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I'm just getting into fishing. Freshwater, planning on hitting the reservoirs and rivers here in the N.E. US. What sort of beginner rod and reel should I look into?
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Jun 17, 2016 20:05
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TheDon01 posted:Just grab a $30 walmart special, there's always time to buy more gear when you know exactly what you're looking for. Actually, I have been using something like that...but my landlord left 3! Shimano Scimitar 8.5 foot medium poles (2 in retail packaging) setup for a top mount bait caster. Any idea what would be a good reel to throw on there?
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Jun 18, 2016 07:25
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bongwizzard posted:Baitcasters are tough to start on without instruction and cheap ones even more so. I have heard that the Abu Black Max line is decent though. Huh. Well, even though I thought I cancelled my order a Mitchell 310 combo is on its way to my house. Should be fine I imagine.
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Jun 18, 2016 15:25
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Yeah I'm not taking an 8.5 foot rod in a canoe with me. I went canoe fishing today with my 5.5 foot and it was about the right size. I caught another small largemouth bass from my backyard this morning though!
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Jun 18, 2016 21:16
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Also, I successfully executed my first Palomar knot based on only my YouTube knowledge while the wind was blowing my canoe around and successfully paddled over and removed a hook from a tree branch overhanging the water.
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Jun 18, 2016 21:20
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That's some proper fish friendly catch and release right there, good work
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Jun 23, 2016 01:45
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So I'm having trouble with my pond largemouth bass. They're generally pretty small, under 4 lbs for sure. They aren't going for the white shad plastics I got, and I think my 5 or 6 inch worms or shads are getting tail struck. Worms are getting hit a lot more. I've got them Texas rigged, though, and it looks like a lot of the time the hook hasn't gone through the bait. Could the Texas rig be the problem? Or is it more likely fish hitting the end of too large bait?
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Jul 4, 2016 19:28
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LingcodKilla posted:Cut off a section of the plastic. Pretty easy with the worms. That's what I was gonna do. I fish in branchy/reedy shallows so I'm not leaving a hook exposed unless I paddle out to my secret rocky fishing spot with no plants and submerged trees
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Jul 4, 2016 19:34
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bongwizzard posted:What weight rod and what kind of line are you using? I used to constantly use too light a rig for t-rigged plastics and was missing a ton of hook sets. I fished the same stretch of river like two weeks apart, same small lure both trips, first with a ML rod and braid, then with a L rod with stretch hybrid, the different in missed hooks sets were crazy. Mitchell 310, 5.5 ft pole with 6 lb mono. I'm hoping Amazon will let me return it because the loving line snags I'm getting with this reel are legendary. It casts like a dream but it's being out fished by a rusty larger rod I found buried in the shed. It also has a tendency to bend too much and have the line crossover the top of the pole while casting too
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Jul 5, 2016 16:32
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bongwizzard posted:What is there a weight range on the rod? The short length and 6lb mono make me assume it it a L or UL rod, which would explain hookset issues. Light. I did some fishing today. I got really mad because I hooked a log even though I t rigged it and waded out there, saw it was too deep, got in my canoe, unhooked it, and fished from the canoe. I could see the fish that were attacking my bait and tons of others. None were over 4-5 inches, and I saw A LOT of them. They couldn't physically swallow the hook I'm using so I either have to rerig for minnow fishing or paddle out to where the bigger fish are. Should I bother practicing on small fish? I can easily get to some rocky bottomed spots with sunken trees, a dam, or bridges which I think I'll have a lot more luck landing 8 inch plus.
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Jul 6, 2016 17:58
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bongwizzard posted:Dude, get you a Ned Rig. Looked intriguing. I was using small tungsten bullet weights. So you're saying no weed guard? Also, what size hook should I be using, and should they be offset?
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Jul 6, 2016 18:53
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bongwizzard posted:The traditional way to rig them is a small, #2-6 exposed hook on a 1/16oz mushroom headed jig. Almost everyone who fishes them changes something but try to do it this way first. Learning to work open hooked in and around cover is a good skill to have and with a L action rod it will really help your hooksets. Cool. I'll try both. what about quick snaps to change my rigs? I have messed up hands and it makes knots difficult. It is almost faster for me to grab my canoe and put it into the water to unhook my line than it is to cut and retie a new set.
