casts_by_fly

Until it doesn't and things just look a little 'past their best'. Then you know you've got a really old one.

I mean, its a bass boat and you're in walleye country so... I probably wouldn't tow one up there in that weather for a bunch of walleye guys to poo poo it either.

For the same weight/power rating from the same maker you can expect that the extra fast is going to have a lighter tip but that transitions into the power quicker up the rod. Think about it as where it flexes when you're casting and that a fast will flex 1 guide deeper down into the rod when casting compared to an extra fast (with the same lure, rod from the same maker, etc). That's a rough guide. Now its always possible that a maker will make a very different rod as their XF vs their F and that's when you need to ask about the specific rods themselves.

I learned this one here on BR. The owner screw lock weighted LIGHT hooks are perfect for a fluke (or as suggested by Toxic originally) a D-shad. I think its the 4/0 that's the right size. With the dhsad you get a slightly faster fall than weightless that looks a little more like a fleeing baitfish than a dying one. The tail bends up toward the surface a little more than weightless and it wiggles on the way down. Then when you pop the rod it will shoot up again the same as a weightless one. If you're like me and want them to fish like an underwater spook, you can walk the dog with them underwater and the small amount of weight keeps them just under the surface.

Have a look at the falcon finesse jig/topwater. 6'10", 1/4-3/4 (or 1/4-5/8 in the Cara). It sounds like just what you're asking for. It's labeled a MH, but that's on falcon's scale. I'd put it as a medium+ on most other makers. I have the Expert lineup version myself. It was my lighter bladed bait rod and topwater spook rod originally. I've found that I tend to go with 1/2 oz versions of those so I put them on another rod now and keep the FJ as 3/8 size topwaters and lighter finesse jigs/unweighted plastics. It has a really nice soft tip for throwing that 3/8 weight range.

So what I think your buddy is referring to is what some call the 'roman nose' on a deer. As they age, the skull gets just a little wider and the slope from the antler plate down to the nose is less defined. On a young deer there is the nose, and then up by the eyes there is a noticable 'hump'. In the first picture below (from maine F&W site) it is noticable on the 1.5YO (the other two don't have great angles). As the deer ages, the head gets wider, but not much longer. The face and head fill in and all of the curves smooth out a bit. The second picture below is a good side profile example (picture borrowed from louisana sportsman site). The head just looks 'thick'. Its a straight slope from the antler plate to the nose and the nose just looks shorter. That said, it is just indicative. You're not going to take his measurements in the field and know that he's X years old. White and great patches on the muzzle and around the eyes are similar. Saggy bellies and backs indicate age. Thicker antler bases indicate age for a given region/locale. If you look at just the body of a buck and it looks like a big doe, then you're probably looking at a 2.5 year old deer or younger. When they hit 3.5 its like a lightswitch got hit and their bodies change a lot.

Funny timing. Tackle warehouse has a falcon expert Mansfield in their clearance/used section. 7’, medium power. It’s the rod you are looking for and on sale for $150 (from $200). Not sure if the extra 20% email promo code works on top. I placed my tw stock up order tonight and was sorely tempted to throw it in my cart.

Because it’s a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. For the saltwater reels, you need the low gear to truly winch in the big fish. You don’t need that for bass fishing. And while you might optimize a setup for big crank baits with a 5 speed reel or prefer an 8.5 for top waters, just putting a nominal 6-1 or 7-1 ~31” retrieve reel on is versatile enough to do any technique. So a switchable reel is just going to add weight and complexity for negligible benefit.

If you are running the saltwater transducer where 250' is a real possibility then I can totally see where the 22" makes sense. yes its huge. yes its expensive. But if its your job (aka elites) or if you have the money to burn then go for it. An echomap ultra 2 12" is already $2600. A GPSMAP 12" is $3600. Neither includes a transducer. So if you want more than a 12" screen then the NBT is a serious consideration regardless of the size.

I fish a helix 9 with mega live in the kayak. It’s enough, but I’m fairly close to the screen. If I’m standing it’s about thigh height, not on the floor. If I’m sitting, it’s an arms length away. the other thing to consider is that if you zoom out to 100’ and you’re in 25’ of water, that’s not a lot of pixels to represent a fish or a small bait. For me, I stick at 75’ when searching and then pull it to 50’ when casting and working.

