casts_by_fly

Just leave them pin the original bags. I did that when I had the kayak. I put a 3700 together that was a mix of all the shapes, sizes, and colors of the core plastics that I always wanted to carry. Then I put everything else into speedbags. I still have the 3700, but when it mostly runs out I won’t refill it. The only reason I don’t undo it is because I don’t have the original bags now. On the flip side, when I put my Ned box together, I wanted to carry a range of colors but not loose. I took 2 or 3 similar colors and put a half or third of a bag of each into the other bags and basically made a mix pack. Since they are similar colors there is negligible bleed and they take up a lot less space.

I went to a new-ish to me lake last night. I fished it once, 3 years ago, in march, when the water was 43 degrees. I didn’t get the appeal. It is under 50 acres, the ramp is small (I didn’t realize you could launch a trailered boat there until I talked to someone a month ago), the lake is shallow (12’ max, mostly 4’ or less). But I talked to a guy at another lake who fishes this lake occasionally and his buddy got a big one there this year (a number I won’t type here because you won’t believe me). He was a legit guy and knew his stuff, so I believe him. So knowing that there is at least one monster in less than 50 acres of 4’ water, I’m inclined to give it a try. The ramp is sketchy. It’s all gravel, uneven left to right, and uneven of an incline. But there is a good dock and plenty of parking so I’ll manage. Electric only of course. And the cover is good, even ignoring the algal bloom and duckweed mat that was 40 yards from shore and 100 yards long. I caught 4, lost 2 more, missed a couple more early that swiped at things but didn’t get them fully. Once I slowed down my lures (downsizing weights to allow stuff to move slower) the hits were better. A bladed jig evo and a buzzbait caught them all. My other ‘pond like lake’ about the same distance away has been poor and super busy lately. This will take its place. Next April will be fun here. Tonight I had a free evening (gym trainer is away, wife was at dinner) so made a quick trip to the big pond. I only had about 2 hours and mostly it was a scouting mission to see if the fish were looking up yet. They were not. Bass were still deep. So were the cats. Also had a new lure to try that I was absolutely confident would catch fish after watching it in the pool. Thanks @Swamp Girl.

@Fishthunder- hang with it. The shimano MGL system is pretty simple once you get the feel for it and as long as you’re getting a good loading on the rod. Comparing the shimano SVS/MGL setup to the Daiwa SV Boost, the Shimano works best with a ‘steady’ rate of acceleration. The SV boost setup can respond quicker to sudden changes while the shimano system is a little slower. It doesn’t make it better or worse, just different. The 150/100 MGL reels will cast a mile. Tonight I was throwing a plopper and a sexy dawg distances that most can’t judge accurately. A plastic worm and modest weight isn’t too far behind. With what you’re throwing, you’re only just barely loading the rod tip and not much more. I won’t presume to know your experience level or technique, but light for the rod lures and heavy braid require all the work and finesse your wrists and arms can put into them. I would definitely suggest that if you’re going to throw a lightly weighted 5” senko on that setup that you swap to much lighter line. If you want braid, go with 30 lb (i like 832). The 65 lb braid is definitely holding you back with that. Once you step up to 1 oz total bait weight it won’t matter as much (though if distance is your primary aim lighter will be better still).

did you catch any where you were fishing?

@PhishLI- I totally missed his replies to you above. I think we have the answers. The rod is a hefty rod- rated 1/4-2 oz which in practice usually means 1/2 oz total bait weight to load it up as a start and really means it should be 3/4 oz TBW. Then 65 lb braid which is hefty for bigger stuff, let alone anything light. Then "1/8 ounce worm" which I'll interpret as 1/8 oz plus a decent worm- let's say a 5" senko since I know the weight of one (just under 3/8 oz). That puts the TBW as just about 1/2 oz which might be manageable with lighter line and a smooth casting stroke, but it isn't going to be a distance combo. So then you try to muscle it and that blows out the beginning of the cast since the rod isn't loading. @Fishthunder- throw a 1/2 oz jig plus trailer on there and get back to us.