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Jul 6, 2016 20:07
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Well the sad (or amazing thing) is my fishing grounds are my backyard. I live on a reservoir (it is my backyard) so I could be in a canoe and cast less than 5 minutes from ending this post. I played around with my gear this afternoon and it seems dark colored worms being top fished (I took off the bullet weight, dropped the shad bait, and also tried a light colored worm) get struck at a really good rate. YouTube tells me I was hooksetting improperly for top fishing (jerking the rod up as opposed to pulling to the side and reeling in slack) so I'll see what happens tomorrow. As an aside, I'm really excited and glad you guys are helping me out with this. It's been a lot of fun working through it. Also, I definitely need a weedless rig for fishing in my backyard if I'm going to use any weight whatsoever. It is heavily covered with leaves, grass, weeds, and logs. Any open hook that gets put at the bottom gets snagged on something.
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Jul 7, 2016 03:47
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Woo! Caught a small largemouth top fishing a dark green plastic worm and hook setting off YouTube instructions. Awesome.
Gumbel2Gumbel fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Jul 7, 2016 |
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Jul 7, 2016 03:56
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bongwizzard posted:Bass are just for looking at, not eating dude. Ned rigs are on the way as well. I do have a question though, I had three hooksets yesterday that the fish ended up spitting out. I suspect it's because I'm bending the barbs down and fishing barbless. Would barbless circle hooks be a good investment for my non Ned rigged setup? Edit:. And when I say hooksets I mean rod bending, side to side swimming action, not the million tail strikes I get.
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Jul 10, 2016 12:33
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gamera009 posted:This used to be an issue for me until I learned to properly play and then land the fish. I try to keep good tension in the line and the rod pointed high otherwise they jump and spit the hook. If I leave too much slack it feels like they spit the hook too.
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Jul 10, 2016 13:26
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Tonight I will catch a fish. I will catch it, stare into its eyes until it knows it has been bested deep down in its soul, and I will release it with that shame forever. (They keep jumping and spitting the hooks)
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Jul 19, 2016 21:52
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Okay gentleman, I'm too lazy to use imgur but I sent a photo to my fisherman friend and girl I know who runs the seafood department at whole foods and they confirmed I landed at least a 3 lb largemouth bass. I delivered on my promise and it took less than half an hour! I switched to a 2/0 gamakatsu offset worm hook with a t-rigged yamashenko 4" worm and I fought that fish for at least 5 minutes. He was tough! I thought he spit the hook and I got it stuck in a log at least two times. I had to get a little aggressive to get him out of cover. As an aside, Gamakatsu hooks feel much, MUCH sharper than eagle claw and I think the overall shape holds a t-rigged plastic better. Gonna start using those Ned Rigs and dropping some shots by some sunken trees I know about.
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Jul 20, 2016 03:14
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bongwizzard posted:Good work fishbro. Thanks! I got some low profile braid that I'm going to load my small reel up with right now. So I've been reading a few articles from pro fisherman that say using braid either doesn't matter or matters so little they haven't noticed a difference and don't use a leader. I'm going to switch to that and get some early morning fishing done right now I think. Edit:. Felt sick, started fishing later than expected. BTW, don't bother with electrical tape for new braided line, it's a pain in the rear end. Spiderwire has a really good guide on their website on how to use a relatively simple knot to get you running smoothly. Also, braided line rules, is easier to tie, and I caught a fish! I'm going to post my fish photos soon. Gumbel2Gumbel fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Jul 27, 2016 |
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Jul 27, 2016 11:25
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bongwizzard posted:Goddamnit, is posting pictures through the awful app busted as well? I dunno. I'm paranoid to tie my imgur account to SA though, I wish we could upload directly or anonymously.
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Jul 27, 2016 17:08
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Ok Fella posted:You can make the photo private on imgur but still link it to other sites. Not sure if that helps you or not.     My three largest fish and my backyard where I caught all of them. This took way too long but I hope you see why I annoyed all of you for all that fishing info over the past few weeks. I caught two different fish today in about two hours of fishing. Gumbel2Gumbel fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Jul 28, 2016 |
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Jul 28, 2016 03:13
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Anyway, someone help me pick out an approximately $50 spinning reel to put on a 6.5 (or 7) spinning rod. Every time I see something that looks good on Amazon with a high rating one of the critical reviews shits all over it and I feel dumb. I may go with the Mitchell 300 Pro because I like my regular 310.
