casts_by_fly

This. The very act of hooking and fighting a fish is necessarily harming it. The least we can do is minimize that harm. Simple things like not dragging it on the ground or letting it flop all around on a hot dry carpet. Don't keep it out of the water any longer than necessary. If taking a picture is important then keep the fish in the net in the water (or in a livewell) while you're pulling out a camera. Take a quick snap and be done. Its respect for the quarry. I bet a lot of people here aren't or weren't trout fishermen. You should see the 'discussions' that happen when you even take the fish out of the water for a picture.

I just remembered another reason why I prefer sidearm casting. After a full evening of hard overhead casting my shoulders are tore up today.

I looked at doing a similar restoration on my dads old stratos 2 years ago. Doing a lot of the work myself (not the motor) it was starting around $4k. The big question was if the wood stringers and foam are waterlogged. If they are then forget it. You’d be better to buy a used boat with the money it would take.

i just fished the bucoo version tonight with a frog. I was using new 50 lb braid (so not broken in yet) but still getting 35-40 yard casts out with a half ounce frog. The lighter frog was 25-30 yards accurately. No issues with hooksets. Both hit it after the first couple turns of the reel.

well, I was just doing it tonight with a frog. I think I’m actually more accurate sidearm since that’s what I do most of the time.

I have two that I recognize. 1- I'll fish hard at first, eventually figure out what they want, and then after I catch a couple I let up. I could keep pushing and really catch a few, but once I've solved the puzzle I'm good. 2- Sometimes I know a particular technique will work or is the right thing to catch fish but I'll refuse to do it because I don't like it. Case in point, slow fishing a dropshot or weightless worm- I don't like either so if that's what the fish are calling for I'm out.

I would say that you apartment mate has found a great thing- for him. I'm not the youngest or oldest on this board. I'm not the wisest or the dumbest when it comes to life. What I've found is that you need to know yourself and then you have to find what works for you. Some people need to get up early and run 3 miles first thing in the morning for them to feel good. That isn't me on both counts (running and early). To your friend's list, I don't subscribe to them as written, but all are important in their own form. Exercising is important (and I would include diet in that). Being mobile (as opposed to sedentary) is one of the most important things you can do for your physical health (next to your diet). I don't meditate, but the purpose of meditation is mental health. My mental health is improved by taking some alone time (I'm a strong introvert) and doing something I like (I'm an activity type). Fishing is one, hunting is another. Reading is about learning something new and building new neural connections. You can do the same with tasks or meeting and listening to people. Writing is your outlet. Everyone needs an outlet whether it is writing something, talking to someone, or some other thing that will help you take what's in your head, digest it, and get it back out. Finding your version of those things will go a long way to your happiness in life. Then, I have two main rules: 1- "You do you." That means a couple things. Don't worry about other people's business. If it isn't interfering with 'you' then not your problem. Do the things that are right for you (and your family/significant people). Worry about your own business. 2- "Don't be a 'dirtbag'". I normally use another word instead of dirtbag that I think would get me a warning here. I'm sure you can guess it. I could say be nice and kind and helpful all of the time, but we know that doesn't always happen. So if you're choosing how to act in a situation or how to treat someone, "don't be a dirtbag". If any doubt about one rule, consult the other.

Meh. Did you know we are closer to 2050 than 1990? 'Seems like yesterday' would be a couple years now that companies have been forced to collect state sales tax on internet purchases. In theory before then, you were supposed to pay sales and use tax on your state tax filings for out of state purchases. States were losing that sales tax because people weren't. June 2018 was the supreme court ruling that forced the change.

I don’t usually add on baits that I don’t use but I’ll add on colors or styles. Case in point, I just got an order yesterday. I had addd some fat Albert’s to try on swim jigs. They also had the tab tail in the same length and the same price. Why not try them too and see the difference. I picked up some black cherry colored paddles for the spring when black/red/gp is the go to color. Never tried a space monkey, so let’s add on a pack of those.

gotcha. So similar strategy as me. find it and 'mark' it somehow. Then lock into a point and find your mark. Feel your way through it on the cast.

I'd probably pitch both of those. I cast right handed, so the lure swinging from the left to the right would be just right for the fence post. And dropping it into the crook of a bush is about distance accuracy and quiet.

I agree that a vertical overhead cast is great for accuracy like you mentioned (and a good way for beginners to learn) but if there is any type of overhead cover near shore like trees, ropes on docks, or various other things then you can't get as tight into shore on it. You're also throwing bombs that make a full sized entry splash. A sidearm or roll cast that is a foot off the water and slowing with your thumb can be slipped in quieter with the same accuracy. Are you using 360/live imaging to identify the specific targets? I don't have either, so when I am moving past and see something on side imaging I either make a landmark check with the shore or I'll put a waypoint on the graph and then use a navigation chart to line it up the best I can. Spotlock helps there.

the world is your oyster if you want to add things. You can go up to 8' 1-4 oz swimbait rods if you really want. What lures do you use that you think your current rods can't handle well? What lures/techniques do you want to add to your arsenal? I don't know those rods specifically, but I don't see any heavy pitching/punching type rods and that's always a good thing to have.

