JackstrawIII

When I was a young teenager I went to a friends house out in "the country". They had a huge rope swing out over a gully. I was perhaps too ambitious and tried to swing out while only holding onto the rope with my arms, like Tarzan. Needless to say, I fell off mid swing and landed on my back in the base of the gully. While that hurt and shook me up, what really shook me was the sharp 8" rock sticking up right by my armpit between my right arm and my chest. Had I landed 6" to the right, I would have died that day.

Hmm, interesting. There's one for sale a few hours from where I live. It's a 2015 with the 2.7. There's also a 2016 with the 5.0 for around the same price. Both have around 90k miles. I figured the 5.0 would be better at high mileage, but sounds like your 2.7 has been great. Very interesting.

Very good to hear. What year is yours?

Ned Rig Neko Rig Weightless Senko Dropshot Ps. That Ned Bomb is a nice looking bait... gonna need to try that.

Sounds like a really fun place to fish!

I use a 6'10 MLXF for my walleye fishing. Been very pleased with it. Also use it for dropshots when fishing for bass. Mine is an Ark and I love it, but I really like St. Croix also. Sure you'd be happy with one of those too, though I don't have the ones you mentioned specifically.

A lot of clear water up here in the north, so most guys (myself included) use fluoro or mono leaders for most applications.

I’m like the old you haha. Always a plan and always pre-rigged. I’ve considered changing my ways, but the obsessing before going on the water is 1/2 the experience

Yeah, but Toyota is having a heckin’ hard time with the Tundra these days. Wouldn’t buy one made after ‘21. Major motor issues and big recall underway.

Towing capacity of the Tacoma is more than adequate. Only problem is cabin size. I’m 6’5 and it’s too cramped for me.

Yeah, I’m not going the salvage direction. I don’t know enough about truck mechanicals to feel comfortable doing that. And yeah, ideally I’d be buying a leased vehicle that was turned in. All the ‘21s are starting to hit the market as people turn them back in. That gives you low-ish miles, often fairly well maintained cuz they were under maintenance warranties, and people trying hard not to damage them to avoid penalties. Yeah, I totally get that, hence my interest in older Tundras. One of my ideas was to buy a tundra from ‘12-14 and keep my car to use as a daily driver. As a second vehicle, a Tundra should last a lifetime. It’s an idea at least.

I’ve heard that too, but specifically with the ‘23 refresh that addressed some of the bugs with the first gen engine. Unfortunately, the ‘23 in a higher trim busts the budget. That’s a significant consideration for me too. My older Chevy was a rust monster, both frame and body.

Hey all. I’ve been without a truck for about a year and I can’t stand it any longer. The used truck market is in a weird place. Everyone says it’s crashing, but that hasn’t been my experience. Dealers very unwilling to negotiate pricing and nice stuff sells quick. Anyways, that’s not the point of this post. My point is that I can’t decide what to get. It seems like reliability and efficiency are hard to find in the same vehicle these days. I’ve always been a Chevy guy, but they’re having so many engine and transmission problems these days. I’d get a Tundra but I do like 15k miles a year and at 14mpg… that would hurt. I’m actually pretty interested in the F150 with the 2.7L inline 6 and the 10 speed automatic… but I’m not sure if I can get over my preexisting anti Ford bias. They seem like they might be making a better truck over the last 3 years or so. What do you guys think? If you were buying a $40k used truck right now, where would you look? My needs: - Must be a crew cab to fit my whole family. - My boat only weighs a few thousand pounds, so I don’t need to go too crazy with pulling capability. - Driving experience and comfort are big. - Gotta have Bluetooth and such. Please don’t tell me to buy a ‘96 Silverado haha. Thoughts/experiences?

You planted the seed in my mind... and I'm actually going to attempt to do this myself. I found a broken rod that I'm going to cut and splice into the butt to make it longer. Wish me luck.

Dislike: crankbaits, which only catch weeds Can't stand using: walking topwaters. The walking action hurts my wrist. Can't catch bass: magnum sized worms... never even gotten a bite

Topwater toad-style bait is #1 by a mile for me. Then I'd try swimming a spinnerbait/chatterbait/etc. around the open areas. If that didn't work, I'd try flipping the brush.

You came looking for help, so I'll try. Here's how I'd use these rods. Light 5'6 mitchell spinning: bobber fishing for panfish Medium light 7'0 dobyn fury spinning: Dropshot Medium 6'0 berkely spinning: Ned rig, neko rig, shaky heads, etc. Medium heavy 6'0 bionic blade spin: Skipping around docks and brush with texas rigged soft plastics and small jigs. Medium 6'6 fish eagle RT3 casting: small single hook baits like smaller chatterbaits, paddletails, and such. You could also use it for crankbaits in a pinch, but it's not ideal. Medium black beauty 5'6 casting: not sure how I'd use this one Medium heavy 6'8 avid x casting: this would be for larger moving baits like spinnerbaits, topwaters, etc. Medium heavy 5'6 falcon casting: not sure how I'd use this one Heavy 5'6 falcon bionic blade: not sure how I'd use this one Heavy 6'6 falcon casting - this is your best bet for things like frogs, toads, jigs, etc. Ultimately, you'll probably want some longer rods for more power presentations like frogs and such, but you'll be ok for most stuff with what you have... for now.

My craziest fawn story happened probably 10 years ago. I backed my car out of my driveway and noticed a fawn laying in my driveway right where my car had been. Apparently its mom had stashed it under my car for the day. Thank goodness it did not appear to be injured in any way when I backed out. We spent quite a bit of time looking at it, talking to it, etc. and it never budged. Just locked eyes with each member of my family quite calmly. Was really special.

That's an incredible fish. Congrats.

Smaller bait. When panfishing, I use a <1" chunk of nightcrawler. It makes it much more difficult for the fish to steal it. I put them on small ice fishing jig heads with a size 6 or 8 hook. Works great.

I have the 7'1 Tatula Heavy and it's good... my only gripe is that I wish the handle was a bit longer.

That is a very good point. Interesting conversation.

That illustrates my point perfectly. Many in my community would say that dynamite fishing is unethical… but in the community you describe it is regarded as ethical. Since ethics are based on a community’s shared perception of morality, it is therefore ethical in that community… unethical in mine. As far as using bass as bait, it would be unethical for me to do it in NY where I live, but I would have no “moral” problem it if I were in a community where it was legal and perceived as ethical. I have no moral problem with using bass as bait (I don’t think it’s intrinsically “wrong”) but I think it would be “unethical” for me to do it because of where I live. Hence the distinction I made in my first post: if it is legal and considered ethical in your community, go for it… as it would not be morally or ethically wrong. Ps. For what it’s worth, my point is based on the understanding that ethics are based on our sense of morality, but ethics and morality are not the same. Not sure if I’m explaining myself well, but I’m enjoying this discussion. It reminds me of the inner dilemma that Steve Rinella described during the Amazon River episodes of Meat Eater. He was with a tribe that harvested fish via poison. While this is largely considered unethical in the States, he had to admit that the natives were able to utilize this method in a way that was ecologically sustainable and culturally acceptable. Therefore he couldn’t pass ethical judgement on the practice, tho it felt uncomfortable to him.

My personal rule is that I only use live bait to catch fish I want to eat. Live bait is certainly effective… but if I’m fishing for sport, it’s lures. Also, how sure are you that using a sport fish as bait is legal? It’s certainly not legal here. But, if it’s legal and it’s acceptable to your community, then by definition it is not unethical.

Another 3-4” would be awesome. Yeah, that handle is 3” longer than what I have currently. Maybe that’s the one.