casts_by_fly

If you want to get crazy, creative, and plan for the future, put in two mount locations with quick release mounts. Use a small nocqua battery pack mounted to the removable mount arm (thus no wire to run and a tiny battery to charge) and put the transducer on a splitter. Then have it in the back with you when you're running and move it up front to fish. Then when you add a second fish finder you already have the wires run and the mounts ready... Alternatively, I'm not sure of the deck arrangement or if you fish with a buddy all of the time or not. But a remote controlled trolling motor would let you stand anywhere in the boat to fish. At that point mount it wherever you prefer to stand.

We bought our house in Sep 2019. It had been foreclosed/empty/contractor for roughly 3-4 years prior to that. The yard was minimally maintained in that time other than to knock down the tops. The weeds were bad when we came in september, but we had a lawn guy and we made a plan. He then sold his business 2 months later and the plan disappeared after one fall post emergent treatment for weeds/crabgrass. All through 2020 and 2021 I tried to get it under control with my lawn guys. I like my lawn guys generally. They do a pretty good job cutting (aside from the new kid they gave a pushmower to). And for the price they charge it isn't worth my time to do it (I have about 12000 sq ft but split by fences into about 4-5 zones). But they are very much a cutting operation. The guys on the ground aren't specialists in turf management and the owner mostly looks after the commercial jobs. So feedback from the guys on the ground about what a lawn needs doesn't happen. I've learned this now. In 2020 it was almost July before it was treated for the first time (the original plan wasn't communicated). By then it was too late so we only did fall weedkill. The spring of 2021 saw pre-emergent and I thought we were going to get there but the preemergent did next to nothing and by May I had a forest of crabgrass, foxtail, corn speedwell, and a whole bunch of other weeds and a very sparse lawn. When the owner finally came out he couldn't believe that it all survived whatever they put down and scheduled his specialist guy to come out. A month and a half later the guy finally comes out and puts down Scott's 3 in 1. It did nothing for the weeds. It was at that point (roughly Sep last year) that I decided to take matters into my own hands. I did some weed kill experiments with different products and found one that really worked. I did my entire yard and knocked back the heavy. I fed with a winter focused fertilizer. Over the winter it was bare dirt in a lot of places. I think I was over 50% weed most everywhere. I almost considered the nuclear option of killing everything and starting fresh but my wife wasn't thrilled by that idea. So this spring I did things backwards to most and seeded as soon as the soil temps were warm enough. I've hit it with fertilizer 4 or 5 times now. I've been keeping the weeds at bay with sprays since I couldn't put down pre-emergent due to the seed. And the lawn has responded. Areas of bare dirt are now lush green grass even in the well shaded areas. The edge areas that used to be weeds and leaves are growing grass (expanding one yard by about 3'). The moss is dying back. The weeds are somewhat in check and maybe 10% of the yard now. Visually its been an incredible turnaround. I'll take some pictures tomorrow after they cut. I didn't take good 'before' pictures but I have quite a few of game in the yard that will give the idea. Now that I've taken control of my lawn care, I have considered cutting myself. My guys do it once a week and that's fine in the summer. This spring though when it was growing like wildfire it needed it 2-3 times a week. I'm considering a mower to keep up on it then so it isn't getting whacked by 50% once a week. I've also started leveling it a bit. There are humps and lumps in the yard that mowing high helps hide (my guys mow at about 3") but it still cuts short in spots. So after they cut on a wednesday I get a half ton of sand and spread it in the low bits to level it. This summer I'll put a little more time into that to help even things out a bit in the front. And then this fall it will be more overseed and fertilizer to thicken it up even more when the summer weeds die.

Amazon has them at $166 and Alf has them at 159

thanks anyway! Since I’m in a kayak I can’t have truly dedicated rods. I normally carry 5, maybe 6 at a push. My big heavy is set up to manage both frogs and heavy pitching. If I really need to have both rigged, I have a pitching stick with heavy mono on it. But that rod also does double duty for bladed baits and other stuff so I can’t put a shallow spool on it either. I’ll keep trying.

hi Rick, when you say “spool it up all the way” to bomb frogs, how much line are you talking about? I run 50# 832 on my frog and pitching rod. The specs on the reel are 40 yards of 50# braid, but I know I cast a frog further than that a lot (I was doing it yesterday). How much line are you actually getting on the reel? I’m very much considering this reel and they are running on sale at the moment. thanks rick

I always start with what I want to catch them on. Last night that was a popper because I hadn't fished a popper in years and the BR influenced bait monkey made me do it. I thought it would be a good topwater bite given the conditions. About an hour in throwing a popper, a frog, and a weedless spoon (which all should have gotten at least one blow up) I could tell that wasn't happening last night and was right. I swapped subsurface and caught fish. Talked to a guy at the ramp who had the same thought going in but didn't change up. He didn't catch a topwater fish. I'll start with what I want to fish or what I prefer to fish because if they are hitting that I'm golden. Always more fun to catch with the way you want to fish (which usually is topwater for me). You just have to be able to realize when it isn't happening and then decide how much you care. I'll swap a topwater for a chatterbait or spinnerbait pretty easily. If they aren't chasing I don't mind pitching a jig to targets or swimming a jig. If the conditions are good enough (not 20 mph wind making boat position tough) then slowing down further to soft plastics is fine, but I may choose to fish elsewhere. If I have to drop down to finesse lures and spinning rods I usually go home. I don't need to catch fish that bad.

welcome. what part of PA? I grew up south of Pittsburgh and have fished most of the left half of the state.

