casts_by_fly

It’s a mix of milfoil and pondweed all interspersed. I’ve scanned and mapped the full lake without grass so have a pretty good knowledge of any divots, channels, etc on the bottom. There isn’t much. I do focus on those areas.

ah. Gotcha. I thought you were suggesting dragging it back like a Carolina rig. I’m all for flipping and pitching. Love it on some of the lakes here where the grass is clustered in areas. I’m talking about a quarter mile by quarter mile area- far more than anyone could cover in any reasonable time.

so 3/4 oz Texas rig, piece of plastic, cast it out 30 yards and drag it back through the grass?

Primarily its bluegills and perch, some small shad/alewife, some golden shiner. They are pretty dispersed. I've not found a school of shad roving the water like you see at other lakes around here. Same for the golden shiners. But you're right about there being a solid forage base to support the bass. My best last year was over 4 and I catch a bunch in the 3-4 bucket there every year. There are multiple 6's caught in the few tournaments on the lake, which for NJ is starting into big bass territory. The biologist reports back it all up. A buzzbait is my usual summer evening lure and it works when they are looking up.

like anything, it depends on usage. A 9.9 equivalent electric would be perfect here in north Jersey. Some lakes are 9.9 restricted. Some are electric only. The couple that are unlimited are <400 acres except one and its still only 2700. So a 9.9 electric and a boat designed for it would be perfect and exactly what I would build given the option. A modest 48V battery would cover me all day. All of the lakes are small enough that I fish them with a trolling motor only right now in the kayak so if something happened with the big motor I could get it home. I'm sure my situation is not typical for all though. If you're fishing Lake Wylie (13k acres), Kerr Lake (50k acres), or god forbid Toledo bend (185k acres) I'm pretty sure you're going to find the battery capacity limiting. Like rods, different strokes for different folks. For this motor specifically, Mercury is behind the curve. Its a 3 HP equivalent (750W) and has a 1kWh battery. ePropulsion has that already on their spirit 1 plus model which has been out for a while and is proven on the water (and also is a 1000W motor). The spirit is about $1500. Same company has the navy model 6 which is a 9.9 hp equivalent. rick

bluegill and perch, some shad/alewife, the occasional trout this time of year. I was doing that with a hybrid hunter jr (2-4' depth) last night and a high rod tip to keep it in the 1-2' range. It wasn't bad for catching grass and is something I'll do again. That's what I was doing last night with a 1/2 oz spinner bait and a 1/2 oz chatterbait. In some places where it hadn't thickened as much you could get it through, but there wasn't much of that and it got to be hard work after a while everywhere else. If the fish were actively feeding (I pegged them as neutral last night) then burning it across the tops would have been my first choice. These are my usual ways to approach it. I fish 3/8 and 1/2 swim jigs mostly and like you said. If the sun is up you can see the holes and drop them in, though it gets tougher when its grey. Topwaters are no problem for me, that's my bread and butter when the fish are looking up. I fish the zoom, rage, and Zman (goatz) depending on situation. I was hoping for alternative solutions.

There is some, but its relegated to the dead stuff right now and only in parts of the lake, mainly the edges. I think the pondweed and milfoil tend to block it some from coming into the main grass beds. A pointy nose swim jig gets through the grass and is one thing I have tied on usually. I should have mentioned that originally. To the holes? I was trying to find a way to cover more water. I have another lake where the grass is thicker and more concentrated to areas and do this all the time, in fact come May I have a rod dedicated to it pretty much. But I wouldn't call it a way to cover a lot of water unless I'm missing something. Its not thing enough to require that just yet. I was pitching a 1/4 oz and beaver last night with no issue, so no need to go to the big stuff yet. I was trying to find something to cover more water though since the fish are spread over the full lake and there is a lot of lake to fish (about 150 acres of grass flats or more).

