casts_by_fly

I have and use the Yum FFS heads. They aren't cheap but they are good. They have a 1/4 oz with a #1 hook (which I use for 3" minnows in deeper water). I also use the VMC mooneyes a bit. The keeper isn't great at holding, but it also doesn't tear up a bait. A spot of superglue sorts out the holding portion. Again, not cheap but they are a good hook.

I have a big one (1 oz I think). The big blade adds a lot of lift so if you want to crawl a vibrating jig then this one is the one. I can fish a 1 oz big blade about the same as a 1/2 oz regular. That said, I haven't found the right use for it so it probably comes out of the box this winter. if you like that erratic darting action, Siebert Tremors will do the same.

I managed to get out for an hour and a half or so tonight. I’m fortunate to have a couple lakes that are ~30 minutes away that are worth fishing so being able to leave home at 2:15 when sunset is about 4:30 means getting some quick fishing in during NJ November. I had low expectations considering the water is about 50 degrees right now, so my plan was to check out a couple rods I had in the basement and see if they were jerkbait appropriate. My plan for next year is to include jerkbaits much more than I do now because I’ve not done that properly yet. First point, the old St Croix Avid 6’6” crankbait rod (3/16-1/2 oz, M, mod) is a pretty good jerkbait rod. For that 3/8 oz bait range, it throws them well but has a lot of movement in the tip that you can really rip it in hand and not move the bait much. That’s good because I’m aggressive. The only downside is that I built it with a short rear butt and I like a LOTTA butt right now. That’s okay when I’m working it, but I have to watch when I’m casting. I think with a zillion it should be really good. It also works with all the weights I want to throw. Second point, pickerel really like a jerkbait. I knew that, but apparently in a lake that I didn't know had them, they will show up. I was just graphing around looking for structure or bait and found some cover instead. I had put a 6-8’ jerkbait on my Cara BFS rod to see if that was a good option (rod and lure combo) and it turns out it’s fine. With 8# mono it goes down to about 8-9’ (on a 6-8’ jerkbait) but with a 7’2” rod it’s a little long in the front of the boat. I’ll choose the 6’6” next time, but 22” pickerel on 8lb mono in open water is pretty fun. After deciding that I didn't need a new rod (monkey says BOOOOOOOO!) I started graphing around the lake and found some rock piles that were interesting. I dropped the trolling motor in and there was bait. Of course seeing the above you can see the fish hassling the bait. This is the ideal scenario. I had some fish looking at a jerkbait earlier that might or might not have been bass but this was clearly a fish eating bait. I made a couple casts with a 3’ mooch minnow on a 3/16 head that was already tied on but that wasn’t enough for the 30+’ that the fish was in. I grabbed a 3/8 oz head with a 5” driftfly previously advertised here and it took 2 casts. The first wasnt’t close enough but the second dropped it into the ball and after letting it drop through the bait ball the fish hit when it cleared the bottom edge of the bait. There was no question. This fish was eating which was great. About a 3# fish at 17 chunky inches. Amazing how quickly they can inhale a 5” bait. I think I have a feel for how this lake will lay out this winter so that’s a good option for future reference. I know 1 bass isn’t a blockbuster but it is a future pattern for making it work in winter. A bass here or there when the water is below 50 degree as is winning to me, and I’ll remember that in December and January. Also, because @Swamp Girl likes scenery, here you go.

I don’t have an expride (yet) but the gap between the zodias and the PA is pretty small. I can see a space for the expride, but it is going to impinge on one or both of those lines.

@king fisher just explained it perfectly for me. Across the year (my waters go from clean to grass filled and back) and across the different lakes (natural, man made, bigger, smaller, remote, dock lined) with both large and smallmouth available I use a lot of the breadth of the lures I have. All of the skirted baits get use, a lot of the plastic shapes I have get use. Where the differences is, is that mostly my water is clear. That gives a certain color set that I gravitate to which means I use 30-50% of what I carry. But then again, you go to a new place or go there after a unique event and suddenly the color pallet changes. And then you’re very happy that you have the other 50-70%. I’m also pretty critical about what stays in the boat. I think AJay does a similar exercise and I started to do it after seeing his posts. I’ll try a couple new things per year and add in some stuff. But at the end of the year whatever isn’t working or isn’t producing gets trimmed out. Maybe not entirely, but I’m not going to carry multiples of something that I might not even throw.

@Jar11591 that was our wind for the past two weeks. Finally getting back to okay here. Tomorrow looks particularly wonderful. I'm hoping to get out since it will be my last chance for two weeks.

