casts_by_fly

That's where I was going. I was an avid photographer for a while (strictly underwater photography now) getting close enough to get a good picture is like archery hunting. All the same rules apply. This is absolutely my truth and reality. My wife doesn't eat deer or most other game. In the UK when we shot pheasants, everyone would split up the game and take a brace or two home. Between me and friends we would eat it. Here in the NJ, stocked pheasants isn't something I want to expose my dogs to (too many people on too small of space) and we don't have any other birds. We do have a ton of deer though, so I'll archery hunt a bit (starts saturday!) and donate everything I shoot to HHH. With fishing though, you can throw them back and try again another day.

We don't have that many pike and it seems the state has tried to keep them in separate waters mostly. My closest lake has pike and the state uses it at ice out to trap net breeders to milt at the hatchery. The other big lake I fished a bit this year (that is currently 20' low) has a bunch of BIG pike and has for years. Otherwise the only other pike fishery we have is a slow river they have been stocking. Muskies on the other hand go in a lot of places. Our hatchery nearby has a great breeding program to the point that we sell/exchange musky fingerlings with other states. I think we trade PA for trout, NY for walleye, and sell to other states. In addition to the two lakes that I fish for bass a good bit, the state stocks another 8-10 lakes with muskies and all have fishable populations. The northern third of NJ has a lot of lakes in the 100-800 acre range with deep banks and lots of depth. They are mostly all glacial lakes that were carved out of the mountains. Think 'finger lakes' style only much smaller scale. I'm surprised at the density of fish they are putting in the 50 acre lake though. That's 5 muskies per acre every year for the past 12 years on top of the little bit of tigers and on top of any excess fry they have. That completely explains why you can go to the lake on any day of the week and see multiple 40" fish cruising the surface.

also check if the charger is mounted directly to the boat (assuming aluminum boat). If it is, get a piece of starboard or similar to separate them.

So now you've got me digging back through the stocking summaries. In 2016 the state stocked 75 16" fish in there. That was the last year they put tigers in there. In 2012 they put about 3000 2" fry in the lake. In 2011 they put 700 8" fry in the lake (which I'm sure promptly consumed much of the 3000 2" fry a year later!). Other than that, no record of tigers being stocked in the past 12 years (records online go back to 2011). They have stocked pure strains around 250 every year, mostly in the 10" range. One year (2018 I think it was) they put in 100 fish that averaged 27". On balance, I think the likelihood is that it was a pure strain. A 16" tiger in 2016 means it only grew 2" a year to be a 27" fish this year. I'm pretty sure they grow a lot faster than that, especially with the forage base that's in there (herring, trout, and bluegill). On a separate note, in searching the summaries I found that one of my local lakes that I fish all of the time was stocked with tigers in 2018 and 2019. About 1500 total with 50 17" fish in 2018. I've never seen one in there, but the water color is always dirty. That lake gets a few trout every year, but mostly its stuffed with alewifes and carp, perfect for smaller and bigger muskies. Also loaded with perch and pickerel so a 17" musky would have no problem surviving and finding enough food to get over 30".

For $225 (not sure if that’s close enough to your range) go jdm and get either a metanium or zillion from digitaka.

no. It’s a 50 acre man made lake and the muskies are all stocked. Bass and bluegill are native. Trout get stocked once or twice a year. There might be pickerel because they are in every lake here. Definitely catfish.

I was. And I just looked at that picture actually. I don't have a picture of the tail, but the fins on the one I caught were pointed like a barred variant. The lack of spots on the pectoral and 'middle bottom' fins don't have any spots either. That made me think musky. Then again, the patterning on the face has me second guessing it. That said, the big ones I've seen in there are 'clear' version from above with a pretty solid tan/brown back and sides.

My first follow and hit from a musky was last year on a buzzbait (probably the same one) at the other lake. He hit it enough that i felt weight when I pulled but the hook didn't set for some reason. I think soft rod and light mono. That would have been a tussle for sure. I'm pretty sure this one was a pure strain. Both are in the lake supposedly (it is 20 minutes from the state hatchery so it gets a few excess fingerlings each year). I've definitely seen pure strains in this lake that were over 40". A previous trip I had two cruising the open waters nearby and one followed a keitech right back to the boat without taking it. This trip I had one cruising in the weeds under the boat while I was casting for bass. They are definitely monsters. Last trip out here my dad brought his old box of musky lures. Suicks, swim whiz, a buzzbait with a blade the size of a child's kite, and some other stuff. I trolled the swim whiz once and I'll do it again this fall.

What about missile and which missile are your preferences? I have some d-bombs and d-bomb mini that were on sale at one point. The mini is nice as a finesse jig trailer size wise. The regular is a good size for a regular jig when you want a trailer with not a ton of action. They are a pain to thread onto a hook though and I don't know that they fish any better than other options.

thanks. That's how I work mine as well a lot of the time. I'll swim it along a lane/cut in the grass and where that cut comes to a hole I'll kill it. If I can't see the grass I'll cast the edges and bottom bounce it a lot. I'll pick up a pack of lobsters next time I'm out or order.

