islandbass

@J._Bricker: Thanks for educational info! Nacho is his name and homing in on those critters is his game. Just last last I took him out on a late evening stroll. We were in a section with no light and and points his head into a dark section (zero light) of a neighbor’s lawn and stops and stares. I was thinking no way. I pull out my flashlight, aim it in the direction he’s looking and some 70’ away is a rabbit frozen in the center of my spotlight beam. My wife wants a labra or golden doodle next. ??? I am definitely not an OF (that term sickens me) but I have quickly become a PF (Poodle Fan) lol ??

@TnRiver46 Thanks for confirming my suspicions. There would also be times he’d catch a scent and track it toward some bushes and he’d pick up one of his front feet and point and stare. Then a rabbit or squirrel previously unseen scampers and scatters away and I might have to hold on for dear life (hence that tightening collar - trainings been hit and miss lol) Now if only I can get him to track bass from the shore. ?? Can you imagine he points toward some submierged bush and I throw out my senko, and BAM?!!! That would be something, ?

My son’s dog (standard poodle) stalked a rabbit and got this close before it noticed and this dog has done this so many times. The photo doesn’t do justice on how close we were to the rabbit. I’m beginning to wonder if poodles aided in hunting or tracking in the past or if his ability to stalk and track are just innate in dogs generally. I’m pretty impressed and perhaps their reputation being a “rich and pampered” breed couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Me too. Before After Worked performed partially by weed whacker and in the words of Scarface, “hello to my little friend.” My little friend makes short work of Them blackberry/raspberry bushes that a stringed weed whacker can’t do without wasting line lol.

Everything you mentioned seems good. In my environment length that seems most effective is 18-24” length between hook and weight as a starting point. I will adjust this accordingly, especially if I am not getting hits. My point is not that your tag end length is too long but to be willing to adjust this length if 36” isn’t working. Lastly, I try to make sure I have a variety of both sinking and floating baits. Best of luck to you and report back. ?

Very cool. There is a similar story with a river and a tiger shark and it was over a period of years.

I try to avoid using main line and leader but when I have to, I use the Albright. What was the nature the break and where exactly did it occur? This would be helpful and with that said, Given how braid can easily cut when it’s taut and 10# being “thin” in diameter, without more information I would speculate that these two traits might not be an ideal situation. Braid cuts into the fc. There very well could be other factors too.

@ScottW: you just need to take a break for now. Reels are tools so as an angler, it behooves you to be proficient with both. A basketball player who can only dribble with one hand is only half a player. that said, I can relate as I too came from a spinning background and unfortunately, mechanics are much more critical with bc reels than spinning reels. 1) there is no such thing as a birdsnest free bc reel. No fancy schmancy electronics (ie, dc or other) replaces the thumb … period. ? 2) bottom line, assuming the reel is properly set, your thumb has to stop the spool from spinning before your lure hits the water. That is right, stop it cold turkey. Feathering the spool with your thumb bearing the end of the cast may be used as needed. 3) one of the hardest things spinning reel users must overcome when adding casting reels to their arsenal is making note of the timing and position of when the thumb comes off the spool at the beginning of the cast. Unfortunately, with a bc reel, the thumb comes off the spool much earlier than the forefinger does on a spinning reel. For the overhand cast: Picture a clock with 12 above your head and 9 directly in front of you. Your thumb needs to come off the spool when the tip of your is somewhere between 1:00 and 1:30. If you release at or before 2:00, that will likely result in a cast that goes higher than it goes forward. If you release after 12:00, you risk having the lure slamming down about 10’ in front of you. If this happens, refer immediately to number 2. Stop the spool from spinning completely NOW! If your thumb fails to react before the lure hits the water that = birdsnest. Sidearm casts? They are exactly the same but your rod is in a different plane. 4) stick with lures that are at least 3/8oz for now. Also, don’t write off bc reels until you try a good workhorse. Others here will agree that if you choose the workhorse class reel from SHIMANO, Daiwa, or Lews, etc., your experience and learning curve most likely going to be “easier” 5) casting mechanics - sometimes we spinning fishermen know we can get away with bad mechanics with spinning gear and it’s a bad habit. Casting gear won’t tolerate this. Ensure that on every cast the lure’s weight loads the rod and this will pay you dividends in excellent casts and in efficiency. Maximum casts with minimal effort and therefore less fatigue. 6) take the time to understand your reel. Figure out its traits and limitations. When something goes wrong on a cast, ask yourself why it happened and what could be done to rectify that. Example #1 from personal experience: Why in the #*#+}£} world is my lure always slamming down right in front of me? Solution - releasing the thumb too late. Learned that the release point is as I described above. Example #2 my first cast ever with new 30# braid slams into the ground in front of and the spool is spinning what seems to me to be way too fast. Why? Because no brakes were “on”. You idiot, and you wasted a brand new spool of braid. ??. Solution - turn on some brakes and use mono in between 10-14# test to learn on. Way more economical while learning. This mindset really helped me to learn how to use bc reels much more quickly than if I didn’t take this approach. I’m recommending you keep trying until you tame this beast. I use both reel types and I am not biased toward either. Both can do some applications fairly equally, but you will come to learn when and where one might outshine the other, regardless if it is by just a little or a lot. You can do this, young padawan ?

