ElGuapo928

I honestly haven’t used it in years, since it came in the black plastic sunscreen looking bottle (there was an incident with an inattentive girlfriend, and it wasn’t pretty). That aside, the stuff in the bottle doesn’t match the scent of the Power baits, and being water based doesn’t seem to have much staying power.

Only if they come in steel toe for work. On my days off, I don’t like anything more confining than flip flops.

I fish weightless Flukes on 12lb fluorocarbon and a 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG (skip gap) and have never broken one off. I use a 6’6 MH/Fast rod, so I’m not sure equipment itself is much of the issue. Where in the line is the failure point? What knots are you using?

Next question: Are you fishing off the bank or floating? If fishing off a boat/kayak/inner tube, it might be advantageous to throw a shallow diver toward the bank and pull it toward you - something like a Big O that won’t bottom out but will follow the transition downward. If fishing it from the bank, you’re kind of limited to the top of the column (unless you like snagging constantly).

When I fish a Texas rig I usually start with a slow drag, and giving the rod tip a pop at random intervals. If I’m not getting any strikes, I’ll go to a slower raise and lower retrieve. On a clean bank with clear water, I like to do a “stitch” retrieve, pulling 6”-10” of line (or sometimes even less) at a time with my fingertips rather than the reel. When shore fishing, I like to start by throwing perpendicular to the bank as far as I can and getting a feel for the bottom. I’ll start fanning out from there. Most of my success off the bank has been at about a 45 degree angle from the bank

As everyone else has said, it all depends on the depth of the grass. I usually use a lipless along the grass lines, but in shallow stuff I like to toss an extra shallow crank like a Bagley Wake or a Fat John 50.

A couple summer techniques we use on fairly “clean” banks that might work for you are: Big worm (10” or larger) on a Texas rig with a tiny weight (1/16 or 3/32 oz) The slow fall will draw some attention from lethargic fish. Another thought would be a smallish (3 or 4 inch) plastic swimbait on an underspin hook. Use a moderate retrieve with random pauses and twitches of the rod tip.

I was tying a snell for a while, but I found it took too much time. I’ve been experimenting with the Decoy swivel hooks, which kind of make the knot a non-issue.

Very good point on the knots - I’ve gone pretty much San Diego Jam Knot across the board, and haven’t had any failures to speak of. I do still use a Palomar for dropshot hooks, but I don’t see the slippage in light leaders.

The Hookup has in stock, but $499.

I bought a spool of the KVD/XPS, and I’m reasonably certain that it is Seaguar Basix at a higher price. Looks/feels/behaves identical. I’ve got nothing to complain about with it, except it’s a bit overpriced.

Heat degradation in fluorocarbon isn’t near as bad as mono. Nylon starts to degrade at like 105, or as we call it, “June”, where fluoro is into the 280’s before it starts breaking down chemically. Fluoro doesn’t absorb humidity like nylon, and is largely impervious to UV exposure. It is still a good habit to cut 3-5 feet of line off and retie fluorocarbon every so often. I generally do after every 5th fish, or when I can feel roughness near the knot, or when it starts getting milky/discolored near the knot.

The increased feel of fluoro on a Texas rig, free rig, etc is night and day from mono. Your catch rate will go up considerably over mono. It took me forever to switch over, partially for cost but also from buying crappy fluorocarbon that turned me off of it (I’m looking at you, Berkley Vanish). After getting stomped in a couple tournaments, I decided to give it another go - I asked a few of the local sticks, and was given a spool of Sunline to try out, and have nerve looked back. It took several different brands tried before I settled on the Topknot that I use now, but I will never go back to mono for plastics or jigs.

It’s hard to say if I am getting more bites, or detecting more bites. Ultimately the number has grown, but I cannot say for certain either way.

I will say that I’ve more than doubled my catch since switching to this system, especially in deep water. The lack of stretch and absence of the coiling inherent with straight fluorocarbon on the spinning reel does a superior job of telegraphing strikes, this also allows for a better hookset. The high vis braid also shows movement better than the fluorocarbon ever could. Early on I used a swivel and a 2-3 foot leader, now I tie an Alberto knot with a 10 foot leader.

Japanese and Western pros were probably the earliest to adopt braid for spinning reels, chasing the tiniest possible diameter for the strength. I switched all my spinning reels to 10lb braid in the early-mid 2000’s after hearing Gary Yamamoto speak about the mono backer, braid main, fluorocarbon leader system that he used.

Fluorocarbon has the same light refraction as water, so it’s by far the most invisible. Fluoro sinks, which is good for bottom contact baits, there’s very little stretch which helps with hooksets and sensitivity, and fluoro has about the best abrasion resistance of any line. I like mono for crankbaits, spinnerbaits and topwaters, where shock absorption is a plus. For plastics, jigs and leaders I use straight fluorocarbon.

Don’t fish from a kayak, but offering my 2 cents….. In the name of safety, I’d go with strip lights. Coming out of a cove Saturday night there was a ‘yak on the point and I couldn’t see him until I was d**n near next to him. He had some little lights about the size of a quarter and that was it. I tend to run pretty slow at night, so no real danger - but there’s a lot of guys that run with the throttle laid flat in the dark. Cheap Amazon strips are always worth a look. These have been through 2 Arizona summers and a whole bunch of night fishing trips. Probably have less than $100 in the boat, and $30 or $40 on the trailer.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this till right now, but last year we won a tournament on a rip rap bank throwing 10” Power worms (Motor oil/red) Texas rigged with a 1/16 oz sinker pegged.

I’d like to say that I have a witty catchphrase, but according to my wife it’s either “that’s a fish” or some kind of unintelligible grunting. When I lose one at the boat, I am told that I start cursing in English, then work through Spanish, Apache, Navajo, and every other language I have managed to learn insults/cursing in.

Some others I really like that you may find worth a look are: 6th Sense Quake Suspending - great for when the fish aren’t really chasing. Spro Aruku Shad - noses down more than most, probably the best of them all in heavy weeds/brush Ima suspending Vibe 70 - suspends a couple inches below the surface, burn it over a grass bed then pause and hold on. Heddon/Whopper Stopper Bayou Boogie: Old, but common enough to find for a couple bucks. Really tight wiggle, gives them something different to look at. Stock hooks suck, put some newer EWG trebles on it. Cordell Spot Minnow - long and skinny, erratic and wide wiggle. Long discontinued but still easy to find for a couple bucks. These were a monster to throw when chasing shad boils.

Red Eyes don’t like a burner retrieve, they’re best at a slow or yo yo retrieve. The Cordell Spot is money when burning it, but lays on its side and plays dead when you try to yo yo it. The best middle of the road retrieve I ever found (which they heard that I liked them and immediately discontinued production) was the SK Diamond Shad. Every lipless design has it’s own quirks, you just have to experiment to find their retrieve speed and abilities.

Cranks should certainly work. I’d start with a lipless, and a shallow square bill, then work down the water column from there.

Looking at the picture, there’s pretty decent shore access from that roadway over the dam. My first thoughts are fan casting a spinnerbait along the shoreline and slow hopping a hula grub on a Tokyo rig up the bank. I see a few interesting looking rock formations that warrant investigation.

My grandpa, a Red/white Heddon SuperSonic and San Carlos Lake in 1982…..been progressively more expensive ever since!