casts_by_fly

I’m in an electric kayak so no outboard. However I carry a spare prop which doubles as my weedless prop. Also a wire shunt to connect my fish finder battery to my main battery and trolling motor in case something happens to the main battery. Which of course happened yesterday to prove the shunt was a good idea. I have the wrench and pliers to swap everything over. also carry wd-40, spare fuses, superglue, wet wipes, and various other small bits. I actually don’t carry a first aid kit and I should fix that.

funny enough, on the OG cranks I changed the hooks for thinner ones. Those hooks were really heavy wire and I found I wasn’t getting good penetration on my crankbait rod (even with braid). slapping the water to clear weeds will do it too. I have a dt-fat keychain float because I killed one last year.

how long have you had that mini man jig on the website? I was looking at the zman equivalent (didn’t order them) but decided not to. I’d have just added these to the last order.

not at a price point you’d want to put into a fishing rod ferrule.

I just picked up some 4's for this year. I only fished the 6 last year. I have quite a few places where the water is 4-5' and a mucky bottom. The 6 was digging in just a bit too much so the 4 should be just right.

Grab an OG6 in red craw or classic craw and just start fishing it this spring. Spring = red baits. Spring = colder water = flatsides. Its a natural match.

I dont' do much myself on my truck now. I used to do everything. In the UK I had a jeep cherokee (Liberty here) that was my beater hunting and fishing truck. I did most everything on that (fluids, brakes, etc). I even cleaned the throttle body on it when it started sputtering (huge improvement in how smooth it made it). On my current truck (2018 Ram) I did the oil the first time after I bought it. I'll change the air/cabin filters. Otherwise, I have a great local shop that knows what to do better than me. I have always taken the 'cheap and cheerful' route in the past just to keep things limping along. For this truck, I intend to keep it a while so I want things done right which means letting a professional do it.

The DT series is my go to standard crankbait. I carry them from 4 to 20 on every trip. With the clear water and lots of pressure we get up here, the slightly less aggressive wobble and lack of rattles helps I think. You can fish them year round. They are consistent across the lineup for overall action and feel, so size based on the baitfish and depth you need. The 6 and 10 are my most used but the others get it as well. I supplement my set of DTs with some OG flatsides for springtime and DT fat's for summer. Both are square billed. The OG has a tight wobble for colder fish. The Fat has a wider wobble and a bigger profile for summer when the forage are a little bigger and the bass warmer. Add in some lipless, and I don't feel like I am missing out on anything in the crankbait realm for fishing up here.

That looks like a spigot ferrule. Tip over butt and spigot are the two most common ferrules. Before the advent of CAD for blanks and computer modeling of blank flex profiles, spigot ferrules were a way to get a smoother bending profile. They were hand fitted and usually only done on high end rods (fly rods like Scott and winston for instance). Since then, electronically modeled complex tapers have all but eliminated any stiff spots at ferrules on tip over butt blanks. manufacturing tolerances, blank flex, and wear over time. If that's a spigot ferrule, then the worst thing that can happen is that the top section slides all the way to touching the bottom section on the ferrule. That would indicate that the connection isn't tight enough. If the ferrule isn't seated fully, then you'll end up cracking the top section of the ferrule when the rod flexes and you'll junk the rod. Manufacturing tolerances aren't tight enough to seat them at the exact depth to put cosmetic wraps that 'touch' when put together but still provide the secure tight fit. And, the ferrules wear over time. So what is tight today will be loose 'tomorrow' and will need to come further down the ferrule. If there is a wrap there, the top can't seat further down and you're back to the start of this paragraph. With tip over butt ferrules, if there is a little wear on the two parts, then when they are put together the angler will naturally slide the bottom section in just a little further until they are secure. It might not be the exact designed location but it will still be secure. Same logic if there is a finished wrap on the bottom piece though. If the wrap stops the insertion before it hits a tight fit then you're back to a loose ferrule fit.

I thought this was a sidewalk grate when I first looked at it. I expected to see pipes and a subway car go by as I was looking. Wow.

Falcon Cara “heavy cover jig” rod. 7’4”, 1/2-1 oz. Light tip, plenty of butt. Great for pitching 3/8-1/2 oz jigs with a trailer. I use it for bigger swim jigs. Today I had a 3/4 football jig on it. Really good rod.

I would agree with you there, though if you have a boat you want to add a motor to, then the xi3 kayak is probably a better choice. Then you pick up spot lock equivalent and I think it’s roughly the same price bracket. The exception would be if you’re trying to travel long distances quickly and/or trolling. One of these with a 36/100 lithium on a big water 132 would be a heck of a nearshore rig for trolling the coasts yes mostly. Some people have space limitations. Some don’t want to deal with trailers. Lots of reasons already hashed on this board. There is no denying though that you can get a 16’ boat with a trolling motor and gas motor that will give more capability than an equivalently costed kayak. Even if you’re only putting on tiny waters with no boat ramp, a 12-14’ johnboat is hand launchable still.

you don’t want to know how many I have between the ‘comes with me Every trip’ box, the ‘likely to need one’ box, the ‘lipless could be a thing today’ box, and then all of the spares in the cabinet in the basement. Most of any given color and size is 4 I think, so lots of variety. edit: just counted 81 in the basement. That doesn’t count what’s in the 2 boxes in the tackle bag in the truck for tomorrow.

If you live in the north east (or most of the us for that matter) a north or east wind is typically the opposite of the normal direction of the wind and signifies turbulent conditions. For some people, they prefer to fish that set of conditions. For others they don’t. I suspect you’re in the latter.

that’s because he told her she had to skip lunch for your habit.

