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Dik Hz posted:Do it! It's the most fun you can have with your pants on. (pants optional) I have a 3 weight I use for golf course pond monster bream. It's a TON of fun.
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Aug 4, 2021 21:37
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Farking Bastage posted:I have a 3 weight I use for golf course pond monster bream. It's a TON of fun.
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Aug 6, 2021 02:48
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Dik Hz posted:What kind of flies do you use? I've caught bream on poppers, dries, and nymphs. Nymphs seem to work the best for me, but I'm curious what works for you. I like the poppers and the foam ants especially.  You can dance them on the surface as if you tossed a live cricket on the water, followed .000003 seconds later by what looks like you threw a 50 pound sack of feed in the water when a BIG bluegill or even Bass absolutely nail it.
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Aug 6, 2021 03:04
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With the water surface temps in the gulf running about 91F right now, it's really easy to unintentionally kill a fish that you were meaning to release because the oxygen is so damned low. I'm in the CCA florida catch photo and release tournament and it's tough to get an accurate measurement quickly enough with a thrashing fish and a plastic laminated paper ruler, so I built a bump board  Lumber prices ain't no joke. That's cabinet grade red oak and some teak oil stain. Almost turned out too nice
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Aug 7, 2021 20:30
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The fish will thank you
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Aug 8, 2021 05:13
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After 6 coats of spar urethane, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 
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Aug 9, 2021 18:20
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Friggin sweet!
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Aug 9, 2021 21:51
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So I took the rear hooks off my whopper ploppers a while ago because I was finding the catches were mainly coming from the front hooks and the rear ones were just cutting up fish, but I'm finding I get a LOT of strikes on my ploppers that don't result in hook ups. I had a fish hit it 3 times on one cast and not get hooked. I'm thinking about adding some single inline hooks at the rear, anyone have any experience replacing trebles with singles? Also is there anything I can do with my retrieve or anything else to improve hook up ratio? I mainly fish for smallmouth and I use a 90 and a 75.
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Aug 10, 2021 04:44
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prom candy posted:So I took the rear hooks off my whopper ploppers a while ago because I was finding the catches were mainly coming from the front hooks and the rear ones were just cutting up fish, but I'm finding I get a LOT of strikes on my ploppers that don't result in hook ups. I had a fish hit it 3 times on one cast and not get hooked. I'm thinking about adding some single inline hooks at the rear, anyone have any experience replacing trebles with singles? Also is there anything I can do with my retrieve or anything else to improve hook up ratio? I mainly fish for smallmouth and I use a 90 and a 75.
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Aug 10, 2021 13:47
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Couldn't hurt right? I mean 1 hook is better than 0 hooks - and with singles your safety margin is increased during hook removal with squirrely fish.
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Aug 10, 2021 13:57
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I haven't swapped to singles on my big topwater plugs I use for saltwater yet(Usually a bone colored One Knocker Spook or some flavor of Mir o Lure) and I've had some damned close calls nearly getting a treble run into my hand from a very pissed off ladyfish. I may go for it once I can take some time and figure out what size singles I can use and preserve the original action of the lure. I'm also the guy who ties loop knots in leaders to increase the darting action on hard lures.
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Aug 10, 2021 18:01
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Dik Hz posted:In my experience, the smallmouth that are hitting those without getting hooked are too small to bite the lure. Use a much smaller lure or just be OK with only catching the bigger ones, imho. That could be it, we're pretty far north and have a lot of dinky smallmouth in the lake. I guess I need to add some kind of tiny topwater lure to my repertoire, I'd rather catch the small guys than nothing. Gotta respect their chutzpah going after the big lures though.
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Aug 10, 2021 19:12
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prom candy posted:That could be it, we're pretty far north and have a lot of dinky smallmouth in the lake. I guess I need to add some kind of tiny topwater lure to my repertoire, I'd rather catch the small guys than nothing. Gotta respect their chutzpah going after the big lures though.
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Aug 10, 2021 20:04
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prom candy posted:That could be it, we're pretty far north and have a lot of dinky smallmouth in the lake. I guess I need to add some kind of tiny topwater lure to my repertoire, I'd rather catch the small guys than nothing. Gotta respect their chutzpah going after the big lures though. I’ve had great success with the rapala mini pop r. Bluegill will eat it too.
