Topics

1

The Hawg Forum / RI Removed from Low Risk COVID List

« on: August 05, 2020, 09:06:05 AM »

Boy this year has been fun hasnt it? So effective 8/7 we now cant travel to CT or MA without a negative test or 14 day quarantine. What a great year.

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Boating Forum / Made the move to Ultrex

« on: April 28, 2020, 10:49:24 AM »

Finally made the move. Installed it myself. Fairly difficult due to Tracker boats really not making it easy to get under the bow. My arms were just long enough to reach from the foot pedal tray. Kind of surprised that Tracker used 4 bolts and 2 screws in the from for the existing trolling motor. Overall a clean install.

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Fishing Tackle & Equipment Reviews / Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon Review

« on: March 11, 2020, 09:21:19 AM »

I've tried quite a few different fluorocarbon lines and have stuck to Seaguar AbrazX and InvizX for quite awhile. I dont really have any complaints on those lines at all. I fish around a lot of rocks and docks so AbrazX really is my go to and it has not done me wrong. However, I do recognize that these lines get super stuff and can be brittle in cold water. A recent BassU seminar with MDJ talked about Tatsu being superior in every way. So I figured I would give it a try. I grabbed 1000 yard spools of 8lb and 20lb.

First impression. The first thing i noticed is how limp it is. It reminded me of back in the day when I used trilene XL. Very soft, super flexible. Not stiff at all like other fluorocarbons. I spool up a jerkbait rod with the 8lb and my flipping sticks with the 20lb. I get out on the water yesterday and start slinging around a visoin 110 on the 8lb. Overall really pleased with the casting of it. Feels nice, super smooth, real solid distance. Start working the jerkbait and the bait is responding as it should when twitching a line with minimal stretch. Heres the kicker, I thrown this bait around a lot of rock this time of year. So I get super anal about checking my line and retying. I had the typical day you would expect throwing a jerkbait this time of year. Handful of fish, some toothy critters. The bait is getting beat up clacking rocks, but I keep checking the line and don't feel any nicks or fraying. Nothing. I was out there for about 3 hours, but came to realize that I didn't retie once (which is odd for me).

Feels like XL mono, acts like fluoro, and is pretty abrasion resistant.

So is it superior? First impression says it is. However, does it warrant the price tag? I dont know yet. Its better, but AbrazX and InvizX was plenty good and this stuff is expensive. Right now if you see it on sale I would say go ahead and give it a try. I will follow this up once I get some time with the flipping stick on it.

Anyone else have experience with it?

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The Hawg Forum / Replacing Split Rings with Braided Line

« on: October 23, 2019, 11:11:52 AM »

I know this is the time of year where it starts slowing down for some guys and blade baits aren't overly popular with this crew. However I am curious if anyone else has heard of or tried this trick. I tried it a year ago and it worked pretty well. Since then Ive seen some pros (Seth Feider) essentially do it to all his baits with treble hooks. I am not there yet, but I was impressed with how it worked on blade baits.  Basically the idea is with a single split ring will only allow a treble hook to do a half rotation before it locks up. This gives the fish leverage to potentially pop the hook free. This is especially true on smallmouth in 30-50 FoW where these fish are doing gymnastics below the boat and have no quit in them. To alleviate this some people double up on their split rings which works to an extent in added flexibility, but also hangs the hooks lower and allows more potential for hooks to hang on each other. The tip that came from Feider (he gives credit to Zona) to to take the split rings off and essentially hang the hooks from the blade bait using small braided loops. Hooks can rotate a full 4-5 rotations and the loops are small so its not like the hooks will tangle on each other. Just wonder if anyone else has tried it.

Also I was recently asked for a video on how to tie it. I can provide it if people are interested. Last year I tried it for the first time. I was torn at first but I also landed a bunch of fish that were barely hooked and I wondered how I landed them. My guess was that this actually worked.

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The Hawg Forum / Moon Phases

« on: June 24, 2019, 01:08:08 PM »

Does anyone on here track moon phases? I never have because I felt like I usually dont get to pick when I fish. Usually its a tournament or when fun fishing its when I can get away from the wife and kid so the opportunity chooses me more than I choose it. However, I have heard a few pros talk about it recently. For the most part they say they dont get to pick when they fish, but there are windows when the bite is best and they say that they make it a point to be on their "best"(highest confidence) spots at the prime times. Bassmaster has been posting the calendars as far back as I can remember. Does anyone find any of it useful?

