casts_by_fly

@HawkeyeSmallie- the type of grass also makes a difference. Thin stringy stuff like chaga or dying milfoil won't affect the action as bad but are harder to shake off. Things like curly or wide leaf pondweed there is no hope most of the time. A weedless vibrating jig can help in some circumstances also. Throw a queen tackle switchblade onto one of your swimjigs if the weedguard is the issue. That is how my dad fishes all of his vibrating jigs. It helps around brush for sure.

@HawkeyeSmallie vibrating jigs work excellent around grass. But it can't be the extra thick stuff that a swim jig will get through better. And if you're catching grass then as soon as you feel it on the lure you gotta pop it through. Most of the time a good pop with some slack after will clear it (and trigger fish).

@Team9nine- I've been thinking about sinking braids this year for FFS purposes. I'm fishing a lake now where I'm targeting some fish down to 60' and starting to see the impact of regular braid floating up in the column a big higher. I'm throwing 131 and 832 (both in 10#, 0.008" dia). How would you compare the stiffness/handling and abrasion resistance of Gsoul vs either of those?

@Banned User Here you go. Fully intact and usable at the top. New guy in the middle. Rusty hook and retired at the bottom. Also, the rust is an issue, but fixable. Keeping them sharp is the bigger problem.

@Banned User

For me it depends on how thick the grass is but for the most part that's my sweet spot for the falcon heavy cover jig.

@Bigbox99- Yes. The key with the lighter tip rods is getting enough into the bend and power zone. Solid tip are going to be super extreme in that regard. I have the poison adrena UL/M spinning rod which is basically a medium power in the bottom 1/2 but an ultralight top 1/4 and fishes like the solid tip rods. I've lost a couple fish on it that were out there and deep because I didn't set the hook enough (into the medium power section of the blank). You actually have to drive it home and not just feel the rod load up.

The action is where the rod bends. A fast action rod has a fairly light tip that transitions into the power section of the rod quickly. A slow or moderate action rod will have a proportionally stiffer tip and less power further down the rod backing it up such that it flexes more fully. Power is how much force it takes to bend it there and how much power there is to fight fish. Regardless of the action, an ultralight isn't going to have that much power to turn a hard fighting fish or set a thick wire hook into a bass's jaw. An extra heavy powered rod is going to take a good bit of force to flex it whether it is a fast action with a lighter (proportionally) tip or an old slow fiberglass rod. When you set the hook on a fast action rod, the tip gives way quickly and the power that is higher up the rod takes over to drive the hook home. On a moderate rod, the top third of the rod flexes quickly and then continues to flex deeper into the rod. How much power it delivers to the hook depends on the power of the rod. A moderate action with heavier power will take a good bit of force to flex which means it is putting a good bit of power into the hook point. A fast action with heavy power will do the same, just with the upper part of the rod. They feel different, but both will get the job done. All of that is to say, you have to try both and find what works for you. If you're throwing 14# mono and also using it for topwaters, then to me that is medium heavy/fast action. That is almost exactly what I'm throwing for the same things. I run 16# supernatural mono (which is about the same size as 12# trilene) and a head turner (6'10", heavy/fast though it is falcon 6 power heavy which is like a MH+).

@throttleplate @Kirtley Howe - Crabgrass germinates in the spring, so put down preemergent in March/April and it will knock most of it out.

We got to see that a couple years ago in the outer banks. We were in a big house with a great view and there was a massive shoal of bait that came in close. And then the sharks showed up. Spinners started jumping out of the water like crazy. It was awesome to see Oh dear! I hope it was yours! For me personally, I’ve had some awesome encounters. One particular lake nearby that was kayak only had a pair of bald eagles around. Every year around March they would be around. I’d often only catch 2-3 fish but the eagles made up for it. Same lake, different day, as I left there was a black bear right on the road. We have them around, but it never gets old. On the big pond with all the people, I was going down the bank and saw something moving. Turned out to be a mink using the docks as entry points. It went in and out for a hundred yards and it was super cool to see.

Fast or moderate, braid or mono. It is all personal preference. You have to find what works for you. For ME, I like mono and a fast action with pretty good power. I’m fishing medium cover, not huge fish. Some hit it when it hits the water and the fast action accounts for my lack of attention. Some hit it on the way home on a tight line and the lighter tip lets them get it before I set the hook.

If it is algal bloom (common this time of year), the fish will pull tight to cover for the first couple days. It makes tough fishing. Fish that are used to perfect visibility which moves to far less (algal, muddy doesn’t matter) will stop eating for a minute. If you have to, then slow and tight to cover. Once the fish have had a minute to acclimate, then vibration baits will do well for a good while. if it persists, the fish will acclimate and go back to normal. In that middle period, chatterbaits in darker shades are my option.

My first thought was “they don’t”. Big NJ bass are hard to come by. I still have yet to land a 5# fish. 4-15 is my biggest but plenty of 4# fish. But, within the bounds of length vs weight in the intention of this thread, I think my get thick with girth and bait. A 20” fish is right at 4.5-4.99lb. I weigh every one in that 20” class and that’s right where they are. I have some that are big heads, some that are thick guts, but none are overachievers.

