casts_by_fly

yeah, its the same process for the ninja blade (or razor blade unless you fully encase it like most people do). Its called a 'water free' finish which just means that the epoxy is able to actually wet the surface and stick to it. I was sceptical on the tape when I put mine on, but good surface prep and adequate drying time (48 hours) seem to have worked for me. I've got 75-80 trips on it over 2.5 years now and its not moved. The heaviest stuff I go through is lily pads and none have ripped it off. I am also using the weedless wedge prop.

The two sided tape with the ninja holds great. If you get another one, just use it. Epoxy won't stick unless you prep the surface. It needs a clean with alcohol and then a complete scuff with a scotchbrite pad to take the surface finish off. If you do that it will work. A couple guys have done the double razor blade trick on autopilots. It works well supposedly but I haven't done it myself.

I'm a barefoot person most of the year, inside and out, fishing or not. Next I'll throw on a pair of Havianna's flip flops if I need light protection for the bottom of my feet. I've even shoveled snow in flipflops if it isn't that deep. In my kayak I have to wet launch. Early and late season I use muck boots that hit the top of my calf to keep my dry and warm. When the water temp hits 60+ I'll swap to flipflops or crocs. I used flipflops all of last season and when I get into the boat I take them off and put them in the rear well. This year I've been using crocs to keep some more gravel/sand out of my flipflops at launches and they are good also. I can stand and fish in them better than flipflops, but I still prefer bare feet. If I'm in the boat then its either comfy sneakers or bare feet. Current sneakers are nikes, but asiic full support are my more preferred sneaker.

if you like scotches, glenfarclas 25 is worth that price. There are other scotches also. I haven’t had bourbon that was worth that.

Blanton’s is great and super easy to drink… at its MSRP. It’s not worth the 3x aftermarket sales price.

I’m in an autopilot so my solution is simple. The motor has cruise control and navigation. If you don’t have a motor with that then you can ‘pull’ yourself down the bank with high resistance lures and it’s about the right fishing and casting speed.

That’s the one. I’ll have to check if I have a full card of them. I know my dad does at home. I have probably 2 dozen of assorted colors. I think the originals only came in black, chartreuse, and white. Then Manns added brown and grey. Manns also came out with the mouse and the weedless spook.

I have a bag of them downstairs and a handful in my frog box. I might even have one in the original packaging from before Manns bought them from original creator (whose name is escaping me right now). There were three original shapes- the one above is the rat. There was a ‘frog’ which was a wider back end. And there was a popper like one that was more squared. My grandmas bait shop carried them and we fished them in the ponds all through the 90’s. They came on a piece of card paper in single plastic bags stapled to the card, maybe 12 on a card.

I am a Falcon guy and since I like consistency that's all I've bought and fished for the past couple years more or less. I started with the Bucoo series, moved into the Expert line, and have supplemented with Caras for models not in the expert lineup. I think I have 14 now across all of them and I've handled a few more in store. You don't say if you want versatile rods or specialists, so I'm going to suggest based on a specific rod doing a specific job its designed for. Also, every Falcon rod is under your price point, even the Caras. I think a Cara at $250 is an incredible value for how well they perform. The Expert at $200 is just as good, and maybe even better value. The Bucoo SR are great rods at $100 and certainly punch above their weight. I'll give you one from each lineup. 7'2" Cara swim jig. Its already on your list, but I'll mention it again. I don't have a ton of time on this rod yet but its a winner. A 3/8 swim jig plus trailer is awesome on this rod. I have 30 lb braid on it for the grass. Just a great feeling rod for what its designed for. I can also see this as my buzzbait rod or as a light texas rig rod. 6/10" Expert Finesse jig/topwater as a 3/8-1/2 oz topwater rod. Walking baits, poppers, small ploppers. It has a light tip and top section to fling the lighter baits a mile and plenty of backbone to set the hook. The rod is feather weight (mine has an Abu MGX and comes in at 8 oz total setup) and balances beautifully. There is another thread in this forum where I just compared it to the Head turner. The HT is a little more generalist for me and a fantastic rod. It's a 9/10 at everything it does. But to answer your question I'm going with rods that are a 10/10 at a specific thing. 7' Bucoo SR Dragger 1 (H/F, 3/8-1 oz) as a bigger bladed bait rod. Its a great 1/2 oz chatterbait/spinnerbait rod at that price point. The rod was designed as a carolina rig/jig dragger but in the Bucoo series it isn't as fast of an action. It has a soft tip and top 1/3 that loads great casting the bigger bladed baits, but a lot of power down low. It fishes great for that purpose and in 2021 I don't think I had anything else tied on that rod but a 1/2 oz CB for basically the whole year. I'd call this one a hidden gem at that price and for that purpose.

nah, don't keep hunting. Just order the finesse jig and fish it. Its a great rod for a lot of things and I think its just what you're looking for.