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Fishing Tackle & Equipment Reviews / River2Sea James Watson Worldwide Spoon

« on: June 18, 2019, 09:54:18 AM »

This is something I got into last year. I know of lot of people here prefer the shallow weedy ponds, but my confidence in this thing last year went sky high. I have never been a big advocate for spoons, but James Watson and Gerald Swindle were doing a lot of videos on this thing. Watson is big on using it around docks and Swindle on ledge and offshore fishing. They sparked my interest so I picked up a few in early 2018 and by middle of the summer if I was offshore I needed it on the deck. So on to a review of it and why I like it:



So I will start with what it is not. It is not a monster flutter spoon that will spook the entire lake. Its a 5" spoon and is a little more subtle than that. Having said that, you need to make sure you are on some active fish otherwise it will spook some fish, but not nearly to the extent of some monster spoons. It will catch quality and quantity. As is most River2Sea products this thing is beefy. It comes with high end terminal built to tow a truck. The treble hook is similar to the hooks you see on the Whopper Plopper. The shape of the spoon is made to make the bait continue to drift tail first. On the front of the bait you will notice a micro swivel which really helps with line twists which are one of the reasons I normally would not touch a spoon. This also comes with a stinger hook... and they did it right. The stinger hook it attached by braided line and it it tied to the nose of the bait. Not to the split ring, not to the swivel, to the nose of the bait so it really does not get tangled with the bait at all. The crazy thing is how many fish the stinger hook catches. When a fish goes to mouth it and they flare their gills they may not get the whole bait (especially smallmouth), but they do inhale that stinger hook. So many fish you catch you will find that the stinger is buried in the roof of their mouth or their lip and as they turned away the treble gets them outside the mouth.

Gear: I throw this on 15lb fluoro on a rod with a real soft tip. Spoons are known for losing fish so a parabolic rod is key to keeping them pinned. If you are going to target marinas, definitely go with heavier fluoro around pilings and cables. For colors I try to match the forage the best I can, but I pretty much stick to some type of chrome and some type of gold. I came home with raw thumbs a couple of evenings last summer with the chrome blue so I tend to reach for that first in clean water.


So what do I target? For me I have had massive success with this thing offshore when fish are schooling and chasing baitfish. If you see baitfish bubbling at the surface, this thing shines. It will catch all species of bass (and other predatory fish). The catch to this bait is when it lands, it lands tail first and will continue to drift away from you. In super deep water and large balls of bait they may not come all the way up to hit topwater, and sometimes crankbaits wont do it. Meanwhile the bait doesnt love the presence of the boat so getting in the middle of them and dropping on them will work, but only for a moment. This bait allows you to keep your distance. It is key to understand the depth you are fishing and know what you are trying to do. So if you see bait bubbling at the surface in 25 FOW you dont want to cast it right in the bait. It will spook the bait and the spoon will continue to drift past the bait. Ideally you want to cast shy of it, and thumb your spool as the spoon will drift into/just under the baitball. IF, and thats a big IF, it gets to the bottom give it a couple of hard snaps and let it flutter back down. You want it to fall freely, but control the slack as it will get hit on the fall.

For dock fishing you use the drift of the bait to your advantage. So deep docks or deep marinas are ideal for this. Pitch it at the dock and let it flutter further and further under the dock. It will get to places other baits cant. However, you will also be dealing with pilings, cables, etc so make sure you are prepared to lose a few.

Now these things arent cheap. They run about $10 a piece. So you could easily steal a lot of the features this thing brings to the table. You could be a cheaper spoon, add the swivel and stinger and get something close to this, but they did it right out of the box.

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Fishing Tackle & Equipment Reviews / Daiwa Tatula SV TWS Baitcasting Reel Review

« on: June 17, 2019, 10:59:12 AM »

So I have been using this reel so far this year. I have been a Revo STX guy for a while and I went with a Revo Ike series reel last year and did not love it. Meanwhile I keep hearing about Daiwa really making serious improvements to their reels so I wanted to give it a try. Early this year I grabbed a Tatula SV in 8.0:1 for a light flipping set up. So after using this for a while I figured I would throw in my 2 cents on it.