I’m referring to the numbered dial on the side plate. That is the brakes. the knob that is next to the drag start/handle is the spool tension. With 4 brake blocks on and then the dial around a 4 or 5, you shouldn’t have any fluffing at the start of the cast. You should be able to do that with more or less zero spool tension on the other knob.

What dial number are you set on for the brakes? Getting out of 20# fluoro will be a big help. Fluoro in general wants to spring off the spool, braid doesn't. Are you getting overruns at the start or end of a cast? If at the start, the up the brakes a little more. if at the end, then use your thumb a little more (or add some spool tension).

@Bazoo - I think the answer depends whether you are predator or prey (or both). I'm sure that @T-Billy can talk all about how muskies are affected by sudden cold snaps in late summer/early fall and unstable weather (I'm pretty sure they turn on pretty good). Pike definitely heat up when it is cold water. Pickerel seem unaffected by anything- they eat anything that looks like a minnow in hot/cold/sunny/cloudy/stable/unstable/pre- and post- frontal.

you know, as much as I love good liquors, high proof bourbon and rye isn't my favorite. If I am drinking rye, it is usually in a cocktail. If I'm drinking bourbon neat, I want something easy sipping either on its own or with a little ice or water. I like and will drink a cask bourbon, but I'm going to throw a cube into it at which point I might as well have gotten the already watered down version at 43%. Yes the cask versions are more complex but for how I am drinking them there is no point. It is too overloaded in concentration of flavor and sweetness. Especially to pay the prices needed for a lot of them. Now cask scotch is another story.

either of the two longer ones will be good. a 2" might be a little short depending what you're going for. For specific trailers, the lake fork shad in 3" is a good shout. A tail from a longer straight tail worm (like a trick worm) is also a good choice. I haven't tried it, but the short spunk shad might work though the body is fairly thick still. And of course the tiny zako.

long ago before the bassboat we fished out of a 14' mirrocraft with a 25 on the back. No trolling motor for a bit, then a transom mount for a while. Rods laid down on the front or rear thwart and the reels hung down.

It’s kinda like fishing- it is only as complicated as you want to make it. Try light, medium, dark, big and small. Find what you like and try something else like it. If you want to get really into it and talk weird sizes, shade grown tobaccos from different places then sure you can get into it like anything. But it doesn’t have to be. You can catch a lot of fish with a $50 Walmart combo and a handful of mister twisters.

Thanks. Before I reread your first post, I had typed out a reply asking for which of the naturals you reccommended since there were a bunch of different names. Then I saw the 3000 reference. And it looks like the 2/3/4k models are the same blend but different sizes. So the 3000 is a box press? Or by named you mean with a non numerical name?

Thanks! I'll put a 300 on the list.

I think you're hitting a few things right for me. Longer cigars have been better and since I don't want a 90 minute smoke most of the time I am going long and skinny. Speed also. The couple I had this weekend were much slower (also that time thing!) and were better in that regard. A lot of what I have been smoking were maduro wrappers actually. And I'm finding that isn't necessarily my style. I like it when it is balanced by some sweetness or other flavoring like an acid 20 maduro or even a blondie maduro. A full maduro with a heavy filler isn't doing it for me. Next round I want to try some lighter wrappers and fillers, something in the truly mild but flavorful bucket. A longer cigar profile. Looking at a macanudo white churchill or ashton churchill. I'm still in the experimenting phase to see what is and isn't for me, so let's explore here now.

Glad you used hunting examples. Because we know you get skunked on cloudy days the same as you get skunked on sunny ones.

My only minor quibble with that statement is that I find cloud cover will extend the dusk/dawn period longer. A morning pre-sunrise bite will keep going longer into the morning if it is cloudy. On the days where it is crystal clear and the sun pops over the horizon I find the fish just about immediately change. This is probably because I'm targeting shallow water fish in the dark. When it is cloudy, they stick around a little longer. Similar on the end of the day. Sunny days hold the fish in their daytime pattern until well after sunset. I've found that it takes a solid half hour to an hour after sunset on a sunny day before the fish pull up shallow or move to the edge of cover. On the cloudy days, they will do that even before sunset since the sun is already obscured. This is where I've come to. I always thought that sunny days were always going to be hard days. The fish don't bite as well when its sunny. Then you watch the pro's hammer on them during sunny days. And then you have some sunny days on the water where YOU catch a bunch of fish. And then you realize that sometimes sunny days are hard days, but also sometimes cloudy days are hard days too. So go fishing every time you get a day available and figure out what the thing is.

