casts_by_fly

Anywhere. A buzzbait is very much a reaction bait. There is something about that steady "plop plop plop" that draws a fish's attention from a mile away like an injured baitfish splashing across the surface. Anywhere fish are looking up and are feeding on baitfish you should fish a buzzbait.

im glad Derek recommended this one. I have one but haven’t fished it yet so can’t recommend it yet. People call it a short amistad but it feels more like a next step heavier head turner. I can’t wait to fish it in a couple weeks and my plan is big chatterbaits with it early.

Good luck with that. I've never seen a falcon on sale. You sometimes get retailer sales that the whole store is X% off but never falcon specifically that I've seen.

This is the answer. I also fish pads like the OP. If you don't get them turned and moving up quickly they will tangle you. I still pitch them with jigs and plastics, but I'm throwing 50 lb 832 and a high speed reel. the rod tip is almost toughing the water when I start to set the hook and I don't stop until its 6' higher in the air. Since I'm fishing down to 8-10' most of the time, that fish is well on its way to me quickly. You won't land all of them, but that's about as close as I've found.

I don't throw magdrafts, but do throw similar size and weight soft swimbaits. My Amistad does the duty there. Falcon expert amistad, 7'3", 3/8-2 oz. I fish it down to a 3/8 and beaver and up to a small umbrella rig or 7" keitech on 3/8 leaded hook (both end up around 2.25-2.5 oz).

- Red disappears at depth - Red looks like grey at depth - Crawfish look red when they come out of their burrows in the spring - Bass coming up from the deep can see red as the best color - etc. I've heard all of these and more about red baits in the spring. Some make no sense whatsoever, some are contradictory. I don't even try to explain it, but for the first 2-3 months of the year I will have 1-3 red or red variation baits tied on for every trip. My usual is some combination of red, black, brown, and green pumpkin depending on the bait (hard bait, jig, etc). If the water is a little more tannic colored I might slide to a gold/orange/red type of combo. If its really clear the red will just be a highlight, if its dirty i might even throw red/pink. Either way, it just works.

Went for extra thick strip steak tonight to share for Valentine’s Day (21 oz after trimming and no bone). Sous vide to medium rare first and then cast iron pan with a ton of butter that I used earlier to fat wash some bourbon. Very tasty steak. I still prefer ribeye, but my wife doesn’t so I went a little leaner.

I'm with the crowd here. Could I? Sure. I don't fish offshore much.. or well.. or effectively. That's not my bag. But my fish finder is still good for a lot of things. It tells me what time it is in really big numbers so I don't have to check my phone. It tells me the water temp is warmer than it felt like when I waded into it in flip flops to launch the boat. It even tells me its raining when I look down and see the raindrops making a mess of the screen. Its really useful! In all seriousness, I've only been fishing my current lakes for 2 years when we moved here. You can learn a lot from a map but actually being on the lake and seeing a drop off in real time makes a big difference. You can know that there is a ditch somewhere around 50 yards from the shoreline, but on the water when you see it on a FF you know that its lined up with that big sycamore perpendicular to shore. You can go down a bank fishing the shoreline cover but what about 'seeing' this stumps and brushpiles that are 20 yards off the bank in 5' that you'd never be able to see or know they are there because of the dirty water? You could fish every inch of the water which is what I'm sure lots of guys have done to build up a mental memory of the lake over tens of years (my dad is one of those). Or you can use some additional tools to shorten the learning curve.

I love buzzbaits. Yes to a trailer and trailer hook. I basically only fish black. throw them anywhere except matted grass. Great to fish through downed trees, pads with openings through them, down along docks, and over grass that is just under the surface. Fish them fast or slow and let the fish tell you what they want.

I've used CXX in 12 lb and would never do that again. It is the most wiry line I can recall using. I can't imagine what the 15 lb would be like. It ties a great knot (it's a hard line with a slick coating) but it looks like a slinky coming off the reel.

this (I like red eye shads for the yo yo). also, a 3.8 keitech on a jig head.

Also, lithium is a higher voltage. Both are nominally 12 volt but lithium is 13.6V while lead acid is 12.8 I think. Then lead acid voltage drops over time. Effectively what you’ll do is push charge from the lithium to the lead acid constantly. Same as mixing lead acid and agm but to a lesser degree.

