Ham

Back in the day, I had those problems with the original version of Fireline. It was very strong if you slowly loaded it, but I popped 20 pound stuff repeatedly on a quick wrist snap. I simply have not had the problems you have had. While Nano is much thinner than an equivalent pound test mono, you don't get the hyper strength of braid. 10 pound Nanofil is what I would suggest for most ppl's first trial of Nanofil. I am using 6 pound for trout to get really small diameter and I've caught a pile of non trout on it, but it isn't necessary to go that slim. I have now broken a few bass off on 6 pound leader getting wrapped on wood or them just powering off and forcing the issue on a weak spot. The three or four times the nano has broken has been a dead pull against a snag situation when my leader material was a higher pound test that the Nanofil. My buddy uses the 12 pound with no noticeable negatives. He gets seemingly the same number of bites and his casting distance is fine. I do keep my drag set that I have a little slip at the end of the hookset and that a really hot fish is going to be able to pull some drag.

We intend to float it during the fourth week of May. We will be doing the trip with two nights and three full days.

Nope. I use my loop knot on crappie jigs, trout jigs, and wacky jigs. I use a variant of a clinck knot for a lot of stuff and palomars with mono or copoly on single hook applications.

What pound test Nanofil did you try Jim? It will definitely break at the listed break strength. IF I choose to use a higher test leader than the listed strength of the Nanofil, I KNOW it is going to break the nanofil before it breaks the leader when I dead pull a snag. Using UL, L and ML spinning rods, I have not broken off the Nanofil on the hookset a single time. I started using Nanofil last August and have gradually added it to more and more rods. More than half of my spinning rods are spooled with Nanofil at this point. I have no interest in Nanofil on a baitcaster.

I'm certain that > 18 inch smallmouth live in the last 24 miles. As always in our part of the world, those are special fish. I hope to fish that section of the Buffalo this year. I'll post a photo if I get a BIG fish.

The amount of exposed hook gap is a double edged sword. A bigger gap hooks the fish easier and usually holds better, but that larger hook will snag more as well. Also larger hook sizes usually mean larger wire and more force required to set the hook. The nature of the elaztec stuff may come into play as well. I could see it compressing and increaseing the gap for the hook on a bite. The little #2 hook is pretty darn weedless, but I have had some mystery pull offs where I'm guessing the fish was only skin hooked and pulled hard enough to tear off. I am a mere entry level student to the ned rig game, but I have been fishing finesse stuff for a long, long time. I'm not looking to re-invent anything. I'm going to stick to #2, #1, and 1/0 hooks. I bought some of the skinny bear weedless heads that have a 1/0 hook. It hasn't seemed to reduce bites or hang up too much more. I don't want my hooks to be any larger than a 1/0 though. I am not against ppl trying there own thing or looking for improvements. I'm going to stick with the Loc Tite Gel for the forseeable future. Minimal downsides with pretty good results thus far.

Excel is a very good value. It is good enough for sure, but it seems "dry" for lack of a better term. I have bought it in the larger size during the spring sale and I have had problems with the plastic spool the line is housed on. The upright sides have partially separated from the center spindle. The line slides into that crack and it becomes difficult to spool a reel up after that happens. You might want to take a second to look at the spools in the store when you buy them to make sure that you get a good one. Tough to do if ordering online I know.

The spy bait stuff should be a fairly good choice in heavy wind. That little bait throws a ton. You should be able to keep the rod tip down and wind slowly. I've gotten bit everytime I've fished it, but not near enough of those bites have been bass. Or walleye.

Awwww Rick man, I can show you several knots that are an EASY tie that are better than the palomar in certain situations. palomar is a very good knot. Especially for mono and especially for a single hook (or single hook lure). I think you need a different knot for fluro and I think you need a loop knot for panfish and trout jigs.

Thanks Dave!