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Aug 10, 2021 20:49
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Do they still make tiny torpedos? That's a good one too. On Ultralight, I cannot recommend the Rebel CrickHoppers enough. Everything wants to demolish a grasshopper apparently. If they're not hitting on top, a slow retrieve will run around 1-2' deep and bream and bass will slam the gently caress out of that too.
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Aug 10, 2021 21:23
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Dik Hz posted:If you want to catch dink smallmouth, just use a 2" inline spinner. The big boys will hit it also. Oh yeah the inline spinners are great for dink smallmouth, I usually start throwing my Mepps when I can't find any big guys. I've also had a lot of luck catching fish of all sizes just texas rigging a Z-Man TRD. I was ned rigging a lot before but I find I get nearly as many bites just texas rigging it and I don't lose nearly as many baits to snags. Arrgytehpirate posted:I’ve had great success with the rapala mini pop r. Bluegill will eat it too. Farking Bastage posted:Do they still make tiny torpedos? That's a good one too. On Ultralight, I cannot recommend the Rebel CrickHoppers enough. Everything wants to demolish a grasshopper apparently. If they're not hitting on top, a slow retrieve will run around 1-2' deep and bream and bass will slam the gently caress out of that too. I'll add these to my shopping list, thanks!
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Aug 11, 2021 03:16
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I've got a couple crankbaits that I really don't want to lose to a snag, so I took some wire cutters and snipped the front two hooks off each treble. I haven't noticed any change in fish-catching ability or any increase in missed-strikes.
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Aug 11, 2021 11:57
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 So I've started making my own rods. This here is a 6'6" black hole slow pitch jig blank. Because this is my first rod, every step of the way I've forgotten something, so I keep having to get new parts. Test fit the grip pieces, poo poo ordered the wrong grip size. Went to do the final test fit of the grip and was gonna have winding checks to make the interface of the foam purdy, welp I didn't get the right sizes. Got the grip glued up, went to put the tip top on, gently caress it's the wrong size cause the blank description was wrong. THIS SHOULD BE THE LAST THING THOUGH CAUSE I ALREADY GOT EXTRA GUIDES JUST IN CASE. It's a learning process. Once I get the tip top on, the comes the load test. Gonna spiral wrap the guides. Then it can finally be completed. Also got a blank to make a rail rod for bigger tuna. 7'6" United composites cx viper. That's currently being held up by waiting for another blank I got for my partner, a 8' UC ce wahoo. After I finish those, I need to figure out what to make next. Maybe a bigger slow pitch rod, maybe a more specific fly line rod.
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Aug 11, 2021 18:21
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^^ Very Cool. This is what I take for the little bit of freshwater I do fish, minus the saltwater jig heads Big Bream on a 3 weight fly rod is so much fun. The non-fly lures I use on a 6' Shimano Ultralight combo that I'm embarrassed of what I paid for it, at least until I get a bite, that is 
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Aug 11, 2021 18:24
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OniPanda posted:
That's cool. How much do you think you're spending per rod and how difficult is it?
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Aug 11, 2021 18:29
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ihop posted:That's cool. How much do you think you're spending per rod and how difficult is it? Lol, it's definitely not cheaper, at least at the outset or because of the person I am. Bought a bunch of gear and supplies for the rod building. I've spent a lot of money on stuff I didn't especially need, but makes things easier and I'm a gear slut, it could have been done cheaper than I've done. But to answer the question, the blanks are $150-$300, guides are $25-$100 (total) for a normal rod depending on use case/quality level, grip stuff can be cheap or expensive, thread's cheap, epoxy's pretty cheap. But even given all that, I'm not doing terrible for custom rod prices. I'm paying probably 20-30% more than the manufactured rod price, but I'm still in the ballpark of custom rod prices, and the price per rod will come down since I have all the gear I need now. I don't really care that it's more expensive that buying a manufactured rod, cause I can make it how I want. And it's fairly easy. Wrapping the guides is the hardest part, and it's not that hard, just spinnin thread around the blank. It's perfectly doable by everyone, though getting it absolutely perfect is definitely a skill.