I use my Head turner and 30 lb braid for what you describe. I have some lighter frogs and weedless spoons in the 1/4-5/16 range that need to come across thick stuff and especially pads. You need a lighter tip but get quickly into the backbone. A 1/4-3/4 rod with a pretty light but fast tip if what I found best. For me, that's the falcon 6'10" heavy/fast and 30 lb 832. Add a trailer hook and you'll get just a speck more weight. You can also put a couple pieces of plastic worm (ideally floating) inside the frog to add some weight without sinking it.

Not sure how I missed this thread the first time around. I'm doing a major takeover on my yard this year (we delegated it to our lawn guys who haven't done well enough). We had tons of weeks of many different types since our yard was left alone for 4 years before us and then 2 years of us here doing minimal work on it. We live up against the woods so lots of wild things come in. The list so far this year: - Crabgrass, POA annua, corn speedwell, japanese stiltweed, spotted spurge, nutsedge, clover, and a few others that are more minor. Parts of the yard are/were >50% stiltweed which I've just hit with a specialist this past weekend. The nutsedge got a first bit of sedgehammer 2 weeks ago and is due for some more this weekend coming. The other weeds are easier to control with basic stuff and I'm less worried about them. My yard was also very bare in a lot of spots so we did grass seed this spring instead of pre-emergent figuring I could spray the weeds once some grass was growing up. That was a good choice in two areas, but a less good choice in others. 12lbbass, I think the first one is catchweed. is it kinda vine like and the leaves a little sticky like velcro? Tough to tell from the picture but I think I see clusters of the leaves (usually 8 around a center point on the vine) and the distinctive shape (long and skinny like the blade of a ceiling fan). The second is tough to tell from the picture. I see a bunch of crabgrass in the top left of the picture, but that's not what you're asking about. The cluster in the middle looks like Poa, though its later in the year than I'd expect it. I think its more of a late spring and early summer weed. Yours does look pretty mature though. Here's one for reference.

When I was 8 or 9 I started using a baitcaster and this was how I practiced. I think it was a small coffee can and it was about 50’ from the sidewalk to the telephone pole at the end of the yard. I would pitch a jig for hours on end. If I didn’t have the can I’d just pitch to the base of the telephone pole. I had grand ambitions of being a B.A.S.S. Casting kids champion. I’d say I’m pretty good for casting, and definitely pitching. I can’t backhand cast very well so I’ll pitch backhand and roll cast forehand. Fishing the backseat with my dad (who is also right handed and likes to fish out of the left side of the boat) I’ll just pitch all day, even big treble hook baits like a plopper. Anything out to 20-25 yards is no problem. If I’m on my own I’m usually hitting 9/10 on the first cast within a foot of where I want to be from 25 yards and in. Every now and then you have one of those really good days where you’re dropping it in a couple inches away on every cast with no plop. And then there are those days where you can’t buy a good cast. skipping though, let’s just not go there yet.

id leave the spinners and spoons at home. little hair jigs, Maribou, magnets, little grubs. Gotta be small enough to fit in their mouths.

Asked and previously answered by another. If I see line in a tree or bush that I'm fishing along I'll usually pull it if I can. Any trash of my own stays in the boat. I clean the boat out every now and then.

bluegill and panfish are food to most other fish. They will ordinarily be near some type of cover that they can hide in. Downed trees, weeds, big rocks, and really shallow water are normally where you find them, especially bluegill. If you want your best odds of finding and catching them, a bobber and worm is your easiest bet. A small redworm on a #10 hook, a couple split shot, and a bobber cast around trees and weed edges will catch bluegill. In fact, i was doing it last night with our friend's 8-year old daughter who we just bought a fishing rod. I think she caught 30-40 various sunfish plus two small bass. Once you find them and start catching some, then you can focus on the bigger ones for the table. They will often be deeper but nearby. If you're fishing a downed tree, go towards the deeper water end rather than nearer the shore. I wouldn't bother with spinner or spoons for panfish. Yes they will eat them, but you're going to struggle with weeds and wood. A small jig under a bobber will work and once you find fish with worms and learn where they live you can target them with jigs.

until the next time. Knowing what you’re doing and then paying someone to do what you know how to do yourself isn’t going to fly unless they are so cheap you can’t say no.

let me know if you got my pm. I just sent a new one right now. I’m heading out tomorrow evening, maybe up your way, if you’re interested.

I can only fish them until may or so here. We have so much grass that anything with a treble is getting snagged most of the time. If it’s deep you can run a crankbait over the top of the grass and it it isn’t floating on the surface you can run a topwater around the edges. I’ve always been more of a skirted bait guy. I’m getting into plastics more now but I’ll default to a skirted bait most of the time.

That's user error, not gear capability. My spinning reel picks up more line per turn than my baitcasters and is the same length. No reason why a buzzbait should ever be under the water in that case.

Here is one example from a day last year. Where I fished it and how I fished it. You can see the heavy chop on the water out front. The wind was 15-20 most of that day and the night before so things were set up well there. It is a ledge from the boathouse to my boat out from shore and pretty flat at 6-8’. Then it drops down to 12 pretty quick and then gradual down to 20. Fish were on the 6’ drop edge so a dt6 was about right.

You can have this tool Or this tool do to basically the same thing. Depending on the thing, one will be slightly better or will be much better. I like to carry fewer tools so I try to live with the compromises of one of them to do more things (I fish a baitcaster mostly), but every now and then you need to do a job and the tool you have won't cut it and you need the other one.