Hi all i have a local lake that is basically one big grass flat of 150 acres. The depth is 4’ for 90% of it. There are no depth breaks- it’s a big, gradually sloping soft bottomed bowl more or less. Early season it is patchy and low enough that lipless crank baits, jerk baits, and various other moving lures can work big areas. At present the grass is 6-12” below the surface so if you catch a day where they are feeding up you can fish topwaters and cover water. The grass is thick enough now that a spinner bait or chatter bait will be catching a lot of weed through most of it and is borderline inefficient, but if you find an edge you can get it through and the fish are there. Trebles are out of the question now. You might ask why you’d fish it, but it’s one of my locals with a good ramp and dock, and it consistently puts up volumes of 4-5# bass in tournaments. The challenge is they are spread over 150 acres of grass. I’ve never seen a concentration there. what other sub surface lures or techniques can cover large expanses of grass flats when the grass is up like this? A paddle tail on a weighted belly hook gets through it. I’m thinking a fluke worked just above the grass is an option. What about bottom based techniques? I was thinking it’s too thick to get a Carolina rig through it. If the suns up you might be able to work a swim jig through the lines or pitch to the bases of the weeds. thanks rick

volfan is right. If you haven’t had laphroaig then that’s the next one to go for. Quarter cask is a good choice if you can get it. this would be one of the highland distilleries I was referring to above in my original post. They use plenty of peat but they also have a strong malt flavor and often plenty of barrel of some type.

Islay is the term you’re looking for. It’s a region specifically and there are a half dozen distilleries in the region. They all have a pretty consistent peat intensity. Each has its own taste and you have to try a bunch to find what you like. Laphroaig, lagavulin, ardbeg are all three brands to start from. Ledaig is another less available one as is port askaig. All of the main 8-12 year old versions of these scotches will be in that range. They will all have strong peat in one way or another and then some interesting other flavors. these are all of the campfire type scotches. If you want a cleaner peat with more interesting things, bowmore is a lot more complex with a strong peat backbone. There are also other highland distilleries that have a lot of peat but also a lot more malt and barrel flavor. do you have one that you know you like already?

I'd get some super glue into the crack and then back out the screw to let the crack reseal itself. It should stop the crack from getting bigger, but yeah, you're on borrowed time. I'd say just order a new side plate now so when it breaks you can fix it.

You're already getting the answers you're going to get in your other thread. https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/254379-guess-im-beating-a-dead-horse-on-rods/#comment-2966163

Yeah, you're right on the mark. You might want to bump to 15 or 20 lb braid for a little easier handling and a little more insurance. Its super supple still and you'll cast the things you're talking about a mile. Also, you don't mention which size senko you're throwing, but if you're talking about a 5" senko you should get a lot more than 20' from one on a MH baitcaster. I think a 5" will weigh in around 3/8 oz and you should be able to fling one a good 25 yards or more.

Yes that will handle that. You might want a smaller reel (2000 size) to save weight and balance a ML that short (I also prefer lighter/small reels to heavier reels) but that's something you can try in a shop to find your preference. Also for the weightless senkos I am assuming you're talking wacky, weightless wacky, and lighter wire hooks. if you're talking about a HD 5/0 then that rod might be a little light to drive the hook home, depending on the specific rod.

I’ve got 10 days of growth in the dog yard now and it’s doing pretty well. We had 2 days of really cold on day 3 and one heavy rain around day 5 so that slowed things down a little and then pushed around the seed in spots. Nothing a fall overseed can’t sort out. I’ll probably have to cut it in 2 weeks for the first time. the pool yard is thickening nicely. I’m reel mowing it this year and keeping it low. I dropped it to 1” last night and it’s really good. I need to level some more and have a few patches, but I think 1” is going to be great on it.

the ivcb brakes are better than the infini brakes. The gen 3 stx and gen 4 sx have infini brakes (I have two of each of those reels). It’s a good setup, but the ivcb is better. I have a gen 2 mgx. There is no question it’s smooth. My issue is that I’d like to adjust the brakes more than what it allows. In fact, I’d like to add more braking on it. I have mine cranked to max (no spool tension) and I don’t think that’s how this reel was built to fish. I think it was designed around more spool tension and lower braking. That said, for the lures and rod I keep it to I have dialed it in and have only blown it up once by catching something in the boat with a treble on the windup (it was a spectacular cut it to the spool backlash).