This reel is super forgiving when it comes to backlashes. I mean I have botched flips and skips horrendously and even on purpose just to demonstrate to friends how forgiving it is. You can smack a bait straight down in the water and pull 2 arms length of line out of the reel and its clean, and thats with fairly minimal brakes on and the tension knob loose enough to skip a bait. The 8.0:1 is fast and smooth, no surprise there. Now I dont do a lot of casting with this as it is mainly flipping, but I have pitched a tokyo rig on it and a texas rig where if I hit open water I will slide the peg up a bit and cast it out. Now I have zero gripes about the castability of the STX, but this thing is straight up bombs away. I dont know if its the TWS or how much that plays into it, but I definitely feel it casts slightly better/easier than the STX. I have seen a lot of demos where the Daiwa reels outcast their competitors and I will second that. This thing really feels nice casting it out.

In your hand it feels OK. Not the lightest reel in the world, but I dont mind a little weight to it as I have had some bad luck with reels that specifically target trying to cut weight, and Im a bigger guy so it doesnt bother me at all. Palming the reel your index finger sits over the dial which has a textured/roughness to it. It doesnt bother me, but I have heard of people saying it irritates them. I see what they mean because it does sit right on the meat of your index finger and I think if I were working a jerkbait all day I can see what they mean. The dial has like a serrated edge to it, so it rubbing all day I get what they mean.

The drag is not the strongest on this reel. If you clamp it down, you can still strip line. I dont mind that because I do like a little give and if I need to shut a fish down I would thumb the spool anyway to stop a fish from taking line in a dicey situation. Having said that, I feel like the revo's have a lot more stopping power and I find I am setting the Daiwa near its max setting to get similar performance to what I am used to from the STX with not nearly as much pressure applied. In looking at it now I see the Daiwa has 13lbs of drag vs the STX at 20+lbs. So yeah that makes sense.

The line capacity of the SV spool leaves something to be desired. Now again, I am using this for light flipping with 20lb fluoro so overall I am not concerned about line capacity at all. However, for some other applications I can see it being a concern. If I bomb out a tokyo rig I am throwing most of the spool out. If I re-tie as often as I do I will be in trouble pretty quick doing that all day. So if you are not looking to make long casts (which is one of its key features with the TWS) I think you are good, OR if you are using lighter line I think you are fine. Long casts with heavy line, I think I would shy away from the SV spool. I dont think this would be my number 1 option if I were slinging a tokyo rig or a football head or anything like that regularly.

Overall, for the right applications this thing is fantastic. They took features that were in their high end reels and put them in their work horse reel. Not a bad combination as it is really making re-think my loyalty to the Revo line from Abu. I have yet to have an STX fail me but all others from the revo line eventually did (except my winch). Having said that, if I need a new reel I think I make lean more towards Daiwa. It is hard to beat what they have done to their workhorse line up of reels.

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Northeast US Lake Conditions / Singletary Boat Ramp

« on: June 03, 2019, 11:10:43 AM »

So the new boat ramp just opened up and this was something that a lot of people were looking forward to. The ramp has always been OK, but the parking situation was an absolute nightmare. There are about 12 spots for trailers and they are all on one side. There is a very small area with "no parking" in front of the ramp and that was where you would have to try and launch the boat.. and then somehow park the trailer in this tiny lot. We had a tournament scheduled for earlier this year and it was cancelled because they closed the ramp to re-do the ramp add a dock and work on the parking situation. I got out there Saturday and I am sad to say it looks really nice, but the overall situation has not gotten any better. Where the ramp was they essentially added a dock and put in a new ramp, but the ramp and dock combined are essentially the same width of what the ramp used to be. So now the ramp is very narrow, but overall not a problem for guys with experience launching a boat. In all honesty the dock is a really nice add. Where it gets real dicey is they just re-paved the parking lot and did not add any additional parking or more room. There are about 12 spaces wide enough to park your trailer with your mirrors nearly touching the truck next to you. In addition to that they marked out spaces where cars can park. So you back your truck into a spot in the AM and when you come back you have trailers on both sides of you almost touching your truck, and about 15 feet in front of your truck are cars parked perpendicular to you. Everything is just super tight.

So for those who have been there before, not much as changed. For those who haven't been, if you have a tournament there (or just want to fish a nice weekend day), get there early especially if you are a guy who likes a lot of room to maneuver. Once 7 or 8 trailers get there you are then bordering on a magic trick to park (especially if people dont park in sequence and want open spots on both sides of them (MAN I HATE THAT)). Also dont plan on getting out of there too fast when its over. I would definitely expect to be hanging around for some post-tourney dock talk while it clears out. Be patient.. oh and its a really nice lake to pleasure boat so be prepared for that as well.

