Steveo-1969

Thanks for posting this link A-Jay. Signed, The Only Person In The World NOT On Facebook

Post of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or the opposite. You pick it up and it feels like your jig is gone, it's not there any more. Set the hook!!!

Unfortunately my river smallie catching is done for the year as well. I've never been able to figure out where they go in the wintertime, although I've never really looked for them either. So from now until the water starts warming up again next spring I'm fishing for skunks and the occasional walleye.

Hells Yeah!! Just tie one on and go to work!!!!!!!!

My bad, you were very clear on the knot you were having trouble with. I just didn't read carefully enough. And oddly enough Kentucky Lake is where I spend my annual vacation. Good luck with your on-the-water testing, I hope you find a knot that works well for you. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving as well.

I agree that your brain needs to interpret what your hands are feeling, and this interpretation may be different for each person. BUT to say that a rod has NOTHING to do with sensitivity is just silly. I probably would have said that very same thing when I was fishing with only an Ugly Stik 7 years ago. I certainly did say "I would never pay $100 for a fishing rod, my Ugly Stik works just fine!!". Then I actually fished with a higher end rod and realized what I was missing in sensitivity, especially for bottom contact presentations. If you drag a jig across the bottom with your Ugly Stik, then drag that same jig with my NRX you will notice a sensitivity difference. If they felt exactly the same either your hands are completely numb or your brain is malfunctioning! Nothing wrong with Ugly Stiks. I still have a 6'6" MH 2-piece that is a great catfish rod. But I'm not fishing bottom contact with it ever again.

I want my finesse spinning rod and my bottom contact baitcasting rod to be the most sensitive in my arsenal. For horizontal moving baits I could probably fish an Ugly Stik and be perfectly fine... (sacrilege!! ha-ha)

Oooooh, look at the new structure you have in your pond! Oh wait, is that cover? No, it's a break! Er, a breakline? (Ah nuts, it's probably best you just pulled it out and called it a deer blind...) Big Ol' Melon Head!!!!!!!!

Sweet! I just can't get my 10 year old grandson interested in fishing. "Sorry Pap, I'm a gamer." Now if he could fish with an XBox controller in his hand.....

I've never learned how to post pics in a thread, sorry. I will say that it sounds like you are MUCH more meticulous than I am when it comes to knot tying!! So I would guess your knots are much prettier than mine. I also have trouble getting the 12#-15# fluorocarbon to cinch down easily which is why I only use 5 wraps on the Trilene knot. More wraps than 5 and I really struggle when cinching down. Is this because the fluoro is stiffer than mono? Probably. I cinch slowly and with saliva as lubricant, and also use my fingers to push the knot down. The only time I tie it again is if the fluorocarbon is noticeably stretched out and shiny above the knot like I "burned" it when cinching. I also leave a longer tag end of about 1/4". I'm not fishing weeds so no worries about a longer tag end grabbing them. So assuming you tie better knots than I do, but I don't break off on hooksets, something else is different between us. As I stated in an earlier post, 51 weeks a year I'm fishing ML or M powered rods with 8#-10# fluorocarbon mainline and leaders. But 1 week a year I use a MH powered rod with 12#-15# fluorocarbon mainline to fish ledges with jigs and soft plastics. Lines I've used are Seaguar 12# & 15# Invizx and 15# Abrazx. The only fluorocarbon I experienced break-offs with on the hookset was Berkley 15# Vanish. I feel like I set the hook hard but maybe not as hard as you do? Also I'm using a Loomis MH (3-power) which may not be as powerful as other manufacturer's, so maybe your MH rod has more power? Have you considered ditching the fluorocarbon and using straight braid?

I use a Frabill Kwik Stow folding net that is very similar to the Plusinno net a couple posts above this one ^^^^

I have no suggestions, but when you find this perfect weather/fishing locale and move there can I live in your basement/garage/spare room? For free? And go fishing with you every day? I can tie my own knots and take off my own fish...

