casts_by_fly

definitely not interesting to them. Possibly active avoidance. Deterrent in fact. You’re just a long mud flat they have to get past.

Supernatural is my go to. I’ve got it on 3/4 of my rods. I always wanted to try armillo but never did.

Agree! Let’s see the well used ones. Also, you just reminded me I need to swap my prop back. I put my crewed up spare on the boat to take it to the river just in case. But I lose 40% of my speed with that one (different pitch and not enough HP). And I’m going to need it tomorrow.

I’ve posted it in the buzzbait thread, but a buzzbait is my favorite and #1 topwater, full stop. I hope it is getting less popular because there is nothing else quite like it that drive bass nuts.

To get down to 15+’ and be able to move it at any reasonable speed you want 1+ ounce AND smaller (ideally willow leaf) blades. Bigger blades and rounder/cupped blades give lift. Given the depth you’re looking at, go the heavier of the choices you have.

A couple things to remember. Bass are individuals- they do their own thing whatever that means to them. In aggregate, individuals have a lot in common with each other and will do lots of similar things- not all will be the same but they will seem like they are ‘all the same fish’. Bass move. They move until they find a place that is interesting to stay. They stay until something else draws their attention or something scares them away. Finally, bass are curious. If there is some commotion they will likely investigate. All that said, if you have a long mud bank of modest incline and no cover which then has a laydown, grass clump, ditch, or spring then that thing will draw bass. Not necessarily because they just know it is there but because they move and continue to move until they find something that interest them. They swim down the boring bank until they find something that makes them stay. This is similar to (same as?) the demo where putting bass in an otherwise empty swimming pool will have them swimming around everywhere. But paint a black stripe on the wall around the circumference and they will stick to it. A spring in the middle of a pond or lake will do the same. It is something different that draws their interest. And when the water is super hot then the spring will probably have a bit cooler water around it which is higher in oxygen. So a bass swims around because that’s their nature and then finds a place with a little cooler water and more oxygen so it sits down for a spell. Turns out some others had that same idea. They are individuals, but have a lot in common with each other. Turns out a lot of bass in the lake liked that spot too. You end up with a bunch in one spot- not because they are working together or talking about it with each other, they just all like the same stuff so they end up going to and stopping at a lot of the same places. Then while they are there, something interesting happens. A wounded baitfish swims by for instance. Suddenly all the bass in the area are curious. They all go to check it out. Turns out it isn’t exactly a wounded baitfish it was actually a lure with a hook. The bass don’t know that but they all (minus the one that just got caught) are curious where that hurt baitfish went and what else they can eat. Now you have a bunch of bass that ended up in the same place that just got excited about something they think they can eat. Happy days.

Breeze creates current. Sediment creates less visibility and darker environment to the fish. In clear water, a breeze just breaks up the surface outline, not the below water view. Dirty water affects the whole column (though as the sediment settles the top clears faster than the bottom). What you're describing is a spinnerbait day for me. Stain or dirty water, a breeze pushing things around. I'd get on the wind blown bank with a spinnerbait in my hand (something colorado/indiana) and just start moving. tougher in a kayak of course, but keep covering water until you find where they are. Then slow it down a little with a jig (nice a bulky with a water moving trailer).

I think your observations are largely accurate. Couple things if you're going to keep using it: - you have to wet the knots. lot of saliva. then add more. I often cinch down my knots while they are still in my mouth/lips. - cinch the knots down while they are still loose. You didn't mention which knots you use, but most knots have some type of cinch and some amount of line to pull through the cinch back to the rod. Do all of the pulling and snugging before the knot is really cinched down. That's good practice for mono too, but critical on fluoro. If you're using a palomar, make sure that the loop that goes over the lure and gets cinched down isn't splitting the wraps already on the hook. Again, good with mono too but critical with fluoro. - I learned the wiry/memory/jump off the spool during a cast. I've added a little more spool tension to tame it a little (I run none or minimal with mono and braid). - If you're going to break off a snag with any line, don't use the rod or reel. Grab your pliers or a stick, wrap the line around that, and pull.