Scent? no. Cork isn't really porous, its more like a closed cell foam. You get stains but they wear away. The two pictures are both well used casting rods. One is 1 year of hefty use. One is 30 years old and well used for the first 20. Not a whole lot of difference between them for wear and both could be cleaned up pretty easily.

Night fishing in the summer is my preferred time to be on the water. I night fished for year growing up in ponds that maybe I wouldn't fish during the day, but that's another story and many years in the past. Now, I'll take the kayak and either show up an hour before sunset or more likely I'll be launching 2-3 hours before sunrise. First a first timer, a couple things: 1- start with a body of water that you already know. Night time isn't the time to be exploring a new lake. I'm talking about a lake that you can just go fish without thinking, without looking at a fish finder, and one that you already know which rocks, logs, and spots you're going to cast at before you hit the water. 2- going a couple hours before sunset will help. You can get on the water, get situated, get your casting rhythm and distance sorted before it gets dark. It will let your eyes acclimate to the lowered light gradually. 3- put a red cap or plastic over your light. From #2, your eyes take a half hour to fully dilate to true dark conditions. The tiniest bit of white light sets them back. Red light helps a ton to keep your night vision. I only use a light to tie knots and instead navigate by starlight/moonlight. I have a light with me in case of emergency, but I don't use it. I also turn off the navigation lights on the boat (I'm always the only one on the water). 4- long sleeves, pants, and a hat are a must. Bugs are always bad and DEET can only do so much. Also, any lures you snag and pull loose coom back faster than you think. At least if you have skin covered you're not getting a hook in the arm. I love night fishing. Throwing frogs on grass mats at night is a special thing if they are eating them. The sound of a bass sucking down a frog in the middle of the night will shoot your heart rate through the roof. Big single colorado spinnerbaits with the thump will teach you all about feeling for a bite or a blade of grass when all you can do in pay attention to every whirl of the blade.

U40 is by far the easiest for sealing cork, if you like the feel of sealed cork. I do not. If you have half decent cork that isn't a bunch of filled pits it will not wear to much at all. I have 40 year old rods with original cork that are still in good shape. If 'dirty' bothers you, then some dish soap on a rag once a year takes the heaviest off. A magic eraser will take off marks. If it gets really bad, some 400 grit sand paper and a light hand will bring it almost back to new.

Yes, though it is a replacement and not a repair. That tip top is junk and you can’t fix the ceramic rings. Some heat on the tip top should loosen it up. Then some ferrule cement or epoxy for a new one.

I love my falcon amistad for what you are describing. Mine is the expert series and the regular amistad (3/8-2), not the extra heavy. I have 50 lb 832 braid but for what you’re saying I’d go heavier. I just landed a half dozen on it tonight in fact pitching a Texas rigged beaver (though not with punching weights tonight).

I don’t know the real estate market for lake homes. Hopatcong has a ton of places but that lake is madness in the summer with pleasure boats, party boats, wake boats, and bass boats. Cool multi species fishery but I wouldn’t buy a house there. spruce run is a Great Lake to fish, but there aren’t any houses on the water. Plenty of places around the lake nearby, but nothing actually on the water. Lots of bass, pike, hybrids, etc. If you know skyline drive area then you already know monksville and the nearby lakes. Monksville has big fish but is a tough lake. That’s a trophy musky fishery (Hopatcong is also). Most of the skyline drive lakes are water supply reservoirs though so no houses on them. Greenwood lake would be one to consider. Lots of lake houses, good fishery, bass, muskies, walleye.

agreed. I grew up fishing western pa which is a combination of rivers, farm ponds, smaller lakes that are like ponds, and some corps of engineers impoundments. These northern natural lakes are different to all of them and have some unique things about them. Water clarity is a big one as all of the lakes here are normally very clear this time of year (6-12’ visibility) and that adds a couple wrinkles.

Are you set on NY? Lots of lakes in north nj worth fishing. Plenty of bass, lots of musky/pike/Pickerel. All well within 2 hours of the city.

right? They are so easy and so much fun to debug from a distance on someone else’s boat.