@Munkin The specific one is an old Hart throb spinnerbait. It is a compact frame size, little heavier wire, and tapered head. The blade is the same as a #5 hildebrandt more or less. It is maybe 1mm smaller in total length (same width) but the hilde is maybe a half mm not as deep. I was putting in a TW order anyway, so I got some 5 and 6 hildebrandt blades plus a pair of 3/8 oz Boss heads. I mocked up a pair with some takeoff skirts and they are thumpers. The #5 is pretty close to what I had. The #6 is pretty close to what I was looking for. I think the Boss wire is a little thinner and the geometry is a little off (I bent it a little to get closer) but with the #6 blade I was reeling it so slow in the pool (to keep from blowing out) that it was just about hovering. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/BOSS_Shad_Head_Spinnerbait_Body_2pk/descpage-BSHSB.html A little more play, maybe a different wire body (heavier, to not bend out on fish). But I’m close.

@WRB-2.0 So glad you like it. I’ve only fished mine a little this year. It was mostly the spawning season Ned bite. I should throw the neko rig on it more since the Cara bfs and my poison adrena are pretty similar in action and power and the neko on the PA has been one of my two main things this year. Not sure if it is a thing for you, but I did the fish the Cara with the bitsy sexy dawg for a while and it’s a nice pair. It is just over 1/8 oz so definitely spinning rod territory but the rod and a BFS reel handles it.

Yamamoto d-shad

I’ve been using a 2 gallon can and topping up at home. I have filled up by pulling up to the pump, but the gas stations here aren’t long enough to let me do that and not be blocking something. And on my boat the transom has to be pretty close to level with the pump based on where the tank access is. It’s just easier to grab a 2 gallon can and fill the truck up at the same time.

A quick google search didn’t pull up the huge spool at that price for me. For that price I can see why you’re considering it. If a 3k spool and a 10k spool are the same price, you might as well get the big one. If nothing else, change your line out twice as frequently. To your other questions, BG won’t cast as far as braid. But also the level of stretch is just fine for a kayak. The whole ‘the boat moves’ problem is overblown. A hook set is so quick that you’ve either made the hook set or not before the boat has started to move. I fished supernatural and suffix elite which are both far stretchier.

Or a dowell rod and a couple strong toes...

if you scroll to about 3:56 into the video as he's going up the tiny creek, you can see JC make 4 different styles of cast on 5 casts. A loose roll, a sidearm cast, and pitch, another sidearm, and then a real looping roll cast. I don't know what Ike is talking about with an overhand roll cast. I can only imagine that it is when you have the lure at the water level, tip of the rod kinda in front of you but still leading the bait back and kinda to the side of you, and in one motion you pull the lure out of the water backwards and low, roll it up and flick it over the top of the rod towards the target. That's pretty useful if you're sitting down and close to the water. It gets the lure out of the water and onto a cast in about 3/4 of a second. I can't be sure that's what he means. What I can be sure of though are two things: 1- I would kill to have that creek in JC's video available to me around here 2- Just watch the ease and casualness of JC fishing all the little nooks going up that creek and tell me he hasn't done it a million times.

a big honking white spinnerbait with two whirring chunks of metal might be the least natural thing in the water and they sure catch a bunch of fish. I’d agree that a swim jig is more subtle. And sometimes that’s what they want. One year for me that was the ticket. The year before was a bladed jig. This year I’ve caught a bunch on a spinnerbait and a bladed jig with nothing on a swim jig. Every day is different, every lake will vary. If there is scattered grass and relatively still conditions, a bladed jig is my choice. More grass and sun goes swim jig. A little breeze but sporadic cover (or anything wood) and I’m throwing a spinnerbait. I’ll usually have two of the three tied in at any given time until the fish tell me what’s working that day.

Are you sure you're looking at the 10k yards spool for that price? That is the MSRP for the 3600 yard spool. using MSRP: 900 yd - $12 3600 - $45 10800- $120 So for 4x the price of a quarter pound spool you save...$3. if you go with the 3lb spool vs the 900 you save..$24. And have $120 tied up in line for the next couple years. If you're putting 150 yards on a spool (twice what I'd be putting on, but let's go with it), you're going to get 6 fills from a quarter pound spool. If you're doing that once a year, that means you're holding that pound spool for another 3 years. For saving $3 over 4 seasons, I'd rather just ensure I have a fresh spool each year. Now, if you are putting that line on 6 rods and filling them every other month, then go for it. You'll need the 3# spool over the course of a season. For me, I'm putting about 75 yards on twice a year on any given reel. For my most used line (16# supernatural), two spools of 330 yards will do me for a season.

make noise. cause reaction strikes. Sometimes that's what the fish want.

Big game is cheap and everywhere. You can get it next day amazon if you’re suddenly short. And the bulk spools aren’t that much cheaper. Just stick to the quarter pounders.