casts_by_fly

@Mike L one of my local buddies is an Ashton Cabinet guy. That's what he likes and what he smokes. Pretty close match for your hampton court actually. A good stick, just not quite enough oomph for me.

I'm bringing this thread back around. I've worked my way though a few boutique type cigars now that have similar descriptions and tobacco origins/profiles but none have really knocked my socks off. I tried a few wildcards just because and the same. I explored some off the wall shapes and some classics. Shape/size- I initially started with corona types before realizing how much hotter they burn and the impact on flavor. About halfway through this thread I went bigger. We were on vacation and I grabbed a cigarillo. I've now had cigars from 23 to 70 ring gauge and 3" to 8". I grabbed some lanceros (7.5" x 38) not long back and while they look cool, the draw is crap on them. One of the two was hard work to draw and nothing I could do about it. I nearly cut it in half to make two coronas. For about the same amount of smoking time, a churchill (7 x 48) is a far better option (more on that below). I've come to like a larger ring gauge and my starting point for any new blend is 52-60 ring. A 60 is big (time is the limiting factor) but it's a popular size so there are a lot of good options. A 54 box press is probably my favorite. The 4x60 Nubs are a good choice for me when I don't have as much time as I'd like. Also, a little longer is a little better. Since I don't prefer the last 1/4 or or so of a cigar, just get a cigar that's an inch longer! I hate waste, but the price difference between a robusto (6x60) and a toro (6x50) is usually negligible. So pay the extra $1-3 for the longer cigar and enjoy it. I pushed this maxim a little to a 7x70 (Cao flathead big block) and while it was a great cigar, that is a 3 hour commitment. I was considering others in that range but that's a big challenge. If we were camping and just sitting around by the campfire all night or maybe a night in the fall when my wife is travelling and I'm sitting by the fireplace outside watching football. Tobacco- Nicaragua for the win for me. All of the cigars where I've been pleasantly surprised or just really enjoyed have been largely, if not exclusively, nicaraguan. I like a maduro wrapper. I learned that early on. You'd think I'd like a smaller ring to highlight the wrapper more but no. Sumatran and connecticut wrappers have been okay over Nicaraguan filler. This isn't to say I didn't like some others, but if I see nicaraguan ligero filler, then that's 3/4 the way to being in my shopping cart. Specific Cigars in no particular order Padron- still my favorite. The 7000 maduro (6.25x60) is a great anytime cigar for me. I just picked up a natural to see the differences. The padron 1964 diplomatico (torpedo?) is still the best I've smoked. The 1926 maduro are great but I'm not sure I prefer them to the 1964. All are in that 54-60 ring gauge and 5.5-7" length. I am curious about the family reserves now though.. Oliva- The melanio V are great. I prefer them to the regular V. The maduro versions are also very good. The melanio churchill was a great cigar to smoke with a buddy while watching a knicks game outside and sipping some great brown liquor. Oliva also makes the Nub series and I have been pleasantly surprised. The conneticut is lighter than my usual but has a great creamy/hazelnut/sandalwood flavor which is really good. I have the maduro and habano to try in the near future. Cao- the flathead series are awesome. I started with the 554 and moved up to the 660 and 770 which were both great. I have the 450 sparkplug and while it might end up a little harsh I am going to give it a try. They have the 860 resonator which will probably make its way to me at some point. Just a really great (rich and heavy) blend of tobacco. The rest of the Cao series haven't impressed me (italia, american monument, flavored) but the flathead series are awesome for me. Romeo and Juliette- most are just fine. I had some cubans from a previous trip abroad and they were fine. BUT I got a random Nicaraguan special reserve (real profundo) in a mixed pack and it was right up my alley. I have a second sitting here and if its a good as the first I will have to get a couple to hold onto them. Others- I tried the asylum ogre because the candela barber pole wrapper and availability in big ring sizes was appealing but it was boring. The Liga Zebra was similar for me. I grabbed some american viking and Gurkas and they were just fine. I'm still trying to come to grips with the My Father lineup which are so highly rated but that I haven't clicked with yet. I have a few other randoms that aren't worth mentioning.

Another DT fan here. Lot os pressure and clear water up here so I think the silence is an asset. I carry them from a 4 to a 20, but the 6 and 10 are my staples when I get throw a crankbait.

Weird. I ordered from plat a month ago, paid $12 for the parts, about that for shipping, and only had a $10 fee.

