Banned User

What do people have to do to qualify that is too difficult for women to do?

Still too many variables here, if he catches 2 fish a day or 10 fish a day will make a HUGE difference. But hey shoot, we all have our own margin of risk we're okay operating within. I'm exploring chatterbait set ups myself, presently 6'8 MH Moderate Fitszgerald Versa 12# Yo-zuri hybrid (also using it for jerkbaits) and a 7'2 MH MF St. Croix Victory playing with 40# braid and 15# red lable.

The good thing is it was just a pond and you will likely bump into her again, you should be pumped for early spring fishing there, gonna be blast chasing her. That's one way to look at it, but I prefer to think they were all sunfish, too small to stay pinned - even the feisty ones.

@MickD Is that data available anywhere for mass produced rods? Can a layman determine these numbers or are expensive tools needed? This is the other side of fishing that also intrigues me. If I didn't have a family and need a job to make money to pay bills and buy food and keep them safe and we didn't have a societal structure that requires 66% of my life to be working and sleeping/preparing for tomorrow's work I'd have more time to explore these things. I'd love to build a rod or experiment with some rods, but there's just no time in life to enjoy it haha

And rereading some things it seems like @RDB disagreed with @WRB but then you were both saying very similar things as time progressed - I think some of the confusion was the ambiguity of terms like "swing for the fences" and "crosseyes hookset" but if that were to apply to anything relatively speaking of hooksets it would have to be for the boat shaking rod snapping 0-100mph hooksets (not Hackney) all those uncertain what they mean by a Hackney hookset - I wish I could have the self control to do it this way. Gerald Swindle is intentionally the exact opposite my man said you gotta "set the hook with your rectum" and then he wrecked'em. Said you start the hookset with your toes haha. But he does make a good point about forcing a needle or pushing a needle through something. apply a slow build of force to 10 pounds of pressure or a sudden 10 pound impact and see the damage difference. Here's that video with him and Tharp talking different styles of hook sets. I'm sure that there's some actual math to all of this, any engineers here? I'm gonna keep diggin though, a lot of people do it different and it works for them,

My problem is I can't remember what I've done or been doing. Its awful, I pulled a fish in the other say and I was like "okay, how was I just retrieving that"? But I could not remember how fast I was reeling, did it get hit on a pause etc. SO my hooksets are a little like that, different every time and not always on purpose haha. I've had to dodge a flying worm more than a few times though, much rather be flyin fish like @T-Billy I know I should wait a second on the set and try to remember, but like I said - I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast.

I was thinking the same thing - his friends should know better if their HIS friends, unless he's been that stingy with fishing tips in the past haha. Very interesting you say that, I would've thought that but I've heard people say that they've experienced the reverse on the same line of rods with same powers - only difference being length and they experienced a stiffer longer rod. But what you said is exactly what I would've deduced without any actual hands on time.

Not for nothing, but I bumped into another example of a professional fisherman saying action can impact sensitivity. But like I think was missed when I said it - that is merely a factor, and like when I acknowledged material has a part as well, he also agrees with that. But I'd be curious what you hard core mother xf'ers think about what he says- because he advises against it haha

@Catt@RB 77 @T-Billy @FishTank @otherpeoplewhouseanXFrod When you're bringing a fish in don't you find it necessary to keep more pressure and bring'em in quick so they don't find slack and get off? Any problems with ripped mouths? Are you using braid with your XF?

I'd hit that with a soft jerkbait or weightless-1/8oz Texas rig.

@Mr. Aquarium That's definitely some killer fishin my man, I'm glad I brought this up haha

This just isn't true my friend, anybody can bump into a decent fish anywhere, even here, and yes our record is 15 pounds... Which was set almost 50 years ago, and will not change. But @padlin was right - compared to just about everywhere else in the country MA bass fishing is like a plain donut - yeah its a donut and that's nice, but next to the french cruller and the jelly donut its not something you would ask for on purpose unless it was the only option you had. My point boils down to this - there are more numerous larger fish and generally larger fish in other states. Also there are a lot of people here who will take absolutely every fish they catch and eat it, regardless of size. I've seen decent fisheries devastated by this over harvesting. You're right, we can fish here, but our only brag can be that we have bass. I just re-read that and hope I don't come off contentious, just don't want anybody getting the false impression MA is a great place to fish- we make due. (adding @ol'crickety because I just saw your post, coming from Maine you'd have to drive to the absolute bottom of MA for any "decent" fishing in Plymouth or Cape Cod, which is absolutely not worth the drive) But I will say the brag might be that we appreciate our bigger fish more because they are fewer and farther between.

@Bass Rutten I'm not sure I'm convinced it was the stock hooks that did you in. Sure you coulda put beefier hooks on there, but a bent hook is often due to a number of factors including rod, line, drag, and Fisherman's play. Sounds more like you overpowered your hook by some combination of factors above. But I certainly feel for ya bro, that's a big hit.

I think i have been misunderstood a bit - I was never conflating sensitivity and a rod actually being bent. At first I was going to send a video of a lecture about engineering and physics regarding true natural frequency and some other details that apply to what I was saying. Then I decided I wasn't going to bother cuz it's a long video and probably boring to most and I'll just drop it. But then I bumped into this entirely coincidentally- very short read from a reputable rod blank manufacturer mentioning the impact of action and sensitivity. https://www.fishmhx.com/blogs/tips-tricks/understanding-rod-action-and-rod-power then I wasnt gonna bother sending that because it's been a few days, but now I'm tired and avoiding sleep to avoid waking up to avoid tomorrow to avoid work because I'd rather be fishing.

