Dmthompson44

Ur not gonna snap the rod throwing a 250 on the 796. It is a bit under rated, but could tbrow it if need be. Just not an ideal rod for the bait.

In. Definately a nice gesture.

Both castaic and casitas have shore access. Pyramid has some but not as much as the other two lakes mentioned

Hell ya awesome trip i take it sounds like that last day was pretty amazing

I throw the punker quite a bit played with 50 lb braid 65lb braid and 80lb and always ended up liking 65lb the best. The two rods i fish punkers on are the 795sbmt for the 6in and 5in. And i fish the 8 in on the 796sbmt. Ocassionally will use the 796 for both sizes. I prefer a shorter handle to throw them (makes it a lot easier to work the bait). As far as reel i would try and stay between 6:1 and 7:1 gears. These are just my preferences. And try and switch up retrive speeds if one isnt working for ya. Definately a fun bait to fish, and very productive especiall for striper like big slant said.

Haha no number. I was so embarassed that i just wanted to leave.

So out in so cal it was the rainiest day of the year by far, and pretty chilly. I got to castaic lake right at opening and me and one other car are the only people there. Start out on the boat doing good landed a 5.5 lb striper on the punker in the first ten min. I contine chucking and chucking and chucking changing different baits up for nothing. It was pretty miserable even though i had good rain gear on and enough clothing. My face was frozen and hands were freezing. I finally had enough and decided to head back to the launch ramp. But before leaving decided to throw a few more casts near the dam and buoy line. I tied on my 10 inch hudd and bombed a cast a few feet from the base of the dam. Few cranks in i get slammed. Set the hook on her good. Knew i had her pinned. I am horsing this fish in which wasnt too hard at first cuz the fish was swimming towards me. About 8 feet from the boat i see its a giant striper in the 25lb plus range(which for castaic is a beast) within 5 feet of the boat the fish somehow gets his head turned and takes off away from me. I had a luna 300 and dobyns 867 with fresh 25lb and every bit of my body weight leaned back for leverage. Almost as soon as it turns its head and takes off sssnnnaaaaapppp goes my line. Remind you i was leaning into her hard. When the line broke i fly back and fall right off the boat into about 40 ft of water. I was wearing so much clothing it was actually tough to swim. I manage to get back into the boat already shivering. And hear a womans voice screaming are you okay. I give her a thumbs up even though im furious at myself for not backing off my drag and giving myself a chance at landing that beast.i pull up to the dock and she comes running over trying not to laugh im sure, and hands me a dry towel. In two minutes i lost a fish i might not get another chance at and my dignity. Sure enough the lifeguard lady and boat rental guy were the only two people at the lake and both saw me fall in. Soo embarassing. Serves me right for trying to fish in a storm.