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Aug 11, 2021 21:14
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Well I finally got tired of swinging my 5wt orvis rod all day long to catch small bass and bluegill. I have a 4 wt rod but its kind of just not super nice. I bought a echo 3wt fiberglass rod at the recommendation of my friend that I go with usually. https://www.reelflyrod.com/echo-river-glass-369-fly-rod-3wt-69.html I have a orvis reel with 4 wt fly line on it so I just bought some 3 wt fly line and had them put it on that reel. I tossed it around in the yard a bit and the fiberglass is MUCH slower so its going to take some getting used to. The big 5 wt rod is fairly so you really have to work it when casting.
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Aug 11, 2021 22:49
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Valt posted:Well I finally got tired of swinging my 5wt orvis rod all day long to catch small bass and bluegill. I have a 4 wt rod but its kind of just not super nice. I bought a echo 3wt fiberglass rod at the recommendation of my friend that I go with usually. I find myself jumping the gun a lot with mine, but I am nowhere near a seasoned fly fisherman. Kind of tough with trees every 6 feet 
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Aug 12, 2021 00:36
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OniPanda posted:
Are you gonna bring it on the boat next month?
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Aug 12, 2021 01:34
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As long as I don't run into any more issues....
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Aug 12, 2021 01:54
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OniPanda posted:As long as I don't run into any more issues.... Hopefully you hook into a 100lb bluefin on that thing so that I can cackle at your misfortune.
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Aug 12, 2021 02:49
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I’ve been fishing in rocky shallow parts of the very northern part of the Mississippi. I caught 7 or 8 smallmouth the other evening over the course of 30-45 minutes just casting plastic Ned rigs. Being rocky though, I am finding I lose a bunch of lures. Is there another way that I’d be less likely to get so many snags and fish in the same area? I am using a St Croix 6’6” Eyecon Walleye medium-light fast action rod and a Legalis LT2000 reel with 6 lbs mono. I have very little freshwater fishing experience so this is all new.
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Aug 12, 2021 03:26
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Hekk posted:I’ve been fishing in rocky shallow parts of the very northern part of the Mississippi. I caught 7 or 8 smallmouth the other evening over the course of 30-45 minutes just casting plastic Ned rigs. Being rocky though, I am finding I lose a bunch of lures. I have the same issue, tons of rocks and logs where I fish, and also tons of smallmouth that love the ned rig. I started texas rigging the plastics instead of using the shroom head jig and I get almost as many bites, and far fewer snags. Still some snags though. I also fish topwater a lot when I get sick of snagging all the time (although last summer I stripped down to my boxers and jumped off the boat to go get my whopper plopper that was stuck on a branch)
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Aug 12, 2021 03:34
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Farking Bastage posted:I find myself jumping the gun a lot with mine, but I am nowhere near a seasoned fly fisherman. Kind of tough with trees every 6 feet I went on the river this evening and did pretty good. I only caught little Guadalupe bass, but that’s all I ever catch out there. I started with a small popper but moved to a darker streamer and had better luck.
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Aug 12, 2021 03:42
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joem83 posted:Hopefully you hook into a 100lb bluefin on that thing so that I can cackle at your misfortune. I'll hand it off to you and go get a beer
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Aug 12, 2021 06:15
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poo poo, I'll buy you both beer if you put me on a 100 lb tuna
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Aug 12, 2021 06:38
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Hekk posted:I’ve been fishing in rocky shallow parts of the very northern part of the Mississippi. I caught 7 or 8 smallmouth the other evening over the course of 30-45 minutes just casting plastic Ned rigs. Being rocky though, I am finding I lose a bunch of lures. I usually do the twitch-twitch-hop slow retrieve with the Ned, but if I find myself getting hung up on rocks or weeds I'll start slow swimming it back, just fast enough to keep it off the bottom, and still do pretty well. That's such a versatile lure. A lot of times I find that if they're not hitting it off the bottom, they'll hit it swimming. LMB anyway. I find the hula Stix, with the little tails on them, and light light jigs works best.
