casts_by_fly

I’d break it down the same way I do any other lake. Figure out what stage the bass are going to be (roughly) at the time you’ll be there and spend a little time riding around. For something that size, break the lake down by broad area- top, middle, and bottom third. The lake is 140 miles and even if you could guarantee glass flat water you’re not going to spend hours running end to end. Pick the section you’re in and break it down. There are the wintering areas, where are the spawning grounds, what are the paths the fish will take in between. I’d work on eliminating water for one reason or another. Based on where you are, I’d probably rule out the entire dry arm area just because of distance (unless you learn that is the premier section for bass that time of year and you’re willing to trailer over). Same with the far upper river. Looking at Navionics, there is plenty of interesting water structure in the arm you’re in. You’ve got gradual points and shallower bays on one side and depth on the other. Shortly out into the main lake you’ve on the creek channel side of the lake so you have lots of depth and presumably current nearby. You say spring. Is that the first of April or the end of May? That is going to have a big impact on the water temps and what the fish are doing. I’d look up recent tournaments in that rough time period and see how they scored. If it takes 20# to win in time you’re going then great. @A-Jay funny how your gas methodology matches the scuba diving rule of thirds too. One third of your gas getting out, one third to get back to the boat, one third as spare just in case. If you get back close to the boat you can use some of that last third.

Yeah, you’re already on a pretty light rod for a neko to me. I’m throwing the 7’2” ML PA for a neko and if I were picking a rod for just a neko i might have gone to a medium. I can’t speak to the sensitivity of the solid tip yet without fishing it. But from a power perspective you’re already used to a lighter tip for a neko so that would be less of an issue for you.

A couple old floaters with a 1/4 oz trap and a 1/2 oz RES for scale.

Hook wire thickness. The solid tip on this PA feels just like the Poison adrena UL/M spinning rod. Assuming it fishes similarly, I like a little more heft in the tip for the slightly bigger hooks I use on a neko. On a Ned, it’s a very light wire hook like on a minnow. On a neko, I’m using #2 VMCs which are probably 30-50% thicker wire. They are super sharp and I’m sure it will work fine, but with the UL/M the fine tip collapses with the slightest pressure (the solid tip PA feels similar in hand). When you set the hook you have to drive the hook set further so that after the tip collapses you’re using the meat of the rod to drive the hook home. On the light wire hooks that’s not a problem. On a neko where I’m working it through light to mild grass I don’t want the rod tip collapsing every time I try to pop it past grass. There is also no benefit to a neko rig the same as there is with a Ned or minnow where you might want that super fine range of motion imparted to the bait.

I just picked up a solid tip, but haven’t fished it yet. My intention is minnow shaking. Having spooled it up though, it should be a fine Ned rod if you want. The tip is really soft. Think about the fastest extra fast action you’ve ever felt and make the top 12” even lighter yet. It’s like an ice rod grafted onto the top of a fast action. I wouldn’t prefer it for a neko.

Just remember that even though the specs might be the same for the longer and shorter rods, they might be designed quite differently. I have the example in another thread, but Falcon has 8 or 9 rods with the same 1/4-3/4 spec and there is a lot of variety in them.

@IYAOYAS - Not sure who his father is, but today he’s saying “who’s your daddy” to the rest of the field.

I’m throwing a bladed jig. Im probably not catching a big fish and probably not going to catch a bunch of fish. So I’m just going to fish something that I enjoy just winding around. And yeah, it catches a few good ones.

@herder - I’m right on the border of where the snow really ramps up as you go north. A 10 minute drive south and most of the snow is just about gone and in some south facing slopes it is gone entirely. Here at the house is another story, but snowmelt was just flowing everywhere yesterday afternoon. This week will bust it up pretty good. The small streams that were completely iced a couple days ago are flowing ice free now. That will help melt the lakes out a bit too. My work week this week is going to be crazy and then I have to go to London next Monday. But after that I think it’s going to be go time. I just might be able to squeak in a February bass.

Iyoyas is pretty close. They run partway between a flat sided crankbait and a shadrap. A little more wobble than a normal floater trap or regular trap but the same rattle. Get’s a little deeper than the floater would dive. Best to think of it like a suspending rattle trap for 4-6’ of water. I don’t think I have any downstairs (the floating traps are in the boat though).

