casts_by_fly

I put together a 'big baits' rod to expand my capabilities last year. I already had the chronarch 200E so I grabbed a Falcon Cara big bait rod (1-5 oz, 7'9"). I'm not throwing monster baits (8" magdraft biggest) and I'm not doing it a ton so I wanted something that was good for the more modest 6" baits in the 1.5 oz range and also maybe useful for other things (this rod is great for punching 1 oz plus bait). For throwing a 6" magdraft or similar 1-2 oz bait this rod is awesome. It's just the right power for managing that size of bait easily- just like throwing a 1/2 oz jig on a much smaller rod. Going up to the 8" magdraft, it will throw it just fine, but that's loading it up pretty deep. That said, it will throw it 40 yards with no problem.

ha! Fuzzy ball urchin bait. Looks like a Koosh ball from the 90's and 2000's. Winning all the tournaments right now.

I have been amazed where I have stuck a KVD 1.5 this year and it’s come through cleanly. Tree tops in the water, chunk rock fields, you name it. Even trees out of the water where I missed on the cast it wouldn’t hang up. It runs a true 5-6’ watching it on FFS.

That’s including shipping (free shipping from Digitaka) but not the tariff sharing 10%. So that makes it $270 TYD. Same reel is $450 USDM. You’re getting a jdm zillion for the price of a USDM Tatula SVTW.

I’m in the faster action camp with mono or fluoro depending on the rod. The falcon head turner is my bladed jig rod. I have the expert and Cara series now. I’ve used the expert for 5 years and the Cara for five trips. The Cara will be the winner going forward I think.

I prefer a little shorter and the Cara eye crosser is my favorite. Just light enough tip for 1/2 oz frogs on 50 braid but a bunch of horse to get them out.

Still jdm zilllion, met, or bantam. All About $250 right now.

If it is clumps, I run a vibrating jig through it. Spoons across the top. If it isn’t topped out a wakebait or buzz bait over the top. Swim jigs where you can. And pitch the edges with Texas rigs or neko rigs. And punch through the thick stuff when you know where the bass are holding.

A buzzbait is my favorite because I can throw it just about anywhere, not get snagged, and it catches big fish. If they won’t break the surface, then a vibrating jig is my next bait for the same reasons as the buzzbait. Most of my fish are eating bluegills so those two lures are top runners. A single Colorado thumper spinnerbait would be my #3 or occasionally #2 depending on the cover I’m throwing into.

If I have confidence that fish are there, I will give it a good going over. The more confident, the more of a going over it gets. I’ll typically throw moving baits until I see what the fish are doing that day. One fish is just a fish, two is an inkling, and 3 is a pattern. One is a little confidence in a spot and will make me slow down, 3 is a pick it apart with 3 variations of a theme to pick it clean. If I haven’t caught a fish on a spot but still have faith that the problem is me, then I’ll try 2-3 things (usually a moving bait, a bottom bait, and a finesse bait) before moving on.

Headed home to SWPA for the weekend for a concert tomorrow and we came a day early to spend some family time. Of course that meant fishing on my dad’s largemouth lake. This was actually the earliest he’s ever fished it in the year (he goes elsewhere until now) so the grass was a little lighter and the water MUCH clearer (4’ visibility) than normal. No matter, the fish were still in the usual places, you just had to work for them. We got 19 between us with a 6-fish limit of 18-20” fish. Only took one sub par picture of one of the smaller ones to share here. Biggest of them would have topped 4# no problem and not pushed 5 by any stretch. That’s as close to a weight as I took on them aside from a super chunky 15-16” fish that we couldn’t agree on a weight for and actually weighed to settle the argument (he was right, I was over by 1/2 lb). Mish mash day for lures- buzzbait (biggest), trick worm (most), miyagi, rage bug, and vibrating jig all caught fish. I also got out on Wednesday for an evening session to the big lake back home. I thought the smallies I was hammering earlier would have pulled back to their summer patterns. They probably have but I haven’t figured out what that is yet. The plan was to graph around a bunch until I found bait and structure and then throw minnows, drag a jig, etc. Every time I found fish, it wasn’t bass. Caught a couple of those guys and while they are fun (and the bigger mat helps with slime containment @A-Jay ) they weren’t the target and I really want to figure out the summer smallies up there. With nothing playing deep, I went shallow and found a couple willing participants. There were still a few guarding beds I think, plus the resident small largemouth that are always there. Caught a couple, lost a decent smallie, but nothing to write home about. I did hear a loon though which I have never seen in NJ.

I know you say no reservoirs, but pretty boy has a bunch of big fingers that would each fish like a small lake. If you watch the wind direction and pick your days I’m sure you’d be just fine there.

For my lakes and fish, bringing it slow at the depth of the grass cover tends to be the right answer. In some places that means throwing into 8" of water and waking it back, most often it means fishing 1-4' and keeping it just out of the sight zone (given the clarity and light levels at the time). Occasionally that means slow rolling just off the bottom if the grass is only 6" thick or so. In that case I'll let it hit bottom on a cast, give it a little pop to clear the weeds, and roll it across the top of the weeds.