Something not mentioned and that I think holds true (certainly for me) is the types of baits you fish and fish well. For the first 2 years after I got back into bass fishing, I was heavy on moving baits and chasing active fish. Blasting down the blank with a bladed jig or topwater looking for actively feeding fish (i find) is going to be more successful on cloudy days. But if you're adept at throwing bottom baits, plastics, and finesse (I was not at the time) then those sunny days can concentrate the fish in areas of heavier cover and you get into some numbers. My 3 best days for numbers on my home lakes were all sunny, still days.

Falcon cara Amistad for most things. I don't have heavy punching or crazy cover, so 20 lb big game on an amistad will be good for an ounce of weight plus a plastic in anything I am fishing.

Largest diameter? 20 lb big game at 0.018”. I also fish 22# sunline shooter at 0.0159”.

It’s a custom rod for a customer. You better know.

I've built a bunch of them and have at least 3 downstairs still (2x 6'6", one ML/MF and one M/M, plus a 9' steelhead float rod). I couldn't tell you how many I built and sold as it was ~20-25 years ago that I was doing it. I did a 3-guide twist. Somewhere around 20-30 degrees for the top guide, then two wrapping around before the 4th guide was 180 degrees off the reel seat. I liked a little higher guide for the first one so that it gave a little more flexibility in where it went up the rod. The extra height let it set off the blank just a little so that when the first guide was offset 20 degrees there was a straight line path to the 180 guide. The 180 and beyond were micro guides (or as small as I could get away with). The 2 in between guides would be whatever worked for that rod. You can get away with 1 fewer guide since the line is under the rod. In some cases 2 for a longer rod. is there a big performance benefit? I'd argue not for a bass rod. Sure they are more stable when under load, especially if you're trying to horse a fish up out of the deep. But I also have no issues with standard rods in that same scenario. One fewer guide sure seems like a benefit for crispness, but when you're talking about a #4 single foot guide there is a negligible difference. There isn't a casting benefit and I'd argue that there might be a detriment since the line doesn't have a straight path from reel to tip top when a lure is flinging through the air. It might help with braid wrapping a tip top, but I think the advantage is slight if any. All in, it might have a tiny advantage in stability with basically no downsides otherwise. If I was building a rod now I would probably do it, but only because there is no downside to it. Now if I was building a 50# class boat rod then that's a totally different story. And @Chris Catignani- the spiral ALWAYS goes on the side of the reel handle. 😉

hi gents, I smoked a couple this past weekend. Slower and less frequent was better. Still had a bit of the bitter/acrid on one of them but I think that just wasn't my style. I wasn't terribly enjoying the first third either so there's that. @Junger- I've been buying online. The nearest good cigar shop is a solid 45 minutes with no traffic and not in a direction I'm normally driving. I had a couple that I had smoked that I knew I liked so I've gone from online reviews and descriptions and then branched out. I pick up 8-10 different sticks that sound good and try them. If I like them, I explore some more near it. I'm learning that I like a shorter smoke (30-60 minutes) and a longer but skinnier cigar. On the small end, a petit corona. A standard corona or torpedo is also a good shout. I am liking box pressed also. I had some short and fat ones and that wasn't my preference. I'm liking the infused/flavored side. If not flavored then something middle of the road flavor profile wise. a big maduro is just too much. I wouldn't mind trying a green.

Yeah, that's my thinking. It is an auto resetting breaker either in the back (less likely) or in the motor itself (more likely). But checking for one in the back of the boat is super easy to check. if that's the cause, it would cut out at higher amperage until he turns it off and it resets.

it sounds like you have a breaker tripping from high amperage. When in the water, the load on the prop is enough that it pulls more current than if you're running it in just air. Check if you have a breaker in the area of the batteries. That would be the ideal scenario if that is tripping (has gone bad) and needs to be replaced. If not, it could be inside the motor itself.