that depth its only 4' off the bottom, but shallower its about 8' off the bottom now. I didn't want to drag things through it, so I decided to go over the top and grabbed a DT16. Of course I didn't bring a good rod to fish it on but you make due. Turns out a DT16 on 30 lb 832 will hit 17' on a long cast. A dt-14 goes 15-16', and a DT10 will bottom out almost at 12'. It also turns out that this tiny little pond has a bunch of shad in it. I couldn't tell the type, but at dusk they were all over the surface and I could see they were ~4" and shad colored. With mega live you could see the bait balls all evening under the water. I tried cranks, jerkbaits, and swimbaits all around the balls, but the fish weren't feeding on them. I found some suspended fish that would follow or look at lures, but I think they were crappie based on size. However, I did pick a couple on the DT16 ticking it across the top of the grass. My best guess is that the bass are holding in the grass during all of the sunshine and waiting for the shad to pass by where they pick off stragglers. To go back and fish it again tonight, I would take a dropshot rig and fish the edges. I hate working like that, but I think that's the ticket. Dragging a carolina rigged fluke would probably do it as well. I learned a few more things today. 1- Mega live is great once you dial it in. I've been working on it since march when I installed it. A few things I decided were right back then, were just me compensating for other things. Last night was the first time I really had some flat water to really tweak and play. Being in a kayak and standing to fish plus any wind means you're rocking a lot more than standing on the front of a boat. Its more than pitch and roll can handle, though that does help. Every trip I'm getting it a little better each time and by the end of the year I think it's going to be great. Still the problem of spot lock and the back end of the boat swinging around mid-cast while the mega live is on a separate pole (and thus changing direction). If there is no wind or if there is steady firm wind then the boat doesn't swing much and the pole mounted transducer doesn't need to move. Gusts or swirling wind means I have to bump the pole. Target lock would be perfect, but another $1500. Maybe if it goes on sale this winter. 2- The Sieberts lil man jig looks great in the water. I put a SK Rage ned bug on the back. Its the perfect crayfish size and falls at the exact same rate as a crayfish that you throw in. This was the 1/4 oz and the trailer is very light. I didn't have the right rod for them. If I were fishing them a lot, I'd do it on a spinning rod, but a medium baitcaster and lighter line will do it. I need to fish them more. 3- I need to keep crankbaits in my summer lineup. Most lakes here are too grassy to fish them, but now seeing how the grasslines are set up here, I suspect there are more places I can do the same. I hadn't been able to find the lines so clearly before so this will be something new. And I saw a bear.

We don't have stargrass, so I just did a google image search. Are you talking thick beds of it or open strands? Looking at the pictures, its a pretty fine stalk and the leaves are like eelgrass. I'm not sure how strong of a return you'll get from it if it isn't a thick tangled bed. Knowing the grass now, there are a couple shadows in the upper right on the right picture that could be from clumps. Also, the general darkness on the right I attributed to the water getting a little deeper and dropping off. If that's not the case, then that might be your subtle cue that something is blocking your sonar signal. That, combined with the thin strands could be why you're not seeing it. Next time out, try turning up your sensitivity (and maybe down your contrast) and see if you can start making out some more detail.

The first one looks like rocks and almost a cliff. Second picture I’m not sure. If you really wanted to know, next time you’re there mark a waypoint when you go through with side imaging and then go back over it with down imaging to see more detail. when you took the second one, we’re you in a kayak that was rocking back and forth? The squiggly line looks like it should be one straight line but the boat was rocking left and right. I get that on my kayak a bit. here are three more from tonight. This is milfoil. Same spot in all three. the first picture was when I was cruising over top of it and just hit the end. You can see the end on DI and where the bright ends on the SI. Second picture was a little further on so that I wasn’t right on top of the grass for you. Still a fairly defined line and then lots of speckle/fuzzy behind it. The third is mega live of the same grass line.

That’s a 3.8-4.8 keitech and 1/8-3/8 oz for me. On the smaller and lighter end, 1/8 hook plus a 3.8 is about 3/8 oz total weight. A 4.8 with 3/8 is about 3/4 oz total weight. You’re right in the sweet spot for a MH to lighter heavy bait caster there. With the gauge of the hooks, I prefer something a little faster actioned or with a bit of oomph. Length is personal preference. If I’m target casting, I like my falcon head turner at 6’10”. If I am trying to cover a lot of water I will bump up to the falcon heavy cover jig rod at 7’4”. Both have a lot of oomph and lighter tips. The HCJ has 6” more length and a slightly slower action than the head turner, but not much.

The fish will hit your lure when you are least paying attention and always in the worst position to set the hook.