casts_by_fly

im not sure if it’s intentionally lowered or just that we haven’t had any rain. The two main creeks feeding it are practically dry. I only started fishing it this year so don’t have a frame of reference other than gauge data and it looks like it’s hit it’s three year low already. The steepness of the curve though says it could keep going especially with the lack of rain and high temps in the next 10 days.

Yeah, sandpaper it is. Don’t worry about it too much. That’s how cork grips are shaped in the first place. You can use a lot of 400 grit on a cork grip and not hurt it. Go slow with a block until you’re just breaking through the surface of the sticky bits. Then cut a piece of sandpaper 1” wide by as long as the paper is. Hold the rod between your knees or however else you can hold it without your hands. Then wrap the paper a 180 around the grip. Pull from one side and back to the other with light pressure. Easier to do than describe. Go slow, use light even pressure and it will be like new.

have you fished the tremor also? I find they start up as slow as you want also and was hoping you could compare.

Hi all, im selling my falcon “buzzbait” rod. That’s their title for it that is on the rod. I believe it is the same rod as the current “table rock”. I bought it used from ALF in a recent used drop thinking it was going to be MF H like the bucoo version but it is more moderate than moderate fast. It’s just a little too slow for what I want it for so it’s the last rod I reach for to put in the boat. It would be a great crankbait rod for 1/2 oz and up. It fishes a chatterbait great if you prefer a more moderate rod. It’s listed as a big buzzbait rod from falcon and I’d go with that (3/8 and up). It’s just not what I need as I have all of that otherwise covered. it’s in very good condition per ALF rating scale when I bought it and it’s only been out a couple times since then. There are a couple boat rash type marks but otherwise the cork, seat, guides, and blank are in good shape $150 $130 in New Jersey. I’m up for other falcon expert or cara trades (cash to balance) so whatcha got?

Wanaque reservoir is a good source of water. All of the surrounding area is state forest and remote. Monksville empties into Wanaque. I have no questions about that water quality. What I meant was the water feeding into Oradell in the first place (Pascack brook and the other feeders). They flow from Spring Valley/Nanuet area and down through north jersey suburbs. If you can launch your kayak into the lake you'll be in a lot better shape. That's true for basically everywhere in north Jersey as shorelines will limit what you can fish/see/do. Merrill gets quite busy, both fishermen and other paddlers. Its electric only which helps, but it has a varied fishery (largemouth and small mouth both, salmon and trout, panfish) and its a beautiful place to be. So it pulls people. Spruce is also popular but week days are fine. Both have tons of cover and structure to fish and good populations of fish. Spruce is down about 5' from normal pool so shoreline cover is getting sparse. Last I was there 10 days ago the grass was largely dying or dead. The fish didn't go anywhere though so its still well worth fishing. Monday we caught a few fish at Monksville- not a skunk but not a banner day. Its a tough lake so be prepared for that.

Yeah, in that case about the only way you're going to fish it successfully is to yo-yo it. Let it hit bottom, rip it up 3', and let it fall again. Even then, that's painfully deep. If you really, really wanted to fish it that deep on a steady reel, I image a 1 oz carolina rig would keep it down. In that case you could get by with a lighter chatterbait.

Are you sure that's the inflow water? I would be very surprised if the inflow water was right next to the dam. It's basically just going to push the new water right over the dam and into the river, while not improving the rest of the lake at all. Given where you're at, I'd seriously consider just fishing the river right below the dam. Small topwaters and 3" twisters bounced along the bottom should catch bass there. Bonus, you might end up with a schoolie striper, though that's a long way up. If you can't get into that area, I'd suggest covering water in low light hours as suggested above. small buzzbaits and ploppers would be my start. Cast to any cover you find, blind cast down the shorelines, and keep moving. If you're not set on fishing that lake, I'd consider a run 25 minutes northwest to pompton lake. Based on reports it has bass and tournament results back that up. I don't know shore access, so you'll have to explore, but a kayak would get you around it and there are a couple launch points. The other thing to remember with that lake is that pretty much the entirety of the watershed that is draining into it is suburban and urban (I used to live next to the main stream flowing in where that stream is 5' across- it was bad even that high up). The quality of water coming in isn't great to have a productive fishery. So temper expectations a little.

