Who's ready to go fishing???

[pjcalla]

If your addiction wants to hit the buffet then I suggest the South Fork of the Flambeau River or as I like to call it, my backyard. River is up 1-2 feet in past few days so I am jumping in the kayak tomorrow and head up or down stream, not sure. I have had days where I landed 50 smallies between 1/2lb and 2lbs and lost just as many.

I am on the opposite end of the learning curve, living here with all these Smallies has made me want to finally truly learn fly fishing. I have some old gear that was old when I bought it in a garage sale in 1983!

You will love my redneck fly fishing system. I take a fluke rig, not a lot of flounder in Wisconsin, put a Yamamoto twin tail grub on it and cast it with a heavy spinning rig. The fluke rig is heavy enough test to handle a pike or musky but the "fly" sinks slowly around sunken timber. Doing this all summer is what convinced me bass and pike on a fly would be fun. I hooked a fish on one of these that I guess was 20-30lbs. I wanted it to be a Musky but I am pretty sure it was a catfish or sturgeon. It pulled my kayak upstream right into a deadfall and eventually the 8lb test line on my rod broke. That is when I decided the redneck fly worked but needed a heavier rig to cast it. Before the big fish now known as Godzuki, that same day I caught 7 Smallies between 16" and 20" and 3 Pike between 3 and 5lbs all on the redneck fly.

This week we may see a rematch if I go back down stream.

Would love to fish up there. My brother in law actually just gave me a rod that I plan on rigging up for Pike and Musky. Something about seeing a wave chasing your fly before the take has me wanting to get into some Pike.

Nothing wrong with "old" gear, any gear is better then none. Since I got back into fly fishing from a 15 year hiatus, I have sold all my regular spin tackle. Anyway, when you catch "Godzuki" please post pics.

 

[SigFan07]

What size net for bass fishing? I want one large enough to net the bass at Lake Waveland.

 

[Zoub]

What size net for bass fishing? I want one large enough to net the bass at Lake Waveland.

The net won't be any taller then your hip. The one I use in my Kayak right now is probably 3' long max and maybe 18" wide. You don't need a big net, you need a smaller net you can move quickly with ONE hand but longer than a typical trout fishermans net.

I may get this one for next year but I have not handled it yet. In general I have good luck with Frabill nets for at least 20 years.
Frabill® Kwik Stow Folding Trout Net | Bass Pro Shops

Here is one similar to mine with dipped nylon netting. Dipped nylon is cheaper then the rubber mesh nets but good at keeping hooks from getting fouled. Cheap trade off. I don;t want $100 nets in canoes or kayaks because things do go overboard at times. If you spend serious $$ on canoe gear, tether it to your boat or body.

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-XPS-Landing-Nets/product/12081705414016/

PS today I had fresh caught walleye for lunch. Caught on a 1/16oz whistler jig and power grub body.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Really a net for bass? I gotta say that in all the years of bass fishing I've done I can't EVER remember breaking the line on a bass unless it wrapped around a rock or tree or pier. Never in my life have I had the line break when I lifted the fish out of the water. I don't even ever take one in the boat. I make it a habit of retying often, starting with fresh quality line and always wetting my line when I tie knots. Most of my bait casting line is P line Xtra or the flouro clear 12 lb. I've broken line on pike when the line might rub on the teeth but probably 95% of the pike I've caught have been without a steel leader. I've lost the most fish walleye fishing in Erie because your line will drag on the zebra mussels and get nicked easily.

 

[HICKMAN]

now that football season is over for the boy, we may do some squirrel hunting and fishing over the weekend.

 

[Zoub]

Really a net for bass? I gotta say that in all the years of bass fishing I've done I can't EVER remember breaking the line on a bass unless it wrapped around a rock or tree or pier. Never in my life have I had the line break when I lifted the fish out of the water. I don't even ever take one in the boat. I make it a habit of retying often, starting with fresh quality line and always wetting my line when I tie knots. Most of my bait casting line is P line Xtra or the flouro clear 12 lb. I've broken line on pike when the line might rub on the teeth but probably 95% of the pike I've caught have been without a steel leader. I've lost the most fish walleye fishing in Erie because your line will drag on the zebra mussels and get nicked easily.

I fish for Musky with 14lb test. I am dragging Smallmouth and Pike out of Beaver cuts and blow downs with 4 & 6lb in a river filled with nothing but rock and boulders. Lifting the fish on a dead lift with a UL or ML rod at water level in a kayak is a bit different then using pool ques with 12lb and up. And yes I own and use flipping rods and others as well. If you try a technique or two other then the same old stuff you might enjoy it. Develop a better touch and you might not break off in Erie either.