Which lake is it (I’m in Morris county and fish lots of the lakes here in nnj)? Pm if you want. I don’t know of anything trout stocked in the 40 acre range around here so can’t give you lake specifics, but generally what you’re describing is the typical lake around here. The drop offs tell my it’s one of the natural mountain lakes, not a park pond. Access to deeper water tends to hold fish around here, so fish the shallower cover that’s near the deeper water. Big shallow flats of grass hold fish, but you either have to cover a lot of water with frogs and other weedless baits or you have to methodically pick them apart (not my preference). If the grass isn’t on the surface, then you have a lot more options. Depending on weather, shallow square bills, wakebaits, spinnerbaits (downsized), and chatterbaits will all work over the top. When the weeds hit the top you can pretty much put those all away. Then it’s Texas rigs on the edges, jigs and Texas rigs pitched to holes, and weedless on top. Swim jigs can work through the grass and are productive. Most lakes here don’t have timber or brush so when you find it, fish it methodically. A boat will be your friend most places around because of near shore grass and bankside vegetation.

In no particular order and mostly ignoring color. sexy dawg black buzzbait (swinging sugar buzz currently) bladed jig (1/2 oz tremor) with trailer 3/8 swim jig and keitech trailer dt6 og6 1/2 oz red eye shad 1/2 oz spinnerbait full sized beaver for both jig trailer and Texas rig a pitching jig (dredgers currently)

im surprised the bayou is only 1/8 oz lighter than the amistad given the 4” difference. I’m sure is feels a lot more in hand because of the length difference but that’s surprising. I considered both when I bought the amistad and picked the extra length for pitching rather than the shorter for frogs (my plan was double duty).

I learned to cast on basically that reel. I think it was the next model newer. This was around 1988 or maybe 1989. I think the gear ratio on mine was 5.1:1 (maybe 5.6:1) but also the spools were smaller than todays spools so actual retrieve was around 24-26”. Give it a good clean and lube and it’s perfectly fishable.

Cottonwood tree. Common around the Great Lakes for sure. When I was living near Cleveland and they are in full bloom, the carp in the streams would inhale the seed pod clusters. Biggest carp I ever caught was on a white Clouser sight fishing a drift that they were eating the seeds. That fish ate a 4” clouser and it’s mouth was so big the lure was inhaled sideways and didn’t touch the lips. That was fun on a 5 wt (I went for smallmouth that day). mono is easier to clean off than braid but the only way to really get it all off it so keep sliding it towards the lure and eventually retie.

Facebook marketplace and get a transom mount trolling motor for parts or not working. Take off the bits you don’t need and add a fin to the back.

thats me a lot of the time. I work from home and mostly only use my truck for fishing trips. I leave my gear in the truck basically all of the time. I’m fully loaded right now. I run an extension cord to the boat to charge batteries. if the truck is empty, it takes about 5 minutes to load up. My kayak is on a cart, so I back the truck part way into the garage, roll the boat over, and slide it in. Two straps later and it’s in. I keep my rods on the kart in rod holders so pull 6 rods and they go in the front seat. The motor, my tackle bag, and the helix go on the back floor. My sunglasses are always in the truck and I grab my hat on the way out the door. Rain jacket and bibs are hanging in the garage and get tossed in the back seat on top of everything. at the lake it depends on the ramp/launch. I too don’t like to be that guy holding things up especially if it’s a trailer launch and I’m dropping a kayak. That said, I’m usually on the water before everyone else so it doesn’t matter. I’ll back right down and drop the boat in, then load my gear (10 minutes tops). If no one around I’ll just leave it wherever is convenient. If people are trying to launch I’ll beach it nearby and move the truck first, then pull stuff out. If there’s a dock all the better. Only change is when parking is a bit of a walk. I’ll unload the truck quickly nearby but not put it in the boat. loading is similar in reverse but there might be a wait for the ramp so I’ll usually carry more loads back and forth so that I’m just tossing in the boat when I get there.

Not a raider, but my kayak does that. its a trolling motor in the front boat and if the rudder isn't down the boat can be 30 degrees off from the direction of travel at times. the rudder straightens it back out. I don't know of a made to fit rudder for that boat, but you could look at modifying a generic kayak rudder. They mostly use rope/cable to drive them through foot pedals or hand cranks. You could just bolt a piece of copper pipe to it with some elbows or you could mount it fixed straight but able to flip up and down. https://www.amazon.com/Rudder-Direction-Control-Steering-System/dp/B07JNVKYT6/ref=asc_df_B07JNVKYT6/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564740184919&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9469057734530149438&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003726&hvtargid=pla-1647092250473&psc=1

They still don't come into the boat. When I net them, I leave the net bag in the water and put my foot on the handle. I'm in a kayak so I am low enough to do that. They can thrash all they want in the water and they aren't getting hurt or sliming the boat. My net is 20"x21" hoop and it about that deep again. Not perfect for a big one and not what I would take if I was targeting bigger pike and musky, but it will do in a pinch.