What Dwight said. I have three. I also have a pair of bantams and 3 Zillions. All excellent, just pick the one that you like the feel of.

I use three, for different scenarios, and all are different powers. All falcon. Swim jig (mh), head turner (light heavy) and the eye crosser (heavy). The swim jig has a really light tip and I use it when burning a compact 3/4 that has smaller blades and frame plus no trailer. The head turner is when I want a 3/4 to keep the bait down but otherwise I would fish a half. Not big blades, light trailer, mid depths. The eye crosser is when I am throwing a big profile double willow with a chunky trailer making for a 1oz plus total bait weight.

@Leeboy - if you have birds compatible with ML2, then get ML2 and add it to your network. if you’re planning to upgrade to Xplore/solix/apex series then get ML2 and network it. If none of those are true for you then you have a choice and will need a new head unit anyway. For instance, if you have a HBird helix network then I wouldn’t get ML1. But you could choose to get a new XPlore and ML2 to stay in the family. Then when you upgrade the helixes later you already have 360 and lakemaster. Plus you know the ecosystem.

@MassBass - that’s awesome. I used to do that all the time. It was mulberries for me. We also used to have the ’bread’ hatch where a couple of the restaurants around that were on the river had patrons that fed carp leftovers. A bread fly was a fluff of salmon egg yarn tied about 3/4” and shaggy, then coated with silicone floatant. Then there are the cicadas and cottonwoods. When the cicadas are hatching, everything eats them. But that’s not common given the life cycles. The cottonwood fall is something else. I caught it when I lived in Cleveland. I was bass fishing the river and came across a school of carp. They were sucking in the cottonwood seed clumps as they floated by so I grabbed a white clouser and ripper the eyes off. The first fish that ate it was a freight train of a carp. I had a shorter 5 wt and click drag reel. I was standing on a railroad bridge concrete base in the middle of the river so when it cleared the line and was into the backing I knew I had a problem. I jumped into belly deep water to get off the pillar (the shallow way off was the opposite direction) and chugged down river as quick as I could. He ran out of real estate with the riffle out so stopped enough to let me get some line back. After a bunch of tussle and nearly breaking a couple ankles I got him to hand. It was a 40” class fish with a head the size of a volleyball. It was a 30# class fish for sure. I’ve caught a lot of big carp and that was the biggest I’ve every had to hand.

Yeah, that’s a great little improvement. You don’t need pretty up there, just secure and functional. I made a little add to mine this week. My dad has two on his and with all the electric only lakes I load at, I am standing on the trailer a bunch. It’s just a matter of time before I slip off and he had a spare to give me so it’s a no brainer. I initially put it on the other side and when I went to step on it Wednesday the trolling motor was in the way… So it’s swapped. And I use the spare tire as a hand hold when I’m on the trailer anyway so there we go.

Ha! No. And definitely not retired. It’s Saturday, the dogs were awake, and the elites were on TV so I was warming up to the day with some BR.

While i can see where you’re coming from, with the advent of the internet you can see a picture of just what it is so descriptive colors like you might find in a mail order catalog aren’t needed anymore. I’m sure you also know that three of those are named by (or after) the anglers who developed them with Roboworm. And since they were successful with them they kept the core concept color and expanded on it (there must be a dozen Aaron’s variations). But I definitely don’t get how they got to margarita mutiliator (which is the base for MM3).

Not for bass, but I have a 9' casting rod in the basement that I used to use for steelhead float fishing. It will cast just like the rest of my casting rods though if I'm throwing a single bait. I bet it would bomb a 1/2 oz red eye shad or 4" plopper bait.

@Bluebasser86 - I'm totally onboard with all of that. I'm a very visual person and being able to actually see where the branches of a tree extend to out into the water makes such a difference. If you were to watch me and not see my FF, you would definitely wonder what the heck I'm casting at some times. Which is exactly this: "There's way more cover/structure in the lakes I fished than I ever knew." It makes sense when you think about it some times- a tree falls on the bank and the treetops had to go somewhere. Sure there is probably a fish right up on the bank under the trunk. But if you go straight there, you've just run over the fish that were in the tops. In the past, the mantra of "stay further back and make long casts" would have covered that some, but now I'm staying WAY back and still making long casts into the middle of 'nowhere'.