Don't rag a new fisherman for using a net. At least he is out there doing it and in time he will learn how to flip the fish in the boat. A net is also important for safety. If you are in a small kayak there is only one place a large fish can go, between your legs........hooks and all.

 

[bwframe]

[video=youtube_share;j7En7xk9DpY]http://youtu.be/j7En7xk9DpY[/video]

 

[SigFan07]

Really a net for bass? I gotta say that in all the years of bass fishing I've done I can't EVER remember breaking the line on a bass unless it wrapped around a rock or tree or pier. Never in my life have I had the line break when I lifted the fish out of the water. I don't even ever take one in the boat. I make it a habit of retying often, starting with fresh quality line and always wetting my line when I tie knots. Most of my bait casting line is P line Xtra or the flouro clear 12 lb. I've broken line on pike when the line might rub on the teeth but probably 95% of the pike I've caught have been without a steel leader. I've lost the most fish walleye fishing in Erie because your line will drag on the zebra mussels and get nicked easily.

FloroClear is what I took off my rods last week! I had on six pound Sufix mono clear on a spinning reel, eight pound P-Line Floroclear on a spinning reel, and twelve pound Floroclear on my baitcaster. I used my spinning reels the most and all the big bass I have caught this summer were on those spinning reel. It was the P-Line Floroclear that broke on me a couple of times when I grabbed the line.

Also, I did not like the twelve pound Floroclear on my Shimano baitcaster. I think because the line was too small in diameter. I started with ten or twelve pound Trilene line that worked very nice on my baitcaster. Then I tried that P-Line Floroclear and had more backlashes. I took that off last week and put on twelve pound Sufix mono Low-vis Green. I tried that out this evening and it did very nice on my baitcaster.

So right now I'm running eight pound Stren mono low-vis green on spinning reel, ten pound Stren mono on spinning reel, and twelve pound Sufix mono on my baitcaster.

I'm finding I'm getting very accurate with my spinning reels. I can cast near shore or a dock/tree and stop the line with my finger and it lands almost right where I want it to. It's spooky how accurate I'm getting with my spinning reels. I'm almost to the point of leaving my baitcaster at home and going exclusively with spinning reels. The next spinning reel I buy will be large enough to handle twelve pound plus mono line.

I'm also becoming a fan of Sufix mono.

I'll admit I rarely wet my knots. I don't like taking the time to wet them.

 

[bwframe]

Lifting a fish with the line that even might come close to test weight is a recipe for loss.
First off, if possible, let the fish wear out.
Second, you need to lip, gill, net or stringer them in the water, then lift.
A lot of folks, who intend to release the fish, go right to the hook with the pliers, never touching the fish.

Even the best knots lose you 6 to 13% of your line test weight. You must wet the line before tying, it needs the lubrication to properly clinch without binding. Most folks don't retie nearly often enough. If you never catch a fish or scrape your line on anything, you are still wearing the line with every cast. The act of reeling the line in is constantly twisting the line on top of rubbing the guides.

 

[sig shooter]

bwframe nice video was fun to watch .

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Really sorry if that came off as ragging a new fisherman. Not what I meant at all. The point was to learn to take care of your gear, use the proper gear, and learn how to use it. To me a net is a wasted monetary investment. Coincidentally I was looking at nets at Gander early this week and was surprised by the cost of a quality net. Some were upwards of $90.00.

 

[Zoub]

bwframe nice video was fun to watch .

I totally disagree. There were more people in that video then I saw in 4 months on our river. As a matter of fact that many people don't live within 10-12 miles of us. Clearly I can never return to society.......thank God for that too!

 

[Zoub]

Really sorry if that came off as ragging a new fisherman. Not what I meant at all. The point was to learn to take care of your gear, use the proper gear, and learn how to use it. To me a net is a wasted monetary investment. Coincidentally I was looking at nets at Gander early this week and was surprised by the cost of a quality net. Some were upwards of $90.00.

its cool. To be fair to you, and you can see this above, SigFan goes through line like it's free cheese being handed out at an Obamacare festival. His average line use per reel this summer is probably equal to a ten year supply for you. I would estimate he personally has probably killed from 3 to 5 Dolphins with his trash line. So week ow for a act his line is NEVER worn out.