Is that the lobster or the craw? I think I have a craw here to check out. That's a nice hunk of plastic in the back to texpose into.

Hmm. That's a little cold for my blood I think. I fished one of the big reservoirs here this past winter and the water was 36-38. If I were in a big dry boat maybe, but in a kayak it got a little cold with the spray and wind. Then again, my PB smallie was in 39 degree water so there's that..

you don’t say…. What does your water temp go down to in winter? Our current water is the same as yours around 78. But we freeze solid in winter.

I wouldn’t go lower than 50 braid and might go to 65. I run 50 lb 832 on my equivalent of what you’re doing but I’m not in super heavy vegetation like I see guys fishing on the delta. Thick lily pads are about my heaviest. I’m using a falcon expert amistad for this. It’s the regular heavy not the xh. 3/8-2 oz rating, 7’3” fast action. I use it for medium to heavy pitching (3/8 weight plus plastic or 1/2 oz jig on the bottom end, plastic plus an ounce on the top end). I use it for 6-7” keitech SIF. I’ll throw the smaller yum Alabama rigs with 3.3” keitechs and about a half ounce of head weights. I also throw frogs and toads in the slop with it. Great rod overall. Maybe a little light and short for the bigger swim baits, but I don’t fish them enough to warrant anything bigger. It’s great as a heavy pitching rod. in your case, I’d throw the curado on it to start. That would be a good fit and choice, especially if you go mono/fluoro.

I don’t know largo Shads but that much variation is normal in other soft plastics. Ayu is one of my preferred colors for bluegill swimjigs and the keitech SIF are very light on the bottom in that color (at least the pack I have). I’d be more than happy to fish those you have there.

Cleaning up my desk I found another trailer that fell out of favor with me on chatterbaits but that will work great here. SK blade minnow. I have a couple colors here and I threw one on the jig I was fishing yesterday. Looks pretty good and I know the action it will have. Also pictured is the Stanford big show. Both for anyone to reference in the future. Jig is a string king tour grade swinging swim jig in half ounce.

I'm probably 80/20 across both. I've only been fishing this area for 2 seasons now, so plenty of exploration and new places to do still. Then within the lakes in the regular rotation I'll mostly stick to tried and true for lures and techniques. I love topwaters so I probably overuse them but that's my preference for catching so I almost always start there. Sometimes I choose a lake that I know really well to work on a technique (see the "plastics only outing" thread) or something specific. Sometimes I'll get a bug up my butt to try a specific lure or thing and I'll usually pick a known lake for it (fishing an unknown lake with an unknown technique is never a good approach). Very rarely I'll be in a place catching a bunch of fish doing one thing and decide to see if another thing will do as well. I don't have friends with boats, so I use my 2 or 3 times a year trips with my dad for this purpose. If we're on his lakes, I use my techniques while watching how he'd do it. If we're on my lakes, similar, though I'll usually just take a back seat and enjoy the day (making half as many casts as normal).

The bottom picture is a fly rod reel seat. The top seat with the reel in it is a Tennessee rings grip. I don’t know that reel, but it looks like one you’re fishing as an under spin or like a trigger spin where the reel is like a push button internally but the reel hangs under the rod and there must be a lever or button we can’t see on the other side of the reel (maybe pinkie activated?). A fly reel seat is a good choice. That’s a full wells style grip which might not work well for you. A full wells puts the hand forward so your thumb is up on the flared front. Unless you have really long pinkie fingers or a long trigger on the reel, you constantly be repositioning your hand. Buying a stock Tennessee grip, installing it on a hollow blank or pipe, and gluing in a blank of your choice might be a better choice.

Supernatural 8 lb for both spinning reels and 14 lb supernatural for the baitcaster. I like consistency and this will let you build familiarity with one brand of mono at two weights. Then you can compare to others later.

Poorly. deep rock structure like this isn’t my forte. We don’t have much of it so I maybe fish it once a year. Given my preferences, I’d throw topwaters along the waters edge (surely things fall in or get schooled up against the rock by predators) and then crank parallel to the bank. Not saying it would work, but that’s what I would do.

Not dedicated but I throw them on a couple rods. Depends on which size and weighted or not. A 4.8 on an eighth ounce hook will fish on any MH rod. 3.3 on an eighth almost needs a true medium.

while I generally agree with that sentiment (and if the answer is that the keitech SIF is the right choice I’ll pay it), at $6 for a pack of 5 (these are the 4.8) to get two fish from a swimbait makes for an expensive day.

I have some Stanford baits big show to try also. I picked them up for a chatterbait trailer but I don’t love it for that. It’s a durable plastic and the right length here though so we’ll see what the action is.

And keep one in the boat for touch ups and customizations later.

It’s 80 now, but it was 68 and foggy this morning. Great morning to be on the water early. Had the 53 acre lake to myself from 4:30-6:30 and then the boats started rolling in. By the time I got off at 9 there were 5 boats and three kayaks so it was pretty crowded. Managed a couple good ones and a couple more smaller ones. also that. I got tore up yesterday so this morning I was in long sleeves, turtle neck, long pants, and muck boots. They still got my hands and face.