casts_by_fly

one of the guys on my team is Mn based. The other day when it was 5F here in NJ it was -17 for him not counting the wind chill.

but now think about a micro motor driven reel. infinitely variable retrieve ratio since no handle or gear set. Reel as fast as you could ever want. Or as slow a you want.

it’s all a matter of degree. If I’m fishing grass beds then the brush jig isn’t what I’d want. In your other thread you specifically said you were fishing grass. If you’re fishing brush that’s around grass or are in an area where there are clumps or sporadic grass around then the brush jig will come through that. It also depends on the type of grass a little. Thin, stringy, strandy grass like water naiad tangles on stuff faster than a heavier hydrilla or pads. If the grass you have is stringy nasty stuff (or god forbid the green or black filamentous algae)then just go straight to a pointy nose swim jig or light punch rig like a jay showed in the other thread.

That’s probably not going to be enough rod. The flashmob jr is about the lightest a-rig. It will come in around 3/8 oz on its own. Even with just screw locks/hooks and 5x 2.5” grubs you’ll be over an ounce. Then you do need at least one jig head to make it run true so figure another quarter ounce. At a minimum a stout 1oz rated rod but more practically a 1.5-2 oz will fish better.

I think they should be dynamite for you early season. Once the grass is up they get tougher to fish unless you're only fishing the edges, but in the early season when the grass is only starting to green up and grow they are a thing. Around here, I think a lot of people throw them and the fish turn off quickly. The past two years haven't been great for them here in that regard (the year before though that was the bait). You don't have the same angler pressure issues.

The lake effect isn't surprising. Having that much arctic cold air when the lake was still plenty warm is literally the definition of lake effect snow. The mid plains though is surprising with how little there is. We've had as much here in north NJ as north and south dakota for the most part. On the flip side, look at the snowpack in the high rockies and cascades. As much as 30' in places. That should bode well for spring melt and lessening the current drought conditions.

what braid? Suffix makes a couple, though I can't see why it shouldn't burn through. The 131 has a gore fiber core but that should melt just fine. I always just use scissors anyway.

I have no interest in being forced to fish a given body of water on a given day. I hate fighting with other anglers on the water for a piece of bank or a spot. I'm also as competitive as anything so winning would be just good enough and anything less would eat at me. I don't need that level of stress in my life.

I've done this one before and there is a way you can hold the standing line and eye of the hook in one hand and instead of wrapping the tag through the loop as shown, you wrap the loop over the entire hook (with the tag end held along the shank pointing away from the eye. To papajoe's point though, that one is a pain to get up over a bait keeper. Its great for a smooth shank hook though.

Revolve is new, so I doubt you'll have many first hard reviews from this board just yet. Someone else just posted about it also (linked below). If you like 832 (as do I) then I would reccommend you try 131. Dwight Hottle put me onto it before last season and I really liked it. Just a little stiffer than 832 so fewer wind knots and line drift. Similar size and rating which you'll be familiar with. Great knots, slick surface. I went with 10 lb and when I spool up a new stradic in a month or so it will get the same again. Only thing I wished about it was a little higher visibility. It's similar to moss green 832 in color which in 10 lb is almost impossible to see at times.

This is the one I use. When I tie it, the hook and the big loop are basically in the palm of my hand hidden and the eye down to the lure keeper are exposed. I make all of the wraps right behind the eye, using the pressure of the next wrap to slide the previous wraps back towards the lure keeper. After the last wrap I use my thumb to pinch everything from the keeper to the eye in place and thread the tag end back through the big loop. Skip step 4 in the diagram below. Note, I only tie the snell on straight shank pitching hooks and throwing heavier setups (1/2 oz and up, 20# mono/50# braid and up). I'm not convinced about the benefits of always hooking them in the roof of the mouth (though I usually do). I'm more concerned about the weight banging on the knot coming through heavy cover and the overall 'cleanness' of the rig.

⬆️ What he said. That Seibert's head (dredge brush jig) is my usual pitching jig for 'all purpose' use. I don't have a ton of brush around here but I do have a lot of grass and docks with the occasional lay down. If you're fishing strictly grass then I'd recommend one of the pointier nose versions. The swim jig, mini swim, or grass jig all come through cleaner. If you want a jig for throwing to a mix of brush and some grass then this is a good choice (as is the shot caller). Most of the Siebert heads are a different shape. Mike can advise on the differences that you can't tell from the pictures. I have a bunch of them here next to me also (shot caller, dredge, swim, G2 football, grass).

specs wise, those are the 6’6” treble hooker and the 6’8” medium heavy (might have been called the spinnerbait special also). They are designs that have been around a while in falcons lineup and still exist in places. I have the 6’8” in the Cara, though technically my dad has it. My thoughts on it are all over this thread so I’m curious how yours will compare with the evo. Hard to beat it for $32.

no clue. I’ve never even flexed one in store. which model did you get?

