casts_by_fly

What AJay posted is a good shout if you have all of those components. You basically make a texas rigged plastic swimjig. Or a swimming punch rig. Or a texas rig with a skirt. The name doesn't matter as much as the fact that its texas rigged plastic (very snag resistant), a good profile, and weighted appropriately. That will come through a little cleaner than a true swim jig with a brush guard, but both will work. I carry a set of strike king swinging swim jigs for the same purpose. Less flexibility in the weight and skirt, but easy to just tie one on and grab a trailer of your choice (mine have trailers on them in the box already). The pointed nose comes through pretty clean. I also agree on the flukes and swimbaits. They come through wood well. A D-shad on an owner lite 4/0 with a light weight is my go to. I'll throw it up on the bank into the trees and brush and drag it out from there without worry. And if you do snag one you're not out $10 for a vibrating jig (for instance).

if its just floating duckweed (the stuff that looks kinda like green oatmeal floating on the surface) then a fluke worked just under it would be a good choice.

I'm not an old guy but I've built a bunch of Tennesee handle rods and still have a few myself. The original tennessee handle was just a straight cork with no rings. You taped on the reel seat. A tenn spin grip can be great. The flexibility on location helps with balance (especially with longer rods). The extra cork all the way to the butt is also helpful there. On a full sized rod (not a shorter ultralight) the grip is usually a little larger than a plastic seat if you prefer a thicker grip. And if you're going the tape route you can use athletic grip tape which is cushioned. Lots of customization if you want.

If you're open to others, have a look at the Tennesee Ledge rod from Falcon. Designed just for that purpose- 1 oz + 15'+ crankbaits. Its in the expert series.

all of the items that I’ve returned give you a big drop down box. Look at your recent order list. Each one should have “return or replace” as a clickable box. Once you click it you will get a drop-down box for reason coding. pick “wrong item sent”. Fill in the info and on the next page it should let you chose how to resolve the situation where you pick send replacement.

Was it listed as a miravel in the listing and was it sold from Amazon or another seller? I’d request a replacement for wrong item sent if it was listed as a mirvel and as for a replacement. Then it doesn’t matter what the price change was.

There will be fish there if there is water under it. Like catt said, work the openings with all of those things. You can also punch down through the thicker parts. However, make sure you go armed for bear. Without the boat to go to the fish, you have to bring the fish and any pads he's wrapped in to you. I'd be looking 65-80lb braid minimum.

If it’s a bluegill based lake, chartreuse with a black back is a go to for that color of water.

I don’t find that to be true. I know cyanoacrylates cure with moisture, but I find breathing on it like you’re fogging glasses to be better. the gel version though is thick viscosity and that makes a thicker layer. The outside will cure instantly but the inside doesn’t. So I just plan ahead and glue them at home

I don’t use a black pack, but I do carry a tackle bag with 3700’s. One for wire baits, one for jigs and vibrating jigs, one for crank baits, one for other hard baits, one for assorted all purpose plastics, one for big swim baits, and one for neds and similar. Then I have three 3600’s that hold terminal tackle, smaller swim baits and jig head minnows, and frogs/toads/weedless spoons. I have to leave out one 3700 which is usually crank baits in the summer (too much grass here) and lake dependent in the spring. Generally though, I don’t feel lacking. In the summer I carry two speed bags of plastics to supplement. To then transition between that and the boat, I’d still be fishing these lures mostly in the boat so I’d leave the same tackle bag packed. Then supplement the boat with the things you don’t carry all the time. For me that would be an extra 3700 of hard baits, the two speed bags of worms, and the 3700 that gets left behind on a given trip. Those would be the once every couple trips type lures that you mostly don’t use but every now and then you need one.

I love my falcons and I think the bucoo series is a great value at $100. That said, for a bottom contact spinning rod I’m not convinced they have enough sensitivity for me. I don’t have that spinning rod but I have three of the casting rods, the nearest to that one being the 5-17. With braid, ok. With mono/fluoro I’d want something just a bit better. I suspect the Tatula is that bit better on this one.

Looks a little under for a fresh spool but it will work okay.

how's you're garden compost pile looking.....

So you're talking smallmouth and largemouth in small and large bodies of water with an entire range of cover and color of water. It could be sunny days or at night. The fish might be active or negative. And you didn't mention time of year. In order to be versatile enough for all of that, the only answer for me is a ned rig on a weedless setup. I'm not entirely sure which plastic, but it would probably be just the original finesse TRD on something like a bass union weedless head. For colors it would be green pumpkin and yoga pants (black). You didn't specify that I couldn't have markers, so I'd carry chartreuse and hot orange markers for tail tips or belly contrasts. You'd catch fish if this is all you fished. I'd also be bored out of my mind and quit fishing. Yeah, but it was 50 degrees here last night and the fishing has tapered off a little this week.

