Well here is the rest of my pipes

[Anonymous]

Rather you than me Skip!!!
Yea, Sometimes I think it's easier tying up a bunch of the same thing so you don't need to change feathers and stuff. I soon get board and tie something else, no doubt the vice and bench station starts to look like the back end of a donkey. I get through it in time tho'!!!
Good luck and enjoy!!

 

[beebiz]

Brother Skip, I understand your pain... where doctors are concerned! My cardiologist developed a "god complex" and told me right quick that when it comes to medicine, he never makes a mistake... despite the fact that he had made a mistake in telling me which medicine to discontinue when he added an new one!! Even though his nurse remembered the mistake, he vehemently denied it... claiming that he was incapable of such mistakes!! God, he is not... god, he thinks himself to be!!!!

That coupled with the fact that he kept me waiting for over 3 hours to see him, and I've not been back. That was about 3 years ago. I hate doctors who either have a god complex or who think their time is more valuable that anyone else's. And, I really hate those doctors who have both traits!!!

As for tying the bream jigs... don't worry about it man!! Life is too short to sweat yourself over something like that! I'll be patiently waiting for when you get some tied that you like. But, as I said, don't sweat it... take your time!!!

When the time comes for me to get some jigs from you and try them out (again, please take your time and don't stress out over them ), I will try your suggestion about the line. Surely that would work better than what a friend of mine taught me to do a long time ago. He taught me to cut a rubber band into small pieces. Using on of the small pieces, stick the sharp point of the hook into it... leaving the point well covered with the rubber. This does help alleviate some of the snag problems. But, it also causes some missed hook sets.

Anyway, take your time and don't stress out over all this... please!!! Talk to you later!

Robert

 

[Skip48]

Robert if you have never used braid then I must tell you a few things first. Don't set your drag as tight first off. When you buy some and go to put it on, don't remove all your mono that is one the reel, but maybe half depending on how much it holds. All you do is tie the mono to the braid with a Uni-Knot and put on something like 50 yards is all. With no mono the braid would slip around the spool even when not much line is out.

It has no memory so always limp, but it's not forgiving on some things and that is why loosen your drag some and don't set the hook as hard most likely as the line has no stretch or give at all.

You will feel everything that happens to your bait or hook which is a good thing and even stuff you would never feel with mono.

So just some things for you if you use it and never have before. If that end get a bit wore and you want to change it, just take it off and put it back on the other end first.

Skip

 

[beebiz]

Thanks for the information and input, brother Skip! I've never used the Power Pro Braid. I've always used mono line. And, when fishing for bream, I like to use my Diawa ultra lite open face rig. On it, I usually like to use a lightweight line like a 3 or 4 pound test. I just did some checking on Wally World's website. And, the lightest I saw there was a 10 pound test. I also noticed that you recommended that I try the Power Pro in the 10/2. I assumed that means 10 pound test. Is that correct? Diameter speaking, do you have any idea how that would compare to my usual 3 to 4 pound test mono?

I don't have too much objection to using a bit larger diameter line. But, I don't want it to be too much larger. The larger the line, the easier it is for the fish to see!

I love the idea that the Power Pro Braid allows you to feel things you can't feel with the mono line. Thanks to the Diabetes induced Peripheral Neuropathy, I don't have the felling in my hands that I used to have. So, any extra sensation I can get from the line or any other part of the tackle is welcomed!!!

And, with the problems I have with my arms and shoulders, I love the idea that the Power Pro Braid doesn't require the "power" to set the hook that typical mono does!

Dang, my brother... you've got me all excited about the thoughts of going fishing next spring!!!!

Robert

 

[Skip48]

Your welcome and any time I tell someone to use something like a braid they should know what to expect especially when it's so different.

10/2 means 10 pound test and 2 pound size Dia. I do think it will help the feel thing because it's so different than mono when you use to mono. No stretch is why you loosen your drag a little, so like on a crappie you would tear that soft mouth with a hard jerk.

I think you will like it. You do have to watch for what they call wind knots casting it or jerking it loose from some snag like out of the water how it will fly back at ya. I am sure you have had that happen with mono because it will do the same ting when pulled until it finally flies off the snag or what ever it's on.

Skip

 

[beebiz]

Thanks agian, Skip! Diameter wise, the 10/2 sounds like it was made to my order!!

I'll be careful when using it. I have experienced what you are talking about with mono... lure flying out out of the water and hitting me in the face... and the knots... oh my goodness at the mono line knots I've dealt with in my lifetime!!! :twisted:

I used to do some bass fishing with a bait casting reel. And, striping out backlashes were always a good way to have knots to deal with! :twisted: I did finally learn how to deal with such, though. When I would have to strip out a backlash, I'd strip it off in the water. Something about putting the line in the water kept it form tangling and making knots so easy.