That's a tricky one here. All of our lakes around are grassed up at this point. Any ned needs to be weedless to slide through the grass. I have some weedless options now this year, and if the spinning rod comes in the boat there is already one rigged.

Target casting behind two guys who are target casting isn't going to be a fun day, especially if the guys in the front are actually good at what they are doing. Going down the bank casting to logs, docks, rocks, etc has a specific set of targets that everyone is going to cast to. If the trolling motor is on constant, fishing something slow behind them is going to be a tough day like you found. Options: 1- if you're friends, ask them to slow down. Its not easy to fish a fast moving bait in the front and a slow bait in the back. The guy fishing the fast bait will make 4x the number of casts on the same targets as you will. But you can do it. Or if you're just casually fishing he might make half that and just slow himself down and take breaks. 2- fish faster. A heavy jig or texas rig throw into the same spot a spinnerbait gets thrown into is a very different look for the fish. Cast it in, two hops on the bottom, reel and cast. Heavy doesn't necessarily mean big. A 1/2 oz jig that's been trimmed way back and a small trailer will fish fast, but still be finesse. A paddle tail like a 3.8" Keitech SIF on a 3/8 texas rig would be another good shout.

All the things wrong if you ask me. 1- Vanish is junk. 2- I change out line twice annually, sometimes more 3- Reel magic. 4- using fluoro (debatable so won't dig into that one). As a start, take it out into the yard or on the lake and strip off 60 yards. Tie it to a tree or your bumper and stretch slowly it until its straight. let it sit for 5 minutes and do it again. Then wind it back on (not tight) through some KVD on a rag. That will help to start. Next time you buy line, pick a different one. If memory is your priority (and it is largely mine) then a softer mono will be better for you. Supernatural 20 lb would be a good start and is actually a lot cheaper (per TW). Its also just a touch thinner for the same 20 lb rating. If you want lower vis, it comes in brown which is impossible to see in the water. It has a slick coating like fluoro and ties a great knot.

I didn't manage to get on the water yesterday (back door install was FUBAR and they didn't leave till 8PM) but I did yard cast it as rigged. Its a 5" yum dinger on a 3/0 EWG (maybe even a light wire EWG). Expert head turner, Shimano Met, 17 lb suffix elite mono. My reels are zero spool tension and moderate brakes. I could cast the dinger just fine, but the rod didn't load hardly at all. I was sidearm and roll casting it. I had to up the brakes to keep overruns down as it just felt light on the rod. If I was on the water and needed to fish it then I would (and I will on the next outing because I'm taking that rod). But if I was buying a rod intending to fish weightless stickbaits it wouldn't be that one. Separately, I put the same dinger on the same hook on my FJ. Slightly different setup with 14 lb supernatural and an Abu MGX. Since the rods are fully rigged I'm not going to swap around reels for a full comparison. But just feeling the rod itself, the FJ loads up a lot better with a dinger comparatively. I was able to roll cast it a lot easier with just a flip and have it fly off the rod. In fact, since I plan to fish a dinger on this next outing, I've put the FJ in the truck to go with me specifically for that purpose. Since I only carry 5 rods, I have to leave one out and as much as it pains me, it might be the head turner with the met if you can believe that. Every other rod has a specific purpose in the lineup on that trip and the HT is the odd one out. if I were the guy at Falcon rating the rods, I would give the FJ a 1/4-5/8 rating and the HT a 5/16-3/4 rating (maybe 3/8 on the low end). I feel like that's where they are better suited instead of the same 1/4-3/4 rating.

None unless I have to tie a lure on which is rare because I fish maybe 3 lures at night and keep one on each rod. Once your eyes adjust to the light you don’t need any and any lights you do use will distort your night vision for a while.

