casts_by_fly

add a small electric steamer and you never have to iron again. The little steamers are amazing.

In the UK, most households don’t have a dryer. instead, everyone uses clothes drying racks like these. They fold up when you’re not using them and fit in a closet. In the summer you can set them outside, in the winter they go near your heater/radiator.

Also you might want to play with your sensitivity a bit. If those are weeds, there should be more space between them and not the wide yellow bands. The yellow bands indicate a strong return which weeds are not. I’d bump it back 3-5 settings and see if it looks more like strands of grass.

if that’s your predominant bluegill color, ‘mud shad’ from Siebert is the green pumpkin over white in the middle of my picture. That’s a pretty darn close match. It’s also one of my first go to vibrating jigs most of the year. That and mud shad which is the chartreuse instead of white equivalent.

I get plenty of hits on the zoom but I struggle to get a hookset in them. I think 1 out of 10. I’ve fished them on MH, H, h+, mono, braid, etc. Owner ewg 5 or 6 /0.

Thanks! also, this: is why this: when you compare the colors. Always good to go bluegill fishing in your bass lakes and see just what colors they are. They certainly vary lake to lake here.

Not exactly the usual reason for it, but the autopilot with spot lock and jog makes it a lot easier when your fishing partner (friend’s daughter) can’t cast very well yet…. She’ll get there

Recoil guides have been out for a looong time now. I built a few fly rods with them 20 years ago now. They are definitely light. That said, a small ceramic is almost as light in the grand scheme of things. And on fly rods, recoils ‘sing’ as you haul line. I haven’t done one with mono but I don’t see a need to either.

The head turner is the 1/4-3/4 I referenced above. I've done it with 3/4 oz spinnerbaits and it works okay. If you are making longs casts or if you're using a heavier trailer like a blade minnow, then you're really pushing the limits on the rod and it gets tiring. The 7' lizard dragger 1 (3/8-1 oz, MF/H) is a better choice when you start going up in weight. And if you're fishing them a lot (and bigger) then the amistad and bayou/eye crosser models are a good choice with 3/8-2 oz type ratings.

1- don't let them get into the thickest weeds in the first place 2- use heavy enough tackle to be able to pull them and the weeds into shore 3- fish in places where you can get them across the top of the weeds or that the weeds aren't heavy enough to stop you.

just remember the difference between the two types of batteries. A cranking battery can deliver very high amperage very quickly. That's important for turning over bigger motors, especially if they are older and have trouble turning over (which you should get fixed, but that's another story). Deep cycles are for slow drains of amperage over a long time. Physically, the difference is the plates inside the battery. A fast, high amperage requires a lot of surface area of lead on the plates in contact with the acid/gel mat. Every time you use the battery, you're pulling some lead off of the plates. Recharging puts it back on. If you reduce the plates too far, there is nothing to put the lead back onto. That's the cause of permanent damage regardless of battery type. So if your fish finder is drawing a negligible current (like a piranha unit) then you're just fine. If you're hooking up a live scope unit, then you probably aren't. In your case you shouldn't need a separate battery.

Depends a little if your bombing long casts or if you’re fishing closer in casts. I fish 1/2-3/4 oz spinnerbaits on the same 3/8-1 heavy MF rod. All with trailers, but they are thinner split tail trailers. I tend to make long casts. If I was fishing heavier but short (either steep banks or burning) then you can get away with a 1/4-1 or 1/4-3/4. regardless of the rod, I’m throwing 17 lb mono with bigger spinnerbaits.

the biggest issue I see is that they didn't put someone in the boat to start with! Why not put a person at the steering wheel to drive it off once you floated it? Now someone has to hopefully float around the back and jump in.

you'd think electrofishing would have been a better solution, maybe after a partial draining.

Fair enough for smoothness and quality, but wouldn't the line capacity be a little light? 70 yards of 14 lb translates to about 40 yards of 20 lb test which is what I'd expect the OP to be throwing big swimbaits on. I don't fish big swimbaits, so I'm asking to learn.

Same story here. I though the 7 would be enough and I'd never add 360. If I'd have bought the 9 originally I'd already have the 360. Since you already own the 9, you could just take the head unit down with you. You go for long enough that it's not like you're swapping them every week. Then you only need the 360 transducer. The 360 transducer will still give you side imaging and the 7 transducer will give you down and sonar on the 9. I've done this homework already...

Man, you're going to cost me money. I too am not good at offshore (I'd say you're just fine from the pictures!). I also really dislike 'dragging' rigs like a carolina or football jig (I'd much rather crank those rocks). I have side imaging and have no problems going back and forth across a place with side, marking points, swapping to down. However I'm in the autopilot which as you know isn't as easy to bounce around as a big boat. Spot hopping offshore means a 15-20 minute run to the next point if nothing on this one. Having 360 to show me a full area at once would be awesome, but that means a new head unit too....

Just get the JDM zillion. As fast as Digitaka and the shipping they use goes, its the one you can have in your hands first (mine took about 60 hours to receive).

I mean, a sunbathing competition with hot ladies of my preferred visuals might make me miss a bite and be better than watching otters.

hmm. I'd be surprised if they could get the container back onto the trailer without a crane. They are about 8000 lb empty and solid steel. Once it was full of water it was going to the bottom. I'd think they floated it into place and sank it to the bottom as the wall, then put some floating buoys on top to break up the surface and mark it. How deep is the water where the refueling dock is?

That's the Manistee River. I'd be looking for Kings down low in the river or near the mouth. Haven't fished it myself, but have read good things.

Interesting. I guess that's a quick way to get an 8' x40' double wall of metal. The containers aren't cheap though.

Yeah, I'm with my original post. Regardless of the fish or the place, I've gone to catch fish. I've gone because I think I have a reasonable chance of catching them there at that time. If I don't catch fish, then either I picked a poor time and place or I just didn't know enough to catch them there/then. Sure, you might decide to take a flyer and fish a blown out river just to see if the fish have moved in. You might go in with low expectations and that eases the sting of not catching something. I did that last week when I went to the lake that is 15' low. Mostly I just wanted to ride around and see what was exposed and mentally note it for when the water is higher. But I still thought I'd catch one or two and I was disappointed when I didn't. I saw a ton of deer, a bald eagle, and found a field of stumps that I didn't know was there (will be perfect for prespawn next april). Still sucks to not catch anything.

In terms of value, if you are buying a rod and reel both then the Shimano SLX combos are definitely the best value. Individually they are ~$100 and worth that price. The combo is normally $189 which isn't bad if you plan to get both. However, they have been on sale for $129 at various retailers if you can find one. You're not going to beat that combo of performance and price.

Wow. 796 with 2-8 oz rating. That's a big stick. Definitely getting well into saltwater territory there.