casts_by_fly

The black and red knobs on the right are for bare wire connections. Not how I would rig a solution, but it would work if that’s how you’re set up.

in that case, wait until the water is in the 70’s or more and the air in the 80’s. You’re going to fall off a bunch, so don’t bring gear. You’re going to get soaked through so bring some towels and a change of clothes for the ride home.

Mid march is usually our ice out. Early to mid april hits 45-50 degree water temps, so for me that's when the prime early season starts. That said, I think we're largely ice free right now and barring a lot of consistent cold (nothing in the 10 day forecast) it might be an early one for us this year. Here's to hoping! I'm away the second two weeks of May this year, so if everything happens 2-3 weeks early that's all the better for me. If your break starts in may, you've missed a lot of pre-spawn stage. Mid to late may is prime spawning time around here. Your two lakes being shallower and fed by stormwater runoff I'd expect them to warm pretty quickly. Your school is more trenton/philly area? Go fish the central jersey WMA lakes in April. NNJ does have a few rivers, but there are a ton of lakes here. The difference to a lot of places is that they are mostly smaller (sub 1000 acres and lots of sub 500 acres) and there are lots of natural lakes. We have some man made reservoirs but even then, the biggest we have is 2700 acres, followed by 2100 acres, then 1500 acres. Lots of clear water (2-10' visibility normally), lots of weeds, even down to 20', and a good bit of pressure from anglers and pleasure boaters. Agreed.

I mostly use GPS and maps on the humminbird, but a few times I have wished I had one to mark a weedline or two. There are a lot of straight edge weedlines in some of my lakes so marking the edge ~100-200 yards ahead of me and then spot locking on the edge on this side will give me a really solid line of where the weeds are without having to keep looking at the map. Then just keep working up to the buoy nice and easy.

Have you stood up in a kayak or on a paddleboard? I've done both quite a bit and everyone is different. You need good ankle/hip mobility/flexibility and also good core strength. Obviously you need decent balance too. Its not even close to standing in a regular boat. On top of that, every kayak is different. Some have good primary stability (i.e. stays flat as you shift around). Some have good secondary stability (will rock a little but once it hits a certain angle it stops tilting and takes a massive effort to flip. A paddleboard is a different animal all together. All require a lot of time on the water to get comfortable. You'll want to wait until the water is into the 70's at least and a good sunny day before you experiment. Start in sandy shallows with nothing in the boat/SUP until you really get the feel for it. Push the limits of standing on an edge or tilting the craft so you can see just where the breaking points are. Only after that will you really know how comfortable you are in it. For paddling a SUP, standing is the normal position. It isn't fast, but SUPs aren't meant to be. Kneeling is much more stable (lower center of gravity and 4 points of contact). When I'm teaching a friend to get on a SUP that's what I start with. then you can squat, then stand.

Kneeling and paddling is a decent option on a SUP. You get 4 points of contact with the board so you're very stable and you have full articulation of your waist and core. Just sitting down criss-cross apple sauce will wear you out quickly. Sitting on a milk crate to paddle might get tricky as your center of gravity is pretty high. I'd never advise someone to do what you're suggesting, but since you have the board already you might as well try it. A proper fishing kayak is is a much better solution though.

Hi gents, I have a spur of the moment work trip to DFW next week and will be very close to the lake with an afternoon available. I know its a long shot, but anyone have a guide recco for Ray roberts I could check up on for availability? I see quite a few guides for crappie, cats, and general bait drowning, but I'm talking a bass guide with artificials. Lewisville lake would be even closer, but I've never heard of it as a bass lake. Any local knowledge? Also, anyone know of a good fishing reports page for the area? I have no idea how Texas is fishing in january. I imagine colder and slower, but who knows. thanks rick

when you asked about kayaks on another thread, this was one of the ones I was referencing on marketplace. I think its a good value. Couple reasons why: - its a 12' boat. A longer boat will track better when paddling. It also gives more space for storage - its already coming with a paddle and other accessories that you would need to add. Its got an anchor trolley system already installed front and back. An anchor and rope would be nice but a length of rope and a concreted coffee can or some old window weights would do just as well. - Its got an electronics unit (older Humminbird) already installed that (if working) will give you at least temp and depth. It should be a half decent 2D sonar to learn how to read sonar. For others questions above, it does have scupper holes and already has 1-way plugs in place. The kayak brand isn't noted on the boat and I can't tell what it is. Its listed as a yakattack but that isn't right. The boat is a little narrow and may or may not be stable enough to stand and fish from. However, at the price point its not a bad choice. If you can get them under $400 then I think its a pretty good starter boat. You won't be taking it into the bay when its rough, but pick your days and you'll be okay. The seat isn't great and there isn't much you can do about it. Overall, I think this is probably better value than buying a brand new cheap boat and outfitting it. You'll come out a couple hundred bucks ahead this way. There is a practically new looking Old town sportsman 106 listed not far away for $700, down from $800, and at a make me an offer stage. much better seat, comfy boat, has paddle and life jacket plus a yak attack omega rod holder. I'd offer $600 and pay $700 if they were firm there and you could swing it. That's a boat you can stand in for sure.