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Jul 29, 2016 03:35
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Cool. I figured the issue with my hooksets is not being able to get enough on them with my light action rod and want to go up to medium. Switching to Gamakatsu hooks (much, much sharper than eagle claw) helped a lot, but if I catch one fish with a hook it is slightly less sharp and I can't land another fish until I cut and retie a brand new hook on there.
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Jul 29, 2016 14:45
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bongwizzard posted:Get a little stone dude. I am so good at sharpening knives (stainless, high carbon, pocket knives) I am embarrassed I didn't think of this.
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Jul 29, 2016 17:05
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Armed Neutrality posted:
Nice. I got a 15 inch 2lb largemouth this afternoon and filleted it. Was pretty tasty, reminded me of really fresh cod/halibut. I didn't release it because it sucked the hook into an artery or part of the gill and was bleeding a lot. I did figure out my hookset problem: I was using EWG hooks instead of standard worm hooks so my hooks were just bouncing out of the fish. Instead of 20 bites and a catch I had 1 bite and a catch today with my new hooks, was fishing for maybe 20 minutes instead of 2 hours.
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Jul 31, 2016 23:53
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LingcodKilla posted:
That is pretty genius. Good for the soil, too!
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Aug 1, 2016 00:32
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Armed Neutrality posted:I've been fishing them with success for a while now. They work best when the water is high and cloudy, I went again last night with a 5 inch articulated streamer and had 7 explosive strikes in an hour, one 18 inch fish landed and a bigger one popped off. I used a sinking line last night because of the high water, and I generally work my way downstream, casting across the current as close to the far bank as possible, mend upstream to let it sink a bit, and strip across the current. *Stares over the edge of the abyss* ...I...I think I'll stick to bass fishing with spinning gear for now.
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Aug 1, 2016 14:57
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coyo7e posted:One thing about fishing for large bass is that they're territorial and smart enough to see you and then get put off the bait. Largemouths also bite different than most other fish and it can take a good bit of practise before you learn how to get them - they inhale stuff and then spit it back out to get a taste of it, and after that, they'll decide to truly take it into their mouth and then mosey off. Well the biggest issue I'm having right now is that I gut hook 1/2 the fish I catch despite using big hooks and worms. Changing from EWG to standard worm hook helped that a lot though. I don't want to switch to smaller hooks (using 2/0 right now) for top fishing worms because I'm looking for 2 pounds and up. Edit: I caught, killed, filleted, skinned, and pan roasted a 2 pounder and while delicious, it kinda looked like I was eating kitten.
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Aug 10, 2016 00:08
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bongwizzard posted:That is an unusually high gut-hook rate, I suspect you are missing a poo poo ton of bites and only noticing the ones when they sallow it and swim away. What power/action and brand of rod are you using again? Light rod, 5.5 ft, Mitchell 310, Gamakatsu 2/0 worm hooks, spider wire braided 15 lb test with a 4lb mono diameter.
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Aug 10, 2016 14:50
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I caught a tiny Brook trout on a mountain side with a shovel once. We were fixing the spring that fed the farm downstream. We had an old two liter bottle someone had left up there filled with water and we took it down to the owners' personal pond.
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Aug 16, 2016 18:51
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Whoah...it took me a few minutes on two piece light action for an 18 inch largemouth...is that excessive? He hid under trees and stuff a few times.
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Aug 17, 2016 23:45
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so I got a Shimano Sienna 4000FD and Shimano Sojourn 6.5ft medium heavy on a whim because I was tired of complaining about my tiny fishing rod and annoying everyone here. Also, my grizzled old neighbor has had his Shimano Sienna forever and loves it. Will post pics of all the fish I slay. Edit. Okay, I gill hooked a 2 pounder. Felt bad because I was fishing barbless in an attempt to catch and release. New setup is much easier to use. Gumbel2Gumbel fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Aug 18, 2016 |
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Aug 18, 2016 18:34
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gay picnic defence posted:Siennas are great reels. I used them on my kayak for a while where they were getting heaps of salt water splashed on them and inside them, and they held up fine Yeah, I'm pretty broke right now so I tried to go for a reasonable quality/price combo and Shimano's lower end stuff seemed like it hit those requirements. I like the rod too! Cork handles are my thing. It casts like a dream with a larger plastic on there, you don't get quite the snapping action that sends a small plastic flying with a light action rod. More of a trebuchet than a whip, it took me about a half hour to adjust my cast. Next time I'll put a weight on there and really rip some shots into the pond so I can avoid the wind knots I seem to get with a freshly spooled reel.