If SigFan uses a net and he actually gets the fish in the boat, his gear whore personality will take a break from blaming the line. That means he won't buy a 1000 yards of line every month and that means somewhere tonight a Dolphin does not "sleep with the fishes" and we all sleep better. Sure we can all get by using plain old Trilene XT or XL if we had too but SigFan kills super lines like baby seals on opening day of fur season. We are trying to change that.

 

[Zoub]

I'll admit I rarely wet my knots. I don't like taking the time to wet them.

Then don't waste money on a net and go to 20lb test. All you have to do is wet the line in your mouth before you pull the line tight. Even Al and Ron are line lickers. Lick your line Bro, lick it good.

That is like saying it is too much effort load rounds in your mags for your Sigs. It is that important. Slow is fast in fishing too. Slow down and start licking or you will continue to lose fish. Lick once, cry once. Refuse to lick, cry a lot.

Do it.

 

[SigFan07]

I checked this book out a few times from the library:

The Bass Angler's Almanac: More than 650 Tips and Tactics: John Weiss: 9781585742141: Amazon.com: Books


There is a paragraph in the book that says Berkley did a test with mono and found there is no difference in wetting or not wetting a knot when using mono. It's a good book with lots of interesting information.

I'm still new to this sport of fishing but my early conclusions - Mono = Strong. Fluorocarbon = slightly useful gimmick line.

 

[danielson]

Just dont lick braided line, its liable to cut your damn tongue off...

 

[SigFan07]

My main goal is not only to catch nice sized bass but also to release them in good condition.

I went to Gander Mountain this evening and they had Frabill Conservation series nets on sale - 25% off. I bought a rubber coated Frabill Conservation Series net around 20 X 23. The man working the area said it was plenty big enough for bass in Indiana. I talked to him about me grabbing the line and it breaking. He said not to grab it so tight but let it slip in the hand. He also said the easiest thing to fix the line breaking is - us bigger line! He said when he fished tournaments he never used line smaller than fourteen pound test.

I hope to get back to Lake Waveland some time in the next few weeks. The woman at the gate who took my money at Lake Waveland said it's the top bass lake in the state. Is it number one or in the top five?

 

[kickbacked]

I checked this book out a few times from the library:

The Bass Angler's Almanac: More than 650 Tips and Tactics: John Weiss: 9781585742141: Amazon.com: Books


There is a paragraph in the book that says Berkley did a test with mono and found there is no difference in wetting or not wetting a knot when using mono. It's a good book with lots of interesting information.

I'm still new to this sport of fishing but my early conclusions - Mono = Strong. Fluorocarbon = slightly useful gimmick line.

why do you ask questions if you are just going to ignore the answers and go off what you read in a book? Wetting a line prevents resistance when you tighten it up and also allows the line to tighten up tighter. resistance causes line to break. fluro is especially subject to breaking. Its not the arrow its the Indian.

 

[SigFan07]

why do you ask questions if you are just going to ignore the answers and go off what you read in a book?

The more opinions I read the better my future decisions.

Ok, here is my real concern with licking the line - don't you risk getting contaminated with led when you put that line in your mouth? I mean, I use led bullet weights. If I put the weight on and then hook and tie the line and wet it, isn't there a chance I could get small fragments of led in my mouth?

 

[pjcalla]

I always wet my knots. If I'm tying up a leader at home, I'll put the line in my mouth or dip it in a cup of water. When I'm on the water, I will put the line in my mouth as well, or just dip it in the river. If you are concerned about lead poisoning, just dip the line in the lake/river/pond/whatever before you tighten down the knot.

Perfect example happened to me yesterday while I was on the river. I got snagged on the bottom, and could not free the fly. I had to break off in order to get free. As I was adding some tippet to my leader (and inspecting it), I noticed that one of my knots was not "right" on my leader. I could have probably used it, and it probably would have held any fish, but I decided to retie my leader. The knot in question was the first knot of my homemade leader, 25lb. mono to 15lb. mono. The blood knot looked weird, so I retied it. At first, I put the knot in my mouth and tried to tighten it down. It did not want to seat correctly (wasn't wet enough), so I clipped it off and started over. I put the new knot in the river for a few seconds, and it seated perfectly. Yes, I could have saved a few minutes by not retying the knot, but I wanted to make sure all my gear was in good working order in case I hooked up with a monster.

You can do what you want, but I will always wet my knots, be it leader to fly or my blood knots on my leader. I always "test" my knots and inspect them every so often. To me, a few seconds (or minutes) of inspection/repair is better than losing a great fish because I was lazy.