casts_by_fly

Nice! That's a pretty solid day of fishing. Do you go by weight or length for that tournament? Most kayak stuff is length since weighing in a kayak is tricky. Is that the kayak model of bowducer or one of the others? It looks like you've track mounted it so I am assuming yes. Since I stand, I need another 18-24" of height at the handle so I am looking at the other ones more designed for boats. I don't know my exact height though or how far below the motor I need to get so I was wondering if the collar that sits in the mounting plate is adjustable up and down the shaft. If it is, then I can get a little bit longer shaft and tweak it in use. thanks rick

where are you seeing the lvs34 plus a 12” screen for $2700? I’m seeing $1600 for the ultra plus $1700 for the black box/transducer. im planning to buy a helix 9 and mega live in the next week and considered the garmins. 12” plus touch screen plus probably the best live imaging is tempting. The helix will be $2700 with the live transducer. If the garmin setup were the same price I’d probably get it instead, but the best I can see is the 10” at that price.

which bowducer mount did you use? I’m prepping my list for mount options to order the upgrade this week. I think this is going to be my best choice. also, is the cone adjustable on the down rod? thanks rick

Our friends daughter (7 I think) likes to fish so every year for her birthday and usually once in the summer I take her fishing. The first time out I didn’t plan ahead and we just used my ultralight combo which is a 7’6” ultralight with a stradic on it…. I had my dad dig out my old zebco 33 the next time they visited. This past year we bought her her own rod for her birthday and it was great. The line is cheap, but once you cast it out and give it a little stretch the whole thing will cast a lot better than your think. It’s durable as anything and for $10 it doesn’t matter if he likes it forever. It’s the zebco dock demon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XW3FWFF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

if you like cxx then advance might be right up your alley. I hated cxx also for the same reasons as advance. Cxx is probably a little more wiry but they are close.

I have the expert and the Bucoo SR. The bucoo is listed fast also. There isn’t much difference in them and either one could be labeled either rating. The expert is a great rod. I use it for the things you listed and it’s what you’re looking for.

I use elite as my primary mono. I tried advance and it had way too much memory for me. It was a hard line and tied great knots. I’m sure the abrasion resistance is good. It did remind me of fluoro in a lot of ways. My second line is sunline supernatural. I haven’t tried defier. I considered it but went supernatural and I’m glad I did. Very small diameter and decently limp, but still quite a smooth coating and ties great knots. I have 12 and 14 on my lighter rods.

50# 832 for me.

In the dt or OG series, I carry the same sets for the clear in waters we fish. For me that means: Bluegill, live River shad, pearl grey/penguin, demon, old school, and Helsinki shad. that is a set of options that catch fish year round in most anywhere I fish. It includes dirt water and clear water, shad and other forage, etc.

1- You could get by with a lawn tractor cranking battery or motorcycle battery for a little 40 hp motor with nothing else on the battery. In practice, you're going to have bilge pumps, livewell, and lights also on it, if not also fish finder. In that case, a group 24 lead cranking acid is the right size. 2- Probably a bad bank on the charger. What charger is it? When you are charging with it, does it have lights that light up? You can trace the wire from the charger down to the battery or vice versa. When the charger is on and charging the others, put a multimeter on it and see what voltage you're getting. Do it again with the charger unplugged. if there is no difference, you've got a bad bank. 3- that's about right for 75% full on a wet lead acid battery. Charge it up fully over night, unplug it, and check it again. 12.6V is the nominal top charge on lead acid. 4- Yes. eventually you'll get to a steady state after all of the electrons have moved and equalized the anode and cathode.

watching the video it looks like he was coming across some wakes parallel to the wake. You can see that in the way that the boat is rolling and from the way the wakes look off to the side behind the boat (other boats, not his). At 2:15 you can see the woman in the front (green/yellow) grabbing on tight and looking out ahead. She can see wakes or something coming up and grips down. At 2:19 they hit a wake on their port that causes the first pitch to starboard. I think he didn't quarter into it hard enough and combined with the speed that was enough for it to feel like a brick wall. In the same time point, as the starboard side is low, you can look at the water to the side/behind and see just how much wake there is there. It looks like 2' to me. A second later the boat pitches back to port flinging everyone to the port side of the boat and taking the driver off the wheel. When they hit the next little wake, the motor gets turned and that spins the boat. I assume he was clipped to a kill switch since the boat stopped, though his lack of PFD (and all of his passengers) makes me question that assumption. As the boat goes through the spins and stops you can look in the background and see a couple other boats in the not so distance. The above is the best I can analyze factually. Now for my interpretation of all of that. He was out with friends for a good time and pushing the boat fairly hard. Its a Fountain 38 and will top out over 90 mph, not that he was going that fast. There was some congestion on the lake and probably come competing wakes at odd angles. I suspect he was trying to thread between two boats and that's why he didn't cross the wakes at more of an angle. That's also why it was such a violent correction after the first pitch to starboard. I won't assume he's a new boater, but he should have slowed down to get through the skinny bit and wakes, if for no other reason than passing other boats at that speed without enough distance isn't safe in itself.