@Bigbox99 not sure who that last post was asking, but my logic for this is simple (I didn't elaborate much in the prior posts). The OP is throwing something in the 1/4-3/16 oz range for total bait weight. From a casting rod perspective, that will sit you around a ML/M for casting purposes. You might have a MH that will do it if you have one with a light enough tip. In a spinning setup, you have more flexibility when you get into the heavier rods to still be able to throw lighter lures. On the cover side of this, he's throwing back into fairly thick pad fields. This isn't an edge of the pads affair (where a ML would be fine). He's throwing it truly into the pads where you need enough oomph to pull them back out or to hold them in place long enough to go in for them. That's getting into 15 lb big game at a minimum or heavier mono or 30-40# braid (I prefer heavier for this application personally). Neither of those choices is going to fish well with a Medium baitcaster. The 30# braid might be okay, but even with 30 lb braid I wouldn't trust a medium baitcaster to be enough horse power. So practically speaking he's going to need a 1/4-3/4 spinning rod with 30-40# braid (15 -17 lb mono would work but be a pain to manage on a spinnng rod). Nothing to do with speed of casting or accuracy necessarily, just sheer power and managing the cover.

We got our first snow overnight. As predicted from my prior post, this one actually stuck a little to the ground and didn't instantly melt since the ground is getting cold now. And as predicted, traffic into work today was 10 minutes more than it needed to be. No accidents, just people being dumb.

marketplace and keep your search radius local to what you're willing to drive. Now is the time to be looking as guys are gearing up over the winter for the new season starting.

@Bigbox99- not throwing them into pads like the OP you wouldn't. You'd throw the pit boss plenty well enough but you wouldn't get one back out of it.

I have them in spinning. 7'2" ML and the previous gen 6'10" UL/M. Then the zodias 6'9" ML current gen. The PA is a little lighter for sure. Certainly in hand the 7'2" PA is lighter than the shorter zodias. The grip and palm swell in the PA feels better to me than the zodias. It isn't much different, but you notice swapping back and forth. I don't fish the same baits side by side on the two so I can't say for sure on sensitivity.

Mine stays green until it is covered by white. Or torn up by the dogs into mud. A good fall feeding program and some October rain will sort that right out. Irrigation works instead if you have it.

You need a MH spinning rod and 30-40# braid.

Titanium framed SiC was my high end guide of choice for long steelhead rods like 13’ float rods and ultralight 11-12’ spinning rods. The single foot fly guides were similar weight to a wire fly rod guide but with the added line protection of the SiC ring. But they definitely are/were expensive. Almost $100 for a set of guides for a rod like that. But there were things you could do with those that weren’t achievable otherwise. I can’t imagine what torzite would be like.

JDM reels have different handles than USDM as well in some sizes. If you are ordering from Japan, take note.

@TnRiver46 - that’s the next step I think. I doubt many here even noticed the icy puddles today. But that’s the first step for the next storm to make it bad. 4” of snow on warm ground is just a mud bath, but otherwise harmless. 2” of snow on freshly frozen asphalt before people have gotten their winter driving practice is just a mess.

There are signs of seasonal changes that when you see them you just know what they mean. The first snowfall in November doesn’t mean a whole lot for me other than cold damp air coming from the north. This morning though, I noticed that every roadside puddle was frozen, some frozen solid. That’s a big cue that the ground has lost its heat. It isn’t long after that when the lakes start to get skim ice at night. Our 2-week forecast is 50/30 with some sun so that should delay things a little but water temps are going to be dropping a few more degrees imminently.

@Pat Brown I may have to adjust your dates a little since March is usually half iced in here but point taken. I grew up throwing the original rat before Mann’s bought them out on ponds and grass mats. Back home, the ponds would get pretty matted in the summer and that was about the only thing you could fish. We caught tons of fish on them so I still throw them for that purpose in the lakes around here. And I do throw them in the way you’re describing- general cover fishy water type. I just find that they don’t work as well for me as other stuff. I’ll throw a buzzbait into the same areas and get bit when a frog is ignored. The most recent one was the little lake I fished on Saturday. In sept and Oct I fished the same lake a bunch of times. Shallow sporadic grass with a ton of duckweed at the time that would slop up. I threw a frog all through it and couldn’t buy a hit. I swapped to a buzzbait and was straight into fish. I’m not giving up on them as the bite will turn on one of these years. I just think that so many guys fish them here that the fish are used to them. Jerkbaits though, they will get some play this winter and next spring.