I've never used a split ring myself, only braid and wire. If you can tie a decent knot then the braid works well. Put a drop of superglue on the knot and that wire isn't going to bend out. If you can't tie the braid for whatever reason, then wire works also. You just have to be mindful of where you twist it and where the sharp ends of the wire end up so that it doesn't cut your line. I use needle nose pliers to tuck the cut end of the wire inside the wraps.

I missed this question earlier. If you're using an R-bend lure (spinnerbait or buzzbait) as opposed to a twisted line tie, then you can take heavy braid (I use 50 lb) and tie it at the base of the R-bend to close the loop. You only need a half dozen wraps. It prevents the bend from opening. I have done it with thin skirt tying wire on buzzbaits also. Others will use a very small split ring (so if you have a couple sizes then try that first). On the very bottom buzzbait in this picture you can see what I mean. That one looks like braid.

I had a minute so I checked LPO. None of the musky heads come in 1/2 oz which makes sense given the size of blades musky guys use. If you're set on a 1/2 oz then the heaviest wire is going to be an 0.040". But if you can bump up to 3/4 you can get that in an 0.045". Going a little heavier would allow you to put a bigger blade on for more thump in the water if that helps get them to bite. A #6 colorado on the back with a #2-3 up front with give a TON of lift to keep it shallow and give a ton of thump.

Jigman's link isn't working right now, but my suggestion would be to go to lureparts online and look at their spinnerbait bodies. They list the wire gauge for most, if not all of their bodies. Then just make them up how you want. Also, if you're using R-bend spinnerbaits, make sure you're using a braid or wire tie at the base of the bend. That will keep the bait from flaying out on a fish and preserve just how much you have to bend them back around.

I love how many different lures you've cycled through over the past couple years to catch fish. I remember when the plopper was your big numbers bait a couple years back, and a paddle tail before that. Now it's a texas rig. Who knows what the next one will be and that's the fun of fishing. You also have me thinking about my next trip challenge. First it was the all soft plastics, then it was the all spinning rods, and then all finesse. I think I might have to do a 'trick worm challenge'. Any rigging, any color or mods, any rods. But only a trick worm for an entire evening. Maybe next week.

Went to my recent favorite and location of my new PB 3 weeks ago. Last time there the grass was almost matted out in 6’ or less which is 1/2of the lake. I had planned to punch it all night but when I got to the lake there was a heavy algal bloom which must have been there for a while because all the grass in 3-6’ was dead. The grass in < 3’ was spotty in places too. On top of that, the duckweed was in full bloom which when mixed with the dead strands of milfoil made for some challenges. Alas, the bass were still chewing. Ended up with 19 for the evening with a 5-fish limit of 15-17” fish. Nothing big tonight, but a few decent ones. Not the night I was expecting, but I’ll take it any day. A thumper of a spinnerbait did all the heavy lifting tonight. I also found a new way to be injured by a lure. Hooks in the hand are a dime a dozen. Snagged hook ricochet to the shin? Been there done that. How about boat flipping a bass and as you’re reaching for the line to catch it, the bass flops off the hook and the jig you’re throwing wraps around your wrist, accelerating as it swings around, and smacks you right on the bone of a finger with the tungsten head of the bait. I thought I broke the bone it hurt so bad.

Just puta small lead acid as your cranking battery. Put your fish finders and trolling motor on lithium.

If you haven’t already gotten yourself some, grab a couple highlighter bait markers. They are easier to use that dip-it and then you can have a bright tail on any color bait, not just the ones they mold. Also, the trick worm just flat out catches fish. Rig it half a dozen different ways or more- Texas rig, split shot rig, weedless wacky, floating, neko, shaky head, etc. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Zoom_Dye_Marker/descpage-ZDM.html

That’s what I put in my boat when I rigged it last year. Check on the prices though. The same 100ah on LiTime’s website is $296 for one so you’re giving up $50 for nothing. And they are going on sale in 2 days.

@VolFan - totally different baits. The rage buzz minnow (not bug minnow) is a topwater lure that looks like a toad with a single tail. It fishes like a combination between a toad, a buzzbait, and a plopper.

About once or twice a year I tie a frog on anymore. I've tried more times than I should note with them around here and the bass just don't relate to them very well. I think a lot of guys fish them frequently and they see a bunch of them. If it is a day when the fish are looking up then you might get a couple fish on them. Low light late evening on a couple of the 'pond' like lakes I fish might get you one or two. But if I can throw anything else instead I will. Mats and heavy pads are the only places I'll tie them on anymore since you can't get much else through it.