I have the bucoo version of that falcon, it’s called the lizard dragger. It’s on the lighter end of heavy and the slower end of fast. Falcon rods have a word rating and a number rating. A 5 power is a medium heavy, a 6 is a heavy, but a 7 is also a heavy. This is why I said above it depends on the brand and the rod. If you can put in another $20 above the HD, that gets you options in the bucoo lineup. While I wouldn’t recommend the lizard dragger for what you want, the 6’10” pitchin stick is exactly what you want. Light tip, plenty of backbone. I picked up the expert version (the head turner) so my bucoo sits home mostly but I pulled it out last year as a light frog rod when I needed it to. Prior to that it was my 3/8 jig pitching rod and various other duties. Great rod. Search this forum for head turner and you’ll see how much love there is for that action.

that's about $150 USD and gives you plenty of options. I like shimano spinning reels and at the 'entry' price point on rods I really like the SLX lineup. The SLX 7' ML is rated 1/16 to 5/16 on an extra fast. If you're sticking to the lighter side of jig heads that would be a good shout. The SLX M at 3/16-5/8 would handle the full range you're talking about. I'd throw a 2000 size Sahara on it and be done.

What he said. I didn't even know there were IVCB-6 brakes that didn't lock until that picture. The IVCB-4 brakes are like that in my MGX, but the IVCB6 in my STXs can lock. I much prefer the lockable ones.

depends on the specific rod/brand a one rods medium heavy is another's heavy. From the bank I'd be looking something 7'2"-7'4" with a 1/4-1 oz rating, maybe 3/8-1 in a fast action. That's a heavy for most but some MH 1/4-3/4 would be right on target too. rick

were you looking at the fat vs the regular body?

any place and time I want to fish a buzz bait but there's too much grass making it difficult, i.e. grass wrapping the blades every cast or trying to tuck it up under low bushes.

In that case and assuming you're using heads up to a quarter ounce or so my recommendation would be a for a ML XF spinning rod, something rated for 1/8-3/8 or maybe 1/8-1/2 (which might push to a medium). I was throwing a Keitech 3.3 on a 1/8 head on sunday with a medium baitcaster (1/4-5/8) and while you can do it, you're pushing down to the lower limits of lots of casting reels and especially budget based ones. This is bread and butter territory for a spinning rod and you can get plenty of combos at any price point that will do it. So the real question is what budget do you have in mind?

There is a big difference between a 2” keitech swing impact and a 4.8 swing impact fat. The 4.8 is nearly a half ounce on its own. A 2” regular body is going to be about 1/16 oz. If you want to throw all of that on one rod, then you need a spinning rod. If you can narrow your range a little or be more specific, then you can almost certainly get there with a regular casting rod. The swing impact fat 2.8 is about 1/8 oz. If you’re putting that on a 1/8 head you’re at a quarter total weight (plus the blade) and in good shape for a medium power casting rod. If you took that up to a 4.8 and a 1/4 oz head you’re be at 3/4 oz and still in good shape. I like my falcon finesse jig for this weight range and what you’re talking about, though I don’t know the cheaper bucoo version. The expert version is awesome though at $200. Knowing what I know about the action on this rod, if I had $100 for the rod I’d definitely try the bucoo.

Hi all, friendly PSA here. I’m sure some of you will have done the Humminbird mega live rebate. This will also apply for any rebate cards or prepaid credit cards that don’t allow ‘recurring’ payments. If you’ve used myprepaidcenter before this applies to all of their cards. Tackle warehouse comes across as a recurring payment to those card services. TW makes a first charge for $1 and then another for the balance. When the prepaid card sees this it will decline. I’ve called TW twice and the card issuer once today to try to resolve and neither has a solution they will do. So if you were planning to spend your rebate on some new gear, it isn’t going to work that way there. rick