JackstrawIII

Happens all the time. Rods, reels, line, baits... you guys have steered me into purchasing all of the above. I'm not mad.

This has been the year of the Yamatanuki.

Ironically, I had one of my best outings this year right after a hot and heavy thunderstorm rolled through. In my experience: - before rain = great. - during rain = not good. - after rain = good.

I admire your serious-non-seriousness. Truly impressive! OP, I can relate to you. I go out trying to catch a decent number of decent sized fish. My dream is to fish every day... and I get to make my dream come true at least once or twice per week, which isn't half bad.

NY is a big state. Which part are you in? We need to know where, if you want specific places.

How deep are the fish you’re targeting with the popper mid day?

That sounds absolutely amazing.

Mine was on a hot and sunny day in mid July, around 12:30 in the afternoon.

I was going to suggest a Neko rig, using the Gamakatsu Cover Neko hook. They're pricy, but they work fantastically well.

I use a loop knot for ned rigs. It allows a little extra wiggle on the fall, in my estimation.

In fairness, the Lews is a decent reel for the money. It is the first casting reel I ever bought and used for a year or two before moving on. It will get you started well.

I know you've likely already decided, but the SLX is the best reel on this list, and it's not even close. In my opinion, of course.

Spinning setups all us: 10 or 15lb Suffix 832 with a leader that's attached with an FG knot. My leaders are either 8, 10, or 12lb YoZuri Hybrid or Seaguar Invisx. Casting rods all use one of the following: - Straight braid (40lb and 50lb Suffix 832) - Straight hybrid (12lb and 15lb YoZuri Hybrid) - Straight fluorocarbon (12, 15, and 17lb Seaguar Invisx) - Braid/Leader (40lb Suffix 832 to 12lb YoZuri Hybrid). Again, FG knot.

Pretty cool! That'll be memorable day for you. Good job thinking outside the box.

Agreed. I also agree that fluoro will help your detection a bit, but realistically there will always be subtle bites that you'll miss when fishing any non-moving bait. I fish my weightless plastics on a rod a bit more expensive than yours, but I definitely don't feel more than 80-90% of bites. No way.

I have not.

Had one of those days this morning. Caught 1 bass in 3 hours of hard fishing. Tough conditions. It was the triple header of badness: spiking barometer, dead calm, and bright blue skies. After 3 hours I said, "This is dumb, I'll come back another day" and went home. So, at least you're not the only one who walked away disappointed in the last 24 hours. Sorry man.

I'd go 744, personally.

Listen to the advice posted previously about your spinning setup, it's really good. I'm in the "always use braid on a spinning rod" camp, but lighter fluoro can work too. Get that sorted out and your current setup will serve you well, as long as your casting rod is stout enough (you didn't say what power it is).

Sounds like it wasn't you. Sorry tho, those days are frustrating for sure.

Yes. I use modern gear, but if I try to cast as far as possible with heavy rods for a bunch of casts in a row (like trying to launch a frog as far as possible), my shoulder and elbow really start to hurt. Inferior gear would only exacerbate this problem.

This is actually something I'm trying to get better about this year. I try to retie every 4 fish or so. Yes, that is an arbitrary number... but I used to never retie and had to start somewhere. I noticed that I was breaking off more than I wanted to on days when I was catching lots of fish. So I picked 4 as the magic number and am trying that out. So far, no break offs.

Braid to leader is great. And 3-4 feet of leader length is plenty. Don't worry about it. Fire it up and go catch fish.

These are VERY good hooks.

Dobyns Sierra 735c. Perfect.