Further North

There ain't no "best". There's what you like, and there's what is sorta intended for various presentations. I tend to like right around 7.0, then up or down depending on what I'm doing. I've a couple of 9.0 Revo Rockets for pitching (I want the bait back fast so I can pitch again) I've got an LTX that about 8:1 for Senkos. I go as low as 6.3:1 for cranks, in-line spinners, big musky baits, etc. What you really want to look at is how much line each turn of the handle picks up, then think about that in terms of the presentation you want to make. Generally speaking, if moving the rod provides the action, or the presentation is all on the fall, you want a fast ratio. If running the lure through the water (spoons, spinners, stuff like that), you're gonna want to slow it down. That said, you can always slow down a fast reel, at the expense of torque. You can't always crank a slow one fast enough... Example of that last point: I have an Abu Garcia Revo Toro Winch 60 on my 9 ft. musky rod. It's primary job is to run big in-line spinners...think double 8s, double 10s and bigger. You don't want to run those too fast, because they'll run too high in the water column...and you'll kill yourself trying to do that all day...so it came with a 4.6:1 retrieve ratio (this is a BAMF reel, it still picks up plenty of line per turn)... But...I also often throw 3 ounce Doctor Spoons with the same rig, and at 4.6:1, you cannot crank fast enough to keep them out of the weeds, even if you are 21 years old and it's 7:00 AM and you've had 6 cans of He-Man-Voodoo-Jack-Me-Up Juice. Pop a set of 6.4:1 gears in there, and...BINGO...turn slow for double-cowgirls, normal for the Doctor Spoons and you're in business. Crank baits and jerk baits fall in there just fine, also.

Nailed it. I was going to say "...a sharp knife", but scissors will do. either buy a practice plug, or take the hooks off a lure and practice around the yard...even in the house (I practice pitching inside off and on all winter.) I have a drill I do for my fly casting, every night the weather is decent: I cast my my way around the house. At least one rod, and often two or three in different weights. This makes me deal with the wind from every direction, trees, shrubs, whatever I can make get in my way. I cast under branches, around bushes (you can do that with a fly rod, to a point) and right next to branches where I imagine a monster pike lurking next to that gopher mound... Shoot for targets, don't just go for distance, as accuracy is 10x more more important. Tighten up your "short game" with pitching, and learn flipping. Plastic buckets, hula hoops, weeds, darker/lighter spots on the lawn, gopher mounds, leaves in in fall, and around here the occasional Brittany* have all served as targets at one time or another. *This kind of Brittany: ...not this kind:

Thank you, I appreciate that. Question: I use braid on my spinning rigs, at least 20# and usually 30#...does what you said about not leaving line strength on the table still apply?

Mostly ignore the bad, unless you see the same thing over and over about the same specific model. Since every manufacturer will produce a bad unit now and then, there will always be some out there. Or some tiny component may not go bad until it has been used x-number of times. Also keep in mind that people who had a problem are about ten times more likely to write a review, post about the problem on a forum, or go out of their way to comment...happy customers are generally quiet customers. On the service side, you always have to ask yourself how the person with the problem approached the company. Were they reasonable, or did they take an aggressive stance right away? There are some people with egos so big they can't get 'round the idea that their problem isn't any different than everyone else's...and when a company doesn't bend over backwards to kiss their fannies, they delight in bad-mouthing them for the rest of their lives...then you've got the passive aggressive folks who never come right out and tell the company what they want, but who are happy to blast the company in subtle...and not so subtle...ways for years because the company failed to read their mind...and all the quirky psychology in between, and around those two types. "Grain of salt" always occurs to me when I read a scathing, negative review. I'll go back to what I said before: decide what features you want, buy the unit from one of the top manufacturers that has all those features at a price you can live with...odds are good you'll be happy.

Help me understand, because I don't get this. I am absolutely not being critical, I want to learn if I am missing something. I get that you like it and use it...and that's awesome...but what does it add for most fisherman, other than a...let's face it...awkward maneuver and a loose cranking handle smacking into your knuckles that can easily result in lost fish? There isn't a baitcaster on the market that has this feature, and hundreds of thousands of fish, possibly millions of them, are hooked, reeled in, no problem. I fly fish. A lot. I get what happens when the reel is going the wrong direction and I have to palm the reel...and I'd rather have the drag do the work for me. It's consistent, it doesn't make judgement errors, it doesn't accidentally grab too hard and snap the line or too light and create God's own backlash... I catch fish that are four feet long and weigh in excess of 25 pounds on fly rigs, so we're stressing the equipment more than 99.999999999% of any bass ever caught will.

That'll do it. Glad it was better!

