casts_by_fly

Hi all, I picked up some swinging swim jigs recently and I think I’m going to like them a lot. They are even more weed friendly than regular swim jigs and come through really clean. My only gripe is that my keitech got mauled after just two bass. On a normal swimjig I can get a half dozen fish before it starts getting torn up and then you can glue them to get some more out of it. Since the hook is through the back, more skinny part, that area tears up pretty fast. I’m going to try some more durable paddle tails (suggestions always appreciated) but are there any other trailers that particularly work well on one? I’m going to try some elaztech (razor shads and maybe a boar hogz) for obvious reasons. I’m going to check the magnum rage menace and see if it’s big enough for the hook gap. Any other particularly good options I should check also? thanks rick

thanks. Now just a tiger musky and that will be all of the common essox species here (musky, tigers, northerns, chain pickerel). We have some other less common pickerel around but they are all small.

Hi gents, so there are 4 lakes around that I fish that have good musky populations but two of them are smaller and have really good populations. I’ve had follows before and even had one hit a buzzbait once that didn’t get hooked. I see multiple 40” fish every time I go to todays lake in particular. Finally today was the day. I was fishing a buzzbait for bass across some shallow eelgrass. When it hit the water I saw the fish make a wake as it turned. I immediately knew what it was so I gave the reel a couple extra quick turns and that was enough to get the musky to jump on it. It only got the trailer hook in the roof of its nose, so as good as I could have hoped. It wasn’t one of the big ones that are in there, but you have to start somewhere. 27”. I threw in a couple 2-3 lb bass for the day also.

I set a goal this year for a 4lb smallmouth and a 5lb largemouth. They get bigger here, but not that much and not that many. Last year I had a 4-11 largemouth and another that was the same size in the same day (didn’t weight the second). I thought for sure I’d get there this year. i got the smallmouth in March as my first fish of the year (4lb3oz). April and may were shaping up with a bunch of largemouth in the 4 lb range but I just couldn’t get a step change to the 5 lb bucket. Then the heat and drought hit and the summer has been a mess. With the cool nights over the past two weeks, the water has dropped to the high 70’s and I thought the topwater bite might pick up. I went to the same lake as last years big bass. It’s a smaller lake (<200 acres) with an incredible forage base of alewife and bluegills. There are also a bunch of musky that keep the smaller bass population in check. So the ones that survive to 12”+ are good thick fish. I didn’t get out quite as early as I wanted so I only had 2 hours before the sun poked up and the topwater bite turned off. That was still enough. I landed 6 and had a few more blowups that didn’t take. I added two more on a jig in heavy cover on the way back to the ramp. The big fish barely sipped the buzzbait down but when the hook got home she took off like a freight train. A ton of fun in the dark. I knew it was big when it hit the net to the point I checked twice it wasn’t a small musky before I lipped it. I weighed it once, then re zeroed and weighed it again just to be sure. 4 lb 15 oz. Just an ounce shy of my target. It was 5:15 in the morning so I didn’t take a picture. Further down the bank I landed a 4-01 and 3-11, all in skinny water. Throw in a pair of 16” fish and a pair of 14” bass and it was a pretty good morning. It would have been 17 lb if it were a tournament or about 90” for a kayak tournament. pics of the 4-01 and 3-11. im heading out again tomorrow morning with another hope for a 5.

I fish 14 or 17 lb elite mono depending on the rod I use and the cover I’m in. Mostly it’s 17.

I prefer a faster action for topwaters like walking and poppers but a more moderate fast for Crankbaits. That said, you can do both on the same rod. The falcon all around 7’ 5 power is a good shout. Big enough to do up to a dt-10 pretty easily (a 14 at a push), fishes a 1/2 oz walking bait just fine, goes down to a small bomber squarebill or a 3.2 keitech on a small jighead. I fish mine with 30 lb 832 braid but fished it last year with 12-17 lb mono and fluoro. It’s pretty versatile.

I’d pick between them by what’s on sale at that point. If you want to get really matching then go catch a couple bluegills and take a picture for reference.

same for my Maui Jim’s and costas. I leave my costas in the truck hanging from the rear view. My Jims are in the case in a drawer for ‘pool’ and backup use. Sweat, sunscreen, and anything that’s not just water gets some dish or hand soap. I also keep a large microfiber in both the truck and the boat. The trucks does sunglasses and the windshield in a pinch. The boat does sunglasses and the fish finder. Neither sees actual dirt or grit and if they do they go in the washing machine.

Yeah, the same reel would be fine for all. The 806 is starting to get a little specialized but with braid on that rod and mono/fluoro on the rest you’re fine.

By big bass, do you mean bigger than average or the biggest bass in your lake? I think the answer depends on which of those two you’re shooting for.

thanks. I hadn’t gotten there yet. That lake is way deeper than I would have guessed from the terrain. 28’ I would believe, not 68’.

Coincidentally, we flew right over it today and it was right outside my window. I managed to get a good look from not very high up which was great. Looks quite fishable and the access is decent enough for shore fishing. I’ll definitely give it a go next trip.

