casts_by_fly

I'll say the same thing I said above- for hardbait topwaters, I love the falcon I use. Put it on the consideration list. Shallow cranks and lipless- depends what you like in that rod- faster or slower. Lots of people love the falcon mansfield (7', medium power, moderate action) but it is a buggy whip to me and there is no way I could ever fish it. And I like different things in my crankbait rod and my lipless rod. I can make one rod work for both (and do given how infrequently I throw them these days) but if I was throwing either of them a lot I'd do things a little differently.

I know fish eat topwaters throughout the day, it just hasn't been an effective technique for my waters most of the time. The main exception has been when they are in grass mats and looking up. Then they will come up for a big spoon or sometimes a frog coming across the mat. I mostly don't have the big open water chasers of baitfish. Most of my lakes are fairly heavy grass in the depths that fish are holding in and are clear so the grass grows down to 15' in most lakes. Now fishing my dad's local last month I was catching them on a buzzbait at noon, but that was 1' visibility and scrubby cover- some submerged land vegetation mixed with a little milfoil. The fish were in 2-3' of water so a buzzbait was a pretty good choice. I just haven't had that here.

the change in direction and sudden speed up as you are finishing a cast and starting to lift up can trigger fish that are following. And I couldn't tell you how many buzzbait fish I've had hit, hook, and boatflip all in one motion. Often with a buzzbait I have the boat fairly close to cover so I can parallel an edge with the bait but still...

Incidentally, you could do all of those with a single lure. In fact, a couple different lures can cover all of that. A texas rigged worm can swim top/middle/bottom or hop. A ned or a lipless crankbait can do the same. All depending on cover.

That's the path. If you're going to have more in the future, don't get one that's average in all things. Get one that's great for one and works fine for the rest.

I'm the same as MIbassyaker. Are they up or down in the water column and do they want something horizontal or vertical. Some days you will have an intuitive sense and start with one or the other, but if it isn't working swap around (probably where I fail the most). If it is a morning or night I am starting up top. If I don't get bites I will probably stick with it longer than I should because I love a topwater bite and this time of year I have confidence in it. I'm sure it has cost me fish being stubborn. I'll then progress through a horizontal moving bait of some type (spinnerbait, bladed jig, crankbait) to cover water and when I come to a piece of cover that looks like it just has to have one I'll throw a bottom bait into it, either a texas rig or a jig. When I swap back to the moving bait I might swap to a different color/profile/size depending if it was working or not (e.g. if a bluegill bladed jig wasn't doing it, I'll grab a shad spinnerbait). If the fish aren't eating horizontal baits at all and only want bottom baits, then I'll pull out a more finesse bottom bait like a neko or a ned. When you do that, you lose a bit of the 'searching' capability, but you can still fish a ned reasonably quickly (though you're verging on a horizontal bait at that point). And a neko doesn't have to be slow either. Lately that has been my preferred finesse bait because I can throw it into cover or open, not hang up, move it reasonably quickly, and still get bit.

This is why I have settled into one brand. Even another person's impression of a rod might not match mine. And then a lot of sites have different reviewers doing the review so it isn't a single consistent person. At least I have a pretty good idea with a falcon what I'm getting. It's then weird to pick up one of my dad's shimanos with the same rating that throws the exact same lure and it feels so incredibly different.

Thanks, I'll have a look. I could always swap out for the owner CPS spring. I keep a bag in the boat. Yeah, more or less. It was a 2024 icast launch but I just saw it with my last TW order. There is an icast video on TW with a bit more info. For me, I have a lot of lakes where I've got heavy vegetation that goes to sparse vegetation, back to a heavy patch, etc for a long distance around the shoreline that holds bass. A buzzbait is my preferred bait but you get a limited run because you have to hit it in an open hole to start it up and then burn it across the thicker stuff so it doesn't get messy. When there are channels in the weeds I might even throw a plopper but you can only get a couple longer runs down the channels. I'll swap rods every couple casts and I'm still not covering it fully. I'll usually have a toad on also and throw it up into the slop. This will be an all in one and if it catches as well as the others it will be a winner for me.

