casts_by_fly

yep. That's a pretty clear one. Also, you're electronics are pretty dialed in so well done for first year with them.

I think you've been beaten to the punch on some of those. Double A rig: Double topwater: Bladed jig spinnerbait Frog spinnerbait I like your thinking though. I think I need to make up a sabiki rig worth of small jerkbaits. Drop them on a 1/2 oz dropshot weight to cover the water column.

always! Like my dad says, "Anything that stretches your string!"

I wasn’t loving the forecast. 89 degrees, bluebird skies, no wind. Sure you’ll can catch fish in that, but it isn’t my favorite. I didn’t feel like going to my usual favorite lake. My other usual evening small lake was going to be inundated with people. The last time I was at the semi big lake I wasn’t enthused about the bass fishing. I normally have a pretty good idea where I’m going 24 hours in advance and have rigged rods. Today I hooked on the boat and ran an errand first. I still didn’t know where I was going when I got into the truck again so I went to the first one that came to mind. This is the lake I hit the smallies pretty good when they were on the beds back in May. But it’s now July and this lake is big, deep, and crystal clear. Tonight it was a solid 20’ visibility when the sun was high (look at the color of that water!). This is also the lake that has a TON of submerged timber since it was 25’ low for a couple years and a lot of shoreline brush and trees grew and now submerged. My plan coming here was to learn the lake. Catching fish was secondary. I figured I would graph around a bunch and mark things out of the ordinary for future reference. However, there is so much solid timber and brush out to 25’ bottom depth that it was a losing effort. I decided to scope around the wood a bit and just fish really fishy looking spots or isolated cover. There was too much to try to fish it all, so I was selective. Anything that was ‘different’ like a lay down instead of standing timber, thick tullies (which were growing from the bottom in 12’ to out of the water in spots), etc. I was using live imaging a lot and staying way back to make long casts. A few times that I let myself drift into the cover for a look I could see a cruiser here or there but they had no interest when they saw the boat. I tootled around doing that for a while and picked a few dinks. It was a mix of largemouth and smallmouth, all 10-12” or so and all caught on either a 6” finesse worm Nero rigged or a 3” Mooch minnow. With the water so clear, you had to stay 60’ back and make LONG casts past the fish, but the benefit of being so clear is that some of the fish would come up from 10’ deep to crack the mooch minnow almost on the surface. I considered putting a topwater on at that point, but decided not to. I eventually found a nice isolated rock/brush pile that I didn’t see fish on, but there were smaller fish nearby (I think 3-4” perch). I figured there should be something on it and sure enough there was. This beautiful, fin perfect 3# smallie (just over 18”) was hiding in the clump and ambushing anything coming past. I kept working my way around until I saw some much more significant fish on FFS. The fish (there were 2) were about 15’ deep in 30’ of water, perfect suspending fish for a minnow. It took a cast or two, but I managed to swing the minnow what must have been right onto the fish’s nose when it hit. It wasn’t an aggressive hit, more like a whale that is just swimming along, opens its mouth to inhale some krill, and just keeps moving. I felt it and set the hook. That’s when the fish reacted. I’ve not fought a fish like this in a while. The 5# striper a couple weeks ago was similar- that fish had shoulders and attitude, but I could tell it was coming to the net after the first 30 seconds. I had to work it, but I knew I had it. This fish was a whole ‘nother ballgame. It made a run for the open water, turned, and dug for the shallow brush. It circled the boat twice. I should note that I’m fishing a 6’9” ML spinning rod with 8# fluoro leader so a fish like this getting into that rabbit hunting thicket of cover would be a bad thing. I eventually managed to get the leader knot to the waterline and saw a flash of the fish. It didn’t like the boat so stripped off another 20 yards of drag. It was touch and go for a while still but I eventually managed to slip the net under it. For sure the biggest fish I’ve landed in a while. What you were expecting a bass? A 10# fish in NJ? Get real. Yeah, this channel cat surprised me too. Big clear mountain lake, suspended and cruising where it was. I didn’t even know they were in here. I need to get better at figuring out the size of the fish relative to the size on the screen. I knew it was a good return on the screen, but returns can be finicky. I watched a 15” largemouth earlier in the day that I could visibly see 20’ from the boat. On the screen the return showed up tiny and light to the point you wouldn’t have thought it a fish if you didn’t see the actual fish. It was most probably because it was swimming dead away from me. Then some of the dinks I caught had beautiful hard returns that looked like panfish (I almost didn’t cast to them). This channel wasn’t huge on screen, but was a solid dark return so I knew it was a good fish, but I was thinking 3# smallie not 30”, 10-08 channel cat. As it happens, I caught another channel (about 8#) and after I knew what I was looking at I saw a few more. That was a new one for me but they were fun on an otherwise slow night for bass so I’ll take it. 23# bag of 5 fish? Sure why not….

if you're open to brands outside of the three you listed, the Falcon Finesse jig/topwater is what you're looking for. 6'10", 1/4-3/4 depending on the lineup (expert is that, Cara is 1/4-5/8 I think). MH, Fast action listed, but with it being on the lower end of the power range for a MH it fishes a bit softer than the ratings imply. 1/2 oz walking baits are what I bought it for originally but I fished a whole lot of vibrating jigs on it in the 3/8 and 1/2 oz range. A 1/2 plus a thick trailer like a zako is pushing the upper limits a bit but it will do it still. I have a zillion with 12 lb on mine right now and it will cast the snot out of a weightless fluke also.

Heavier is a little better since it is a little stiffer. Not as good as mono and fluoro, but better.

Got it. That's the head turner/pitching stick model. I have that one here.

what is the rear diameter on it? 5" senko head sized? little bigger? Little smaller?