I agree but disagree with Koz. My thoughts: a 7” unit is a good balance. Lots of screen real estate for most people and uses. For a single screen (not split screen) and sitting next to it in a kayak, it is plenty of pixels. If you’re running split screen or advanced imaging then maybe not but that’s not the case here. I love my helix. Out of the box default settings are going to get you very close. If thats all you wanted to do, then hummingbird has the best default/auto setting set. I really had to play with my dads lowrance elite to get close to but not as good as my helix. I hard wired from the start. I knew I was going to rail mount. Running wires in my autopilot isn’t that hard. I went right rail because I cast right handed and my rods are left. I’m also right handed to hit buttons. I changed my battery from bow hatch to center hatch. But otherwise I’ve not moved much. I love the clean deck with only two wire coming out of a through hull mount on the top of the rails. If you’re adamant about using it in the portabote also, then a switchblade and rail mounted battery is the right way. Put a mighty mount on the portabote to mount it to.

for a given power input that is true. However, transducer power output has been going up over time. You could change your statement to mega hertz and 800 kHz instead of 200/83 now with the increased power input.

my thoughts in no particular order: a moderate fast will be easier to learn on than a fast. The faster the rod, the more critical your timing on the casting stroke. A rod that is more moderate fast is more forgiving on the timing. medium heavy or heavy depends a bit on what lures you’re throwing. If you’re throwing 3/8-3/4 oz lures, you’ll only need a medium heavy. If you’re pushing 3/4+ then think about a heavy. If you’re taking fish in the slop with bottom contact baits and some frogs, then you’re probably ending up with a heavy. the shimano SLX combos (when on sale) are the best value combo I’ve seen. Individually they are $89-$99 items. On sale they are usually $100-$129. You didn’t mention a budget. If your budget is twice that, you can certainly get more for your money with more money. The slx combos don’t have a heavy power mf action, but the heavy fast 7’ rod Gear ratio is personal preference but I like a 7 speed for most things. You’re talking about a right hand reel. length is personal preference a bit, but if you’re just learning to cast a bait caster I wouldn’t go to the extreme lengths. I’d stick close to 7’. The bigger issue for some is the handle length. If you fish sitting down, a really long rear handle will get in your way. Really long rods have long rear handles usually. the spring sales are just starting. TW has a big 25%off sale on lots of stuff. They also have a couple pretty good used options. Other retailers have other sales and used items. I have no problem buying good quality lightly used myself.

If you're handy with modifying, I bet you could make a jet ski trailer do that. Are you looking to fold it in half like the picture or just shorten the overall length like a trailer tongue folder? A jet ski trailer with a single bar tongue (not the ones with 2 arms that end at the winch) would fold up nice and compact by adding a fulton coupler hinge.

If you don't have the eyesight or attention span to watch for the smaller returns on the left you can always put the 77khz frequency on while searching for fish. Just don't get so excited when it looks like a school of hundreds when it will actually not be as many. If those are crappie, it looks like you must have your scroll speed really high also. You're only doing 0.75 mph and those arches are very stretched left to right. Crappie would ordinarily only have a short arch. separate question- you're showing a 20V voltage on your screen. What battery are you running it on?

Nothing in particular. I created it 25 years ago for a forum I was on/browsing. I fly fished pretty exclusively at the time. That's what I came up with. And ever since I've used it for every forum I've joined in the past 25 years. If anyone ever had to do a background check on my online activities, I'd be pretty easy to put together.

This is where I've landed. I've got better things to do than get worked up about someone else's behavior. The last minor incident I had was on the big lake here that is packed with people. I was 20-30 yards off shore in my kayak (spot locked) and casting to the shore for a nice dropoff. I had been there a while, certainly long enough for the guy paddling his kayak around the entire back end of the cove to see what I was doing. No matter, he decided it was important to just paddle through right across where I was fishing. If I didn't care about the lure I was throwing I'd have tossed one across the bow but it was my best DT. I just moved on and chalked one to to 'should have known better' fishing that lake on a saturday.

I dug into this last year when I was considering a trailer for the AP. The limiting factor for that type of trailer and the harbor freight ones is the axles/bearings/hubs. They come with small 8" tires and very light axles. If you do an axle swap to a heavier duty highway rated one and put 10-12" tires on it you'd be okay on the highway. Last I knew, the axle swap would run about $300 plus a new pair of wheels and tires. Its 8 bolts to do it, plus the lugnuts.

If you're talking about higher end and expensive then I'd agree. 'Fishing' kayaks don't start until the high end. But consider how many kayaks under $500 are sold like your basic pelican from REI or an equivalent boat from Tractor supply, walmart, or any other retailer.

I agree with you about fishing kayaks. But most kayaks sold/in use aren’t fishing kayaks. That’s why most kayak holders aren’t designed for the tunnel/tri/catamaran hulls like you find on fishing kayaks.

I've considered Lambertville area because there is a bit more water there than up north. Is that largemouth or smallmouth water there primarily?

welcome. You're a braver man than I taking bird dogs to NJ public land. I'm a little north of you (Morris county) and I haven't bought a pheasant stamp for a couple years now (focused on bowhunting instead). No way I'm putting my dogs out in that melee. What bit of the Delaware do you fish? I've been meaning to get on it the past 2 years and I think I'll actually make a trip this year, though it will be more smallies on the northern side.

Definitely a jig if you’re not going to make me specify between a vibrating jig, a swim jig, and a pitchin jig. Probably 2x over the next highest.