casts_by_fly

I have the yak attack net with the offset handle. I net every fish over 3 lb and most anything with trebles in it. Once in the net, I put my foot on the net handle and leave the fish in the water in the net. It gives plenty of time to put down the rod, unhook the fish (still in the net), pull out a camera or a scale, etc. Quick weight/picture, and drop it in the water after holding up to my paddle for a quick length. The fish it out of the water for 10 seconds maybe.

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The tremor does it also. Like you said it needs some speed burst and it goes really erratic. You’ll see it if you try to reel in a cast quickly instead of fishing it to the boat.

Only time for me where I get a little digging (outside of pulling drag with my hand) are when I am pitching or doing something else where I have a lot of line out and next to no tension on it. Throwing walking baits comes to mind. Then after a lot of that and loosening up the top layers fighting a fish on a short line then digs the line into the top layer. I just had that on a pike last week. I was pitching a swim bait for a while and the top layers were loose. It was a good fish that hit close to the boat and the line dug down two or three layers. Just enough that you couldn’t pitch it without popping it free. This was 30 lb 832 braid. rick

I went amped for my 80 and 30 Ah batteries. I then bought my dad a 100 AH for his boat. No issues, great customer service and communications, works as advertised at the voltage/amerage stated.

I wear muck boots until about now in the year. I also wear rain/waterproof bibs until about now. The neoprene uppers are comfy and the soles are good enough. Now that the water is 70 and rising and the air is 70+ I will swap to flip flops. I’ll wear them to launch and once in the boat I take them off.

maybe you can but I can’t. I’ve been trying to get all of mine to skip and for me, it has to be a more moderate actioned rod. I’ve been trying since the end of last season to learn to skip. A couple of the lakes here are solid boat docks the entire perimeter. Others have overhanging trees 10’ from the bank. It’s something that I think will materially improve my catch rate. I might get 1 of 20 to actually skip, and definitely not where I want. I have watched Andy Montgomery and everyone else do it and could never put it together. Then 2 weeks ago I watched the bass fishing hq video. A couple things clicked for me and have made the difference. 1- it is all wrist. G-man’s video alluded to it but actually tucking my elbow into my ribs makes a big difference. 2- 2’ of line out of the tip to start and a full 360 roll cast. Partly it is rod loading, partly it is the angle of approach of the lure 3- a more moderate actioned rod helped me a ton. Of all things, I have a 3/8-3/4 crankbait rod (crucial im10, mh, mf spec) that my dad gave me since he didn’t use it anymore. I tried it for crankbaits but can’t get on with it for that. After playing a bit though, it’s an amazing 1/2 oz chatterbait rod. Since I want to skip chatterbaits, I thought let’s try it. It loads up great with a roll and just feels ‘right’ for me. 4- certain lures skip better. The first thing I tried on the crucial was a 1.5 oz soft swim bait. After adjusting everything, the first cast was a great skip. The extra weight means the bait just keeps going in the direction you set. No appendages mean nothing to catch water and stop it. 5- we have an in ground swimming pool so one afternoon I watched the video and went straight out. If you have a local lake or pond where you can stand on a dock or little jetty then you have a lot of freedom with the rod and swinging a bait around to learn skipping. I think I would struggle learning from a tube. 6- the bait really does matter. The big soft swim bait skipped like a champ 9/10. A chatterbait with a rage menace was close. I couldn’t skip a jig and menace for my life. More weight is a good thing. thanks rick

that must weigh 4 oz all in? That's a big profile, but considering I was just looking at the 7" keitechs last night and I love chatterbaits.... You have me thinking.

1/2 almost exclusively. Most of our water is 0-12' and I can cover all of that with retrieve speed and rod angle. You can skim a 1/2 across the top 6" of the water column when the grass grows in by holding the rod high tip. Maybe I should throw a 3/8 more and slow it down some, but most places I'm casting into 0" and bringing it back out to 6' or more so I want that weight to hold it down when I need it.

What he said, with a small caveat. I've been throwing sexy dawgs on 30 lb 832 braid to try it out. It works decently, but add a 4' length of 15-20 lb stiff mono. Braid does wrap trebles a bit at times and the mono helps. This setup wouldn't be my choice for long term, but if it was just one trip I wouldn't be too worries about it.