The first port of call to know what’s in a lake is a biologist report. For the states that do them regularly, thank you. PA was pretty good at it. NJ used to but has laced the past five years. You have to know how to read them, but if the electrofishing survey says the biggest fish caught was 15” then there probably aren’t big ones. If the report shows an above average size distribution or catch rate per hour compared to other local lakes, then that’s a starter. The other is bait. No baitfish means no big predators. What makes for good bait? Nutrition in the water growing algae/invertebrates/tiny fish. It’s the base of the food pyramid. No base means no bigs at the top. Heavy stocking like at the conception of a lake can overdrive for a few years, but not on a massive scale. Look what happened when California stopped stocking trout. In the north I’ve seen 8-9lb largemouth caught from a 2 acre pond and a 10k acre impoundment. I know of a few more in the same size class from other lakes. The important thing was that each is different but all had a good forage base.

Hi all, I just did my inventory to restock what I lost last year and will get an order in. Of course I’ve added a few new things that I wanted to try. I’m sure there is more than just me in this situation (cabin fever is strong). Primarily I’m looking at soft plastics for this. If there was one soft plastic that you’d say to someone “if you haven’t fished these, you need to try them”, what would it be? I’ve thrown a pair of Yamamoto’s in to try (scope shad and yamatanuki). What say you to others? thanks, rick

I used to be responsible for those so I already know them inside and out.

Oooh. Mountain territory. I saw tons of deer in that area driving the turnpike last week. When I was still hunting western pa we were in 2a/b and then also at camp up in 2g.

Thanks. For a couple bucks why not. What weights are you fishing for a given depth? I was thinking 1/4 to 10’ or so, 3/8 down to 16-18’, and half beyond that. also, blast from the past:

what else am I going to do at 11 PM while sitting on the couch? Good luck!

Yamamoto has the floating ned senko which is (as the name says) a buoyany one. Strike king used to make an elaztech like version as well. Either way though, they are going to be the stretch elaztech like baits. Presumably the isues stems from the material, not the brand. thinner wire hooks slide right through elaztech on a texas rig. The bass union weedless ned heads also do.

I remembered your trip reports and that's what made me consider the SS in the first place. We fished sonars and the original little georges (with the teardrop shape, not the half oval ones) going back 30+ years ago. I've got a box of a bunch of sonars downstairs and I was trying to figure out what a SS gave me over a sonar. Maybe I just fish what I've got a bit and see how I do first.

yeah, one more year should add a bit more mass to it. That's a 150 class buck in the picture but could be a 170 next year.

looks like a redo on the big V bass rigs to compete with the pro-v bass and others. They had the tournament V18 and V17 in the past. TBN rebuilt a TV18 into a stunning boat. I think tracker was actually ahead of the game on that one. Now that glass boats with a 250 are coming in well over $100k, a 21' aluminum boat at half that is pretty tempting if you want that type of thing.

Do you prefer a faster rod like a jig rod, or a little more moderate of a rod? The falcon head turner is my bladed jig rod. It's more on the fast side like a standard jig rod and I fish it with mono. Others here on BR prefer a more moderate action. Two very different schools of thought and ways of fishing a bladed jig. I love my head turner (it's also my spinnerbait and do anything rod), but if you prefer a more moderate action then its probably not the rod for you.

ok. In that case, I would recommend a DSLR/mirrorless camera. For print, you will want more pixels on target and a higher quality sensor. That will give you much better flexibility for print options later. If you need to crop, you need to have the pixels on target in the first place. Digital crop/zoom doesn't help you. A new iphone pro 16 would still probably do it, but when you start pushing it to extremes (lower light panos, higher zooms, etc) that tiny sensor will start to reveal itself. And in this case you might only get one shot of the thing you're taking a picture of so it has to be right. I checked, and my EM5 is a generation 1. It prints well. With a decent to good lens on it you can do some amazing things. It's my underwater camera (in a housing) and I also just took it on safari (plus candids while touring around). Happy to share examples here if that's a route you want to consider. Also in your case, I'd do a couple test shots and print them. Either with your phone or whatever you have. Print them up to the max size you think you'll need and see where you are. That will tell you just how much you need to upgrade on the camera end.

nice. I love height on a rack. what county do you hunt?

I’m waiting for TW to get them. They are on falcons site now but not tw. they didn’t announce a weight rating until now that I’ve seen. I thought it was up to half based on the video they posted and looking close at the sticker. But I could have read it wrong. They also might have changed the rating but kept the blanks. Ratings are kinda subjective anyway.

I wouldn’t say expert, maybe just enthusiast. i think for me, the low rider and the Cara are the two choices of lineups. The extra $30 for a low rider over a bucoo gets you cork, a little better blank, and upgraded guides. Similar logic for the Cara over the expert. The experts are great but the extra $50 gets you a better blank again, SiC guides (though that might not be true anymore), and some extra models not offered in the expert. as far as specific rods, it depends on what you’re throwing. The head turner is a pretty good do it all type rod and if you only had one rod that’s probably the one to have for most bass anglers. But there are some other really great rods in the lineup that do one thing really well and still have some versatility.