This is a good reference from FL DEP. https://publicfiles.dep.state.fl.us/DEAR/DEARweb/BioAssess/Plants/Submersed Plants_advanced_FLMS 2017_ADA_b.pdf Here is a decent one, but from Rutgers so more northern specific

The sound of a decent bass sucking down a buzzbait in the dark. With a good one, it's like submerging a sandcastle bucket straight down into the water. A beaver tail slap or a spooked surface cruising musky that takes off right next to the boat in the dark will do that too (got the musky slap on Wednesday night). Gets the heart pumping for a minute.

and also, there are no smallmouth in florida.

Only kinda. In the early spring when I’m itching I’ll keep a rod in the truck. I have 2 ponds where I can catch 3-6 bass in 30 minutes and they are mostly on the way to places. All are 10” or less so I keep a tiny 2” plastic tied on a 1/16 or lighter head.

Really sorry you haven’t been out. That’s gotta be like being in the Mecca of the thing you love and being chained to the couch. I can feel that. Since you’re chained up, look up “snells window” as it pertains to fishing. That’s a rabbit hole to kill some time. It applies to anything on the water’s surface, but you’ll find it a lot for fly fishing dry flies as well as anything else topwater. In short, the angle of what the fish sees bends away from the perpendicular point. This is a good visual. Basically Straight up and in the water they can see. Above the water line they struggle to see and what they see in a particular spot is actually at an angle away. For a round-ish body lure, that means anything that is at the lateral line level of the lure and below the water, they see it. Above that, they can’t mostly see it. There is a midline area of the bait that rolls and they see it and the top there is no way physically. To that end, I think I should paint the tops of my lures hot pink so I can see them better. That said either black or shiny is the answer. If it is sunny, then make it reflective to take advantage of that. If it isn’t, make a solid profile.

Fair enough. Falcon is in the process of moving manufacturing out of China. the experts moved already but they haven’t gotten stock up. I suspect all the rest are moving and they are transitioning stock.

I throw all of those on my finesse jig/topwater Falcon. 6'10", M+ (MH per falcon), Fast action. Zillion and 14# mono.

Yeah, it's a tough one, especially when you don't know what they are. That's the hard part about electronics- you're never sure until you catch one. Some lakes that have a limited set of species you can be fairly sure what they are and if they will eat and if it's worth your time. If you know they are bass and that it is a bait ball above them you can target them, but catching without FFS is going to take a lot of time. That said, the catfish on that lake surprised me. That lake has largemouth and smallmouth, brown/rainbow/lake trout, perch, and sunfish (or so that's all i thought it had). That's about it aside from baitfish. Seeing a decent sized single or a pair cruising 15' over 30' should be a bass. The trout are out in 50' this time of year following the big bait schools. The perch relate to cover and the bottom. Occasionally I'll get caught out and mistake 12" bass and perch (they look pretty similar on FFS), but never in a million years did I expect 5-10# catfish cruising like that. My default lure is a 3" minnow in a very natural color and a 1/8 oz head. Everything in the lake eats that (or tries) and I can watch them react to it. Without FFS? Not worth my time.

Without good knowledge of what they are and without live imaging to target them directly, I'm going to suggest that you will struggle to catch them. It is hard enough to catch suspended fish in 35' over 70' WITH live imaging where you can see their reactions and where you're presenting your bait. If they are active, feeding fish in clear water then you might be able to get a bait close enough to them enough time to trigger one. In that case, try throwing a heavier underspin with a 3-4" paddle tail on the back. You'll have to count it down and you might be able to use your 2D like a pseudo live imaging if you're sitting in one place to get a feel for the depth. Then slow roll it back through where the fish are. Keep in mind they move if you're truly in open water. Something like a bridge pier they will stay relatively close to the pier, but wide open water is tough.

fish the moment is a good shout. Lots on his youtube channel for that. The thing to remember is that if you're talking about a school of fish on the screen, each fish will school differently. Bass don't like to stack. They prefer to spread out rather than stack up vertically. Crappie and blugill have no problems stacking. Baitfish will tend to ball, so open water baitfish will almost always be in a ball like shape. Suspended openwater schools are almost always going to be baitfish. 'game' fishes will usually school near cover but be more singular or spread in the open. Where it gets tough is seeing singles out in the open. Even with livescope I've been fooled a few times. This year it was catfish suspended and cruising in a big deep clear lake where I didn't even know there were catfish. Last year it was crappie in shallow open flat areas where I expected to find bass at the time (crappie and bass look very similar on live imaging).

