fin

My theory is if a fish will bite a WP, it's already been caught and either got eaten or won't bite one again. The topwater bite used to be good in my lake before WPs got popular, now it's really tough to get a bite on topwater with any kind of bait. I know one guy that still uses them in an area of the lake that's hard to get to and nobody fishes, and that's the one place he catches them. He fishes them almost exclusively. Hardly ever catches anything, but occasionally still catches a nice one. I've got over 10 of them I've found, never bought a single one. I never use them.

I've tried glow in the dark. Never got a bite but looked pretty cool. I've tried roughly matching color of worm. Didn't seem to make any difference. I use black generally, but I think unfinished is fine. I don't like the really shiny ones, but who knows. I wouldn't waste much effort on it. On the other hand, I don't think you can scare the fish with the colors, except for glow in the dark.

The only thing that gives me confidence in a bait is a history of catching fish. Confidence doesn’t explain why a certain color catches fish for someone. It can explain why they use that color more often, and why they catch more fish with that color than another, but confidence doesn’t explain why they caught fish with it in the first place. Lack of confidence in a bait hasn’t stopped me from using some baits I thought were ridiculous that ended up catching me fish, so I wouldn’t say you’re guaranteed to not catch fish with something you have no confidence in. I think what GK was getting at is that you have to to give something a fair chance. If you have no confidence and don’t throw it much, you probably won’t catch anything. I don’t think any of that really applies to the conversation about whether certain color/flake combos work better than others. I wish I could have expressed that in less words ?

I think when you start to imagine your bait looks so perfect that it will override a fish’s feeding inclination, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. It’s more about having that perfect bait ready when the fish wants it.

This is when it helps to keep all the little odds and ends so you can frankenstein something like this together. I don't even know what that spring thing is, but it works great for this. That's a rubber washer, there's also a felt washer and metal washer. The 4X4 is for weight - a stable base. It's got a rubber pad on the bottom. Lock nut on the end of the bolt. Pretty simple. Less static than a wife. ?

There’s a lot of truth in that. I’ve said in the past I don’t believe in “magic colors”, but I said just the opposite in my comment above. The thing is, those colors are only magic in certain lighting conditions and water clarity. When a bait blends so well it is almost invisible, but becomes visible when the flakes catch light and it flashes the right color, that’s a big trigger in my experience.

I think one of the people that has already replied in this thread works for them, or used to work for them, or was connected in some way. He helped me with an order a long time ago. I don't want to call him out for privacy.

Goodbye to another reasonably priced bait manufacturer. ☹️

That might be true on a baitcaster, I guess. I don't hardly ever use them anymore. Spinning reels are about all I use these days. What works best on a baitcaster isn't necessarily the same for a spinner. "Limp" is a good adjective I could've used. The new stuff seems more limp to me. It gets limp faster. Suffix 832 seems more limp to me too.

Yeah, I'm a big believer in certain flake colors on my lake. I've tried other color flakes in the same color plastic when I couldn't get my preferred color, and I've still got a lot of those sitting in the closet collecting dust. My preferred colors get chewed up. Maybe not scientific, but I'm sold 100%. It's not a lot, maybe 5 color/flake combos. I mostly prefer solid colors, but there are some combos that are magic for me on my lake.

When I said "brand new", I meant relatively, like manufactured recently, not over 7 years ago. It is broken in, like a few months, so your point is valid, but don't think that would explain this much casting difference. If it did, I'd buy some of that "wax" ?

Both Original Spectra. Never heard of or seen Maxcuatro til now. I've used Super8Slick and never cared for it. This is 10# test.

I'm outdated too. Maybe that's why I like it.

Maybe "stiffer" isn't the right word. I tried several adjectives there. I think it comes off the spool easier. An extreme example would be like comparing a spool of stiff wire to a spool of yarn. The yarn kind of sticks together, the wire wants to jump off the spool. Suffix is even softer, in my limited experience.

Most of my rods have been broken by stupidity. My most recent was a 10 year-old Cherrywood that has landed hundreds of fish. I was unhooking a fish and the fish slipped out my hands and fell to the ground while still hooked. I think the only one I’ve had break half way down was a Zebco.

I pulled some old PowerPro off an old reel I hadn’t used since 2018. The ends had never been swapped, so the line inside the reel had never been used. I put the old line on a new spinning reel and now I’m casting 25-50% further than I was with brand new PowerPro. I noticed the old line was stiffer, more abrasive, wiry and hard when I put it on. New PowerPro seems to be softer and more pliable, it doesn’t cast as far and it frays more easily. At least that is my experience. Is it just me? I know they modify their product over time. I prefer the old stuff. Is there another brand that has the qualities of the old stuff?

I'm always counting something in my head, pretty much regardless of what bait I'm fishing. With a walking bait, it's 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1, 1-2, pause 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, etc...

In my case, it’s a Legalis XH I bought 4 years ago and have used almost daily since then. I definitely got my $52 out of it. Drive gear broke. I already replaced it with a Revros LT, but I hate to retire the Legalis. It seems like it’s still in pretty good shape, but I don’t know what caused the gear to break (besides a lot of angry bass). It could be wear on other parts that have caused the gear to break. Maybe the frame could be worn. It’s got a lot of miles on it. I wouldn’t be happy if I replaced the gear and then it or something else broke. If I could get parts for like $10, I would definitely try it, but I think I’m looking at more like $30, and I’d rather put that to another reel.

50% of cost to replace the reel new? More?

I may have to try that sometime. Maybe you could bounce it off the bottom without getting hung up as much ?

A second rod means you have to set it down every time you want to cast. If you're going to a certain spot, then two rods are better, but if you're walking the banks, one rod frees you up to cast whenever you feel the urge, like being in a boat beating the banks.

I've never used one, but looking at the color selection at Tackle Warehouse of the Shower Blows vs. the colors available for Rebel Jumpin Minnows, that alone would be a big advantage. I personally wouldn't bet it's worth the difference of 3X the price. The thing is though, if you're asking the question, you're already hooked. You won't be happy until you've tried one. ?

If you’re happy with the FG, stick with that, but if you think there’s something wrong with the Alberto knot itself, that’s obviously untrue. There are subtle things you might be making that can make all the difference. If you got your instructions from an illustration, you might be making an assumption that’s not true. For example, the illustration on net knots * shows that you pull on the braid tag and the leader to tighten the line, when in reality, you pull the braid tag and both the leader and the leader tag simultaneously. If you only pull the leader, you create a lot of stress on it just below the knot. This could be your problem. Illustrations are good to use to remember how to tie a knot, but not so good to learn from. It’s better to watch several people tie the same knot in videos (or IRL) once you have learned the basics. It’s easier to pick up those little variations. I’ve found that making the second wrap of 7 much looser than the first 7 wraps makes cinching the knot much easier. I also add 3 half-hitch knots at the end. The purpose of that is to allow you to cut the tag more closely. Otherwise, there’s a very slight possibility that the knot can come untied when you don’t cinch it 100% and cut the tag too close.

You hear that preached here a lot, and I guess it's good advice if you have trouble tying a good Alberto knot, but in my experience, breaks at that point occur like maybe less than 5% of the time, and that's when trying to break free from a snag, not when catching a fish. I don't think I've ever had a break at the leader knot while landing a fish. If you don't care about losing a bunch of braid, and you don't care about leaving a bunch of heavy braid in the lake or hanging from trees, then the argument to not use a leader because "it's a potential failure point" makes more sense.