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Aug 12, 2021 12:04
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Hekk posted:I’ve been fishing in rocky shallow parts of the very northern part of the Mississippi. I caught 7 or 8 smallmouth the other evening over the course of 30-45 minutes just casting plastic Ned rigs. Being rocky though, I am finding I lose a bunch of lures. that's cool water, i'm jealous. i fish that river a lot down around minneapolis. anyway, you could give blade baits a try if it's not *too* shallow. you tend to retrieve them straight so they don't find bottom like a jighead does. of course, when you do inevitably snag anyway, you'll be out a bit more than if you lost a neg rig... you could also have a repertoire of crankbaits that aren't topwater but only dive to a given depth. again this is all based on my guessing of what your environment looks like. you should just get used to losing rigs, though. as you fish an area enough you'll start remembering where the nasty spots are so you'll snag less. losing gear is 100% an expected occurrence in rocky rivers. when i go to a new river spot i pretty much expect i'll spend more time tying new gear on than i'm actually in the water.
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Aug 12, 2021 12:52
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Hekk posted:I’ve been fishing in rocky shallow parts of the very northern part of the Mississippi. I caught 7 or 8 smallmouth the other evening over the course of 30-45 minutes just casting plastic Ned rigs. Being rocky though, I am finding I lose a bunch of lures. Texas rig your shroom jig
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Aug 12, 2021 13:49
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Hooplah posted:as you fish an area enough you'll start remembering where the nasty spots are so you'll snag less. the problem where i fish is the nasty spots are also where the fish like to hang out
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Aug 12, 2021 15:46
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Hekk posted:I’ve been fishing in rocky shallow parts of the very northern part of the Mississippi. I caught 7 or 8 smallmouth the other evening over the course of 30-45 minutes just casting plastic Ned rigs. Being rocky though, I am finding I lose a bunch of lures. You might try some EWG-style Ned heads like these https://www.amazon.com/Lifted-Jigs-Ned-EWG-Jig/dp/B07PH48ST7 Maybe a finesse football head jig, too? Gives you a head more suited to coming through rock, and a (very light) weed guard https://www.keitechusa.com/catalog/model-ii-tungsten-football-jig.html
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Aug 12, 2021 16:55
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I have a spinning reel with mono on first which is tied to braid using a double uni knot. It's probably about half and half. Now after a few outings my cast will stop because the line is catching the snipped part of the uni knot. It's not because all the braid is going out, but because the knot has wormed it's way from deeper in the spool out to where it catches. I've trimmed the excess as much as I can and I've tried to cram the knot deeper, but it always resurfaces soon after. Do I just unspool all the line and then reel it back up and hope it stays deeper?
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Aug 13, 2021 20:35
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I just go braid straight to the spool
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Aug 13, 2021 20:52
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Me, lately:  Got what I think is gonna be a great bote:  Is an '89 champion fish 'n ski pushed by a Johnson GT175. Was a classic "old guy" boat that was babied and minimally used and so everything about it looks brand new. It came with a brand new Ultrex TM; I put a Helix 7 graph on the console plus the guy already had a cheapo Garmin on the bow. Naturally I had to get a new rod also. I've never owned a nice bass setup; got St Croix Mojo with an Abu Garcia Revo SX doing the baitcasting. I wanted to get it wet today but didn't have the time to get it set up, and anyway we had a huge storm last night so nothing would've been biting anyway. I hosed up one thing; I didn't realize you needed a fancier Ultrex than the one installed in order to integrate with the Helix, so that's a stupid expensive upgrade to make. Otherwise ran everything through its paces today and the whole setup is super smooth. Anyway I'm pretty pumped, the boat runs like an absolute unit and is great setup for fishing is me:  Ghostnuke posted:I just go braid straight to the spool I am literally doing this right now. Unless you're using some kind of ridiculously expensive braid that stuff is cheap enough now it hardly seems worth it to do a backing. I think I've bought like one $16 spool of braided line this year.
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Aug 13, 2021 20:56
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Try learning the FG knot to splice two lines together. It won’t have any tags to catch on. Just be sure to practice and get it right before taking it into battle. Ask a pack of kobolds- he got to see me toss a brand new mepps aglia into the water due to a poorly tied FG
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Aug 13, 2021 21:01
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