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The Hawg Forum / NH Trip

« on: May 24, 2019, 07:02:10 PM »

So I got up to NH this past week. It was a family trip but got to fish a bit. Wind was horrendous and kept me off the Maine lake the first day so we stayed in protected pockets. The second day we were able to get on the main lake and started to pick apart wind blown pockets. Water temps were 51 to 53.  We got a few on rk crawlers and jerkbaits but noticed that they were acting funny and followed the baits a lot which is likely due to the funky weather we got up there this week. When we did catch them, they were smaller a half to 2lbs.  Switched to a hair jig and started to absolutely blast them. Not only that the quality got better. We stacked over 50 fish in the 2 to 3.5 range before 2pm. So no tanks but overall really fun. Panoptix really made us more efficient as we didnt waste many casts. Once I knew it would be safe to do it I brought my little girl out. Shes 2 years old and we have been practicing with her ice veritas combo by tying on a cat toy and flipping it around the house and getting cats to pounce it. I tied on a drop shot and let her pick from the baits I poured and this is what happend.

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The Hawg Forum / Winter Schoolie Fishing

« on: March 06, 2019, 11:34:25 AM »

So I know that rivers in CT are notorious for having just out of control amazing days from December through March catching schoolie stripers. I am curious if anyone here has ever done it. It sounds like a blast and have read articles about it, but in all honesty thats a lot of water to cover. The one person I know who has done it simply says "just look for all the boats". However, thats a long drive and it awful cold out there to just roll the dice. Anyone have any info on this?

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The Hawg Forum / NE Fishing Expo

« on: November 08, 2018, 08:27:57 AM »

I really like it when they have Bass U coming to this but this year they will have Seth Feider in attendance. My knock on most informational bass fishing stuff is how much it really applies to us in the northeast. This guy being from Minnesota is a great smallmouth angler, and a great cold water angler. So much of his game works well up here and anyone who has seen a seminar with him knows how good he really is. When it comes to seminars this guy lays it all out there for you. He really does not hold much back. His seminars on Bass U are some of the best out there.

http://nefishingexpo.com/

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Fishing Tackle & Equipment Reviews / Abu Garcia Ike Series Revo Review

« on: October 29, 2018, 02:36:18 PM »

So I am a follower of Mike Iaconelli as a subscriber to Bass U and find him entertaining. Unrelated to that I am a big fan of the Abu Ike series casting rods. I bought one for cranking and since have bought about 7 more because for the price I really like what you get and I find when they build a rod that is technique specific I find that I really like what they put together. So at Icast they announced the release of the Abu Garcia Ike series Revo casting reel. When I saw it it was sharp and figured it would pair nicely with the rods I have. When reading about it essentially it was going to be a blend of the Revo STX and the Revo Premier. Not quite as light as the premier but a tougher reel like the STX. That really appealed to me as I predominately use the STX and the Premier. My go to reel truly is the STX so if essentially they shaved a couple of ounces off of it, hey why not? So I ordered 2 and paid a bit extra to get one in early. Now having used both of them for a few months I'm ready to do a review:

Abu Garcia REVO IKE Casting Reel

I got a 8.0:1 for a light flipping set up and a 6.6:1 for a light cranking set up. Out of the box this reel is sexy. Matches the rods and that chameleon paint is hot. The over sized handle and different knobs immediately stand out and in your hand I liked the way it looked and felt. It is slightly lighter than the STX, but for the most part not super noticeable. I start throwing them and immediately I hear that on the retrieve something is rubbing on both of them. I don't feel resistance but overall I can hear it rubbing so I strip them both, clean them, oil them. Put the back together and I can still hear it. Performance wise its not affecting them, but its just bugging me for a $250 reel I should hear anything. Casting distance is everything you'd expect from the Revo STX. The retrieve (minus the sound) is everything you'd expect from the STX. Braking systems and function.. Yep right on par with the STX. So its a tad lighter than the STX, has a bigger handle, and has a better paint job? Thats it? Is that worth its price tag? I dont think so. The STX runs at $199 MSRP and you can find them for much cheaper. If anything it feeling a tad lighter almost makes it feel like its cheaply made. Now I havent broken it by any means and its been very serviceable. However, for the price it just doesnt make sense. The STX will remain my go to.

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Fishing Tackle & Equipment Reviews / Stanford Baits Boom Boom Frog

« on: October 29, 2018, 09:18:56 AM »

I started using these this summer and figured I would share because it sounds like this frog is catching on like wild fire. Now I will talk about its "features" and I dont know how much I buy into all the fluff, but I figured I would give it a shot. Years ago I used the Spro Bronze Eye frog and for the most part was pretty happy with the results. However, I felt like there was nothing special about the frog to warrant the higher price tag vs a Booyah Pad Crasher. So I moved to the pad crasher and for the most part got the same results but at a lesser price. In both instances the frog got abused and did OK holding up to the abuse. Ive ripped a few, but at a lower price point it was an easier pill to swallow. Over last winter Fred Roumbanis did a seminar where he talked about all these neat features about the frog and I got a discount to buy it so I grabbed a couple.

