New finesse rig ready to go!

[BrianMDTX]

Got my new Fenwick HMX66M-FS rod and put the new Daiwa Revros LT2500 on it. Spoiled with 20# Sufix 832 and a 7’ 8# copolymer leader. Got a 5” Senko wacky rig all ready to go. 
 

This is my first time using braid and tying leaders. Army, not Navy, so I stink at knots lol. But it seems very tight. We’ll see how it goes. Sprayed it well with KVD. First time using that as well. 

 

 

[Pogues2300]

Always exciting getting new gear. Hope you catch some biggins!

[BrianMDTX]

Getting ready to head to the pond and try it out. Man, that is a smooth reel. 

[NavyVet1204]

Looks and sounds like a great set up friend. I hope it works well for you!

[BrianMDTX]

Not a bad start. 2.2 lbs. Gave a good battle in some sunken timber!

 

 

[new2BC4bass]

Your pictures are making me antsy to get out.  Nice way to break in the combo. 

 

Nice looking combo (and very good pictures).  Congrats.  I got the previous model reel as a birthday gift for my brother-in-law that I fish with in Florida.  He has been using it for several years now.

 

I like the looks of that rod better than the old green Elite Tech and HMGs I have.  Last trip to Florida I forgot to take a baitcast reel with braid...with the exception of the reel I put on a dedicated frog rod.  As luck would have it the spinning reel I took down had braid on it.  I used it and an older Elite Tech Medium Jig and Worm rod for fishing in the lily pads.  No problem.  Only got out 3 days but what fish I caught were on this rod.  I've always felt I got good value for my money with Fenwick.

[BrianMDTX]

I try not to waste $$$ on junk (as my buddy’s now 90 year-old father told me 50 years ago, “you buy junk, you get junk”), but just getting back into fishing, I see no reason to start off with $500 rod and reel combos. It’s like buying a $1500 compound bow when starting out bowhunting. You ain’t good enough to utilize what a top-shelf bow (or rod and reel) gives you over a decent but not as techy rod and reel. 
 

So far I’m liking this combo. Very easy to cast weightless Senkos and the fast tip gives the bait some action. It looks good and seems to be a decent rod. For $53.00, it’s a steal! 

[Luke Barnes]

Awesome setup!! I recently got a finesse spinning setup and so glad I did!! I catch more fish on it than both of my baitcasters combined!! Ive pretty much left a ned rig tied on it so far.

[Fin S]

How are you liking the braid to leader? I switched to braid-leader on my spinning rigs over a year ago and never looked back. Tying the knots gets easier; seeing the knots not so much.

[BrianMDTX]

So far, great. I think I may have put a little too much braid on (I have a couple instances of the braid falling off the spool, but I caught that before I got wind knots). I had a nice bass run off with a 1/0 circle hook and a Senko, but the knot may have been weakened on a snag earlier. So far my first leader knot is doing the trick. No memory and instant reaction to a strike is nice! 

I looked at a lot of knots. Someone posted a video of the Lefty Kreh knot. It’s simple, and having known about Lefty pretty much all my life (met him several times), if he used it, I trust it! 

[WRB]

Set your drag at 2 1/2 lb 8 lb leader.

Tom

[BrianMDTX]

So may I ask, do you use some sort of pull gage to set your drag? Or tie it to a known weight? 
 

To be honest, I’ve always set it by the “pull” method. A little effort but not really pulling it with gusto and adjust until line starts coming off the spool. 

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

So may I ask, do you use some sort of pull gage to set your drag? Or tie it to a known weight? 
 

To be honest, I’ve always set it by the “pull” method. A little effort but not really pulling it with gusto and adjust until line starts coming off the spool. 

Tie a loop in the end of the line - hook your scale to it. That's how I set the drags on my rigs.

[Fishes in trees]

I've been using spinning gear for a while now and kinda like the original poster,  I got not clue how to set it to a specific weight.  I know what & where the drag knob is on my reels and I can adjust it to "kinda light", "Medium" or " more or less heavy", but how that translates to a real weight number is beyond me.  So I don't worry about it, I start out with the drag set on "medium" than tighten up or loosen should I feel I need to.