This is one of the things I have learned by fishing with others. Fishing my way, on my own lakes I 'know' where the bass are. There are definitely a couple here or there. There's definitely NOT any in this stretch. Until the person I'm with goes down that bank catching a couple. Can be a real eye opener. My learning and mantra now is 'just put your head down and fish'. Cover the water that is in front of you and you'll be rewarded. Or not. But fish it anyway because you never quite know.

ah! I haven't seen those before. Screw in weights yes, but not 'weightless' screwins.

In theory it might, but the smallest HPs are the 17 gr 17 cal. And 17 grains is 1/32 oz. You'd lose a little by drilling the hole but not much.

this is the exact reason why I try to fish with other people and/or on other lakes. I have my stable of baits that have worked for me. But sometimes I get it in my head that I just want to catch them on a thing to prove it works. It's a stupid logic. Fishing with someone else on my own waters will open my eyes to other ways of doing things that work rather than trying to prove that a thing works myself.

Which Bucoo are you throwing those on? Amistad?

Tom, The heavy cover jig is the model. Falcon lists it as 'heavy' but falcon has two levels of heavy in the portfolio- 6- and 7-power. The 6-power rods are more like a MH/MH+ in other lineups. The head turner is a good example as well- it is rated 1/4-3/4 oz which is not what you'd normally call a 'heavy' (though I would rate it 1/4-1 personally). The heavy cover jig is similar- rated 1/2-1oz. It's what I'd call a MH+ since it has a lot of power overall through it's length, but it also has a decent give to it as well. It is labeled a fast action, but I'd have to call it the slower side of fast, possibly a moderate fast even. It was designed by mike mcclelland a few years back for casting and dragging jigs and other bottom baits offshore, aka just what the OP was asking for. In the dark it is my primary buzzbait rod, but once it is light it is my 1/4-1/2 oz texas rig rod (mostly 3/8 plus a beaver) either pitching or casting. Can't wait to hear how you like the Cara BFS. I haven't fished mine as much as I need to yet this year (only a handful of times) but now that summer is here, it is light bait special time. Break out the 1/32 oz texas rig.

Tons of craw baits (including craw like creatures) available, I’d recon the second most only to the basic worm. But I wouldn’t call a rage bug subtle or small. A normal sized rage bug with the legs and claws separated makes quite a ruckus underwater. Based on some of your other posts, I think you probably actually do want a smaller and more subtle plastic. The crush city cleanup craw is pretty small (a good bit smaller than a rage bug) and modest in action. The rage bug mini at 3” is more subtle than the standard and the midi at 3.5” isn’t bad either. Don’t separate all of the appendages if you need more subtle. The smaller chigger craw and the Christie craw are more options. The baby dbomb is the other beaver type to try.

I know fish eat them, but I too rank poppers way down my list. A buzzbait, walking bait, or frog/toad will be my first choices depending on the cover. I struggle to fish a popper as slow as it needs to be fished in the situations where it shines. And then we also have a ton of vegetation in most of the lakes here which make treble hooks tough. As a result, a toad/buzzbait/plopper take up the bulk of my ‘finding fish’ duty depending on the cover (heaviest to lightest respectively). For open water (rock) or submerged grass i like a walking bait to be able to cover a ton of water but they are also great around docks where you can walk them down the side and even up under the edge. And of course if things get thick a frog is sometimes the only thing to get through it.

Yeah, a time or two. Things for specific situations or variations on something that I know works for me. A better mousetrap perhaps.

Cruise control for going down the bank with heading locked. You must have done it with a constant speed setting which is fine some times. But when the wind is variable and you want to go a constant speed you just set cruise control. Then the motor will adapt to the changes in the wind and keep you moving. I found anything from 0.3-1.0 mph was pretty useful depending on the cover and bait you’re fishing.

It’s just the nature of a single pivot. Keep your rudder down- Aside from getting through thick weeds, I never found a single occasion in the AP where rudder up was the right answer. It drafts so little water and is so light that you need all of the sideways stability that the rudder can provide. A crate isn’t going to help your cause if wind is what is swinging you, but the boat will still do it without one. Current doesn’t care about the crate of course, but will swing you just the same. And yeah, FFS is tough as you’re seeing. Target lock would help but that’s $$ and Hbird only. The boat moves, the fish move, you need to move your transducer to adjust, and then also manage to cast a lure and track it. Nothing is ever not moving. Having just moved to a 16’ boat, a boat is better and get’s blown around less, but it still moves and you still have to plan. Foot control on the electric motor lets you manage the transducer as well as boat position without hands which is much easier than on the autopilot. But it means spot lock + FFS isn’t going to work for the most part. If the wind is constant and you are directly downwind then it kinda works, but for the most part it is just easier to not spot lock if you’re chasing fish that way.

The things you’re going to cut braid with are going to cut all of the strands at once. Think rocks, mussels, metal. You don’t just nick one strand. And I’m usually not using braid in places where there are ‘cutting’ types. Braid is for heavy vegetation for me, so I pick the one that handles the best.

On a baitcaster and in modest cover you can throw 30# without worry. 4 vs 8 is a distraction. Both will do the same things without breaking. 8 is smoother to cast and my preference for all things braid on a baitcaster. I would say that 20# is a little light, but not crazy so. So check knots, fray, and other sources.

Ugh. Any kind of warranty or are you past that?

bullet weights (the brand) sell them. A quick google search will give you a couple options.

15 year old post guys. Ignore the first one and read the one from the necromancer.

The Falcon Cara Heavy cover jig was designed for what you’re looking for. It’s a great rod for that I that is my primary use for it.