I'm often up WwWWwWaAAAaAYyYyYYyY past my bedtime! Never slept good most of my life, better at staying asleep than falling - most of my life has been run an anywhere between 3-5 hours of sleep a night. Older now with kids and I find that sleep takes away from productive time learning or doing g something interesting- but also way needed more now, plus I can't fall asleep at 5 in the morning and sleep til 10. Nowadays I shoot for between 11p-2a to be in bed and up at 6:53a for work. I'm allowed to hit the snooze button twice, but if I have to stop to tie my shoe I'll be late.

@ol'crickety Sorry to interrupt but I would highly recommend going with the 15 pound braid. I just made the switch last season after using 10# for years. They're both great, 15# is barely any larger in diameter- but just enough so that it digs into itself a little less, lays a little flatter, just a little easier in the wind (including less wind knots), but still super light and thin. Also, depending on application, I've moved to a high vis yellow and either a 6-8 pound leader or black sharpie for a few feet of line (I still have like 4 new spools of low-vis green I expected use until I switched and haven't gone back haha). I do this for slower presentations and finesse bottom contact. Helps me see a subtle take and also have a better idea where my lure is exactly. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming

So you agree with me, the rod being bent would create additional load and transmit more energy versus not being under load yet. And the reason the line makes a difference again is energy transmission, tight braid has no stretch so it transfers energy readily, limp us obviously a different story. Slack fluoro can only because of its stiffness so if it moves at all it will create friction causing vibration and transferring energy. And to clarify - as you said the line transfers energy to the rod and then rod to your hand. But if there is give in the rod the vibration is absorbed not transferred much like that slack braid you mentioned. Do you think mono is equally sensitive to fluoro? I've only ever heard people say, and my experience confirms, they fluoro is more sensitive than mono - for the exact same reason the faster rod action is more sensitive - mono has give, it stretches. If a rod "stretches" by bending it dulls the vibration making it less sensitive. Again, rod action is absolutely not the only determining factor, but that is the science behind why action impacts sensitivity. Grace and peace

I'm no expert, maybe a rod builder can chime in, but my understanding is that a faster tip will more readily transfer energy down the blank vs absorbing it - where it shuts off determines the length of rod that transfers energy instead of evenly distributing it with bend. The rod is essentially a lever system and our hand is the fulcrum - the more bend the less energy gets passed to the end of the rod causing the lower end of the rod to feel less "lift" from the lure/fish/whatever is causing the opposing force. Example: you want to lift something up with a rigid bar so you set the fulcrum and put force on one end to lift the other. If you use a bar that is softer and has bend to it you will need more force to lift the other end the same distance as before. The more rigid the bar the faster and more efficient the energy transfer is and that is an extra fast rod, we feel that lift easier. In theory of course, because you're definitely right about components being a major factor - but again that still boils down to energy transfer. That along with rod length both affect mechanical impedence which does make shorter faster rods more sensitive on paper. Although something could be said about longer rods as it pertains to deflection on the far end of the lever making bites easier to detect, but that would be less through vibration and more tip watching as you mentioned @J Francho

What brand consistently tests higher TNF?

I was planning on using it for bottom contact, but I really feel like I need to search the forum for who uses xf or mf for hard jerk baits - seems worth exploring. But I did just find a 13 fishing Envy Black 6'10 MH XF for like 80 bucks - had to grab it for that price even though my 7ft 4.5 pwr Xf Kistler Helium is on the way. I'll compare and see if maybe I'll swap out the Helium.

Nah man, there's been way too many studies that show learned behavior in bass to think the big ones arent smarter than the little ones. They have learned what to do in those situations to help free themselves to some degree. @WRB What do you mean by this "Spinning reels do noe have rotating spools therefore tip speed and lure acceleration doesn’t have any affect to line coming off the spool. Longer rods can cast further then shorter spinning rods. " A longer rod will impart greater acceleration to the lure, launching it farther easier - Why is it that you say longer spinning rods cast further if you don't think it's the lure acceleration?

No what? What to you makes a good XF - some people like a rod firm through the tip in XF and others a moderate tip but extra fast shut off. What brands do you like for an XF? @T-Billy you too What line are you using?

It all started when I got that 6'10 medium extra fast and thought dang this feels good. I put some yozuri hybrid on it and it killed light Texas rigs and super flukes. Thought a MH would bump it up a notch, plus it makes the hook set a bit smoother since you don't have to try to hit a home run backwards. Honestly I've learned if it's not finesse or treble hooks then get'em to the boat/shore as quick as possible- they're smart, especially when they're big, and know how to break you off or spit a hook. And if you didn't ski her she very well may have gotten off and it wouldn't set well even worse.

I think after all this I'm going with a Kistler Helium 7ft 4.5 pwr xf for $200. $50 more seemed like it took the edge over the fantsista.

Awesome feedback guys, thanks. Anybody have experience with mhxf rods? Now I'm torn between 7ft and 7'3 mhxf