Thanks. I should have specified in the first post, I was looking for a screw lock. I can add a cps lock if it has the upturned eye though.

I should have just said it in the first post but I don’t want to scream about them because I think they are going to be hot. Strike king rage tail buzz minnow. Basically a slightly thicker toad body with a single big toad foot off the back. I threw it for 5 minutes the other day and it is a combination of a toad, plopper, and buzzbait in a fully weedless outfit. It is almost as loud as a buzzbait but with a plopper type of ploop sound and cadence. The 6/0 beast is the right size and I can fish it on my big rod just fine, but for night time close in casting I want something just a little more tippy.

hi gents, I need to pool the collective wisdom. I need a big gape hook but I don’t want a heavy wire. I currently use owner beast 6/0 for toads and similar. That’s great for my bigger frog and toad rod with 50 lb braid, but I want to throw something similar on a one power lighter rod and not braid. A standard wire hook is fine, but I need it in a big gape. The hayabusa wide gape might do it but I’ve never seen one in person. The lazer Trokar would be big enough, but that’s too heavy of a wire (I have some). The gamakatsu super line spring lock looks like it might work but I’d need a sizing reco. Any thoughts? rick

You're in the right overall ballpark. Something 7' +/- 2" depending on preference shoud give you a good combo of distance (which I find important for lipless and some topwater) and accuracy (other topwater and squarebills). I love my falcons and the 6'10" finesse jig is where I would go for all of that. I bought it as a walking bait rod and it excels there (14# skinny mono). I throw poppers on it the few times that I fish poppers a year. It is a good lipless rod. I prefer a little more length, but the fast action still lets you pop them out of grass. It is a good squarebill rod for the short range around cover types. On the whole it is a really versatile rod on the lower end of the MH power range. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 7'2" swim jig rod is a fantastic lipless rod (with mono) and an incredible long distance walking bait rod if you don't mind a 7'2" for that. It is good enough with a squarebill. Also makes a dandy light texas rig rod, and of course swimjigs.

I mean... Thanks. I bet there are a few people on this board that know them better than I do even. I know the ones I have though.

Yeah, you can definitely do it, though it depends on your preferences. Some people like a more moderate action for squarebills and lipless. Some like a fast action for that. Some like short rods for topwaters and other don't mind a 7'3". So a little input from your side would help guide. For me and my preferences, I know what of my rods would be the one I grab for those but that might not be what you want.

I decided long ago that I was sticking to one brand. I like the feel of them, the seats are great. I now have almost every rod in their lineup. There pretty much isn't a rod that they offer that will do much good for me. I don't have any inclination of adding another brand into the mix (I did it once for a special purpose and won't do it again). So you could say that I am rod satisfied. Or, I could add a second of one or two of the models that I like a lot...

I threw it for some exploratory casts last wednesday. It walks just like a spook and comes through trees/timber like a frog. So far it all works as I thought it would. It wasn't the right lake or situation for it, so I only made a dozen casts to check all of those things out. I will definitely be throwing it a bunch over the next month and hopefully get a chance to test out the hooks.

The screen will continue to scroll even if you’re not moving. The screen isn’t linked to your travel speed (though that would be a cool feature). What you are seeing is whatever the transducer is pinging on top of. If you’re in 20’ of water and there is a fish suspended (and not moving) it is going to keep showing that fish as a big long line of fish across the middle of the screen (even though there’s actually only 1 fish).

17 mono on a heavy rod is enough for that. You’ll need to play with the weight, but 1/2-1 oz should be enough to get through it. If you have any of those then start there. Texas rig, ideally not an ewg hook. A slimmer piece of plastic, aka not many appendages. A beaver or ribbon tail worm is a good choice. pitch to holes and if none then punch down through it. Cast at anything that is different that you can see. You want to cover water so you want the lure to get through the mat quickly and drop to the bottom. Give it a little shake, reel it in and do it again. How close to cast to the last one? Water visibility and how aggressive the fish are will tell you that. Start at every 2’ or so and if you catch one fish the area more thoroughly. If you know the bottom contours then all the better.

