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reelfish

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Posts posted by reelfish

  1. Anyone else out there actually swam for a bait?

    in The Underground

    Posted

    My first deps175. I swam for it about 20 yards out and 15ish feet under. It was early morning around 7. Got back and it was freezing cold. Guy walks up and asked if the water was cold. I said no and continue to try and Catch My Breath and not freeze to death. Hook was stuck on so good I had to pull it off and strighten the split rings. Would I do it again, NO.

     

    lost an alpha trout and two 8in hudd yesterday. Just went home.

     

    Smart move. 

  3. Looking at some new swimbait reels.

    in The Underground

    Posted

    At what point bait wise would I need more line capacity?  8 inch hudds?  deps 250's?

     

    Typically what lb test you want to use. I use 15-17 lb fluo for the baits you listed. If you want to spool up 25lb big game or such you I recommend at least a 300 series spool.

     

    Another factor is retie. I am more likely to need an increased spool capacity if bottom bouncing a plastic. You might need to rip off 20yds of line if it becomes frayed, nicked, etc fishing around cover. Sometimes I need to to do this multiple times a day. The extra capacity will come in handy - no need to respool on the boat, and more importantly casting distance will be compromised less. 

     

    I can throw the deps and 8" on a 300, but I always like the Shimano TE 400 series for those baits. Much better fishing experience IMO. 

  5. Big fish in your Area

    in The Underground

    Posted

    I think I few people really answered my question, that truly special fish just doesn't show up hardly at all it doesn't matter where you live. Wayne did the fish ate the head of the 250 missing the hook completely. The fish that ate my 250 couple of days ago went after the head twice and no hook up, it even push the bait down but on the head and complete miss the hooks, that has happen to me twice now to two different fish. that fish was probably push 15-16 lbs it was so fkn big. The reason I ask is how rare are the really big fish show up and it seems like hardly at all, just not that many of them.

     

    A couple of things. Big fish do show up. You can see that on this site in the Got Em' section. There are some exceptional trophies from the waters that they pulled. Second a lot of people don't advertise their catch, have a GoPro, or post pics.  Hole burning seems to be a popular past time out West. 

     

    Finally, 2 special fish appeared in my waters this year. Both happened to be reported and over 10lbs, which is a truly special fish in this area. You are right, the are not that many of them, but they do exist. More often they go unreported. 

  7. Big fish in your Area

    in The Underground

    Posted

    I think Indiana is very underrated. I've looked at topo maps and the quite a few of our lakes have decent visibility and plenty of structure, drop-offs, and the only pressure is from a few conventional fisherman. Gizzard shad and bluegill populations are abundant, and we have the Florida strain. Our state record is 14 lb 12 oz caught 35 years ago, in lake Harrison lol. It's only 2 pounds shy of the Florida state record. I still believe there is so much potential for DD fish and even teeners based on the lack of pressure and ideal conditions. Next year I will be able to fish big lakes from a boat rather than bank beating local ponds, so I believe my chances of the fish of a lifetime will increase.

     

    What lake do you have Flordia Strain in Indiana? If so, it wouldn't matter unless it happened to be at a power plant reservoir.  Otherwise it is a waste of monies. 

  8. Anyone else out there actually swam for a bait?

    in The Underground

    Posted

    I always keep a dive mask and 44 mag lure retriever with me.  The 44 works 90% of the time. Because of that, I usually only go swimming if I am shore fishing (can't get correct angle to use retriever), or the bait snapped off. 

     

    In Summer- I will go swimming for just about anything over $5 in the summer. Good way to cool off. 

     

    In the winter- I will go in for anything $30 or up.

     

    Latest cold water swim was last winter. Snapped a 250 off on a fish in 8 FOW. Came back the later day and found it about 10 yards further up creek in 3FOW. 

     

    Best recovery was when a rod/reel set up fell overboard when unhooking a fish. Luckily only in 5ft FOW. But there was slight current so I lost position of the Kayak. My buddy and I spent the next 20 min dragging our feet around, at 1AM, in the middle of winter.  My bud then let out a "ouch"... he got the hook in his foot. We kept pulling the line until the combo finally came to surface. Funny how stuff like that work out.

     

    I have two plug knockers that are attached to rod and reels. The 44 mag comes in when the 1st plug knocker fails. It works nearly 100% of the time if you position the knocker over the snag before sending it down. 

  22. Transplanting a trophy bass

    in The Underground

    Posted

    Go read up on how to manage a pond/small lake on your states DNR page. In my part of the country you want a healty popultiation of 12-15." To maximize fish size potential the ratio of bass to other fish must be in check (assuming the fish already in the pond has the genetic to grow to trophy size).

     

    Other factors see Trivs post above. My buddy lives on a small lake whose bass population was stunted. They planted grass a few years ago and the shad population exploded producing larger shad. Second they actively fished for bluegill to reduce their population. The results have been outstanding. I go there now and catch many keeper bass. 

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