I use the Trilene knot for every line type I fish with - mono, FC, braid. I only fish a MH rod with jigs/plastics one week a year during a fishing vacation. The other 51 weeks I'm using M or ML rods. But I've never broken off at the knot on a hookset with my MH rod. 12#-15# fluorocarbon and 5 wraps.

Exactly! The fish "just can't handle it!!" While I understand you shouldn't take what a sponsored pro recommends at face value, if professional sports figures/celebrity spokespeople didn't help companies sell more of their product they wouldn't use them.

Congrats on that beautiful walleye! I never would have guessed that a DD would come out of a small lake in WV.

I use yellow or neon lime Sufix 832 in 10# on my ML spinning rod. I usually have a FC leader tied on to help break off more easily when snagged. The couple times I've used straight braid the hook has either straightened out or broken when pulling out a snag, the 10# braid didn't break. I'm sure it would break eventually, but my light-wire hook was the weak link. To save on braid I spool up partway with a cheap mono line, then finish with about 75 yards of braid.

Gotcha, thanks TOXIC! I grew up in WI and we called them yellow perch. Interesting that you catch them in the lower Potomac, but I've never caught one in the Upper Potomac and I've been fishing it pretty heavily for the past 7 years. Regional names can definitely get confusing. When I moved to WV I heard people talk about catching "goggle eyes". I later found out they were catching "rock bass". And I have a fishing buddy who calls any kind of panfish a "perch" no matter what it is.

Nice crappie! I only catch a couple a year in the Upper Potomac though I don't target them. Caught my first of the year a couple weeks ago. What is a "ring perch"? Is that another name for "yellow perch"?

Congratulations! Enjoy your first (yes I said FIRST) NRX rod!

I do not own any of the three rods you are thinking about purchasing but I can definitely empathize on wanting to buy them! And buying them is only a stupid decision if you can't afford them and you get evicted and your kids go hungry... I bought an NRX 893c and love it, but for 99% of my fishing it's too heavily powered for the small baits I throw. So it gets used 1 week a year while I'm on vacation. I then bought an NRX 842c MBR because it was lighter powered and the fast action was more versatile. I use this rod for literally anything I want to throw and it's amazing! For the past 2 years I haven't had the urge to buy another fishing rod. Seriously. Until yesterday when I saw G. Loomis 25% off. And saw there is a GLX 892c (which is not available in the NRX line). And the bait monkey whispered in my ear "Your favorite way to fish is with a jig and you love the 89" length and the 2-power. Why wouldn't you buy the jig/worm rod with the XF action? You NEED that rod!!!". I haven't bought it. Yet...

I fish these small swimbaits with a baitcaster. Not because I think it works better than a spinning rod. Not because of ego or any silly "my rod is bigger/better than your fairy wand" nonsense. I use a baitcaster because I enjoy using one more than a spinning rod. It's really that simple.

I've used lots of different lines as leaders, but for the past year I've been using 10# Seaguar Red Label because that's what I was using on my baitcaster as mainline and I always had some left over. It's definitely not as abrasion resistant as actual leader material and I've found I have to check it frequently for nicks, cuts, etc. and retie if necessary.

I use ball head jigs because of lower cost and multiple uses for the same head. I use them for swimbaits, grubs, finesse worms, etc. Really any plastic I want to fish with an open hook jig head. What changes is weight and hook size for different baits and conditions. I have used actual swimbait heads and also darter heads for paddletail swimbaits, but I never found an advantage over a ball head jig.

Before I bought my pair of Costas I tried on a bunch of different frames at a Bass Pro Shop and found the frame that was most comfortable on my head. (Fisch for me!) I wasn't sure if I wanted plastic or glass lenses because some people complain about the weight of glass. I decided on glass and I don't even notice I'm wearing my glasses while fishing. I also like that the glass lenses are more scratch resistant. I used to wear Strike King S11 polarized glasses and they would only last a year before they were so scratched I couldn't see through them clearly. I've had my Costas for a year and the lenses are still completely scratch free. I bought my 580G glasses from Amazon for $180.