StrikePrince

I love fishing alone or with my brother who is into fishing like me. It's hard to fish with "newbs" who you have to worry about getting bored. If I go with newb friends I see it more as a social outing than a real fishing outing. Fishing alone is great- no pressure, freedom to just hang out in a spot even if nothing is happening, trying whatever crazy lures/techniques you want to for however long you want to.

Had a decent (for me) numbers day, catching 9 small ones, mostly around 11-13 inches. Best one was ~2lbs. One of them spit up a baby perch (2.8 rage swimmer for reference). The best spots were eddy-like areas caused by thick grass up to the surface and broke the wind, and moving baits into/past that. Swim jig fish:

Thanks all, I appreciate the suggestions and will try oiling the spool bearings.

Yes, sorry, wrong terminology. The dial on teh right hand side that detmerines how freely your bait falls when the spool is free. 1 on, 3 off, dial at 2, spool tension set so that a 1/8oz texas rig baby brush hog falls pretty freely. With these same settings I was able to cast just fine until the past few trips out; there is definitely something off about the way the spool tension is sludgy and rough for preiods of time, then fine, then back to sludgy. I've only oiled the small hole hat is exposed when you open up the reel to adjust the brakes- I'm not sure what the other parts are. I'll look for some instructions on what else I might oil.

Hello all, I'm hoping for some advice on a recent issue with my Curado HG K. Despite having my brakes set fairly loose (brush hog and 1/8 oz bullet weight falls pretty freely), it will suddenly feel as if the brake dial is up very high. I will wind the dial almost all the way loose but it still offers nearly max resistance, almost as if stuck. However, the dial moves freely, so I can have the dial at a setting where it is nearly falling off, but the resistance doesn't budge. Sometimes, I can cast it out hard, and it seems to "break through" and perform normally for a few more casts before getting stuck again. I can feel the resistance even during a retrieve, it feels "sludgy" and not smooth. Sometimes, when it is working fine, I will feel it shift into being stuck during the retrieve- the retrieve can start smooth and then I feel a sudden resistance and then I'll know that the next time I cast, I will have the brake problem. Troubleshooting: -I lubricated the spool and the gears that are accessible by popping open the spool. Nothing beyond that that would require me to open up the reel further. -I respooled the line. (15 lb P-Line Flouroclear casting a baby brush hog with 1/8 oz bullet weight and 3/0 EWG Superline Gamakatsu) The issue remains. Anyone know what the issue may be or have any troubleshooting ideas? I love the reel and it's given be about two years of good service. The maintenance I have done in that time span is lubricating the gear every few months.

I want to improve my finesse fishing. 2017 I focused on jigs, 2018 texas rig, this year I want to learn finesse. Living in the PNW it should be one of my main methods. Drop shot, ned, shaky head, weightless wormin is gonna be a focus this year.

Thank you. I didnt know that the color could indicate the position of the object in relation to the cone. Thanks for the insight.

Hi all- I had my first day with a fish finder yesterday and had a lot of fun. It was so cool passing over spots that I never would have thought twice of in the past, and seeing so many signs of life. I was able to pick up a few small bass casting deeper running cranks to these active spots which was very cool. I did have a few questions about things that I saw that I'm hoping you can help with. Pictures available through this link. https://imgur.com/a/ZhRRkOu The first picture- I'm not quite sure what those diagonal lines are. Could they be wind blown stalks of thin weeds? And are those schools of small baitfish towards the top of the water column? The second pic- what is going on there? I initially thought I might have had the gain set too high, but I didn't see that level of splotchiness for the rest of the day. It looks like they are all fish arches intermixed with those bulbous yellow splotches (what could those be?). The last picture again- are those baitfish clouds?

Fishing is probably the best (wholesome or otherwise) way I have found to effectively hush an anxious mind.

Anyone have tips on following the baitfish for us northerner's who don't have schools of shad? How do forage like yellow perch and bluegill react to fall weather patterns? And in turn, the bass?