[ChrisD46]

A couple of tips : Using mono backing allows you to put on a "top coat" of approx. 60 yards of braid  (saves money spooling) . Unless you are fishing around a lot of weeds or timber consider dropping down to #15 lb. as it will give you a little extra distance which still being strong . In open water consider #10lb. braid and wacky rig Trick Worms .

[plawren53202]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2020 at 4:54 PM, BrianMDTX said:

 

This is my first time using braid and tying leaders. Army, not Navy, so I stink at knots lol. But it seems very tight. We’ll see how it goes. Sprayed it well with KVD. First time using that as well. 

 

For the longest time I avoided using braid because of exactly this...I used to fly fish years back, and I hated using flyline to leader connections that I had to tie a knot for. I finally broke down this year and switched my spinning combos to braid.

 

The learning curve on the knots went a lot faster than I thought it would. I tried a few different knots and landed on the double uni knot (I know, a lot of people prefer other knots like the Alberto, my brain is just better at tying the double uni). The first few attempts...weren't great. One morning in particular at the river I had to retie my leader to the mainline three times, there were a couple of fish that morning swimming around with a Ned rig and eight feet of mono trailing from their jaws ?.

 

But it progressed pretty quickly. I'm proud to say this weekend, my son and I were using my M bass spinning combos for some crappie fishing. We had numerous hangups in brushpiles in which I was pulling on the line hard, even having to wrap the braid around a pair of pliers so it wouldn't screw up the rod or reel (or cut my hand). Once even pulled so hard that I pulled a six foot wooden stake out of the muddy bottom and up to the surface. And the knots held up through all of that.

 

You'll love that combo, and the 832 (its what I have on my spinning combos). 

[BrianMDTX]

I looked at various leader knots and decided to try the Lefty Krey knot. Takes about 30 seconds to tie. It might “knot” be as strong as an Alberto or FG, but it’s small and seems pretty strong. I pulled on one to try and break it and the leader snapped but not at the knot. 
 

I’ll practice the others, but I really have a hard time seeing thin diameter line. 

[plawren53202]

1 minute ago, BrianMDTX said:

I’ll practice the others, but I really have a hard time seeing thin diameter line. 

I'll second that. I kept watching all of these YouTube videos where they were demonstrating knots with 80 lb. bright yellow braid and 50 lb. mono, that looked like tying two ropes together. Little different tying 15 lb. braid to 8 lb. fluoro ?

[PourMyOwn]

7 hours ago, plawren53202 said:

I'll second that. I kept watching all of these YouTube videos where they were demonstrating knots with 80 lb. bright yellow braid and 50 lb. mono, that looked like tying two ropes together. Little different tying 15 lb. braid to 8 lb. fluoro ?

Drugstore 0.75 reading glasses made a world of difference tying knots after I turned 40. 

[BrianMDTX]

I had reading glasses but after moving I can’t find the darned things lol. 

[PourMyOwn]

Just now, BrianMDTX said:

I had reading glasses but after moving I can’t find the darned things lol. 

I must have 5 or 6 pairs for that very reason! 

[BrianMDTX]

Took that Floroclear off and tied a mono leader on with 8# Trilene XL. Leader knot cinched up tight. Tied on a Gamakatsu 1/0 octopus hook (new) with a Palomar knot and wacky rigged a Yum Dinger (also new). Only caught one dink tonight (it was 93 when I made my first cast), but all-in-all a much better experience than the Floroclear. Leader knot seemed smaller even though both leaders are 8#. 
 

My biggest problem tonight were the turtles. There must be over a 100 turtles in this pond and they were all in my spot lol. Cast the lure and half the time turtles were chasing it. 
 

I also bought some 1/0 Gamakatsu drop shot hooks and may try a split shot rig with a 3” worm tomorrow. 

[Luke Barnes]

I go with the Alberto knot. I use it on my fly rod and anything that gets a leader. My ned rig setup ive caught some good fish and never once have retied the leader. My advice, get all the line in the knot really wet when cinching it down and it makes it nice and small.

[BrianMDTX]

I haven’t had a problem with leader knots. The problem I had with the Floroclear was with knots breaking at the hook. 
 

But, I did notice that the leader knot tied with Floroclear did seem to be bigger than the one with mono, even though both are similar diameter.