@rangerjockey the experts are $220 now with the refresh and I expect the Cara’s will hit 270-280 on a refresh. it’s a fair question. I still think the Cara at 250 is the best value to money on the market but there are some legitimate contenders. @Brycecover- just fish it. Comparing to the 7’ all round is a bad comparison. The all round has a pretty soft middle so it flexes a ton in the hand and on the water. It’s actually too much for me for most things. The finesse jig is a much faster action with a fairly powerful middle compared to the all round. But once you start fishing it you’ll see that it isn’t stiff at all.

Well, then that’s really helpful. if there are not fish ‘shallow’ then you can eliminate that water. And I bet on a lake that size there is a lot of water that is less than 4’. If that’s the case, then you can eliminate all that water. On top of that, 4’ or not much more is my usual limit for topwater fish and certainly in the cold water. So put them away. So then where were the fish that hit the big swim bait? And what is big? If you’re throwing a 6-8” swimbait, then downsize in the same area to a 2” smaller than you just threw swimbait. A 3-4” swimbait crawled slow through the same area might be an answer. And if you’ve found fish in that area through a bigger swimbait then I’d pick up a different lure the pepper the area. I’d start with a smaller swimbait of the type you threw but be open to another options that isn’t dissimilar. A Carolina rigged fluke this time of year (on a long leader for instance).

Splitting between Flor de Cana 18 and Penelope Toasted. A couple cigars with them sitting outside while my wife is out for the night. I can’t complain.

I totally hear what you’re saying. At the same time, every lake is different. if the bass aren’t eating those big gizzards then no point in using big shad imitations. The lake I fished today has big golden shiners, minnows, and bluegill. I can watch the goldens on FFS cruising in the open water. I’m sure the fish eat them when they come around but the bass are up in the shallows still eating bluegill. Every bass I caught today was in 2’ or less and the water was 47 degrees. Open water had nothing going. I scanned the middle 60% of the lake and fished a bunch of any piece of covert I could see but there was nothing there. The bass were stuck against clumps of remaining grass in sunny areas. The thicker the better. That might not be typical of your lake but if what you’re doing isn’t working, then look for fish doing something else. Today, all five bass were in a 60 yard stretch and came in a 1 hour period where the sun was high and the wind was low. When the wind kicked up and it got cloudy everything shut down. This time of year, the fish are concentrated a bit more, the bite windows are more concentrated, and they are more particular on what they want. If you know this lake, then fish where they were with what you know they eat. And be there when they are eating.

It’s been super windy here the past week (15+ most days) which has kept me home. This morning was 2-3 mph with a high of 5 mph for the day and that’s what played out. I slept in to see my wife out for a girls brunch and left to get on the water for noon. The sun was shining, the wind was nil, and there was no one when I pulled in. Plan achieved. Or so I thought. The water still had a HEAVY algae bloom going on. 8” visibility or so. And it was 47 degrees. Cold water with low visibility is tough conditions. No matter. The fish still have to eat. Caught 4, missed another that grabbed it and ran straight at the boat before I had even clicked the reel over. biggest fish just under 3#. I’ll take that for 47 degree water and 47 degree air in November in NJ. And because @Swamp Girl loves scenery, here you go.

@Swamp Girl with a tree that sized that you know holds that many bass, I’d carry a small anchor for it. Anchor 90’ away or so and start from the outside. You’d be surprised how many fish are out much further than you’d expect. I’ve seen it on FFS on a couple laydowns on my lakes. It’s tempting to make that perfect cast right up into the V of the laydown that’s almost on shore but when you do the others just drop away into deeper water. Like fishing docks, start on the furthest outside spot until they stop eating. then go 10’ closer. And then with an anchor you’re not getting pulled into it.

Working through the Oliva G double toro (6x60) at the moment and am 2/3 through. It is an excellent stick that doesn’t excite me. The construction and draw are great. The first third was dark and creamy and quite nice, the middle third was less creamy and similarly nice. The back end is good. But there is nothing that is exciting me about it like the melanio. One thing it has done though is changed my opinion of large ring cigars. Not sure why I didn’t like them before. Maybe because I was smoking them while fishing and they are harder to manage that way. last night I had the best cigar I’ve had yet though. A couple weeks ago I had the padron 4000 maduro and loved it. Flavor was excellent and to my tastes but on top the burn was the most perfect burn and draw I’ve had on any cigar ever. No touchups. 2+” of ash. I got a last minute invite from a friend to go to a local cigar lounge for a drink. I had wanted to try a next level up Padron and they had the 1964 maduro diplomatico (about 6x52 box pressed). Phenomenal. There is a 6x52 torpedo that will make its way into the house here soon. A box is maybe more than I want to spend, but I think I will get a 5 pack and set them aside.