Like you, I never back reel. What I've done to back up the lure is get close, then grab the spool and dial it against the drag until the tension lets the rod tip point straight. Seems better that pulling against the drag (no opportunity to bury the line into the spool) and it's definitely more precise.

We talked about this on the water yesterday. We were trying to zero in on a single "favorite" and I determined that, because I buy for specific purposes, I don't have a favorite. Opening up to "top five" opens the doors to preferences a bit, and I like it. Reels: Lamson Nautilus Abu/Diawa/Shimano in a tie Rods: Temple Forks St. Croix Orvis Scott Hav1 Rods are all a tie, IMO. Yeah, some of those are gonna puzzle non-fly fishing folks. But it's what I use for bass...

I knew someone would ask... ...and here's the one downside to utility trailers: Other people borrow them sometimes... It's "involved in a project" and I probably won't have it back until the 4th of July. Not a big deal as I'm not going to need the canoe before then anyway. I'll do my best with words: Treated 2 x 12 deck, bolted through frame with stainless bolts. Treated 4 x 4 uprights, braced both directions in the corners, so that the top of a canoe is about waist high when loaded. Treated 4 x 4 cross pieces (removable; I unbolt them) at the above height to support the inverted canoe. I considered permanent hardware to hook the straps to...don't need it, the canoe ain't goin' anywhere. I am still considering attaching an old 105 qt. cooler at the front as storage...but haven't put a lot of time into it yet because: I think I want it removable, and I haven't wrapped my head 'round how to do that yet, and It's not like I don't have room in the Edge for the stuff I'll need on any given trip, and if I add storage, I'll fill it up...

I went and looked up the Hullavator. It's pretty cool, I really like the idea. ...but I'm chea...I mean frugal...and I avoid lifting awkward things like kayaks and canoes for a myriad of reasons... I bought an inexpensive utility trailer at Farm 'n' Barn for about $250, rigged it to hold my canoe for about another $100 and two hours work and really like it. The lift is easy (more of a drag, really) and I get the added benefit of having the utility trailer around for other stuff.

I have two: One Cabela's, one Mustang. The Mustang is the better of the two, but not enough to justify the full retail difference, to me. I got both with Cabela's points, so free (mostly, unless you wanna get into a discussion about opportunity costs), to me. Edit: Crap, I lied...or more accurately, my memory is failing me: I have a Mustang Survival Elite 38 Type II Inflatable PFD Life Jacket that I purchased from Sierra Trading Post for ~150 I would pay that much for it, again, without hesitation. They have sold out of those, but currently have this: Mustang Survival Survival Elite 28K Type III Inflatable PFD Life Jacket

That's a great sounding set up, get out and enjoy the heck out of it!

All of the top brands are great, do a little research and figure out what you want it to do, and what you want to spend. I've got a Minn Kota four bank that is at least eight years old and runs every minute the boat is not in the water or rolling down the road, zero issues. I've also got a Minn Kota single bank for my electronics battery that's on it's 3rd season working just fine as well.

On a new boat...I can't think of a reason why you'd have any water inside unless it was raining, or something else external put water over the sides. My boat is an '05 and it's bone dry, every time, always has been...unless it's raining or I've done something stupid and taken water of the side or the transom.

Yeah it will! Freshwater fly fishing for teeth'll get you there too. Trout too...lot's of folks spend what sounds like crazy money to some people to present a tiny floating fly to 12" fish... The 8 wt. rig (rod, reel and fly line) I just put together would retail north of $1500, and most people are paying all of that, eagerly. I'm glad I didn't have to spend anywhere near that, and in 10 wt., or 12 wt., which a lot of folks are going to for big muskies, it'd be easy to add several hundred dollars to that. I've mentioned this before, but when I looked up custom bamboo fly rods a while back it even caught me off guard what the high end looked like cost wise. Really puts "...everything is relative..." in perspective. If any of you want to really get your eyes opened, go look at the world of high end shotguns...I walked through a tent at a clays shoot on Friday and easily say a half dozen guns approaching or slightly over $80,000. Bunches of them well into the low five-figures, and dozens and dozens well in the mid four-figures. ...and no, this wasn't a gathering of snooty elitists. I met new friends and old friends who were machine operators, office workers, teachers, fork lift drivers, medical techs...Lots of Chevy's Fords and Dodge trucks around...most of 'em not new...

Good point - as long as that part of the hull is then in contact with the water. It's the air pockets that cause problems.

Yeah, that's a different direction. You have to be flexible while shopping so you don't talk yourself into the wrong boat. Looks you stayed open minded and did well. What year, motor, electronics, etc?