I’m we can all relate to this. Mama said there’s be days like this.

I would guess demand. There was a time it was the “high” speed gear lol. If your not opposed to round reels, the Cardiff is a workhorse. I have the 301 and it’s one of my salmon reels but when in bass mode for cranking I’ll use it too. They have 200/201 size which is more convenient for bass fishing. It cast things as well as my old green curado bsf 201 and that easily casts down to 3/16oz things.

@Glenn: Thanks. I was going to jokingly reply to your second post in this thread using the quote function. ?

Casts, perhaps another option is to use the arroba symbol immediately followed by the user’s forum name. It is a way to direct your comment to that person. When you start typing after the arroba, the site will start guessing the person’s forum name. When it finds it, select it and what is shown below results. eg, @casts_by_fly

Welcome and pacific nw greetings from WA state. And yes, we have bass in the land of salmonids, lol. ?

That’s awesome. So can one watch it without having an instagram account? Legit question.

The last air show I went to was a blast. It was at joint base Lewis McChord and the Thunderbirds were there. Two of my favorite all time jets are the F-15 Eagle and the A-10 Warthog. I’ve also flown in the C-141 and C-5 planes via space A, lol. However, the C-130 has a very special place in my heart. I was 10 at the time flying space available from Korea to Japan. I was also the only kid. One of the crew came to my mom but because the propellers were so loud he had to practically shout in my mom’s ear. I couldn’t hear what he asked but my mom nodded her head. The guy then looked at me and said he got mom’s permission for me to accompany him to the cockpit. I noticed the copilot seat was not occupied. The pilot told me to sit in the copilot chair and hand me the headphone with the mic you see pilots use. We chatted for a bit through the headphone set and that was so cool. The pilot then said, “I’m not supposed to do this, but…” He gave me “air” instructions on how to move the controls. Pull back slowly and turn to the left. He made me practice this 3 times “air” style (ie, with my hands not on the controls - picture playing air guitar). Next, it was for real. I put my hands on the controls and I followed his instructions to the letter. The plane turned to the left and started to descend diagonally. IT WAS SO AWESOME AND INCREDIBLE!!!!!!! It was exactly the type of descent you see the black sheep squadron did on TV, lol. I continued to follow his instructions and leveled the plane. I wasn’t even scared, lol. There was a C-130 at the air show open for people to go in and the now 40 plus year old memory came immediately to the forefront. I know my wife and kids thought I was acting weird but I didn’t care, I was as excited as a kid in a toy store.

Me too. I also had a busy year last year. I think I went fishing on 4 times for the entire season. That’s nuts!!!! other goals: Catch my first jig and trailer bass. Downright embarrassing, lol.

This is absolutely a personal call. Bottom line, unless one is ambidextrous, one way should feel more “comfortable” than the other. Personally, my preference is lh for both spinning and casting. I can use rh or lh casters but lh is preferred. I tried spinning rh and it felt weird and uncomfortable. With that said, I will switch on a spinning if my preferred side is tired. When jigging for salmon with heavy spoon like lures, one can get fatigued on one side so switching the handle allows that side to “take a break”. ? Lastly, if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.

Which? Both Why? Bait Monkey’s answer ?

I am so sorry to hear that. I hope there’s a solution for you. The back is so important for many things we take for granted.

Any joining knot can get caught on a guide partially or completely and either can be enough to mess up the cast. My experience with this is to make sure the joining knot is sufficiently far enough into the spool that it doesn’t come into play during the cast. For me, this joining knot is AT LEAST far enough down into the spool a distance 3 times a max cast or more. Period. This is a temporary solution in that as your now “super long leader” will eventually shorten as you cut the line for reties and such. This particular issue is one reason some anglers prefer a single line set up over two joined lines. Since you mention the whipping sound, I’d look into my casting mechanics and double check that I am allowing the weight of the lure to properly load the rod. Generally, you will hear that whipping sound when your rod is already moving forward and the lure did not properly load the rod. That can be disastrous with a bc reel but an angler can get away with improper casting mechanics of this nature with a spinning reel the max cast distance will also suffer.

I did too, lol.

So did AARP mail find its way to you yet, lol? Congrats on reaching 50 and you latest acquisition. ?

My primary thought is when the fish is on, never… ever… allow the loss of tension in the line… period. I have caught salmon way bigger than any bass in places barbed hooks are illegal and I’ve never lost any fish while using barbless hooks — if I kept tension in the line for the entirety on the battle. This is the key because even a blue gill half the size of my hand can throw off a barbless hook.

Well for me, not true travel rods, but my two piece rods have pretty much gotten the most usage. They easily fit in my trunk. My true bass rods might see action on a long weekend but for practicality and convenience, my two piece rods are king.

Thanks! That really helps. Unlike most anglers, I prefer not only a limp type of fc line, but I also don’t mind the stretch, probably because I use mono often and appreciate the stretch both those lines have. In addition, I pretty would use it for drop shot and at 6# test. Therefore, I’ll give basix a try. For the price, I’ll be fine if it doesn’t work out. ?