I’m with you @PhishLI . If I lived in the area, sure I’d fish it. Going out for an evening and catching a couple dozen bass is nice way to pass time. But I’m not going to travel very far or past many lakes to do it. After three days of angling by some of the best around, there were 250 limits weighed (maybe 249) and there were ~10 fish over 3 lb. 10 fish out of 1250 fish weighed. And they caught 4-5x what they weighed. Fishing a lake like that where you have basically zero expectation of catching a 3# fish? Not going to be my usual place. It is definitely a monster striper drew cook caught though. Looks like a NJ surf monster.

I’ve never been a brush hog fan for whatever reason, but the rage Ned bug is a similar profile and great on a Ned head or tiny jig trailer. The body is really thing though so a bitsy bug hook is too thick. Something like a siebert lil man is perfect. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Strike_King_Rage_Ned_Bug/descpage-SKRNB.html

We’re at mid 40’s and sunny today and it is glorious. Snow is melting pretty good here today. We’re getting another inch tomorrow night, but by next weekend I think the snow might be all gone. 50 and sunny on Tuesday followed by 44 and rain on Wednesday might just do it. It won’t be enough to melt the lakes, but it certainly will make me a lot happier.

If you want something a little different, I’ll give you two to try. 1- rage tail Ned cut-r worm. Basically a TRD body with a rage patented flapper of a tail. You can fish it on the bottom like a TRD, but a slow swim or a lift and drop retrieve keep that tail wiggling. Also makes a heck of a trailer for a little finesse jig. 2- Missile baits Ned bomb. Similar basic body with just a little flat tail. The tail flaps really well when you give a little jerk if you rig it horizontal. Vertical just kinda wiggles a little. It’s just a touch more than a TRD.

If you want to maximize casting distance with it, add a chunky trailer. I throw a spunk shad now (used to use split tails). A 3.5” spunk shad adds a solid quarter or 5/16 oz to the weight but doesn’t make it sink any faster really. And it gives something for the bass to suck in when they suck it down. I leave my skirts on (I don’t like them naked at all) and a 3/8 buzzbait with a 3.5” spunk shad on the back will cast a country mile.

I like to catch fish. I like to catch 'good' fish. I like to be out in the boat. I like to be out in nature. I can be pretty sure that at least one of those things is going to cooperate on any given trip so when I pick a day to go fishing or the lake I'm going to I always have in mind what my expectations are and what I'm hoping for. I'm always trying to catch fish, but if it is a july afternoon, 85 degrees, sunny, and a high bluebird day then I'm definitely going out to enjoy being out of the house and I'm going to pick a lake that works for that. Something that looks like this in the middle of nowhere with nature all around it. Fishing and catching are a maybe but I'm definitely going to enjoy a good boat ride. If it's 45 degrees in early april, the rain is blowing sideways but the water is upper 50's then I have other thoughts about what should happen and I'll choose lakes (and clothes!) accordingly. And sometimes you just have to be happy with what's given to you, even if they are 'trash' fish. Yes, I recognize it is silly season and cabin fever is set in, so hopefully everyone in the cold north can look at warm fish pics and think of happier times.

depends on the lake for me. The shallower weedy lakes around will have fish up in those weeds as that will be the only (and warmest) cover around. I'll be throwing a bladed jig through it and probably a jerkbait off the edges. I'll have a spinnerbait on the deck if conditions warrant. And a finesse bait, probably a ned, if it's a still day. Maybe a lipless if it's a warm day or the grass is light (more disintigrated than normal over the winter). The bigger lakes that lack grass will have the bass in either rocks or timber. In both cases the plan leaving the house will be scope chasing fish which means a couple jighead minnows, a pair of jerkbaits, and an A-rig all rigged up. If the water is under 40 I'll have a blade bait rigged up or really close at hand. This is all for water in the 38-50 range. Once the water hits 50 all bets are off. But you didn't ask about that.

