casts_by_fly

I worked at a fly shop one summer where the other guy and I would be on the front lawn all the time doing that. We wanted to make sure we were familiar with all the rods of course... I think we wore out a couple of the lawn lines that summer. the 8'9" st croix bob clouser special 7 wt was a favorite.

another for the heat shrink splices. That's what I used in the kayak for almost all of the wiring. So long as you get the right size and go gentle with the heat (just enough to shink the tubing and melt the solder, but not enough to melt the tubing) they lock up tighter than anything and are waterproof. And is is a soldered connection which is better than just a contact connection.

that double parallel track must be really nice for mounting heavy stuff. That was always the issue on the old town- single track made in plastic. A 9" graph mounted on a long arm in the middle of the track (halfway between the screws) would flex a good bit. If you put the base of the mount right where the screws held the track in you'd get more stability. Lots of guys upgraded to aluminum tracks which makes a huge difference. But I can see that 4 points of contact and a stiff plate would be far better.

true. But supernatural is thin, and slick with very low memory. It's diameter for its rated strength/test is much thinner as noted above compared to domestic lines. So if your goal is thin, slick, and limp, then you might be considering supernatural and suffix elite (also pretty decent in those areas). But they will have very different diameters for the same rating. 16 lb supernatural would be something like 11# elite (which they don't have but that would be the diameter). If you buy elite and supernatural in the same (or close) diameter they are going to perform similarly (with elite having a little more memory over time that doesn't go away with use in the water and a little less abrasion resistance IME).

I fish 50lb 832 and 20 lb big game. No issues with breakoffs with either.

It also makes a dandy buzzbait rod or a plopper rod.

the HCJ feels like the right rod for you. A 3/8 jig plus plastic is 6-power falcon territory as a starting point. Lighter and heavier rods will also do it, but that's the sweet spot for a 6-power which is the HCJ and the head turner. I don't have the SLX or invoker to compare. A 6-power falcon is rated a heavy by falcon, but it is on the lighter side of heavy. In a St Croix, some of their MH would be about the same power as a 6-power heavy Falcon. If the 7'2" MH SLX is similar to the 7'2" Curado MH, then the HCJ has a little more power, but isn't quite as fast an action (plus 2" of course). I use the HCJ with heavy mono or fluoro for bigger swim jigs (like a 1/2 oz SK pro tour swinging head with a 4.2 Keitech on the back) coming through grass (others are on my 7'2" swim jig rod). It's a great rod for that. I also use it for that same texas rig setup- 1/4-1/2 oz weight plus plastic so it will definitely double that for you. With 50 lb 832 this would be a good setup for what you're talking. One thing I like about it is that while it is a fast action, it isn't a jig and worm taper. It bends just a little deeper on a fish and keeps them pinned.

Around 1991 or so BASS started the Casting Kids competitions. Every trade show, tournament, etc had a booth set up. They would have regional qualifiers and then the national tournament. We really looked into it then because we were doing club tournaments and I was pretty good for a kid at the time. The competitions would be cans, buckets, or some other bullseye target on the ground that you had to hit or get close to, all of varying distances.

To expand on this a bit more, if I'm fishing a jig to a non-target (aka I'm not throwing it at grass pockets or laydowns) then I'll normally start with a swimming retrieve to cover some water and see how active the fish are. The as needed I'll slow down a little bit to a regular hopping motion. Then down to a dragging motion. Dragging is less useful for me in a lot of my lakes because they have a scum covering on the bottom that if you try to drag through it you'll just foul the head. So a hop normally pulls the jig up out of it. This scum is also why I normally fish a texas rig more than a jig.

What weight swim jigs? the lowrider swim jig rod would ordinarily be the starting point and I throw it into some heavy (for NJ) cover with braid, but it sounds like you're looking for a bit more oomph and length so the HCJ sounds right depending on the weight of the jigs. I assume you're talking braid for the new rod.

nice! that's a great one.

Yes

Clips or cps springs can be added to hooks to help. Hooks with a keeper up near the eye help. In a pinch, take a rubber bobber stop in a large hole size, hold it in a pair of pliers, and thread it up the hook (lighter wire hooks only obviously). I keep a couple 1/0 gamakatsu light wires with one on them for this purpose.

