BigAngus752

^^^this^^^ I would bet an entire paycheck that no one will every cheat in this situation...but that's not the point. I have been a police officer for 27 years. If I was to receive a $2500 bonus at the end of the week for having the most arrests would I arrest more people that week? Absolutely not. My job is to be fair, help those that need help, and search for justice for all. I do my best to follow 1Thessalonians 5:14-15 every day that I work. At the end of the week if I had the most arrests and I got $2500 cash would that put doubt in some peoples minds? Yes. Most importantly, would it have accomplished any positive benefit? I don't think so. People will want to be marshal's without the questionable prizes. I know I would do it!

You have resurrected an ancient post! This thread was expertly answered by @roadwarrior back in 2011. But the answer to your question is yes, copolymers are good for topwater IMHO. I use 12lb Yo-Zuri hybrid on my topwater rod and I walk a Zara Spook nearly every single time I fish. It's one of only a couple high-confidence techniques for me. I love the Zaras and have great success with them on the Yo-Zuri Hybrid. I use a Tatula SV which is fantastic for throwing light lures and I use KVD Line and Lure on the Yo-Zuri. Never a birdsnest throwing even my old-school Rapala floating minnows. As far as braid goes I found "walking the dog" to be more difficult with braid. Yo-Zuri Hybrid isn't as stretchy as mono but it has more give than braid. I like it with a medium/moderate rod for walking a Zara Spook. Others may prefer something else.

When I was 12-16yrs old my best friend's dad annually took us to their family land in Missouri to rabbit hunt. I loved doing that with them every year. Camping in a barn. Cooking over a campfire. One year my friend's great uncle came to hunt with us. I remember thinking he looked really old. I was sitting with him at breakfast watching him across the fire with a .410 pump action shotgun at his side. I wondered why he had it. I knew you can't hunt rabbits in open prairie and fence lines with a .410. My buddy had a 20ga and I had a 12ga. We headed out for the day and great uncle took the pump .410. I almost laughed. Later I stopped thinking it was funny. He took twice as many rabbits as us. And I don't mean we each had one and he had two. I mean I took 12-14 rabbits for the day and he took 25 by himself. He made kills from a distance so far that I didn't know it was possible. He hit them on a full run. I guess no one told him you can't hunt rabbits in the open with a .410ga.

Central Illinois here. Home lake is about 5000 acres and max of about 60ft deep/average 15ft. It's a man-made cooling lake. Surface temps are about 85 during the day. By the end of summer it will be around 89.

@5by3 is right, you are asking an awful lot from a single line. That being said, I would choose either Sufix 832 (it's braid and it's "neutrally buoyant") and be prepared to use a fluoro leader when appropriate OR, depending on where you fish, sacrifice some "feel" to get more abrasion resistance and spool it with Yo-Zuri hybrid (this gets you a clear line with excellent abrasion resistance and less stretch than mono). I have only 7 setups myself and all but two have one of these on them (the others are mono and a different braid). I also always have Seaguar fluoro leader with me.

Oh man, if you think walking the dog is addicting then you need to get a heavy rod, some 50lb braid, and a hollow-body frog. I love my Zara Spooks but those frogs are the coolest thing in plastic. Congrats on a great morning!

Do you have a Blains Farm and Fleet near you? All lures on sale (my local store is chock full of Rapala) and all fishing line on sale (I stocked up on Sufix 832 for $13.99 per 150yds.) Happy monkeying.

Soooooo....you've met my ex-wives?

These guys are all over it. I just started using baitcasters 14 months ago. My suggestions are practice, use a heavier weight for practice (3/4 to 1 ounce) until you are good at it, practice, get rid of the fluoro for now, practice, and if you want to "cheat" buy a Tatula SV. And then practice some more. You will get good at it. I guarantee it.

I'd like to offer a personal thanks to you for starting this thread. The only bodies of water withing reasonable distance of me all have a ton of wood on the bottom. I'm constantly losing stuff. This thread has restored some of my faith. Obviously not everyone loses a lot of lures but clearly a large percentage of us do. That makes me feel much better. Plus I've taken away some great tips from this thread. I appreciate you bringing it up. Do what I do...stock up from the clearance rack and swing for the fence!

We will say a prayer for you my friend! You will be on the water pulling lunkers before you know it!

Man I hope not! I want a plain Jane that's easy to handle and fix! I really like this boat, though. I'm a total addict now.

You're right and as I've said I could certainly be wrong due to my lack of experience. Challenging me to prove it is pointless when I've tried to explain that I know very little about it and could be making a mistake. And I am the guy that could drive it off a cliff...

Nope, it's a Mercury. But I must tell you this...I could have something set up wrong or not working properly. I'm a total boat newbie. It has told me over 50mph twice but I changed nothing from what the guy before me had set up so if he screwed it up then it's still screwed up. Or maybe I just got an especially good RT188. I know it has an expensive custom prop on it. Honestly, I'm so happy when I get in and out of the water without damaging something or drowning I call it good. Really, really love being out on the water with it though. The "new boater" stress is getting less and less and being out in it is getting more relaxing.

