Red Beard

For the uneducated, would yall mind listing a couple examples of UL setups? As in, what reels match with a UL rod to make up a UL combo?

Thank you Pat. Very helpful. As far as wind direction... how does wind direction affect bait fish?

Pat, can you expand on how to find bait fish? I struggle with this too and don't have a fish finder. Eyes and ears implies you are looking for flaps on top of the water.

This is good info. Thank you. Any other tips like this?

I have really come to enjoy the telescopic Zebco Roam rod for various reasons (weight, length, and functionality). I'm sure these rods are made by some other manufacturer and then sold to Zebco. Does anyone know if there's a place I could buy that rod without the reel? Thank you.

Thank you for the response. Starting to get the picture now. Since you're using both hands for the knife (one to hold the knife against the forehead and the other to strike the butt of the knife), do you use some kind of stand or something to keep the fish vertical? As in, how do you keep the fish from falling over on its side and presenting you with the lateral view?

I'd like to learn about this too. Are you placing the knife point on the forehead straight on (dorsal) or are you doing it from a side view (lateral)?

Think I may be in the minority here but my family intends to eat everything we land as long as it is big enough to produce a fillet. Because of this, I'm looking to dispatch each one as soon as they come out of the water and the call is made to keep them. Conducting that process quickly and efficiently is a priority of mine. Throwing them in a cooler and having them die slowly doesn't meet either of those objectives.

Did my first ike jime brain spike Friday afternoon on a 10" largemouth. It went well. Seemed like it was better for the fish than bonking. Followed the diagram in ikejime.com and I'm glad I did. Went in through the side and got the brain immediately. One little hollowing out move (like you would do with a power drill to hollow out a hole just a 1/32" more) and all twitching was done. https://www.ikijime.com/fish/largemouth-bass/?mode=standard&region=North America&state=East Coast (Atlantic)&water_type=Freshwater&fish_group=Bass&fish=largemouth-bass

Hmm. Maybe I got the terminology messed up. I apologize. Was talking about the method of dispatch. I normally bonk with a bat but would like to use a brain spike and that's where my question was.

Been taking fish home to eat since we started fishing. Bonking and bleeding has been the method of dispatch so far. Recently found out about ike jime. Anybody done it? How does it compare to bonking?

Hey friend. Didn't go well at first but a few more times practicing in the yard produced better results. Thank you for asking.

Love this. Thank you so much! Very informative.

All great info! Thank you guys.

Some fishing rods come in 6', 6' 10", 7', and 7' 3" lengths. All other components of a given rod/reel combo being the same, what are the advantages of one rod length vs another? Trying to understand what the actual (or perceived) differences are in a longer rod vs a shorter rod.