I'm a supernatural fan. That’s what most of my mono is. I fish 16 lb as my norm which is about the same diameter as 12 lb big game. Very low memory, easy to use mono. Abrasion resistance is low so not something to throw into heavy wood but vegetation and open water is no issue. It’s cheap to try and see if you like it but I’ve found it to be a premium line in performance within the limitations of abrasion resistance. I have it in the house from 6 to 16# for various uses.

Big game mono. As far as line goes, it would be up there with abrasion resistance. Something like a hard maxima might be better but it is stiff like wire.

My dad still has all of the old ones but when he pawned a bunch of gear off in my I got the planos we used in the early 90’s. There’s another over under in my basement also. This one is like brand new.

More abrasion resistant that big game is going to be a tough ask. That’s already well up there so I’m curious what you’re abrading against and if 10#big game is not enough you might need to think 15#. For my braid to leader I’m using sunline fc leader in 6/8/10 depending on the cover I’m in. 10# gets thrown into lily pads and I’ve not broken one yet.

My dad has the 7’ medium. I have the 6’9” ml zodias as well as the poison adrena 7’2”. The 7’ medium has a little more power compared to the 7’2” but it’s pretty close. The 7’2” has just a tiny bit lighter tip. But I’ve landed bass to just under 5# on it with no issues.

you won’t be sad about that setup. That’s exactly what I have and I love it. Sure, having a pair of 12’s on the console would make my life easier but the xplore touch screen and processor are so fast you can flick between views really fast while you’re looking.

If I had to fish a drop shot at night to catch fish, I’d stay home and get a good nights sleep.

You know, that's how I feel about buzzbaits at night. But with spinnerbaits I've had just as much success on white and white/chartreuse. The blade is what they are eating. I suspect that I could take the skirt off completely and it would still work with just a split tail trailer.

That's Cara territory for me. They are $250 right now and I expect they are going up to $280 shortly.

I said it in one of your report threads, but since this thread title is searchable I'll put the same info here. I'm with you that I don't want the fish out of the water as much as possible. 10 seconds for a quick snap and be done with it. My net works to leave them in the net in the water while I grab my phone and pull up the camera. So all that's left is how to hold them. I also don't care enough about the pictures where I'm going to set up something additional that I don't already have. I love AJay's setup for landing fish and getting pictures- super slick. That's just more than I want to do so my phone sitting in the console cupholder next to the seat where I land fish is about as much as I'm putting into it. I've come to prefer the hand behind the fish's head. You can hold them out an arm length so that your phone doesn't have to zoom out to a weird perspective. You aren't stressing the jaw by holding them at 90 degrees, and you have your hand and arm for perspective. Looking through the below pics, you can tell which fish are bigger and which are smaller based on how much of my hand you can see and where my hand wraps under the chin. If my pinkie finger is down past the end of the gill plate, you know it was a tough day of fishing and I'm taking pictures of the little ones.

If night fishing isn't for you then don't do it. That said, I love it. I assume you read the night fishing primer that AJay typed up a few years ago. I'm sure someone will share it here. I can't help with smallies at night. But I can tell you that this time of year, nighttime is when the bigger largemouth come out to play. And more fish come out to eat also. They get more reckless and if you maintain some stealth they will eat more readily than during the daytime. You don't say if you're fishing from a boat or shore. A boat offers more options for positioning, but I've caught a ton of fish at night from shore in the past. A breeze does NOT take topwaters out of play. If anything it makes them more in play. That ripple on the water breaks up the outline of everything so fish that are looking up are less likely to be spooked by you in the first place. You might want a little louder topwater depending what you're throwing. A buzzbait is my choice since it is basically weedless and largely snagproof. A spinnerbait is probably my #1 (or 2) fish catcher at night. As long as you can get it near but not burried into the cover they will hammer it. A bigger colorado blade that puts out thump is what you're looking for. I've not found color to matter much on a spinnerbait at night and will fish white, black, and bluegill equally. But you need a thumper.