Hi guys, you know the feeling I’m talking about. When you’re doing something and know that it’s going to cause you a problem later. “It’s fine, I’ll remember to fix it”. Had one of those yesterday. We got home from traveling Sunday and Sunday evening I put my kayak in the truck so it’s always ready. I thought I might have bad jet lag and be up at 3am. I planned I’d get out an evening or two this week. On Monday when I didn’t wake up early, I decided to loosen the ratchet straps so that the boat didn’t warp in the hard sunlight. Sure, I’ll see it and remember when I jump in the truck next. I have to walk right past the straps. I’ll see them hanging. or not. I had to run to the hardware store. My wife had her car at work, so I just jumped in the truck. On the way home I heard this metallic squeaking/ringing that sounded like my brakes. But I just had my brakes done 4k miles ago so surely it can’t be that. When I got home, I swung around to back into the driveway like I always do. When I looked in the passenger mirror, my kayak was hanging 3’ off to the side. I realized what happened immediately. I use a doubled strap around the full nose of the boat that can’t pull back further than 2’ from the nose (the boat tapers). When I pulled out of the hardware store, the straps were loose enough for the boat to slide and the first ratchet strap to unhook. When I turned the other way on a bend the kayak slid the other way and the other hook popped off (and the doubled strap fell off). The last mile and a half home the boat wasn’t strapped or otherwise held in. Good thing I don’t drive like a maniac. Coming up the hill to the house it slid back and out of the bed until the weight out of the bed was more than the weight in the bed. At that point it tipped, but the tonneau cover caught the boat and held it in the rest of the way. The hooks were rubbed raw and what was making the noise. very near miss, but crisis averted.

Bit of a time jump, but the last pictures were at 10 days after seeding. I'm at 7 weeks here now and the yard is looking great. Aside from some washout areas that need an overseed, the yard looks awesome. Its gotten really thick in places. Its been cut a couple times now and with another couple weeks of growing it should be pretty mature for a spring seeding. I haven't had any issues with early weeds, so I think the topsoil must have been decent stuff and the pre-emergent was good. I can just about spray any weeds that come up now so that will carry me until fall preemergent goes down.

That looks like the equivalent of the Thai tuk tuk. Crazy little things. Cheap to hail, get friendly with your seat mate, and hold on for dear life. Some drivers in Bangkok will even do races if you hail 2 to fit all of your people.

Ho Chi Minh City is bonkers to drive in and I would never do it. There is a literal river of scooters and motorbikes on every road. The main roads will fill 2 lanes with them. I've never seen anything like it before or since.

Will you be able to post those here when they are published?

First and foremost, what is the biologist report on the forage base? Nothing to eat means no weight to the fish. Second, what's the biologist report on that bass? Some lakes just don't carry bigger fish for a variety of reasons. Some lakes DO for a variety of reasons. Incidental catches are just that- one-offs. They are good to know that at least there are some bigger fish there, but a biologist sampling will give you a structured take on what's actually there. What about tournaments? Are there some on the lake and what are they producing?

I'm 60% of the way there on this one. I have a dinger (texas rigged), the rage bug as decribed, and a paddle tail on a 'swim jig' using a punch weight with a skirt. And the soft jerkbait is keel weighted to fish it fast (I can swap it for a paddle tail sans skirt easily enough). A dropshot might play, but this lake has so much grass and next to no rock/gravel that I'm not sure on that one.

I’ll let you know on the head turner tomorrow. I’m planning to go and I have a yum dinger rigged on that rod right now.

Well, I know I said I wasn’t going to do this again, but I’m going to do it again. Probably even the same lake. I fished this lake a good few times last year after the plastics outing and have a pretty good read on the lake. It’s about a half hour away and only 50 acres so it’s a great evening spot. It also has a bunch of fish in it. The fish that are there are pretty healthy and thick for their length. I’ve landed bass to almost 4# there and seen a few that were bigger. There are also a bunch of 2-3# fish. the plan last time was solid, but with a couple learnings from the night and some more from other trips to the lake and I have a new plan. Since I love topwaters in the evening, I’m still going to have a toad of some type on. The failing last time was hooksets. This time around I have a different rod plus I will probably throw a billy goatz which has a lot less body to push a hook through. Swim jigs were the ticket last year on this lake. I’m definitely going to have a skirted punch weight in front of a chunk of plastic. I fished a soft jerk bait last year but didn’t put enough time into it. They are super fun to fish and can cover a lot of water. The grass should be grown up but not too thick yet so if fish are chasing it could be a good option. im going to commit a rod to an unweighted senko. I never fish one even though I know they work. A Texas rigged senko comes through grass easily. So it’s going to get some time. I also have a spinning rod to go with me. I have weedless Ned options in the box. And, I’m sure there are fishing in the low height eelgrass out deep that I may be able to pick up on live imaging. if all goes well, I might be able to make this trip tomorrow, so let’s see how it goes. thanks rick

It is my default 3/8-1/2 oz pitching jig/texas rig rod. It has a tip that feels like the head turner but the butt power almost of the amistad. Great rod.