It is a very good rod for weightless plastics and other light baits. I have a revo MGX on mine which is touted as a light weight bait reel (I'd largely agree with that). With that reel and 12 lb supernatural (0.011 diameter, so thin for its rated test) it will throw a weightless fluke a mile (well, 40 yards but that's a long way and probably further than fishing range). I imagine a 5" senko would cast wherever you want, however you want. I keep meaning to try it, but senkos aren't my thing. I'd rather put a finesse jig in the same spot. What reel did you put on it?

sorry, I missed the question about the finesse jig rod when I first read this. i love the finesse jig rod. It’s a lighter version of the head turner to me. Both have pretty quick tips for casting purposes but then they get into the top meat of the rod quite quickly. With a fish, you’re into the middle of the rod fairly quickly but it always seems that there is more power to give in the butt. I’ve not fought a 10# plus fish (of any species) on either yet so maybe it will give up eventually but I haven’t gotten there yet. The power transition from tip, top mid, bottom mid, and butt is not noticeable in any way. I have overloaded the finesse jig with a 1/2 ounce chatterbait and zako (total weight almost an ounce) and it just flings it. Anything over 5/16 or so and just let it rip for a 35 yard cast. Super lightweight overall. If I were to duplicate rods in my arsenal, that would be one (the head turner the other).

while I agree with the general sentiment, light penetrates 200-400’ in modestly clean water. In the depths that bass inhabit, day and night are very different.

lews and revos feel basically the same. He’s pretty set on his chronarchs (he has 5 I think) hence looking for a high speed shimano.

thanks. I’m not sure a 300 sized reel is going to work though. Have you handled one and is it relatively close to a ‘normal’ sized reel? thanks rick Thanks for the heads up. I don’t know Daiwa very well so wouldn’t have known that.

Hi All, What's the highest IPT shimano reel available either in the US or JDM? My dad has a Revo rocket 10 but much prefers his Chronarchs for feel in the hand. I don't know of a 10:1 shimano to duplicate it. The best I can find is 8.5:1 in the Curado 200 DC which comes out to 37 IPT (the Rocket is 41 IPT). I've searched Digitaka for the JDM market, but don't see anything more. Is there another shimano that gets closer? I'm aware of the Daiwa Zillion 10 already and that could be an option if he likes the feel of my soon to arrive Zillion better than his Rocket. thanks, rick

I don't know those rods, but I start around a quarter ounce and a 3.3 Fat on the baitcaster. I use my 6'10" Expert MH/MF (though a little faster than that) with 12 lb mono. I've done an eighth and a 3.3 fat on a baitcaster, but that's overhead casting only (with the rod I was doing it on). That was with 30 lb 832 braid and a piece of 12 lb fluoro leader.

Smear the dawn dish soap onto the grip, not in the water first. It will help dissolve any grease or oils first. Then a water wash will take as much as you can get with dish soap. Goo gone is a good shout. Acetone applied to a rag might budge it if the first two don't. Then acetone directly onto the sticky next. You could go so far as white spirits the same process as acetone. if none work, then 400 grit sand paper in a small wood block will definitely work. Go slow and don't gouge at it. I wouldn't go heavier on the grit as it will start digging deeper than you want before its all removed. just take your time with the 400 grit.

For more details which I should have put originally, the lakes are a mixture of manmade and natural. None have significant water traffic- they are all a mix of 9.9 and electric only lakes. So a couple of them get fished fairly hard but some do not. Water clarity varies by lake. The one that's down 3' right now normally has 2' visibility. The one we fished tuesday is normally 6' visibility or so. Tuesday's lake I could see the township and lake house residents banding together for a spray, but there were no signs (which I think are required by law). I also fished it 5 weeks ago and there was plenty of grass. The lake that's 3' low is a state park lake and is experiencing an algal bloom starting up so I thought that might be a cause, but its the only one of these lakes with that problem. I'm starting to think that the reason might not be the same for all of the lakes but I don't know. Too many lakes and too few commonalities among them. I might need to go for a drive and look at a couple other lakes around to see what's happening.

Hi All, Last year the lakes around here had significant milfoil, to the point that I had to buy a light punching setup in prep for this year. As spring rolled out the milfoil was growing up in all of the expected areas. Over the past week though (and maybe longer- i have a 3-week gap in getting out before then), 3 of the lakes in the area all have dying or dead milfoil. Entire weed beds and large coves that were nearly full are empty. Where the weeds remain in place, they are brown and dead. The fish want no part of the dead weeds. Water temps are similar to last year (80-84 right now). One of the lakes is about 3' low, but in what is now 5' of water and used to be 8' the weeds are dead (and 2 months ago they were pretty thick). I know that 2 of the 10 or so local lakes were sprayed back in June, but they are the same watershed/stream. The others are independent (one is township owned, two are state park, etc). So what could cause grass generally, and native milfoil specifically, to die off this time of year? I know I've got my work cut out for me in some places if there is no grass. thanks, rick

How deep are you talking? Different vibrating jigs will vibrate at slower speeds. The original chatterbait is just okay at slower speed and it can be affected by the trailer a lot. A tremor from Siebert will vibrate at any speed until you hit the 'hunting' speed which is when it starts to hunt erratically randomly (which is a good thing). Its less trailer dependent. A 1/2 oz tremor with either a rage menace or a zako will sit on 10' comfortably. Cast it out and let it hit the bottom first. Then reel slowly. A slower reel helps as noted above. If you want to fish deeper, you're going to need the heavier ones. Smaller trailers help keep it down.