Yup.

Having everything integrated and networked is pretty nice. I don’t know how deep into it you want to get, but at the end of the day different brands with the same features and quality will be priced comparably. So to that end, getting a set that is from the same brand and operates as one like Gim said is going to be to your benefit. I went Minnkota/humminbird. Two head units units, FFS, and an ultrex. I don’t use the ‘follow a course’ like you’re mentioning, but being able to spotlock the trolling motor from the drivers seat is handy (like I just landed a fish or am retying and forgot to hit the anchor on the foot control). Having the fish finders networked is great- scan around from the drivers seat with side imaging and mark waypoints. Go to the front and have the trolling motor navigate to them or at least be able to see them on the bow FF. I would pick out the set that gives you the total package of features you want. You’re starting from fresh basically so you might as well get the thing that i best for you. Also consider shallow water anchors in that scenario if you might do that. Specific to the terrova/ulterra/ultrex I just did that assessment for myself. I was going to go terrova, but I knew I was going to add FFS and there isn’t a factory mount that works for it. I would have had to add a $300 aftermarket mount to make it work. At the time, the ultrex was on sale and was $300 more than the terrova. So my costs would have been the same in the end. I went ultrex which is a better motor and has factory integration with the mega live transducer. the only ‘cost’ was an extra 40 pounds on the bow. The ulterra was interesting, but I would have still needed the same aftermarket mount, it was a couple hundred more than the terrova, and comes with some so-so reliability. The ultrex has been tournament proven by so many pros over the past 10 years that it just works. The quest models are supposed to be better, but they are another $1k or so I think.

I have the falcon and have reviewed it here. For a 1/16 head and up, light Texas rigs, etc it’s a great rod.

At that price the answer is either a Met or a Zillion. Both can be had in JDM form for $250 or so. Both are excellent reels. Most people have a preference between daiwa and shimano based on form factor so choose accordingly. I have a couple of both and there isn’t a wrong choice.

You could do all of that with 3 or 4 rods depending on any compromises you want to make. I agree on the swim jig for your Texas rig rod. The flipping and frog rod would be the amistad. The moving baits, topwater, senko could all be done with a head turner. Those three rods are the iconic falcons (one of each of the normal bass powers) and if you were limited to just those you would be in a pretty good place. The SJ is also a pretty fine lipless rod with mono and will throw 10’ crankbaits well enough. It is a pretty good topwater rod too. The head turner will do a whole lot of everything. The amistad is a great ‘big rod’ for 1/2 oz and up baits and will fling a 1 oz spinnerbait really well. If you throw crankbaits a lot, then I would add in the 7’3” deep runner (5 power) or equivalent in whichever lineup. I have the expert version (Hudson special) and when I was in the kayak and limited to 4-5 rods it often didn’t make the cut (I don’t throw treble hook baits much past june) but I’ve been fishing it a lot more lately and I’ve found its niche for me. If you like a more moderate action for bladed baits then this is the one. Jerkbaits are very personal preference in what you like in a rod. The head turner is probably a little heavy for most people but it will do it. The SJ is longer than most like for them but it will also do it. The finesse jig is a good topwater/jerkbait choice and I like it for 3/8 bladed baits (head turner for 1/2 oz which is my norm). It would also be a good wacky/senko rod choice. I love the heavy cover jig rod- super versatile. It is my primary Texas rig rod for 1/4-1/2 ounce weights but it is also my primary buzzbait rod too. I throw ploppers on it and also wakebaits. Everything from big single hooks to smaller trebles. If you wanted to do all of it with just two rods you could- the 7’ all round plus the amistad. But going to the set of three or four above would just be better.

That’s what I did for 4 weeks. Neko and Ned rigs primarily, some Texas rigged finesse worms.

Rhombauer carneros Chardonnay. It smells and tastes like butter (and kinda smells like buttered popcorn). On top of Chardonnay flavors of course.