for me, I can feel a significant difference between 30 and 50 lb braid (832 suffix). Same reels, same rods. If you’re throwing a half ounce 15-20 yards to bank targets the difference is immaterial. When you start bombing casts the thinner 30 jumps off the reel better. I can’t wait to try 10 lb on the light rig for another comparison (albeit different rod and reel).

Falcon rate their rods pretty accurately for what feels good and I almost entirely fish falcons. I’m confident picking rods based on their lure ratings and what I plan to throw. That’s said, I have no problem going over if the rod feels like it handles it. My amistad is rated to two ounces and I’ll throw a 3 oz a rig on it if I need to. The 1/4-3/4 head turner get a 1 oz total bait weight vibrating jig all the time. Lure ratings are what the manufacturer thinks the rod is either best with, can work with!or will sell best as rated.

Yes they run a bit. I tend to only grab a couple from the clamshell at a time and not worry too much about it. Most of my colors are similar so I don’t mind a little blending.

I think there are a couple things here. -the technology is here and not going away - there is no arguing with the results - some people are going to hate it (and my or may not use it depending if it means their living or just their preference/pleasure) - some people are going to love it - the bass don’t give two squirts what you use. And the fish being targeted aren’t ones that have been targeted in the past. -you don’t need it to catch bass. If you want to throw a 5” senko down the bank all day with the only rod you brought out of your 25 year old boat then you’re probably going to catch fish (beware the man with only one gun). For me personally, I would like to have it and am planning an upgrade for this season. I don’t plan to change how I’m fishing too much. I still like to beat the bank with moving baits and that won’t change. Being in a kayak, I’m not going to be chasing down fish like some. I would like to improve my offshore game and I think it will help me shorten the curve. We also have a bit of standing timber around here and I think it will help me there (I hate to fish standing timber). I’d also like to learn some things on my lakes that ffs will be able to show me.

I mean, we’re not going to refreeze but none of that is telling me the water is going over 40-42 degrees any time soon. And there’s enough wind for days so I’m glad I got out for the day I did.

says the guy in california.

Hi All, I searched this forum but didn't see a concise review and comparison on this reel (lots of spread out info) so I thought I'd start one. I just picked up a barely (if at all) used one from the classifieds here to dip my toe in the BFS arena. I have a 6'6" Lamiglas that I built 15 years ago that is more or less a ML/MF rated for 1/8-1/2 oz. The year before last I tried my best with a Revo SX and this rod to throw really light neds and equivalent but it end up more of a chore than pleasure. I hate fishing a spinning rod for bass since it takes up a slot in the kayak that can't be used for anything else. So this year, when I think I might want to throw a small finesse jig/worm I'll throw this rod in which can double duty as a 3/8 oz crankbait rod and lighter. I put some trilene sensation 8 lb (0.010 diameter) on for trial purposes now. It will ultimately get 10 lb 832 braid when it arrives. Now for the reel: It looks fine on the outside. It is black gloss plastic and comparable to a lot of other reels in the sub $75 price bracket. Tolerances on things like the reel handles, drag knob, and spool release button are a little loose. The drag star can move 5-10 degrees without engaging the actual drag stack below it. It's a $70 retail reel, so some level of fit and finish like that is expected. The inside is very plastic. Basically everything that is a 'housing' type part is plastic. Some look 3D printed, but I suspect its just the type of molding. I have no problem with engineered plastics in reels, but this doesn't seem that based on my experience in molding plastic parts for similar sized widgets. Only time will tell how it holds up and since this will be a 4 lb test reel for most of the time I can't imagine I'll be putting that much force on the reel to break it inside. Casting is pretty smooth. On receipt, I did a rough clean on the moving parts I could access through the side plate (not the handle side) and took of excess grease and relubed with light oil. I'll do that again in a couple days after the oil has distributed internally. The spool definitely doesn't spin as freely as lot of my other reels which will spin for 10-15 seconds with an empty spool. That said, the light weight of the spool means it doesn't take much to get it going in the first place. This is a constant comparison with centerpin reels- startup inertia vs continuous momentum. In this case, I'll let the casting do the talking and if it meets my needs so be it. My goal was to get down to the smaller end of Ned type rigs, so 1/20 head and a TRD ticklerz or TRD bugz, both around 0.1 oz for a total weight of just over 1/8 oz. If I could go lighter then great, but that would be pushing the rod's limits I think. If I couldn't get that far but could at least fish a standard finesse TRD on a 1/20 (about 3/16 oz total weight) then that would still expand my finesse sphere. I started with a ned on a 1/15 because I had one rigged and it pitched well inside the house. I tied on just a 1/8 oz weight and made for outside. After dialing in for wind, I was getting a good 20-25 yards with a light sidearm cast and plenty of accuracy so well on the right path. Back inside, I tied on a bobby garland crappie shad on a 1/16oz head (just over 5/64 oz total weight) and started pitching it around the room. It is okay up to about 20', but that's about it. I'll be able to use it for pitching close docks for spring crappie, but not much more. It might overhead lob a little better. Either way it will save me carrying a spinning rod for a couple trips. Overall, I'm pretty confident this setup will fish a 1/20 TRD ned well enough and might just work fine for some smaller stuff. Reeling is just okay. Its pretty geary and plasticy. I suspect the gear train is largely plastic based on the rest of the reel. Some grease might help it, but again, this is a dip my toes purchase. If I find that I like it and want to fish it more, I'll do a teardown and clean/lube. If I find a really like it, then I probably just grab a shimano BFS reel. As I get some time on the water with this reel, I'll update this thread so there is a complete impression. thanks, rick