Tackle Warehouse - Sanford Baits Boom Boom Frog



Out of the box the first thing you notice is the terminal is BEEFY. The ring on the nose and the hooks are pretty heavy gauge. I noticed this immediately trying to bend the hooks out a tad like I do on all my frogs and noticed it was not as easy to do on this frog. I also notice the body feels like it would hold up to a beating. Its soft, but seems super durable and would be difficult to tear. I trim the legs like I normally do and go to work. First cast I notice "hey it walks". Of course it does, they all do nowadays. What I did notice is that it takes a much lighter twitch to walk which I like because I can essentially walk it in place. So when it is in a place I think is high percentage I can keep moving it without really moving it. Something I could do with the pad crasher, but I found it easier with this frog.

Now on to the features...
Frog Fur- Patch of velcro on the top of the frog. I first thought really? Yeah bass have sandpaper lips, but thats not holding anything. Fred says it makes sure when you set that the frog comes out head first. So if they gulp if and it starts coming out backwards or at an angle the velcro grabs the lips and straightens the frog out. Whatever

The Weight System - (from TW) The Boom Boom Frog also features a diamond-shaped belly weight that is designed to not interfere with the razor sharp Mustad Wide Gap Frog hook. The weight system also allows the hook to extend out further on hooksets.... Sure

Hey its got an extra eye! Oh wow, cool. Who cares?

So now on to using it.
First strike! Fish absolutely chokes the frog. Hook is buried back near the crusher and I boat flip a 3-12. OK so thats one strike one fish and its absolutely pegged. Second fish is smaller, but hes got both hooks in the upper lip with the velcro stuck to his lips. Third fish again chokes the frog and has it in deep. This frog goes 6 for its first 6! 6 Blow ups 6 fish in the boat. The 7th fish hit it, missed it, and came back for it a second time and got him! This frog stayed red hot all summer. So I dont know about all that nonsense in the features but I will say the hook up ratio on this frog is fantastic. I spread the word to a few friends and they all jumped on board and their feedback has been how shocked they are on the hook up ratio on this thing. When it comes to frogs all in all I feel like they all get bit. My thing is getting them in the boat and this frog has got me sold. At $10.99 they are pricey, but the handful I have bought show very little signs of wear despite a couple of them being abused. So overall I would recommend this frog.

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The Hawg Forum / Friday

« on: October 10, 2018, 11:24:23 AM »

So we have the tropical storm heading this way, which wont amount to much for us but will hit this Saturday. Am I alone in thinking this Friday should be pure fire? Full on fall feed bag paired with a weather system moving in the following day. I am thinking of taking the day out of work. What do you all think?

15

The Hawg Forum / Punch Shotting

« on: August 07, 2018, 12:09:05 PM »

So a couple of years ago Iaconelli came back from Japan ranting and raving on Bass U about a technique he learned while he was in Japan. Now it wasn't "new" but it really had not caught on here in the states and since then it has really been developed. The leader-less punch shot is often known as a "Jika" rig while the leadered punch shot is really starting to come around with VMC releasing the "Tokyo Rig" at Icast. At first I saw it and thought "too much hardware, Im out". The more I see it and the more I hear about it, I am now thinking it would be a solid option. What really sold me was a video at Icast by Seth Feider who talked about this being such a game changer for the anglers who flip thick vegetation. He says the guys back in Minnesota who flip milfoil for smallies will have this in their hands instead of a standard Texas rig by end of year.

As a guy who flips milfoil for smallies and thick vegetation this really peaked my interest. The thoughts on this is that:
-The bait will look more natural as it wont be stuck to the bottom.
-In mucky bottoms, Texas rigs will bury themselves while this will be off the bottom.
-Hook up ratio goes up since the fish will be inhaling the bait alone and not the weight.
-Will get through thick vegetation without the need of super heavy weights.

I bought the components and made a bunch of these and will likely test it out at Slatersville before using it on Candlewood. It wont replace the Texas rig because in open water its too much hardware. However, The more I look at this, I feel in heavy vegetation, soft bottoms, etc it could be a real player.

What are your thoughts?