I understand about the lack of stretch to the braid possibly causing problems with a crappie's soft mouth. Lots of fishermen think they can pull and yank as hard as they want to without it being a problem. And, then they wonder why they lose so many crappie!

While fishing for bream, I don't think this will be as much of a problem. Though it's true that a bream's mouth is much softer than an old catfish's mouth, it seems to me that a bream's mouth is much tougher than a crappie's.

That makes me think... the braid sounds like it might be an excellent choice for catfishing! Have you ever tried it?? Or, do you know anyone who has?? I might just have to see if I can "sneak" off down to this small river that's in the bottom below my house and try it out.

As long as Linda don't find out where I'm going, she won't worry. And, I won't catch heck for it!! She don't mean any harm. She just knows how much trouble I have getting around. And, she worries that I will fall and get hurt or fall in and drown. If she didn't love me, she wouldn't care or worry.

Again, thanks for all the information!! It has been quite helpful to me. And, as I said... I'm getting excited about the possibility of doing a little fishing again!!!

Robert

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting debate here gents, for a moment I thought I was on the "complete fly fisherman" blog!
Good going Gents!!
Skip agreed on the setting drag issue with braid!
:cheers:

 

[bluedigital]

Aaaah time to get out the ol Bass rod and lures, Spring has sprung here in the Fairest Cape

 

[Anonymous]

Aaaah time to get out the ol Bass rod and lures, Spring has sprung here in the Fairest Cape

Pap Swaai By Bronkhorstbaai!!!
Or fly fishing with Mudd in Belfast, depends on what side of the fence you are sitting of course!! :tongue:

 

[Skip48]

Robert I have caught so many different kinds of fish on braid it's good stuff, just takes a bit of getting use to. Have caught catfish on purpose and by accident when jig fishing for crappie.

Skip

 

[Anonymous]

Skip we use braid on all our Specimen carp rigs. I love the feel of being in direct contact with the fish!

 

[Skip48]

Piet I use it on all my rods almost all the time. The only time I go back to mono which I usually keep a spare spool for my spinning reels just in case I get to thinking the water has cleared enough to possibly make the fish/crappie line shy. Then I am still most likely just going to tie on a mono leader that is say 8' line or something like that.

Yes absolutely how you can feel everything and when I was still a bass guy fishing a soft plastic worm or something like that you can feel the bottom so well and everything on it. You can just tell so much more.

Still with bigger fish I can't say enough how important setting the drag less is. Love the stuff though and cast so much better on a spinning rod for sure. I do remember when it first came out, Spider Wire and how if you had anything happen, like snag, or cast catching before it got all the way out, how you had to get back to that spot on you line in the reel or when it got back there in a cast it would stop like hitting a brick wall because it would dig in the line on the reel and not get past it until you pulled it out. Thank goodness that has improved a lot. I think Power Pro may be as good as all and better than most and still cost a few bucks less. Good stuff!

We get some giant carp in this lake, but hardly ever catch them, but in spring you can see them rolling in the shallows all the time.

Skip

 

[Anonymous]

Still Have Spider Wire on one of my bait casters!!!
Braid is good when those 10kg plus Carp scream off to find the first snag!!!

 

[Skip48]

Now your reminding me of the 11 years I spend in Corpus Christi TX. fishing the shallow bays and catching red fish. Man they could really make a run or three, LOL! Never got one of them 60-70 pound ones, but saw them on the flats we were fishing. Still the 10-15 pound ones were plenty enough as that is one tough fighting fish.

I was using 10# mono then and knew I would lose half to them cutting my line with their gill plates, but what a rush it was when hooked they would run 50-100 yards on just the first one.

That close to the Gulf also had things come in that you didn't expect like big jacks. Had a guy with me one day that got hold of a 27 pound one that we had to chase probably a mile or more and about an hour later he landed it. His drag was gone, LOL! It was his favorite reel which was one of the old Cardinal 3 Reels from back in the 1970's I think. Pretty sure they still sold them in the 1970's because I had one that I got back then.

Skip

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting, thanks for sharing Skip! :cheers:

 

[beebiz]

Thanks for all the info and input, brothers! You guys have already got me sold on the braid and I haven't even had any of it in my hands yet!! :lol:

One of the things I always despised about using mono to catfish with was the fact that if you get a good sized one hooked, it was always easy for him to clamp his mouth shut, squirm back and fourth, and use his extra course sandpaper like teeth to cut the line! :evil: You could always use a steel leader. But, talk about reduced sensitivity!!! :no:

How much better (if any) does the braid line resist being worn or cut in two by a fish's teeth than mono line does?

Robert