I just started bass fishing again last year after a 30 year break. I find it most satisfying to plan my day around either trying a new technique, a new piece of equipment, or practicing a technique that I'm not good at. If I'm really, really itching to catch fish then I will start out early in the morning and use a technique that I'm already good at. Once I get a good fish in the boat (for me that's 2.5 pounds or bigger) then I'm moving on to my plan to try something new or work on my skills. If I can catch one good fish and then spend a few hours getting better at another technique I'm really happy. If I catch a few dinks along with the practice then I'm thrilled. I don't like getting skunked but if I've learned something then I'm content that it's time well spent.

I have no experience with boats and I was very surprised at the speed of this thing too. I had fishing gear and my wife in the boat and got into a little race with my brother-in-law's ski boat on a perfectly smooth reservoir and I hit 55mph according to our equipment...and shocked my brother-in-law. He confirmed our speed too (his said 54). Maybe the previous owner put a 115 cover on a 150! LOL! I've hit 50+ twice in it (including that one) and had a tiny bit of throttle left but honestly I don't care to go that fast. All our lakes are small so I'm where I want to get to within a couple minutes anyway but it's best cruising speed on smooth water seems to be about 42-44 if I fiddle with the trim. I've had numerous other fisherman comment two things, "I didn't know Ranger made an aluminum boat" and "Wow that pops right up on plane".

I just went through this last year. It can be a difficult learning curve but stick with it. Now casting a baitcaster is almost second nature to me. I don't even have to think about it anymore. I just fish. The pros will chime in here shortly but here's some suggestions from a fellow new guy: 1. What line are you using? Get some 12-15lb mono or Yo-Zuri hybrid. Maybe even use some line conditioner. 2. Too late. Don't watch the reel. Watch your lure. Train your brain to thumb just as the lure is landing. Not before (huge splash) and not after (huge backlash). But obviously thumbing early is preferable to backlash and somedays the huge splash will catch you some fish. 3. He is right. Don't practice with something that's 1/4 ounce. Misery will follow. I readjusted and learned faster by using a 3/4 to one ounce weight making easy casts and gradually increasing in distance and lowering the weight. Also, practicing pitching and flipping REALLY helped my thumb control. Honestly I think that was the game changer for me. The wife and I spent HOURS in the yard pitching and flipping until I could routinely hit a 4in square piece of cardboard from any reasonable distance or direction. Then suddenly I could hurl a lure 35+ yards with no backlash. Maybe that was a fluke but I'm convinced the flipping trained my thumb. Keep it up! You'll be glad you did! I was a 100% spinning reel user. Now I'm 80/20 baitcaster/spinning in just one year. Totally worth the trouble.

Oh man! You win the windy competition!

I desperately want to try night fishing. It's sound great to me, but I have only had my boat for just coming up on one year. That's probably less than 20 trips out total. I can barely keep myself alive in broad daylight when the wind hits 15mph. And that's if I remember to put the plug in! I'm not trying this blind....not yet....I hope to find someone who will take me out at night first.

I have an RT188 with the Merc 115. I regularly hit 45-50 by accident. It's a 60mph boat in smooth water. There you go @tcbass ! Your perfect answer! I picked aluminum for three reasons: 1. Brand new boater. I fish lakes that have coves absolutely chock full of tree trunks sticking up in 20ft of water. I feel less likely to punch a hole in the bottom of an aluminum boat (or drag it on the ramp, or any of the other million things I'm stupid-new enough to do. 2. I didn't have to buy a new truck. It tows beautifully behind our Grand Cherokee. 3. I could afford a one year old boat with 10hrs on it. For the same money the fiberglass boat would have been much older. Love that Ranger aluminum! If it just didn't blow around so much it would be perfect...

I have a Ranger RT188 with a screw in plug. Last year the tether broke off so when I had it winterized I had them put a whole new plug/bracket in. Plug looks the same but isn't as dry. The last one worked with only a snug turn. This one I have to screw in really, really tight. The last time I went out I started pumping out with my auto bilge shortly after putting in so I stuck an arm in the water and turned it one more quarter of a turn. Four hours later and I didn't have a drop when I trailered. Just one quarter of a turn was the difference between two gallons and not a drip.

I've tried some of this. Mostly lipless through hydrilla. Can you suggest the best "technique" for pulling them through? Fast and rip it through? Or slow and work it through? I get tired of pulling hydrilla off my hooks after every cast and I wonder if I'm going something wrong. Or perhaps the lipless is what is wrong although I've tried some squarebill also. Thanks.

Congrats! May your future be free of tangles, birds nests, and curse words! But fill it with something inexpensive like mono or Yo-Zuri hybrid just in case....?

^^^this^^^ Or, since you already already own a Revo, last Sunday I walked into my local Field and Stream and found an unadvertised special. I bought a Gen 4 Revo SX for $99 (normally $149) and I got a Vendetta for free. I have two Vendettas, one in MH fast and one in M/moderate. The M/M would work for you. But if that sale is still happening it will end today and it's in stores only at Field and Stream or Dicks. But I still prefer a Tatula CT or SV over the Revo SX. Nothing wrong with the Revo, just personal preference.

Ditto.