I just got my zillion recently, but I set it up the same as my other reels. Take out the play in spool tension and then give it just a little more. Set the brakes about halfway to start (that’s a ten on the zillion). That’s a bit loose on most reels so I pay attention to a first few casts and adjust from there. If I’m fishing heavy stuff and using my thumb a lot then I’ll add some spool tension just to take the work away from my thumb. Pitching I will take out some spool tension. I’m only just starting to pitch but when I am working on it I have the brakes around 18 out of 20 and the tension is enough that a free falling lure hitting the ground doesn’t overrun more than a half turn.

nah. You’ll get blowups that don’t commit to it, but you don’t set the hook until you feel the weight of the fish. Just keep working it until the line comes tight (that’s true for all topwaters). One of the YouTube guys did a test where he let a bass hit a frog and swim with it until the bass spit it out. After 8 or 10 seconds he was still swimming with it. You don’t have to be fast to set the hook and if you pull too quickly you will pull it out of the strike zone and eliminate any chance of that fish hitting it on that cast.

Excellent choices. we have had about 1.5” of rain over the past 12 weeks so I’m starting to see where my irrigation is missing (and what I just fixed). However, the temps have dropped enough that I just overseesed most of the yard and fresh seeded what I leveled a week ago. If everything germinates to plan then in 4 weeks it should be looking great.

That’s looking great for August. It’s ready to eat in prep for winter. Do you know what your varietal mix is? It looks pretty rye from the color in spots but hard to tell.

Electric bikes (and the equivalent here) is that you are personally able to pedal at x speed. The batter kicks in another y. The battery eventually drains since it isn’t being charged, but it isn’t generating the full x+y and neither are you.

thanks! I grew up on the Mon south of Pittsburgh so the big rivers are familiar. And this stretch looks… meh. Glad I wasn’t too wrong there. I’m not opposed to a forked stick and some worms on the bottom for cats and carp but that’s what this stretch looks like (I’m here now). I’ll do some research on Bluegrass.

Hi gents, we have a work location in Evansville, IN and I’ll be traveling there more. Anyone from the area that can give some direction on places to try? Obviously I won’t have my boat and will have to fly with whatever I bring. I’m game for anything. thanks rick

agree. And also make more dreams. The world is a very big place to explore. Finish your list? Make a new list. im very fortunate to have gone to a good school, worked hard, got a good job that allowed me to live abroad, all the while with a wife doing the same. I certainly have no complaints or regrets. We lived in the UK for 12 years (some of those years with money and some without) and that allowed us to explore all over Europe and have jaunts to Africa and asia. Work sent us to a bunch of places that didn’t suck (sitting here in an airport for work). We’ve been a lot of cool places otherwise. You know what? There are so many cool places to see in this world that a bucket list is a never ending proposition. in the spirit of the question, I want to dive the Galápagos Islands, Guadalupe island (no cage), and the sardine run in Durban. I need to fish Alaska for big rainbows during the salmon run. I want to do another Michelin star tour of France and Spain only for a week this time instead of 7 days.

It looks like a flatfish, but the fins on the sides and the fisheye at the back are different. I’ve not seen a flatfish with them which makes me think they are a knockoff or other variation from the original. either way, they are big for walleye and steelhead/salmon guys trolling.

The Tesla Cybertruck has an estimated range of over 500 mi, but that is strictly tesla marketing info since at the time they hadn't built enough for actual testing. if they do come out with a 500 mi range option, I will definitely consider one. We are a one electric, one gas household. My ram is the gas and my wife has a model X (with 320 mi range). I wouldn't be opposed to an electric truck while she gets a small gas runaround like a corvette or something... The range question is still real for trips over 100-150 mi one way. For day trips around home there is no problem and it is excellent. For commuting the same. For longer trips though, you have to consider the charging network along your path. Our families are in Pittsburgh and we're in northern Jersey. There are a couple super chargers along the route and one that is near her parents house. So we can charge full at home, drive most of the way (a quick bathroom break topup mid-way) and park it. We can charge near either one day while we're home or leave home a half hour early to charge on the way. That charger wasn't there a year ago and the 350 mile one-way trip was a real pain as we'd end up empty on arrival with no place to charge or we'd have to spend a 45 minute charge stop that we didn't really need before we got home. Longer trips like NJ to OBX add about 2 hours of charging to an 8 hour journey. That's just a bit too long for me to justify so we take my truck which has a 600 mile range and fills in 10 minutes. With a 500 mi electric range, we could do it with one 45 minute stop en route (which we make anyway for lunch).

Except that they are all paid for...

I do love the plopper as a cast and wind bait. I catch a lot of good fish on it. I think it has a place in the arsenal next to a buzzbait. However, the treble hooks really limit where you can throw it. Almost any type of vegetation either catches on the hooks or wraps around the prop shaft (which is a pain to clean on the water if its fine grass that gets inside the prop). Overhead cover and wooded cover you really have to watch where you land it and what's under it since it dips 6-10" under when it lands. Docks with carpet and rope are a pain too. A buzzbait is a lot more forgiving of bringing it through slop, around docks, and over wood. For a beginner, that will lead to a lot less frustration and a lot more casting tight to cover.

If you don't know ANY topwater techniques or fish any topwaters right now, then either a buzzbait or a frog as your first and the other for a second. You can fish a buzzbait in open water up to loose slop and sporadic vegetation. After that you need a frog. A buzzbait is a simple cast and retrieve bait to get started with and it flat catches fish. Then move to a frog and start with a basic hopping retrieve and a popping retrieve. Then learn how to walk one. If you learn those two, there isn't much else on topwater that you need. A walking bait like a spook would be next once you get the motion down because you can cover a ton of water and fish eat them hard.