It is possible, but not optimal. I've paddleboarded quite a bit and a light chop will start to make you tippy. You need to be pretty good on a board. Any place with boat wakes is going to be an experience, let alone wake boats if you have them. Everything will need to be waterproof, leashed, and stored at all times. I've fished out of a 2-person sit on top cheap kayak when on vacation by treating it like a paddleboard and standing (I was fly fishing for bonefish on the flats and needed the height visibility). You'll need the milk crate to sit and fight fish as standing to fight them will be a challenge on a paddleboard. Long story short, take minimal gear, do it in warm weather/water, and keep everything in an buoyant dry bag. You'll have challenges but on a smaller water you might like it for a bit. It won't compare to fishing out of a stable stand up kayak though.

I had the same issue with the double uni. The braid cuts right through it. I’d get one in four that tightened down right and held against a strong pull. I lost faith in it and went to the crazy Alberto (maybe the regular Alberto).

I used to love reading through the catalogs. Now though, to fit more stock in, they don't show all of the colors. I remember the ratltrap page was a full page. At the bottom they had the 4 or 5 sizes from the 1/8th to the 1.5 or 2 oz version. The top 80% of the page was the front half of every color all lined up nice and neat. They did similar for lots of other baits. Now, its 'refer to website for full colors'. I don't even bother with the catalogs anymore.

I don't have either yet but I'm in the same boat as you for water types and considering options. I'm also a humminbird guy considering garmin if using 'live'. My Helix can't support either, so I'd have to buy a full headunit and transducer for either. Its about the same $2500 for me either route. If I stick HBird I can keep my zero lines card and all of the mapping I've built up (plus the knowledge of the system). Or I could just have a second unit but that's getting tight on a kayak. Based on my research, Garmin 'live' will do everything you're asking (and is probably the better choice for me personally).

I haven't fished the Nock, but I've fished other PA reservoirs of that type. I don't know the classifications to tell you what it is, but I can tell you how they tend to fish. The Nock is a largemouth lake with some smallmouth. Prespawn and spawn the LM will come shallower than you'd expect for the time of year and temp because they have so much deep water nearby. Get out early in the year (this also beats the boat traffic). Most of these lakes have smaller 'flats' for spawning so things like ledges in a cliff face or rock slides in that 2-8' depth range (which might be practically touching shore) will hold fish. It will take a lot of in person looking and time on the water to find them, but when you do they are things you won't find on a map. The upper ends of the coves will hold fish too. Those coves normally have downed trees from the steep banks above and make some obvious places to fish. Post spawn these lakes get tough. A lot of the main lake doesn't have grass since it is steep rock banks. Fish will pull back deeper and you'll want electronics to find them. Finding points with good rock cover in 20-30' are where you'll catch most fish. But, these lakes are typically also larger unlimited HP lakes that get a lot of boat traffic in the summer. So get on the lake 2 hours before sunrise and fish until 2 hours after.

I know I fish too fast. I have a mental cadence with moving baits like cranks, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits. I try to slow myself down but then you get back into your natural rhythm. For that reason, most of my reels are 7x and when I know I'm going too fast I'll pull out the 6x for a bit to slow down. Usually a fish or two on the slow reel is enough to snap me back into paying attention. Heck, I've got a quantum Iron in the basement that I should spool up. Its a 5.3-1 and a small spool. I bet its 23" or so IPT retrieve rate. I'm not sure I could reel that fast enough to keep a buzzbait on the surface.

If you like grey/silver, I can throw a pair of Gen 4 STX and a pair of Gen3 STX into the mix too. I love the Gen 4, could leave the gen3.

I'd normally think of that color as a tanic water/dirty color combo. Is that what you're fishing it in or are you throwing that in clear water?

Gifts of local dry creek valley wine are always appreciated. ?

