Loop_Dad

Right when I started using Flouro, I've experienced a series of break offs. I was using improved clinch. I did a bit of research and switched to San Diego jam knot, then the problem went away. Only negative about this knot for me is it takes a bit more time.

I bought Saros 2500 this year. It is so smooth. Even my daughter noticed it and she is using it the most of the time now.

You can pretty much go to the bank that there is open water underneath. It's pretty easy to tell, once the bait breaks through the mat you will feel the bait free fall. You could start by one of the holes in the weeds. Drop your punch rig in the hole and you can get a good idea of the depth. Then punch it through the weeds next to the hole that way you will know what it feels like to get it through the mat. Sorry it wasn't clear, but my question was about the association between the type of weed and the way they grow. Not about the way to find out. For me if I see a water pictured in OPs post, I would have thrown unweighted or rightly weighted worm or swimbaits, adjusting the weight based on how much water I see above the weeds.

Questions to folks suggested punching, is there any way to tell if there's space under those mats based on the kind of vegetation? Don't certain kind of the grass goes up to the surface quick then spread horizontally leaving the space underneath, while other kind just keep growing from the bottom like bushes without much space under them?

I was wondering about wire / connecter getting warm / hot. I've noticed my connector was hot, but I had loose nut at that time. If everything is done correctly, are wires supposed to be cool to touch? Or can they be warm? I was assuming they can be warm with 55 lb trust.

Looks great! So does the tube go through the weight? The tube looks pretty big for the hole of the weight... I tried to do with a straw came with juice pack which I asked my daughter to save. The straw was very small diameter, so that I can put the skirt over it easily.

I have the exact the same trolling motor Traxxis 55. Mine is only 2 months old. Mine is connected directly to the battery except on the positive side, I have 50A manual reset circuit breaker. I've noticed sometimes when I try to go forward it does not run. The reverse works. So I reverse for a sec, then the forward starts working again. I though this was due to weed getting caught in the motor as this seems to happen when I am in the weedy section. I think a couple of times, I had to remove the weed from the motor to get it started again if I remembered correctly. I wasn't paying too much attention to this, but now you got me worried I'll try to observe better the next time I go out. .

Maybe your friend's set up is not sensitive enough for him to detect the bite fast, like stretchy line (mono)? I don't know.

I decided to give LH reel a try. ( I would like a Super Rogue please. )

How often do they have 15% off sale?

Anybody knows why transitionally you reel with RH on barrister? I wonder if it has something to do with avoiding the arm fatigue coming from holding heavier rod then spinning all day long on the same hand...

I am shopping for a new bait casting set up for pitching. Have you guys thought about going left hand reel so that you can pitch with right and reel with left? My spinnings are that way already.

Thanks! This one is good.

Hi all, I recently started fishing in weedy waters. I am trying to figure out what the best way to fish. I see reference to certain kind of vegetation on the web, but I have to guess what they are talking about. Anyone knows a site where common vegetation seen by bass fisherman are pictured and particular identifying features are explained? Thanks!

I read a bit about marine radio last night. I used the radio today, listening the channel 16. There were two distressed boats warning that coast guard announced on the channel. But I didn't hear any "Mayday Mayday Mayday" prior to those. I guess people used cell phone to contact the coast guard? Anyhow, I have a lot to learn about the marine radio.

I think these things usually happen when you are not expecting. Early this year, I went to a local lake and I met a fisherman. He just caught 5# and we got talking for a while. He was nice guy. He had lots of stuff for bank fisherman. He told me he went to this lake about 30 min from there prior week and caught the biggest bass he ever caught. Next Saturday morning, I went there. There is no place to park. I had to park far back and walk for 15-20 minutes to the water. No fisherman at all. There were lots of garbage. I have never fished in the lake with so much garbage! I was skeptical about this place already. I started casting my 1/2 oz football jig which I have been having good luck at that time. I kept moving as I fish. No bites. I've lost 2-3 jigs. I figured there are lots of garbage down there too. I run out of my good jigs, I tied a jig that I bought probably 20 years ago. It is bright purple color. I don't see this kind of color these days. I threw it and as it came close to me, probably within 10 ft from me, a fish ate it. I set the hook (at least I thought I did.). It is not moving. It felt very heavy, heavier than my PB of 5 #. Then she splashed the water and the jig came off. I saw just the tail. I am blaming on my old jig having dull hook. Make sure your hook is good.

I ended up picking up Standard Horizon HX290. With $20 factory rebate going on this was better deal than two I was originally looking at and it seems to be better performance. I wonder what others here carry...

Until recently I didn't have a boat. I don't know how far the outside weed line would be from the bank nor how thick the weed is, but here is what worked for my daughter and I. Rig a straight worm 4" with 1/0 regular worm hook with smallest split shot possible with spinning tackle. Then cast 30 - 45 degree angle to the shore, so that you can pass the weed line, yet you can swipe the back side of the weed line a little bit. We just twitched this, feeling the lure touching the weed time to time as you go. If you hook big one and weed is thick, you might be in trouble with this method thou.

I'm looking to buy my first VHF radio. It will be a portable one. If I can get some advice, that would be great. I'm down to two models. One of them says "Sensitivity: 0.25µV; Rejection: 65dB" the other says "Sensitivity: 0.20µV; Rejection: 70dB". I know what they mean after reading up on the internet. I know the second one is better. What I am not sure is how much of difference will I actually feel on the water? The second one will cost me about $30 more, so if the difference is very small, I'll go ahead to get the cheaper one. Thanks!

Thanks guys for your quick responses. This site is amazing! So it sounds like the reason for using leader is basically because you are braid guy (gal) and would like to use braid no matter where you fish or your reel is already spooled with braid and no intention of re-spooling it, so in the clear water situation, you just add some leader to it. You are not really going after the braid's strength in this situation.

I've never used braid but thinking about picking some up soon. So please excuse me for braid newbie question here. I am a bit puzzled with the idea of using the leader. I am going to use 50 lb braid for heavy vegetation so that I can yank the fish out quick. Now if I use a leader of say, 15 lb fluorocarbon, it sounds to me that kills the whole purpose of going 50 lbs in the first place. The whole set up is only as strong as the 15 lb leader. Might as well forget about the braid and use 15 lb fluoro all the way through. Please tell me what I am missing. Thanks!

Hi Alex21, I have Mariner 4. Mariner comes with "hard floor" but it was not a solid one piece floor as I was expecting. You can stand on it, but you cannot stay standing on it to fish. I now put a hardwood floor made with 1/2" plywood. It is four pieces and I bolt them together. I painted with enamel paint. I put 3/4 " (?) pipe insulation material around it to protect the boat. I didn't have much of wood working skills nor tools. So it took me long time. The end result is just fantastic! It is so solid that I'm fishing standing the most of the time. I can flip & pitch now. It feels like totally different boat. Highly recommended if you can make one.

Hello folks! First post here. After I injured a fish when I used the hook kind of scale, I started to carry a plastic bag to weigh. The problem I had with this was the plastic bag became very stinky quickly, especially in a hot weather. I am back to using the hook kind of scale for now. Like ClackerBuzz said, you get bored weighing the fish. I only weigh bigger ones. So this might be okay. I learned to look inside the gill cavity before sticking the hook in there and make sure not to pinch the gill. Then weigh quickly. It is kind of awkward because you have a thumb of one hand in the mouth while trying to hold the fish higher so that you can see the fish from behind the gill. I am considering buying lip-grip kind of scale, but those jaws look very small, a lot smaller than my thumb, and not so gentle on the fish, no?