I just grabbed two of their tiny swim jigs on a tw order to compare. I’m also a siebert just user. The dirty jigs looks good and I will fish them but nothing has stood out so far to make me swap to them.

this is my thinking as well. The transducer technology in live imaging is pretty simple. The image processing on the head units is where the improvements will be short term. longer term, I could see a dual beam technology coming in. Think chirp for forward facing. Combined with a bit more power on the transducer you get to a wider beam and more definition together.

At $165 (search around just a little) the abu Garcia revo stx gen 4 is a great reel. I have two of that generation and I think they are a great reel at that price point (I wouldn’t pay full retail on them).

I'm work from home now, but our office that I am tied to has pond in the office park. Never explored it but its big enough and has enough cover in it to hold fish. It has a small runoff stream that feeds it which is a plus. The better question is can you work from where you fish? Since most everything I do can be done from my phone, I can jump in the boat with a set of headphones and take calls from the water. This guy was caught listening to a town hall last year.

I use a 7:1 as my general purpose, but you can go lower or higher to whatever is your preference. I'd be inclined to go SLX and get it as the SLX combo. For $129 you get the rod and reel. You might not want the rod now, but having a spare on hand is always a good idea. Or, sell it for $50 a recoup some initial cost.

makes sense. For me, I fish the head turner for most of those. Lipless go on the hudson or trapcaster. For the jig and texas rig applications I prefer a little faster action so that when I set the hook I'm into the power of the rod quickly. For lighter wire hooks the Hudson should be fine (much like the finesse jig). Braid definitely ups the feel of oomph on a hookset.

Not on this forum now that everyone knows what you paid for it... I would definitely take it for that price in your shoes. Even if you put it on a backup rod or a rod you use less often, what else are you going to get for that price that you actually want to fish with?

I also have the HCJ (and amistad, eye crosser, head turner, finesse jig, table rock, and Lizard dragger across various lines). You're right about the trapcaster being a utility rod. It has a light enough tip to cast a quarter ounce and enough power to throw a 1/2 oz double willow with a big trailer. It was the first rod I bought new when we moved back to the US (I was previously using 15 year old rods I already owned). I fished it with anything from 10 lb mono to 17 fluoro and anything from small crankbaits to topwater spoons, spinnerbaits, and most everything else that first year. It does a lot of things just fine. It does some things pretty well. Falcon describes that action as having a "long tapering mid section" and I think that's what I don't like. Its like there are 3 distinct rods that were pieced together. The tip has a good progressive bend for the top 25% of the rod. A light force on it and just that top quarter bends. As you add more force though, instead of the bend becoming progressively more and working its way down the rod, the mid section starts to bend a lot more (proportionally) than the top and it bends all the way to the bottom of the middle section almost like its a straight taper tube. So you go from a very light force bending the tip to just a bit more force putting you into the butt. I find it works best as a crankbait rod for 3/8-1/2 oz sized cranks (up to a DT10). Braid helps the slightly mushy feel in the middle and of course amps up the sensitivity when you're crawling over rocks. The rod has the bend/forgiveness to fish braid. The Hudson is definitely beefier (still a falcon 5 power though) and the progression of the action down the blank is smoother to me. Far better designed blank. The tip is a little heavier than the trapcaster. Where you can get away with a 1/4 or 5/16 bomber A on the trapcaster, you'd struggle to throw it on the Hudson (and the Hudson's rating starts at 3/8 oz for that reason). The same DT6/10 is fine on both. The Hudson would also take a DT14/16 without trouble where the trapcaster would struggle with it. The HCJ is a different animal yet. Its a full power higher in rating and even within the 6-power falcons some are 1/4-3/4, some are 3/8-1, and the HCJ (in the Cara I have) is 1/2-1. The HCJ is a little bit faster than the hudson and a full power rating more powerful. Its a significant step up in size. You don't say what you're going to throw on the rod. Remember that the swim jig rod was designed for 1/8-3/8 'finesse' style swim jigs with lighter hooks and for lighter cover. If you're throwing a heavy wire and weedguard swim jig I can see where you'd think it a little under powered. I fish the finesse jig rod with small swim jigs like that and its fine because they are light hooks and I'm doing it in light cover. For a beefier swim jig (or even a finesse swim jig) I throw the head turner. That's my chatterbait and swim jig rod (and spinnerbait if I throw one). I think that's the perfect balance for a 3/8-1/2 oz swim jig in moderate cover. I have the bucoo and expert versions and the actions are similar.

I own the bucoo sr trapcaster and the expert Hudson. I have felt the bucoo sr swim jig in store. Take my comparisons in that context. The trapcaster is 7’ and a moderate heavy. Maybe on the lighter side of MH but more than a true medium. Plenty of oomph to cast a half ounce red eye shad a mile. I have fished a lot of things on it and different lines including braid, fluoro and mono. With fluoro and mono, the action is a little mushy in the middle of the rod to get a strong hook set at distance or with any type of heavier single hook. It’s okay, but more power is better for those. I prefer it with braid and 3/8-1/2 crank baits. The Hudson is like the big brother to the trapcaster. It’s longer, heavier, and has more power in the rod. The action is similar, though I think the flex profile is smoother and better designed. It has more power for casting bigger lures and more power higher in the rod for hooksets. It’s still not a jig and worm rod but I do fish a buzzbait on this one and it would be fine with single hook moving baits. If you prefer a more moderate rod for chatterbaits for instance it would be a great one. The swim jig felt like a different animal. It had a light tip but quickly went into power up high. It definitely felt like a fast action. I hear it’s a great lipless rod but can’t confirm.

I picked up a bunch of their jerkbaits last year and while I fished them sparingly the hooks feel like good quality and plenty sharp. i didn't feel the need to replace them.