I think a bladed jig is more about making the right cast and having the right speed/depth and less about the exact detail of color. I've come to the position that 3 colors and 2 sizes will basically cover everything for me- 3/8 and 1/2 in blackblue, GP, and white/shad. From there, I will pick a trailer color so that the total package is what I want. I just took 3 pounds of bladed jigs out of my box in doing this. I dont need a GP, GP over white, and GP over chartreuse jig in 3 different sizes. For trailers (basically all spunk shad), I have the corresponding 'matching' solid color to the jigs themselves (GP/BB/white(shad)). I also have GP chartreuse, chartreuse and white, a 'sunfish' which is like a GP blue flake over a more muted yellow mustard type, and a green shad which is basically GP over silvery white. Bluegills are the main forage around me in most of the lakes and the water is usually clear- 2' or more. So that pushes me to GP as a base most of the time and normally a GP/Chartreuse or the green shad trailer. I really like the chartreuse when they are keyed in on bluegills to the exclusion of most all else. Otherwise the green shad. If it is lower light or dirtier water then I'll go to the BB - first as a trailer on a GP and then as the total package of both in BB. Algal blooms get me to BB really quickly, almost definitely with a heavy metal flake. If I know there is a bloom ahead of time then the blue saphire trailer comes out though I don't carry many in the boat. I have some GP-red that will ride along early season as will the fire trailers that can just go on a GP jig anyway. I'm going to experiment with some 1/4 oz this year for a couple places. If I really want to work it shallow I might throw a rage menace on the back but flat, not vertical to give a planing surface (same if I am throwing into wood). But those are all edge cases in the < 2% of casts.

do you mean the current SV TW G Zillion? That's one of the two reels that I have fished buzzbaits on over the past 4 years. The other is a bantam. I've not had line capacity issues with either of them except when I had 17 elite on the zillion. That was with casting a big plopper though, not a buzzbait. And 17 elite is thick. With 40# braid you can get enough on that reel that you're not going to cast it all off. The zillion isn't a distance casting champ (I'd give it to the bantam over the zillion) but it's no slouch. And if fluffing is your concern then I would stick with it and resolve the line capacity question.

Learn what bass do by season/time of year. You’re talking about bigger lakes so pick one and focus on it. Or even on a section of it. Pick an area of the lake that has a range of things- main lake areas, major creek arms, smaller creek arms, backwater flats, etc so that you can try to find them out deeper, follow them shallow for the spawn, and the back to wherever they decide to go later. Learn a section and what the bass are doing. Then try to repeat that elsewhere. Start from what they should be doing at any time of the year. Look around on the electronics a bit and see if you can find them. That’s side/down/ffs included. Learn your electronics. But then at some point you have to go fishing. Based on what they are doing you have to figure out how to catch them.

Ok, so it sounds like you can catch them when you’re told what to throw and where. That’s part of the battle- knowing how to work a bait. Next up (or first up) is knowing where to go in the first place. If the fish aren’t where you’re fishing then it’s a long day. The lure decisions won’t help there, so first work on finding them. Then once you’ve found them, figuring out what type of thing to throw is next. That depends on where they are and what they are doing. You have spoons, a couple FFS designed jerkbaits, some crankbaits of various types, some plastics, etc. You’ve got lures to cover a range of locations for this time of year in particular and the waters you’re fishing. if you haven’t already, look at the footage and summaries of the last two big tournaments there. Quite a few fish were caught (and will continue to be caught) on lipless and shallow crankbaits right now. With FFS I’m sure the swimbaits would have played more. Same with jerkbaits. It might be a little early for pitching rage bugs but give it 10 more degrees and you’ll be there. I don’t think there is anything in your list that I would get rid of. It comes down to finding them and putting the time on the water.

In that case I wouldn’t necessarily get rid of anything or buy anything until you figure a few things out. Are you in a boat or shore bound? What type of bass and what type of lakes?

The melt is starting. It’s 35 outside and has been above freezing for 12 hours now. All the snow is the wet crust and is starting to compress under its own weight. It’s down a third in height. The snow and cold in the forecast are about gone for the 10 day and we have a day forecast of 52. If this keeps up we’ll be snow free in a week. What a miracle that would be.

Which ones catch you fish or do you enjoy fishing? Which ones don’t…

Not sure what platform you are browsing from. On my computer browser, I see two options: If you've clicked into the thread, the double carat right (for me) goes to the last page of the comments. If you have just clicked into the thread, it will take you to the last read page as you noted. But the carat should take you to the end. Or if you're looking at the list of threads in a forum there will be a number of pages with the title. That should take you straight to the last page also. At least for me it does on my computer and ipad.