Just for anyone's future reading of this thread, don't forget that the NMC batteries are 15% higher voltage than LiFePo, so 32AH NMC is 37 AH equivalent in the LiFePo. For a standalone unit plus live imaging, that's a solid battery choice for all day use. Only tricky bit is the charger isn't the same as anything else because of the higher voltage. If that's the only battery you're charging then its fine, but if you're using a 3 bank charger in a boat then you'll need a separate charger for the NMC.

I'll second the lil man. It's a different head shape and weed guard, but an excellent jig. Here it is next to a bitsy for comparison (3" rage bug on both). excellent build, wire tied, any color you can think of really.

My intention is bigger and smaller. Last year I dipped my toes into the swimbait and ned arenas. Both were fun and both were productive for me at different times. So I'm going to thow both more this year and am expanding my inventory of each. Last year the 6" magdraft was the top end but this year I'm exploring into 8" magdrafts and some hardbaits. On the ned side, I've got a good selection of TRDs and a couple other baits. The 3" and 4" senko were a good shout as well (or at least a 5" senko that wore down to those lengths...) so I've added a couple colors of those to round out the bunch.

we drove I95 down past Baltimore this weekend and the susky was even iced over down at Northeast. All of the slower backwaters on the susky and delaware both were iced. Ice was impinging on the main channel on the susky as well (not on the delaware). I was surprised considering how brackish the Delware is that the backwaters were frozen. This week's temps should help both clear, but certainly won't warm anything more than that.

Discontinued. You’ll have to find used or new old stock. Otherwise cut down a longer one.

Until it doesn't and things just look a little 'past their best'. Then you know you've got a really old one.

I mean, its a bass boat and you're in walleye country so... I probably wouldn't tow one up there in that weather for a bunch of walleye guys to poo poo it either.

For the same weight/power rating from the same maker you can expect that the extra fast is going to have a lighter tip but that transitions into the power quicker up the rod. Think about it as where it flexes when you're casting and that a fast will flex 1 guide deeper down into the rod when casting compared to an extra fast (with the same lure, rod from the same maker, etc). That's a rough guide. Now its always possible that a maker will make a very different rod as their XF vs their F and that's when you need to ask about the specific rods themselves.

I learned this one here on BR. The owner screw lock weighted LIGHT hooks are perfect for a fluke (or as suggested by Toxic originally) a D-shad. I think its the 4/0 that's the right size. With the dhsad you get a slightly faster fall than weightless that looks a little more like a fleeing baitfish than a dying one. The tail bends up toward the surface a little more than weightless and it wiggles on the way down. Then when you pop the rod it will shoot up again the same as a weightless one. If you're like me and want them to fish like an underwater spook, you can walk the dog with them underwater and the small amount of weight keeps them just under the surface.

Have a look at the falcon finesse jig/topwater. 6'10", 1/4-3/4 (or 1/4-5/8 in the Cara). It sounds like just what you're asking for. It's labeled a MH, but that's on falcon's scale. I'd put it as a medium+ on most other makers. I have the Expert lineup version myself. It was my lighter bladed bait rod and topwater spook rod originally. I've found that I tend to go with 1/2 oz versions of those so I put them on another rod now and keep the FJ as 3/8 size topwaters and lighter finesse jigs/unweighted plastics. It has a really nice soft tip for throwing that 3/8 weight range.

So what I think your buddy is referring to is what some call the 'roman nose' on a deer. As they age, the skull gets just a little wider and the slope from the antler plate down to the nose is less defined. On a young deer there is the nose, and then up by the eyes there is a noticable 'hump'. In the first picture below (from maine F&W site) it is noticable on the 1.5YO (the other two don't have great angles). As the deer ages, the head gets wider, but not much longer. The face and head fill in and all of the curves smooth out a bit. The second picture below is a good side profile example (picture borrowed from louisana sportsman site). The head just looks 'thick'. Its a straight slope from the antler plate to the nose and the nose just looks shorter. That said, it is just indicative. You're not going to take his measurements in the field and know that he's X years old. White and great patches on the muzzle and around the eyes are similar. Saggy bellies and backs indicate age. Thicker antler bases indicate age for a given region/locale. If you look at just the body of a buck and it looks like a big doe, then you're probably looking at a 2.5 year old deer or younger. When they hit 3.5 its like a lightswitch got hit and their bodies change a lot.