I've had a 7 wt. Bank Robber for years...love it! Bought it when I thought I wanted to chase big trout with streamers...until I realized Wisconsin's just not set up to take advantage of that kind of streamer fishing in very many places... ...so I switched it to a bass rod. Sometimes it's got an SA Hover line on it, sometimes a floating line, works great with both. I'm a big TFO fan, and not just of their fly rods...I have tons of their gear rods as well, I probably fish them more than any others. I find TFO, particularly on the fly side, to be an amazing value. Do I give up a little of the fit and finish of high end stuff? You bet. But I save more than enough to drive on fishing trips all year... ...and they work just fine. The Axiom II is really something else, it's actually lighter than the H3 by a nudge and it'll throw anything from a sinking line to a floating line well...once you adjust your casting like you should.

Yeah, for now (at least until the weekend ?) I'll leave the H3 set up for bass. I'm usually OK with topwater not getting bit off, but anything that runs even slightly subsurface is at risk around here...and since I target them a bunch...that weighs in a lot, too. I really like both of the Single Handed Spey lines. Nailed it. And the rod manufacturers need to communicate what grain weights their rods are designed to work best with. I know that if you call St. Croix, you can get that information, but you may have to work your way through a couple people. The customer Service folks will typically tell you, "It's for an 8 wt. line."

Most often about 4 ft. of 50# Maxima with about 2 ft. of 30# wire. Right now, that rod has 4 ft. of 16# fluoro to 2 ft. of 8# copoly.

That's how I was feeling about the H3 as well...then the opportunity presented itself to grab one for a steep discount and I jumped on it. I've not spent a lot of time learning about taper, probably because I've not really defined for myself what I like for different kinds of fishing. From the Rio website ( https://www.rioproducts.com/products/floating/intouch-single-handed-spey ) this is how they diagram the taper: ...tha's for the 5 wt, can't say if it's the same for the 8 wt. I'd assume, but you know how that works out... The way I'm using it, which is really an overhead cast, even if I do it sideways, is cast out 50' - 60', strip in about 10 ft, pick it up and do it over. As you can see above, by the time you've got the head, the handling section and the length of the rod...you're at 51 feet, and it's an easy back cast, forward flip...strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip...repeat. They also make a version called the "3D" which is for subsurface...works the same. It'll roll cast on your lawn...not great, but it works. I tried a switch rod last summer, didn't care for it...felt overly complicated to me when I can cast the same distance and accuracy the way I fish now. As long as you recognize that you will need to double haul, it's amazing. and at 300 grains, with enough speed (from your forward haul) it'll cut into the wind really well...but make sure you've got a leader that'll flip the big fly.

? ...another reason I'll stick with the M-Y Wedge.

They do? So AGMs last 15 years? I've not seen that... I'm guessing "mine" = "mind". Yep. Math, an' stuff.

I meant to comment on this... I saw them, and I didn't want to get sucked into the hype from folks who might have a vested interest...and no way I was going to pay retail... ...so when the opportunity came up, I reached out to a couple folks I trust who had cast them, got a decent thumbs up from both, so I grabbed it. I'm still reluctant to buy into the hype, thus my statements above about trying to be objective...but jeez...is this thing accurate. The TFO Axiom II has some of the same kind of thinking applied to its design, but the H3 seems to have and edge accuracy wise. I need to fish it more (that means get ticked off a couple times when I can't drop the popper in the 6" slot between the lily pad and the branch) to be completely objective, but I'll get there. I was out last night practicing into a mid-teens wind...and as long as I did my part (high back cast, low forward) I was having no problems putting that little hunk of foam close to where I wanted it.

Tell you what: That Single Handed Spey blew me out of the water with how easy it casts once you get the hang of it. You're going to have to double haul if you're not just flipping out a roll cast (I do that about half the time with that line). As you can see, i've got it rigged with a popper and sits right up on the top, really well. Rio's InTouch Outbound short lines are great as well. I like the Rio Smallimouth and Clouser lines as well, but not as much as the two above. The Airflo floating line I mention above is great, but I'm not sure they make it anymore....but their new stuff gets the job done too. With Orvis now owning Scientific ANglers, I expect their lines to get better...the SA Hover is another great line, but it's for going juuuuuust subsurface. I've also heard good things about the Titan, the Amplitude and Orvis Power Taper lines... ...and now I'll wander off the topic a bit: The fly fishing industry has really messed up rod weights, and with it, line weights the last few years. Overly fast rods, often built to with the obsession for hero-length casts has made it much harder to match up line to rod. Depending on the rod, and the line, you could easily wind up going one line weight heavy...but what'll screw that up is that some line makers are already compensating for that...and adding weight. Add in that fly rods are pretty individual in terms of what we like and don't like...and we can spend some time figuring out what works for us. I'm fortunate in that I've got 6 8 wt. reels with different lines on them...and another half dozen lines I can swap in, so figuring out what'll make me smile is easier than a guy who has to buy lines...or drive to a shop that'll let him test them