Hey Bill, I'm sorry your guy had a tough time with the wind and Nanofil. There was a simple solution. Drop your rod tip and let the line lay on the water. The Nanofil will act as a strike indicator. You still get to cast further, have the extra sensitivity, and easy hook sets from anywhere. Yes, the wind was very annoying Tuesday. It affected every bait I cast with every combo, but it did NOT prevent me from catching most of my 28 fish on Nanofil.

Nanofil. You really don't need to throw less than 8 lb maybe the 10 lb or 12 lb. 10 lb Nanofil has the diameter of about 4 pound diameter mono. Alberto in your leader of choice. I'm begging somebody to tell me why I should use a fluro leader instead of mono.

expensive panfish lures

Lol. How's the puppy?

This.

Kumbaya

I fished with cajunangler yesterday on Bull out of Leadhill. Similiar results. I'm old enough that I should not keep re-learning the same lessons. I did not have enough clothes on either. I borrowed some stuff from my buddy to get by, but when I finally broke down and put my Gore Tex jacket on I felt better immediately. Duh. With the wind we had and the water temps, we started with spinnerbaits. We caught a few, but it wasn't great. I used that stupid wobble jig. I'm still trying to get a feel for it. I caught one dinky fish on it. We tried all kinds of stuff, but once again, The Ned rig saved our butts. In the high winds and clouds, I had to throw a Ned to catch fish good. Sad, but true. We fished HARD from 0700 until 2000. We had over 50 fish between us. Very few smallies. Mostly Spots and Largies. One big crappie. I had a nice Drum. I got a monster blue gill on a spy bait. Constant bites from panfish. Wind kicked our butt all day long. There were areas will less wind and there areas with impossible amounts of wind, but most stuff was kind of inbetween. At times, I jumped up to 1/8 oz Ned. At times, I was able to throw the 1/16 oz. I had to talk a lot more of the fish into eating the Ned than I am used to. Fish just ate it last Friday. Yesterday, lots more tentative bites. I had a blast, but more clothes would have made things better and less wind. Like 10-15 mph would have been so much better.

Here's what I fish, Minimum flow. 1/32oz Less than 2000 CFS = 1/16oz 2000-10,000 CFS = 1/8 oz 10,000-15,000 = 3/16 oz > 15,000 = 1/8 oz in areas with reduced flow. There's overlap build in I Know and it also varies based on wind and what the trout want that day.

I'll check my schedule Kyle. Just checked. I can't go. I have to work at 11:30 that day. I would imagine you're work deal will take some time. I'd be glad to helop with a shuttle IF I could, but again I imagine you're work deal would prevent me from being able to help with that as well.

You did a lot better than many will their first time at TR. everybody always wants to catch ONE more fish before the days over. One thing I think you did exactly right was you limited yourself to a defined area of the lake rather than try to fish all over it. The fish at Table Rock see a lot of educated fishing pressure and can just be tough to fool.

I'd put the toon in Taneycomo and catch trout.

That's Fantastic1 Great photo too! I'd beige jelly but . I got a nice one on the Zig Jig in March

Would a Fish Doctor made of elaztech be a useful addition to the Z Man line up?

I own too many jerkbaits. It leads to confusion when you have TOO MANY options. Having said that. With jerkbaits, every dog will have its day. I don't believe the RC STX will run quite as deep and like you mentioned their action may be a little bit more subdued. There are going to be days where a bait that runs shallower and has a less dramatic action with be the BEST option. I catch fish on Megabass and I have not caught fish on my STX baits. This leads me to have less confidence in the STX and then throw them less. I have definitely see fish caught on STX baits. I just have not caught fis on them yet. I do know the Megabass are fragile. IF I'm throwing shallow, I'm throwing McSticks.

I can see where it would fish a lot like the Slider techniques detailed out in Charlie Brewer's book. Either scrubbing the rocks or a slow steady no frills retrieve back to the boat. I can see it as a micro Shakey Head. I can see it as a drop shotesque presentation. It ought to work thrown on or near bedding fish.