If you are set on sticking to Amazon (I understand the appeal) then Swanson's outdoors has an amazon shop. I've used them for a couple rods. You could do a lot worse than an Abu STX and a Falcon expert setup for $400. Specific rod to your taste and what you want to do with it. I love my 6'10" MH finesse jig for a lot of things. The 6'10" head turner (heavy) is a hammer of a rod for pitching medium stuff and also throwing bladed baits. Amistad 7'3" if you need to go big. Lots of good choices in that lineup and they seem to have most all of them now back in stock. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074WHQH69/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A74SBEVOHRLY5&th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Falcon-Rods-Expert-Casting-Heavy/dp/B07NS7VBNT/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3ENQDL04ESTM2&keywords=falcon%2Bexpert&qid=1653058105&sprefix=falcon%2Bexpert%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-2&th=1&psc=1

I run an 80 AH in my kayak for the trolling motor (43 lb thrust I think). The TM is my primary source of propulsion and I fish a few bigger lakes (2k+ acres) as well as small ones (15-20 acres). How long it lasts is very much dependent on how long you're going to run at full throttle. At full draw I can burn out my battery in about 2 hours. I can do a nominal 4 mph at full draw. Typically on the bigger lakes I'll start the day with a 20 minute run to get to the first spot and that will burn 10-12% of my battery (I have a battery monitor). I can then fish the bank for the next 2 hours and barely burn another 2-4%. Going slow down a bank and spot locking (not in current) takes a negligible amount of battery. I can fish 1000 acres equivalent across an 8 hour day and go through about 60% of my battery. That's usually two or three long runs plus a little more bouncing around as well as going down a shoreline. 60% of 80 AH is 48 AH. If you are fishing smaller lakes (under 200 acres) by launching and then starting to fish, then a 54 might just do it. That said, lithium batteries have come down in price. I think a 54 AH is dakota which is running about $500 right now. Not sure how quick you need it, but Amped have their 60 AH at $380 right now and available. Or you can wait a couple weeks and get the 80 AH for $560 and not worry about capacity. thanks rick

Fine, fine, fine. You mean I can't have Cheap, nice, durable, and tomorrow all in the same package? Sheesh. I thought you guys were going to help me. This is largely what I thought the consensus might be. There is a reason why they are $11 handles and if they were fantastic everyone would be raving about them (and then they wouldn't be $11 handles). I certainly don't need new handles- the stock ones are just fine. I thought if there was a cheap and cheerful upgrade I'd try it. Flex in a handle is an absolute no no for me too. thanks, rick

Hi all, I have a couple STX/SX plus an MGL. I really like the handle and feel of the MGL. I know part of it is the aluminum main gear, but part is the carbon handle. Is there a worthwhile carbon fiber handle upgrade available? I see a couple on Amazon and the Lixada in particular looks almost the same. Anyone added carbon handles on the cheap and been happy with them? thanks rick

I have 832 braid on two reels. I use 30 on a MH/MF which I use for cranks, lipless, light swim baits, the occasional topwater, etc. The rod was a bit ‘slow’ with mono but is awesome with braid. I wouldn’t want to throw heavier on it. i have 50 lb 832 for fishing frogs, heavy pitching in weeds, and some other all around big bait duty (huge spinnerbaits, Alabama rigs, etc) for a rod that heavy. Would 30 work for that? Probably, but hauling in a 4 lb bass with 10 lb of weeds on him would dig 30 lb into the spool. The 50 won’t be as bad. I’m not sure how lipless crankbaits fare on 50 lb braid but everything else you mention would be right on for 50.

i bet they a just as tasty regardless how they got there. I love some fried bluegill. Went for bass tonight to a known pike lake. Had one pike grad a red eye shad but I pulled too quick and pulled it away from him. He was definitely over 40”. Picked up this 25” fish on a swim jig. I got lucky. I was pitching to holes in the grass and letting it hit bottom on slack line before jigging it back through. He ate it on the bottom so I hooked him on the first jig. He should have just inhaled it but was hooked in the roof of the mouth/nose.

