All you need is a .22 for carp (but not legal anyway).
Great sport with a bow though. I do my part every year to cut down on the buglemouth population.
Now, have we hijacked this thread enough? It started out as a hijack on another thread so I guess it is legal.
I agree with āManiacāsā post. Use the right rod-line combo for the appropriate sized fish you are fishing for. While fishing for whitefish I use two rods, an ultralight spinning rod w/4lb line and a light spinning rod with 6lb line. But I also have a heavy spinning rod with 40lb braid and 12lb flouro leader for jigging for cutts and macs. What this whole post amounts to is āto each his ownā. But I side with the original post and 'Ol Coot. Go with the heaviest tackle/line that you can get away with that allows you fish effectively. Those that have all their reels spooled with 6lb test are, in my opinion, not allowing themselves to be versatile enough for all the conditions you might encounter. Iām sorry, but 6lb MONO line simply is not āsportingā to jig in water over 40 feet deep and get a hook set on a hard mouthed fish like a cutthroat or lake trout. First off it strecthes too much and secondly it would take forever to land a big fish in a reasonable amount of time without tiring it too badly. I have strong feelings on this too and Ol Coot and the original poster I think are āmore correctā than some of the others who posted (no matter how good you all think you are!) LOL
anyone else care to chime in?
[reply]
Iām sorry, but 6lb MONO line simply is not āsportingā to jig in water over 40 feet deep and get a hook set on a hard mouthed fish like a cutthroat or lake trout. First off it strecthes too much and secondly it would take forever to land a big fish in a reasonable amount of time without tiring it too badly. [/reply]
Agree.
But braid?? Aint braids for girls? HA!
Seriously thoā. It makes no sense to overly tire large fish simply because of the use of light line. Unless of course, one intends to create floaters or mudbug feed.. But where is the sport in that?
I can only provide information from my own experience, and I have found the following:
Cheap mono. does stretch like an elastic. Premium mono. does not stretch that much, sometimes providing a ābufferā effect, saving a hook up.
Most people do not realize the real strength of fishing line. I have landed hundreds of macks using 8 and 10 lb. line, and have never had it break. I land fish in a fast manner. putting a lot of pressure on the fish. The rods I use, are almost bent double, and the fish have been up to the middle 40 lb. range.
I was fortunate to have fished with a group of guys that were extremely anal about every faucet of the sport, and I became obsessive, like changing the last 50 yards of line every day or two while mack fishing. I also changed the line if I snagged up.
Prior to the appearance of chemically sharpened hooks, I sharpened every hook I tied on. Sharp hooks are more important than most people think. (I have never felt that a ābassmastersā hook set was necessary, but then I have never fished for bass in heavy cover).
Does anyone have experience that accepts or rejects my feelings on the subject?
I use light lineā¦Un less I fish heavy cover then I go to 15 to 20lb lineā¦
But the hook set you talk about (bass master) yes in the case that it is used, why? You are trying to put a 3/0 or 5/0 hook through a peace of plastic worm (weedless rig) that can bunch up on the hook point and at the same time start to move that fish out of coverā¦
Just because you donāt pay a lot for your line does not make it cheapā¦
Trout DO NOT HAVE A TUFF MOUTH - or hard mouthā¦
And for the size that most trout are they do not put up much of a fightā¦
It all depends on the species and size of the fish. Cutthroat at Bear Lake that I typically catch (20" or so) and lake trout (25" or longer) have rock hard mouths. Kokanee have softer mouths as well as rainbows and some females browns and brookies. The hook-jawed males of both of these species have mouths made up of mostly hard ossified bone.
Ok if you say soā¦[crazy][sly]
But then thats what all Bear Lake fish guy saysā¦
Stir Stir Stirā¦[;)]