Hi All, I thought I would update this thread with my choice and logic. I just placed an order for a JDM Zillion from Digitaka. If shipping goes to previous performance, I should be able to review it as soon as next weekend. The logic was simple- with the exchange rate where it is (and its gotten better since this original post) and the absolute glowing reviews, it was hard to chose against it. I really like my Chronarch which is in the same price bracket, but I think the zillion could be even better. I'm probably going to put it on my Expert Head turner and that will become my primary jig rod (included bladed jigs). @Blaine Donders slowed the process down when he offered me a basically new STX last month and I accepted. That quelled the itch for a new toy for a bit and that reel alone has really livened up that rod (upgrading from the SX that was on it). I would have been happy leaving it there and I'll fish it there until the Zillion comes in at which point it will replace one of the older STX I have on another rod. Thanks rick

What Catt said above. The fish don't magically change into new creatures. If they would eat the T-Rig durign the day then they will eat it at night. Same for a ned. I don't personally prefer to fish that way at night (there's nothing like a topwater bustup at night) but it works. Also what Tom said. Lots of docks have ropes and cables and carpets. If you're trying to fish tight to the dock, treble hooks will snag a lot easier and you'll have to go in to get the more.

The Falcon expert 6'10" Topwater/finesse jig is a perfect walking bait rod. It has a fast tip that doesn't feel like mush when you're walking one but it isn't super heavy so you're into the middle of the rod quickly on a fish. I've never lost a treble hooked fish on that rod. I fish it tip down from a kayak with no problems, and from a boat its even easier. I first fished it with 14 lb elite (0.015 diameter mono). I was just using 12 lb supernatural (0.011 diameter mono) until I had a mega 'professional overrun' tuesday that I had to cut out. Both worked, but I'm looking for goldilocks so 14 lb supernatural is going back onto it tomorrow (0.013 diameter). That should be just right for topwaters and light swim jigs (what I'm throwing on that rod right now). If you want braid capable and a touch softer but able to throw bigger pencil poppers and shorter, the Falcon spinnerbait/jerkbait in the Bucoo series is what you want. 6'8", 1/4-3/4 MH MF. It has a good bit of power down low and will handle the bigger poppers (I'm thinking 110-130 size) but it isn't so fast as most MF rods. The Herm rod at 6'6" wouldn't be a bad shout either. Not sure if you have Academy sports around you but they usually have both in the store. Both run $100.

A dremel tool and cutting disk will make short work of the seat. Cut a slit lengthwise down the whole seat just deep enough to cut the seat and barely touch the arbors (assuming there are some and you can see that). Then take a wide flat screw driver, put it in the slot, and twist. You should be able to use the screwdriver to pop the seal on the seat glue. if you can look into the seat and see blank to seat contact then don’t do the above.

Topwaters (buzzbaits, ploppers, prop baits for me) are my starting point around docks at night. If they don’t want to break the surface then spinnerbaits and chatterbaits get the call.

I have the same boat and my post above confirms that I love mine too. Just a watchout for you. If you think taking it to a hike in only lake is a good idea, I'd say reconsider. If the path is a flat roadway then you'll be okay with a good kayak cart. If it is bumpy or uphill in any way, the autopilot gets real heavy real quick. When I think hike in only, I'm thinking hiking trail and hills. You also have to watch on the rivers. 18" is a very real minimum depth and that's for sand/mud bottom. Any rocks that stick up from that will definitely find your skeg. Heck, I've got a local lake that has a bunch of boulders on one bank in 4' of water. the water is often murky and you only have a foot of visibility. Some of the boulders are in the 1-2' from the surface area. if I ever fall out of this boat it will be because I didn't see one of them and was moving with pace.

Mine just broke yesterday. I had them on a lanyard around my neck when I pulled on a fish. The fish missed and my rod went straight to my chest. The nose piece broke at both points of attachment to lenses. These are Ray Bans that I got in the UK and they aren't available here in amber lenses. I guess I have to do the 'need new glasses' shop.