JackstrawIII

You guys are intense with your rules... makes me wonder what kind of people you invite to go fishing with you haha. My only rule is "I only invite people I want to fish with." That pretty much covers it and have never had a problem. Turns out if you don't invite idiots, you don't have to worry about idiotic behavior.

The Tatula is a lot more reel, but also costs more unless things have changed recently. If this helps, I learned baitcasting on Speed Spools, but have since moved on and don't use any of them anymore. It's all Tatulas and Shimanos now.

Some decent looking length/power options in the lineup. I might end up checking these out if the actual sale price is lower than MSRP, which they often are.

When I grow up, I want to have the skillset to NEED as many reels as A-Jay.

Are there any trout species in that particular lake? While they wouldn't normally be up shallow like that this time of year, it's not impossible.

Very cool, man!! You're quite the handy craftsman. I love it.

I live in NY so I can't speak to your specific geographic location, but when you're stuck catching dinks you have to change something. Usually that involves moving to a new area of the body of water that you're fishing. Unless you're fishing a stunted pond full of small bass, there ARE big bass around, but big bass (in my experience) tend to congregate around the best structure/areas and the dinks take the other spots. The trick is finding where the big ones have settled, which is easier said than done.

Very cool. Pics?

Beautiful fish and an incredible outing. Congrats!!

Sounds like life, man. You'll get 'em next time you're up here in NY.

Yes. I still struggle to skip with a baitcaster, so this is my approach if I want to use a jig. I use one by Seibert Outdoors, who is a sponsor on this site... can't remember the name though. Most folks use Arkie style heads, myself included.

The one thing nobody ever talks about in these discussions is the bass's ability to "feel" things in the water (including fishing line) with their lateral line system. I'm guessing that mono, fluoro, braid all feel somewhat similar to the bass depending on line diameter?

Same for me. Legitimately it is the only non braid I buy or use in any capacity. Very pleased with it.

Yup, that's what I do.

Haha, nice!!

Very good, thanks Mike L, looking forward to this forum getting even better.

My favorite lure for spots like that is a paddletail swimbait on a weighted swimbait hook. They're incredibly weedless and can be worked across the top, dropped into pockets, or swam around cover. Texas rig is also a go-to in spots like this, if you want to fish more vertically or need more weight to get through the cover.

When I started fishing baitcasters, I bought really slow reels to force myself to slow down my presentations... but I'm slowly moving to faster reels for most things, because I can always reel slower at times if needed, but I'm realizing that faster reels help a lot for: 1. retrieving your bait after it leaves the strike zone faster 2. reeling down on fish after a bite so you can set the hook 3. keeping tension on the line when fighting a fish that's headed straight towards you So, I still use 6.3:1 for crankbaits (which I rarely fish) and slow rolling spinnerbaits and chatterbaits... but have moved up to 7.1 or 8.1 for everything else. Swimming baits get 7.1 and topwaters and bottom baits get 8.1 most often.

Hey Catt, this is an old post, but can you explain why you use EWGs for toad style baits? I've been using swimbait style hooks with decent results, but curious to hear your thought process to see if I've been approaching this the wrong way. Thanks.

6'10 MH Tatula rod 40lb braid with a leader Owner weighted Twistlok hook (usually 3/0 size with 1/8oz weight) I've also had good results with EWG hooks, but the twistlok makes baits last much longer and has an even better hookup ratio, in my experience.

I've been very pleased with the Daiwa Tatula line of baitcasting rods. They are an incredible value. The 7'1 H would be a good option for you, or the 6'10 MH. Honestly, I caught my first musky on the 6'10 MH the other day and it was plenty strong to pull that guy around. I'm currently using it to throw flukes and other such baits on weighted swimbait hooks. I've also used it for frogs in the past, with good results, as long as the bait wasn't too far from the boat. If you're making long casts, a longer rod helps with hooksets and managing the fish. I've used heavy spinning rods before, and I'd take a baitcaster any day of the week when there is heavy vegetation involved.

My longest spinning rod is also 7'0 and I don't really see any need for extra length. The place I see added rod length being a benefit is on hooksets farther from the boat, where the extra length can help overcome the added stretch and resistance from having more line between you and the lure. Since I don't really make long casts with a spinning rod ever... this is a non factor.

You are correct, I made an over generalization. A more accurate statement would have been that most of the serious musky fishermen I know do a lot of trolling.

I'd just keep what you you know you enjoy using regularly. You can always buy more if you decide you want it sometime down the road. I once got on a minimalism kick and there was a rule that said something like "if you don't use it regularly and it costs less than $20 to replace, don't keep it." Good advice.

On the flip side... My favorite smelling baits are from the Strike King caffeine series. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I really do love cracking those bags open haha. Fish seem to like it too.