I am very much an overthink and over research person. I don't buy on impulse. I've always been pretty cheap also. All that adds up to not really having any big ticket item purchases that didn't get used. I haven't used my guns in a couple years now, but they generally had plenty of use before that. I tend to switch hobbies at times between the latest flavor of the month. I used to build rods and flyfish almost exclusively, so I have a bunch of rod building, fly tying, and fly fishing gear in the basement. I used to bird hunt when we were in the UK, but on moving here there are no birds so I shifted to archery (and the guns and dogs have sat idle). I don't sell off though because inevitably something will change and I'll have an opportunity to use what I just got rid of.

Probably excess grease from the factory. Pull the spool off, pull the handle off, and see how much heavy grease is there. Take it all off with a paper towel (there will be plenty still there). See if that improves it. If it does but not enough, you can pop the main body side plate off with usually 2-3 screws. Same thing on the grease.

I can’t stand stupid people so…

Do you only sit to fish? If that's the case, then I'd probably end up on the right side rail by the seat with a PDL type boat. I stand to fish though, so I swing mine from roughly that position (I can reach it leaning slightly forward while sitting) to a nearly vertical position about 2' further up the rail so it is about thigh height next to my leg while standing. I would think putting it in the middle would mean in front of the pedals which is going to be a solid 4' away from you. Seeing at that distance can be made up for with a bigger screen, but adjusting can't. And I adjust mine a lot through the day.

Here's a pretty good and simple drawing. returning from sea (i.e. heading upstream), keep the red on your right and the green to your left and you're fine. As Alan Jackson said, "keep it between the navigational beacons"

I'm also finding that a 6'10" is a great overall length for me and better than a 7'. Even the 6'11" is noticeably different than 7' (same handles on all of them). Standing in a kayak I'm probably a little lower than others, but I'm primarily a sidearm roll type cast so not the tip down roll you see a lot of pros do. I fish as short as 6'6" and I just dug out a 5'6" pistol grip to try something this year, but for a rod that is pitching and casting, that 6'10" length is just about perfect for me. Probably because a person new to baitcasters hasn't got any preferences or basis to go by. They aren't looking to do a specific thing with it. They just want a reel they can learn on, of good quality. So you can infer answers to most any question in that case. In this case, you're looking for a specific thing so a little basis to start from is super helpful. Either way, stick with this site. I've been on forums since 1999 (email servers before that) and this is one of the better ones for sure. There are some true experts here in lots of areas (published authors, tournament winners, etc).

My brother in law is a heavy equipment mechanic and owns his own truck. He's in a similar position to you in that they live out of their 50' trailer (house on wheels). They have maintained the house they own in PA so that their son can use the PA cyber schooling no matter where they are. Similar for bank statements and drivers licenses. They do everything with online banking/billpay/registrations so very little need for physical anything. If you're deciding on where to settle, I would advise against jersey if you have a choice, especially if you plan to own a house. Property tax is incredible here. If you can be just across the border in PA you'll save $15-20k per year. The boat safety courses are valid for all states and lots of states require them now. Its not hard. I did the online training and practice tests in the week leading up to the proctored exam. Booking into the exam is the hardest bit since a lot of them get booked up this time of year and they don't run as many into the spring/summer. Search around for a convenient date and just get it booked.