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Aug 18, 2016 22:00
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TheBizzness posted:I love my Sienna so much, I bought a Sahara. Yep! I love it. Have had two major wind knots in about 2.5 hours of fishing, though. It likes underhand casting and plastics 5 inches and above.
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Aug 19, 2016 05:53
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Okay now I'm hooksetting barbless hooks perfectly...into tongues and gills. What gives guys? Blood on last 2/5 fish.
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Sep 8, 2016 22:27
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bongwizzard posted:Dude maybe you got some depressed fish? Yeah I dunno, these guys are hitting hard as poo poo. Maybe my hook size is too large but I don't hookset until I have a real weight on my line. There are a shitload of tiny bass here who will tail strike and pull a T-rig clean off or run with it. You can easily lose a senko or yank the whole setup clear out of the water hooksetting when they do that. I've seen the little guys 6" or so chase and then strike when I'm swimming the bait back and they'll bite the bottom half and run sideways with it like a real fish. Gumbel2Gumbel fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Sep 14, 2016 |
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Sep 14, 2016 15:20
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Also let me ask about plastic stick baits while I'm here. I have no problem with Senkos except they tear and they are outrageously expensive. They catch a lot of fish for me but I go through 2 an hour and they cost 75 cents a pop. I have a backyard fishing pond and fish every day. I tried a brand called Gambler that sort of smelled like pizza herbs that was a hell of a lot cheaper and more durable. Didn't land anything on it though. Small sample size, ran it for about 2 hours in less than ideal conditions. I've read good things about Yum Dingers and Bass Pro shop stick-os as far as price to quality and that Yamamoto stuff works but is mostly reputation at this point. Also I have found natural shad colors to get the most strikes but again, small sample size. Gumbel2Gumbel fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Sep 14, 2016 |
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Sep 14, 2016 15:26
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bongwizzard posted:The quest for a cheaper senko seems to be an eternal one. Try Z-man Zlinkers, which will loose all their salt after an hour or so, then set them aside and make ned rigs out of them. Savage Gear sells an "Armor Worm" that has some mesh in the middle. They get good reviews but have limited color options. Thirdly, look up the various o-ring solutions for wacky rigging. And lastly, there is a glue/solvent called Mend-it that melts and rebonds ripped senkos perfectly. It's actually a reservoir fed by a river so it doesn't matter how many I gill hook, there's a constant supply. (Except to my soul) Sounds good, I'll explore some options at the Bass Pro Shop tomorrow. It's right by my Dr.'s appt. Also I cannot use wacky anything, everything has to be T-rigged weightless because of intense weed, log, and stick cover here. I can't put a 1/8 oz tungsten bullet on my rig without fishing up some nasties.
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Sep 14, 2016 17:33
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bongwizzard posted:Have you tried t-rigged Power Worms or Culprit Worms? They might work and are cheaper. Also pick up a pack of Zoom Super Flukes in whatever color was working in senkos. They lack the magic shimmy of a senko but they have similar action when worked. There is also a small manufacture called Blitz Baits that sells a "Sassy Stick" that some people claim is as good as a senko. Nice. Yeah it's weird, with how my fishing area is, if you're casting from the shore you do it at night, in the morning, with no wind, or you're basically just having casting practice. I'll get my shopping list together and hit up bass pro tomorrow. I'll grab some of their house brand too because people rave about them online.
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Sep 14, 2016 19:42
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| # ¿ Apr 30, 2024 08:33 |
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bongwizzard posted:Sage advice Well I just spent $70 at Bass pro on their Stick-o's, super flukes, power worms, new hooks, and a real tackle box. You monster.
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Sep 15, 2016 18:26
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