Like most fish, the more apex the individual is, the better conditions it gets whether that is spawning, feeding, cover, etc. The big ones push the little ones around. If you’re a spawning bluegill, you don’t want to be 12” from the shoreline in 4” of water where every avian predator owns you and if a bass wants you you’re pinned to the shoreline. So bigger bluegills will tend to spawn a little bit deeper with ‘how deep’ being relative to the clarity of the water and how good the bottom is there. Bass love spawning bluegills. Bluegills are dumb. When they spawn they are really dumb and stop paying attention to their safety. They will chase another bluegill or anything else off their beds and sometimes do it too aggressively. Find a spawning flat the size of a piece of plywood and then find the cover (usually grass) that is the closest to it. Throw something that is 3” long in a bluegill type color and pull it from the flat into the cover. Then set the hook. It’s not always that easy, but once the bass tune in to the bluegill spawn they will often eat them to the exclusion of all else. As for what baits? Anything that gets in and out of the cover you have and is in a bluegill type shape and color. Depending on the day, that might be a vibrating jig, a senko, a beaver bait, or a small Ned. A buzzbait does it too if they are looking up (try throwing a buzzbait up onto a bluegill spawning flat in the dark and pulling it back over the nearby grass).

Abel, The swim jig is definitely a medium heavy. The rating in the Cara (and the original lowrider) is 1/8-3/8 which would imply light spinning, but it's poor naming from falcon. It's the only rod in their lineup that is rated for the lure head weight, not the actual casting weight. So it is rated for a 1/8-3/8 oz swim jig which once you put a trailer on it is ending up in the 1/8-3/4 range. Which is what that rod is rated for in the lowrider series. In practice, it will absolutely fling a 3/4 oz spinnerbait and I've caught a ton of fish on it this year doing that. That said, when you are talking about a true 1 oz bait and approipriate single hooks, you really want to get into a 6-power in the falcon lineup. The 6 power is rated heavy, but it would be closer to a st croix MH (which I consider on the heavier end of MH for most of them). In the 6-power lineup in that 7'-ish range the answer is the head turner. 6'10", 1/4-3/4 rated but will take an ounce. Last I had it out I was throwing a 1 oz spinnerbait which will end up in the 1 1/8-1 1/4 range total bait weight. Fast action with a light tip. Lots of power up the rod. The heavy cover jig would also be good for that bait/hook range, but I put it on the MH side of the stated fast action and not on the faster side. If you're looking for F to XF then that's not what you're looking for.

I take 'small to medium' to be 5"-7", something like a smaller magdraft or a 6" trick shad. If you're talking single hooks in that 5-0/7 range then you really want a heavier power to drive it home.

Ignore the specifics of depth for a second, but what I'm reading is that you're standing roughly on the X and the far bank goes from shoreline to 'deep' very steeply (in this case to about 6-8') where a small ditch or drain would have cut against it before it was a lake. Then your side is more gradually sloped up. You want to fish a bottom bait slowly down that far bank, but once it starts over the hill it just tumbles to the bottom. About it? Assuming yes, then yeah that's about right. If the bank is super steep and doesn't have any ledges to stop on, then that's what will happen. If it is a mud bottom then you might get something to sink into it, but that's defeating the purpose. The real question is why is it important for the lure to stop halfway down that slope? Are the fish suspending halfway down it? Are you just trying to keep the lure at a given depth on that side? Many ways to skin a cat here. A very slow sinking weightless plastic will stay in the strike zone longer as it falls and is less likely to roll when it hits the bottom. A dropshot will keep the lure up off the bottom regardless of where the weight is. You don't say if you can cast from another spot, but paralleling the bank a little more (move up and left from my red X) is another option if access is possible.

I can't help you fix it, but I sure what to know how the heck you broke it!

As a reference point, my crestliner is about 1200# fully loaded including the trailer. Your bronco would have no problem there. And mine fits in a 20'x 8' garage with the tongue broken over and there is plenty of space to walk around the front of it (not step over). Of course I only have a 9.9 on the back so if you went bigger it would stick out more, but it would still fit. Fully loaded and professionally installed would put you about $25k plus whichever big motor you chose.

Not sure where you’ll be staying, but the Le Tort runs basically right through Carlisle. A quick google search will tell you a lot about it. Uber should be fine there and a 10 minute ride will get you onto the Connedoguinet creek which has good smallie numbers and would be fun wet wading with a BFS rod throwing little plugs and spinners.

Lots of differences in preferences for length, action, and power for those two presentations. More pertinent to your question, I don’t think a dedicated rod would help you. You said it yourself that with only four rods in the boat you need versatility and you also don’t throw a bladed jig that much. When you get to the stage that you always have one tied on one of the four rods or have multiples tied on multiple rods, then think about a dedicated rod.

Yeah, bring a rod. There are plenty of susky tribs to hit for bass or others. A few lakes and ponds in the area. And message susky angler here for more in depth. I used to trout fish that area a lot and my buddy is right up the road fishing the river.

Tb- the autopilot has a very limited prop selection given that the motor feeds down through the middle of the hull. Koz- I can tell you exactly what that better motor and electronics in a small aluminum add up quickly to…. And what resale might end up on the AP. You have more on it than I did but you’re not far wrong on your assumptions.

I have the poison adrena versions of what you’re looking at and camelback’s assessment fits them also. I use the 7’2” for general finesse (neko mostly) but have shaken a minnow on it. I have the M+ in the 6’10” solid tip and am glad I did. I wouldn’t want anything lighter for a 5” minnow and 3/16 oz.

I get the same most of the time on clear water with deeper fish. If they are at 15-20 and sitting still, then a jerkbait will pull them up to 10-12’ sometimes when they want something fished really slow. Most of the time though a minnow will do it also and it is better for chasing fish that are moving. I go 3/16 as my default for the sink rate (5” minnow) at those depths and if they are nosing it but not eating it I’ll drop to 1/8 and 4”, maybe a different color.