Unfortunately, USGS doesn't have a monitoring station there. That's the first place to check for lake levels. USGS has a reference for it as a 423' elevation. It doesn't list if that's the full pool elevation (I would assume it is) or another point like the dam or a surrounding parking lot. https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/summary/234892 Using google maps and looking at the dam area, you can clearly see what looks like the normal pool, where vegatation changes from shore based to underwater areas. Marking a point like that and swapping to terrain view says that the 420' elevation is pretty close to there. For that reason, I'd call 423' elevation as the normal full pool. You're showing an elevation of 402' above. If we take that to mean the current, that would suggest about 20' low. Google satellite from this summer is showing that it was a lot lower than that. I'd guess it was 35-40' low or so. The bridge piling on the southern end of the dam by the boat ramp is just about hitting dry land. Navionics puts it in about 40-45' of water so 35-40' low feels about right in the picture. If all of that anaylsis is correct, then consider it a win. You've gained back half of the elevation/water with more winter and spring to still come. You might get back to full pool for pre-spawn.

Here is another example. The white is the main lake The top right corner is an island just out of picture. The fish could be on the steep 'cliff' bit at the bottom or starting to wrap around the point. Or they might be on the more gradual slope of the island either on the main lake side or on the left where its starting to shallow up. This little back bay has docks, grass, and rocks. Its good for a fish or two most any time of the year.

At that 50-55 degree mark (I start fishing at 40 or so), I'm looking at funnels and transition areas where the fish have deeper water and shallower water nearby to flats or access to the flats. The bigger fish are really thinking of moving up at that point and steady weather keeps them moving shallower. The bulk of the fish are mid-depth. A cold front or storm will pull the fish a little deeper, but they still have spawning on the brain. So give them a place that they can drop back a few feet deeper without having to swim across the lake. This is a picture of a local lake. The creek channel is the white at the top and at one time swung past this point. The tip of the point drops to 10-12' about 40' from shore but you can see either side of the point flattens out. One side has chunk rock and a tiny bit of wood in the right place. The other side is pretty barren. I'll fish this through from deeper to shallower to see where the fish are holding that day. In this spot at that time of year, crankbaits are my friend. I'll have a DT6 and a DT10 tied on, plus probably a lipless on another rod. There is no grass here and I've never caught a fish on a chatterbait there despite catching them elsewhere on the lake in similar situations/spots on the same day. if they are looking up that day and the water is clean I'll have a topwater tied on (sexy dog).

I was just about to post this one as I watched it last night.

Dimensionally, they are incredibly close. Most dimensions I can't measure an accurate difference with a ruler. I'd have to get out calipers. The Met is about 5 mm shorter in total length from the front most part in front of the levelwind back to the rear of the spool release button. However, I think I can explain the difference in feel in palming that makes the Chronarch feel longer. If you palm like me (pinkie behind the trigger, next two under the rod ahead of the trigger, index above rod in front of reel, thumb on top near the spool) the gap between the rod and the levelwind is bigger on the met. The Chronarch extends the reel body closer to the blank for longer. The result is that your finger slides further under the 'hook nose' back towards the spool on the Met. For my finger, the difference is close to 1/2" (about 10 mm). So the overall distance plus the front nose distance means near on 5/8"-3/4" in 'feel'. Its definitely noticeable when you palm the reel. Met vs Zillion, they are both the same total length and max height. But the zillion carries its height (distance away from the blank) further from the front to rear whereas the met tapers down a little faster. In the hand, the zillion feels a little chunkier to palm. I tried to line them up as best I could but the camera angle makes the chronarch look bigger than it is in the first picture.

across the year, my best producer for pickerel has been crankbaits but that's probably because I've been fishing them for bass and pickerel are a bycatch. I've caught them on buzzbaits, crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, swimjigs, paddletails, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. If its a baitfish and looks like its getting away, pickeral are going to snatch it. I had one grab a bomber A last year as I was pulling it out at the end of the cast. I think the bill was out of the water and the rear hook was still in the water when the fish inhaled it. I set the hook and boat flipped it at the same time. talk about a mad slimy mess in a kayak... If I were going to target them, I'd have two rods rigged. Both would have a 6" steel leader. One would have a jerkbait or crankbait depending on water temp and how active they are that day. The other would be a ~3" inline spinner.

I don't fish bait much since I'm mostly bass fishing. When I take a friend's kid fishing or we are at the beach I'll buy bait for all the more of it I need. On the beach I'll pick sand fleas (mole crabs) but I've still not caught anything on them so mostly that's something for the kids to do to help 'uncle rick' fish. Also, I'll pick a couple dozen small worms in ~March every year in case I decide to go trout fishing in the early season. I didn't go last year and ended up dumping the worms back outside. Growing up though, we used to seine and trap the local creeks for minnows or crayfish. We'd then take them to the various other creeks/rivers for smallies. I remember one trip where we took the legal limit of 50 minnows and caught more than 50 smallies. Every cast was a fish whether the bait was alive or not.

which lake is it?