Not really, at least when it comes to broad types. I keep trying new and other things, but my opinions are pretty well cemented. Mono is my standard and go to (japanese sizes, limp mono). Braid has uses where you want no stretch or memory. Fluorocarbon might be better for bottom contact stuff, but you better use good stuff as cheap stuff sucks. You might tweak and find a better one for you (I really like 131, if only they made it hi-vis) but broad brush I know what I'm fishing.

Pretty doubtful. The falcons only came out this spring plus falcon isn't the biggest selling brand so there aren't that many in the wild in the first place. What weight and plastics are you looking for and what type of action do you prefer? I was fishing mine last night with a 1/10 head ned rig. With 8 lb skinny mono on an aldebaran, casting distance is everything you need and then some. It has a good feel for the bait and strikes. Anything heavier is a breeze. Lighter depends on the plastic.

Saltwater fish pull a whole lot harder so if you give them a long rod out front they have more leverage on you. Also, you're in a boat. You're either dropping or trolling for the most part. No need for any length for long casting.

Unless you're fishing neds on a 1/4 oz head or heavier then that isn't happening on a standard MH casting rod. Keep the ned for the spinning rod. Good advice above on setups. I fish braid to leader on a spinning rod (would never go straight fluoro) and I fish 6/8/10# sunline leader depending on the rod and presentation. I have ~20# straight fluoro on my XXH swimbait rod and I wouldn't recommend that. Even on the XXH it is a lot. I have 18# sunline on my Heavy for texas rigs and other stuff and that is on the upper limit of what I'd recommend for a first timer. In the japanese diameter world something 14-16# would be a good starting point for a general purpose setup. If you're talking american diameters, 12-14.

You'll be back at it in no time. My dad had his done 6 weeks ago, both eyes one week apart, lazer. Within 2 days his vision was better than it had been in years. He had a little bit of light starring in one eye for a couple days, but before the end of the second week he was back to fishing already. Considering he missed 8 weeks of prime time this prespawn, he wasn't missing anymore good fishing. I'll echo phishLI. We all love a good sleuthing. Holding the bass vertical is the least flattering way to show the full size of the fish. There is no scale for perspective, the fish is usually slightly turned away so you lose a little height (belly to dorsal) but you don't loose any length. In the extreme, the fish will look half as tall, and the ful length which makes them look skinny that way. On a dink board they get the full length AND a full girth, maybe even moreso because they are overflowing the board. In hand like the picture above you can get a good scale based on your hand (looks about 14-15" and bigger than most of the ones above). My preferred way to do it myself is the opposite side hold. For one, I'm not craning my wrist to thumb the lip and get the fish up high enough to get it all in the picture. Two, I'm not risking hyperextending the jaw of the fish if it jumps around. I've got my thumb firmly inside the jaw and not relying on clamping down on the actual jawbone itself while also getting two solid fingers opposite it on the outside. It's a natural position for me and doesn't put extra stress on the fish. As a side benefit, you get to see the full fish pretty well, get my hand for scale, and it is pretty flattering if I get the angle right (I usually just take a quick snap without looking too hard). You can take it a step further and zoom out on your phone first which distorts the perspective a little and makes close things seem bigger. I don't do that unless I want to get scenery in the shot also. You'd have never thought this was a 13-14" fish. Or that this was only a just about 4# fish.

Because it very much depends on the water you're fishing. If you're on a semi steep bank and the fish are on bankside cover, then sure. Burn it back and cast again. If you're on a grass flat then lots of times they could be anywhere.

Assuming the same power/action for the two, generically, shorter rods are lighter and more 'nimble' to cast while longer rods will cast further and move more line as you lift the rod tip (as in hopping a jig along the bottom). A longer rod gives you more length to control line on constant motion surface bait like a buzzbait so you can work it left and right of cover just a little further (aka cast past it and bring it around). A shorter rod is easier to work tip down like you might a jerkbait or walking bait. If you are flipping heavy cover a longer rod lets you reach just a little further by swinging the bait and if you're pitching the same cover you can reach places with less line coming off the reel. Mostly all small differences and your preferences will tend to override any real benefits. Take it to the extremes (swapping from a 6'6" to a 7'6" for instance) and there are very real differences, but 6'10 "through 7'2" where most rods sit there isn't much in it.