You should mostly be fine. 20# mono leader sounds excessive and will give you a big knot to pass. I don't think it will get through the T-wing, if you make the leader that long. Some like a mono leader for topwaters for less tangling with treble hooks. I've not found it to be as much of a problem but YMMV. I tie straight braid for swimjigs and texas rigs. I'd also go with 30 lb, but that's just me. I fish 30 lb for swim jigs, lighter texas rigs, and other stuff. I use 50 for frogs and swimbaits. If you already have 40 then use it.

silicon skirts are okay, though I’ve had them go slimy with elaztech. Rubber collars get eaten by elaztech. It’s not as fast as plastisol but over a single season it will be done. more importantly, other buzzbaits and spinnerbaits are in the same box right next to each other so elaztech doesn’t go into that box.

Same for me. gel control or not gel control. The gel is neater but the non-gel dries quicker.

My dad has the 7' medium zodias and I think it would do what you want with a 1/8 oz head and a 4" soft plastic. It has a fairly soft top and loads up with a 6" worm and splitshot. A more compact hover rig should fling.

I'm using my standard 6'9" ML Zodias setup (stradic and 10# 131 to a leader). I don't like a longer spinning rod and I prefer a lighter power and faster action setup. I can see where a 7'3" M/MF would be a good choice also but I just don't like fishing spinning rods that long anymore.

if you can slide them back into the wraps, just do that and put a coat of sally hansen clear nail polish or even a drop of superglue on the base of the guide foot.

If that's the level of pads you're talking about then that's not what i'd call heavy cover. Those are largely dollar spot pads and lots of space between most of it. I'll try to shoot you a picture later after I fish tonight. What you're showing there is mostly loose open cover. Based on that, I wouldn't even bother targetting pickerel deeper into the pads. They will come out from the middles of those bigger patches to hit something good on the edge. That's open enough to throw a 1' wake crank or a spinnerbait through it. That's where I'd start if you want pickerel. They hit spinnerbaits like they are owed money. I swear the bait monkey and pickerel have a deal with each other for spinnerbaits and keitechs.

You don't say how light of gear or how heavy of cover. But I'll say that heavier cover and lighter tackle don't mix. Throwing anything less than 14+ lb into heavier pads is a recipe for problems. Even then I like heavier. When one hits a lure that's under the surface more than 10' from the edge of the pads, they either dive down or turn sideways. Either way, your line is now wrapped around a pad stem or more. You either need to pull the fish back through the stems, pull your line through the stems (aka cut them), or pull yourself to the fish when they get hung. 14# might work for the first instance if you're careful and the fish is small. You need a decent backbone rod to make that work also. There is no 'playing him out' in thick cover. A recent one hit a beaver and was < 5' from the edge of the pads. I set the hook and he was immediately stuck in the pads. I had to go in after him and uproot the pad stems manually to land him. That was 20# big game and a big heavy rod. Even then I was still worried about losing him. Don't take a knife to a gunfight. If you want to catch pickerel, fish a 4" fluke on either a weightless or lightly weighted hook on the outside edges. Learn how to walk it underwater. Give it a couple twitches and let it fall for a couple seconds. Do it again. You'll have pickerel all over it.

I cast right and reel right with a baitcaster (left hand sets the hook). Having done it this way for 30+ years I would struggle to do anything different. I've tried to pitch with my left hand on my existing rods and it doesn't work. Forget about casting and thumb control. I guess I could probably reel a spinnerbait with my right arm holding the rod, but anything more than cast and crank isn't happening.

They do. Dakota is one I know off hand that's 1000 CCA and I believe mercury marine approved for a starting battery. Its called 'dual use' but with 1000 CCA that's more than enough for a big engine. A smaller sub 150 hp 4-stroke isn't going to tax that.

Hi all, I've got a specific piece of plastic that I'm looking for. Right now I'm using a spunk shad for a buzzbait trailer. Its very good, maybe the best I've used to date. Prior to that I used split tail trailers and I still do when I grab a buzzbait from the box that has one on it. I like the spunk shad better because the extra plastic gives the fish something to suck in when they slurp it off the surface (like so many of my buzzbait bites are). It also adds casting weight when I'm throwing a 1/4 oz buzzbait on a heavy rod. The 3 1/2" size is about perfect, 4" is fine. The 4 1/2" is a bit big in both body and length but I can make it work. What I'd like above and beyond the spunk shad: - durability. The SS is good, much better than a keitech or yamamoto. Without glueing I can get a dozen fish or so from a trailer, sometimes more. I'm not a cheapskake and don't mind buying trailers, but the issue is that changing trailers at night and getting them aligned good and straight is a pain. I'll glue them some times and that buys a little more here or there. But compared to the plastic in a split tail or some others, the others are a lot more 'rubbery'. - buoyancy. This probably ties into the plastic itself, salt content, and the durability above. I don't need it to float, but neutral would be nice. Sinking like a senko isn't going to work. When I cast a buzzbait it normally never goes fully underwater on the landing so anything dragging it down is a problem. A toad is too 'sinky'. I don't want elaztech. I know it fits both criteria. But, I leave my trailers on the buzzbaits and elaztech eats skirts, skirt collars, and other trailers mixed in the box on other lures. Any suggestions for me to investigate? thanks, rick