Got out for an evening session tonight while the barometer was super low. I’ve never put much attention into it before, but my dad swears by it. It was super low, so he‘d say look high and fish topwater. That was the plan but it got sunny and still as soon as I hit the water and I just wasn’t feeling it. I had a slow follow on a buzzbait but he wasn’t committed. Swapped to an @Siebert Outdoors tremor in dirty shad (2’ water visibility) with a green pumpkin rage menace and started catching. Swapped to a black and blue swim jig and picked up two more including a 4lb fish and a 25” pike. Good night to be out and on the water, almost to myself on 2000 acres. thanks rick

We have a bunch of different ones here in north Jersey but I only ever see the same 4 or 5. We have rattlesnakes and copperheads here and I’ve never seen a copperhead. I’ve only seen one rattler and that was 15 years ago just across the border in NY. We live in the woods bordering a swamp, so plenty of opportunity to see stuff. Mostly though, it is garter snakes, water snakes, ring necked snakes, and milk snakes. We’ve had all but the water snakes in the back yard (we are a mile from water). But I see the water snakes while fishing. Ones in the yard or landscaping get moved to the woods so the dogs don’t get them. We have 1200 soft of paver patio that is getting taken out later this summer. I’ll have the snake tongs ready.

Hi team, I'm hoping someone here has done this already. I've searched the net and can't quite find the answer. I know the Ti2 and FS can network wirelessly and that the Ti needs a cable. If I just want to share a transducer across both, can I get away with just an ethernet cable connecting them or do I need a hub? No other devices to connect. This is my dad's boat and I know humminbird, not lowrance. He has the Ti on the bow and a really old LCD unit at the console. He just ordered the FS to replace the LCD. The Ti already has the triple shot transducer and works great, so he just wants to use it for the FS at the console. Also, if anyone has both units is there any benefit of one over the other at the bow or console? Again, no live target to consider. He's not a big electronics user. He's got side and 2D on the bow as his main display. I think it would be side and 2D (but not together) on the console. Mapping isn't important. thanks rick

Yeah, I don't know how much I believe that (blue). I think its the color lightness/brightness that makes a bit difference and I'm with you on colors. Chartreuse and blaze orange are two of the most visible colors to the human eye in sunlight. Red and Orange give the most contrast against green and blue backgrounds like tree surrounded lakes. That said, I'm in the blue old town which is blue and black mottled. I'm usually wearing a white shirt that is 3-5' off the water. If you can't see me well in advance then you're not looking. On the big party lake here, I'm pretty confident that all of the boats see me, they just don't care that they are throwing 3' wakes 100' away at 50 mph (or closer and faster at times).

How does that stay standing when you're running full out in the boat? I'd think the wind would grab it pretty good.

I class $250-$400 (MSRP) as the high end tier personally. Above that is ultra-premium and/or super specialized. My own tiers would be <$50 (budget), $50-$125 (entry), $125-$250 mid-tier, and the rest above. You could shift the numbers a little bit, but using MSRP and how the reels are marketed/compared at the consumer level, that translates into: cheapest possible for lowest cost consumer (budget) solid reels with cost compromises (cheaper materials, mass produced features) to hit the price point (entry) solid reels with fewer compromises and some high end features trickling down, usually from previous generations (mid-tier) premium reels with no compromises designed to perform at the highest levels (high end) Ultra premium reels with cutting edge materials, technology, or other features/design (ultra-premium) Not every reel will have the match of price point, consumer target, and features. I think the Abu garcia Revo MGX at $350 is way overpriced. Aside from the size/weight, you can get a better reel in the STX at $219 MSRP. Actual paid price brings another consideration into the mix. Is a $200 MGX on clearance a better reel than a $189 STX on sale? How do those compare to a $225 used Chronarch MGL? And all those questions are why we have a discussion forum here with a ga-gillion topics on "which reel" (which is good I think)?

Last week the fish liked a 3.8 Keitech. I started with supergluing it to the head. Then when the first half inch got tore up I nipped it off and had a 3.25 keitech. I fished that for a while and caught fish. When that got tore up I nipped the tip and had a 2.75 keitech. I didn't fish it anymore that day, but I did save it. I then fished it Sunday morning as a mini swim bait because there were some perch and crappie chasing. Its not on the rod anymore, but I still haven't thrown it away...

At $300 you're going to get a pretty high end reel so its a matter of preference and optimization. Which reels do you throw now? I have primarily Abu garcia, my did fishes Chronarchs. I picked up a used chronarch in the alf sale and its a great reel. I think I still prefer my STX though. The profile on the STX is a bit lower to the blank and feels better in my hand. The Chronarch is smoother to reel (I think the micromesh gears do that) and is a better reel, but the feel of the STX is better for me. Both cast a country mile with the same lure/rod/line (I've done some mix and match testing with half of my rods). If I could have the STX with the micromesh gears I'd be in heaven I think.

I just spent 6 hours or so as a back seat angler on my off side and pitching from 10’ to 75’. The rear grip did not matter.