I find a lot of the chest cam footage to be helpful, whether they're catching or not. You don't have to listen to what they're saying, you can see with your own eyes whether their cast catches fish. Also, chest cams on a skilled angler like Scott Martin are good for the same reason. Even if he's not talking about what he's doing, you can see where he's casting/how he's retrieving.

Thanks @WRB. If you are able to find depth of batifish, how do the bass relate? Will they generally be located on structure/cover in that same depth range?

Thanks for all input, I'm leaning towards getting a FF now. The lakes are fish are pretty structureless, but I have a few lakes in mind where I'm sure I'm passing over a lot of cover away from the banks.

How crucial are your fish finders to your typical fishing day? I've been browsing units, looking to purchase a fish finder for the first time and am overwhelmed by all of the options. Plus, the fact that I'll need to complicate my boat with more holes/wires/more devices, etc ...I'm not a fan of complicating simple activities. So I want to ask the superior fisherman here- how important are your FF to you? Did you find that your skill as a fisherman increased significantly when you were able to visualize what was under/around your boat? Am I limiting my own growth as a fisherman by not having a FF? FYI, I fish mostly smaller lakes (up to about 600 acres) that don't have much in the way of structure. But, having a FF would make some non local lakes that are a bit more structure oriented to me.

Got this 22 inch football on a zoom ultravibe speed worm 1/4 oz Texas rigged. Hit on the fall on a cast to a patch of deep standing weeds, probably hit around the midway point of a 10-12 foot fall

I don't think I've ever caught more than 10 in a single day. 50+ a day sounds like something I would dream.

Great post, if you can set aside a day to go fishing then life is good. "i forget about everything going on around me in the real world..." I'd say that fishing is getting to spend time in the real world; we spend most of our daily lives in a fake one.

Curious what adjustments you made in your techniqe or outlook that allowed you to turn the corner and have more success at that lake?

Because setting the hook on a jig bite is one of the most fun things in the world. And the anticipation of that moment fuels everything...

Thanks for your guys input. This is what I eventually had done.. @Scott F thx.

Not to turn it into a saltwater vs bass thread but I think bass popularity and greatness as a gamefish come from reasons outside of their fighting/eating quality: -Acessibilty, they're in darn near every pond/lake aroudn the country, and because of that... -Variability- they live in shallow, weedy puddles to coverless, deep clear resevoirs. -The myriad of techniques; you can go from pitching a jig to brush and docks to twitching a pink fluke in open water in the same day/hour. -Targeted fishing- the technique of casting to cover/targets is almost a sport in itself -Their seasonal predicitability combined with the wide spectrum of willingness to bite makes for a frustratingly good puzzle that never ends. Thinking more about the original topic, I realize I'm kind of asking- why do you find fishing exciting? I'm sure people on a golf forum feel the same way about people like me that don't find the appeal in that.

To me, I can't understand why anyone would think fishing is boring. Feeling the tap and setting the hook is one of the coolest things in the world. So...why do some people just not "get" fishing? Some of my friends will come and start getting distracted after 20 or so minutes. This same friend was once the only person on the boat to catch a bass (4 lber at that) and it seemed like he couldn't care less. Others have surprised me with their ability to fish attentively for hours without a bite. Is it just a trait you're born with? Can you think fishing is boring at first, then learn to love it? Do people that think it's boring just not know enough about it yet?

Great job on setting the hook one one of those weird slack line bites those are tough to detect.

Whenever I seem to be gaining confidence the fishing gods like to smite me down with a skunk day. Not sure what happened-seemed to be good conditions, overcast day, not much wind. Lost one frog bite early in the morning, and the rest of the day only had a follow on a bubblegum fluke. No bites on the jig around docks. Small bites (probably bream) on a shaky head around docks. Just wondering how often the greater-than-me fisherman of bass resource experience a skunk? I think I'm mostly looking for some reassurance that it's all gonna be OK. Or maybe- what I could have tried differently that day instead of banging my head against the wall (or throwing the same jig/trailer to docks with the same frequency/monotony as headbanging).

Interesting- can you elaborate on what you can learn from fishing the bluegill spawn? I"m up north and bluegill/perch are a primary forage in a lot of lakes here I think and would love to learn more about them and how their behavior relates to the bass.