Slime Fest

[Zum]

Went out today around 3,fished till 7 and man what a day.Trying to catch pickeral today in the lily pads and they were everywhere.They weren't all that big,aleast the ones I landed but for awhile almost every cast they were trying to hammer my lure,all topwater today mostly flukes and later buzzbaits using 30lbs power pro,no leader.Have you ever casted so much and so often that your wrist is sore and you can hardly hang on the rod, let alone set the hook,towards the end I was throwing the lure out with one of those whole arm casts.I probably only landed 5% of the pickeral that went for the lures,it was a blast,caught a couple smallmouth as a bonus.Heres a few pics:.
A couple questions:
Do you fisherman tie a leader to your braided line when fishing thick stuff?if so what size line?Lost acouple at the boat parted off.
and my motor works fine except at full throttle then if I pump the ball it will work great,should I be looking at lines or ball or could it be the fuel pump?I noticed with the cowl off that it starts to starve itself from fuel.

 

[BassAddict]

Have you ever casted so much and so often that your wrist is sore and you can hardly hang on the rod

Know the feeling well, I been fishing 3/4oz fatboys pretty much every time i fish and I cast all day with one arm. Tuesday I casted out but forgot to hold on, needless to say my BPS Woo Davis Extreme rod went for a nose dive straight into the ground. Good thing I wasent in my usual spot or that baby would of been snake bait by now!!!


Edit: Oh yea nice catchin!! What I wouldnt give to catch a pickeral or two these days.

 

[jkbirocz]

Wow sounds like an awesome day, I have not had one like that in a long while. When pickerel are hitting the top, which they often are, it is always a great day on the water. I have only caught three this year, the lake I usually catch them at has been fished out of pickerel by ice fishermen

As for using a leader in the weeds. You may be talking about a wire leader, considering all that pickerel action, but I will tell you what I do with flouro leader. I use 20 and 30lb suffix braid on my rods, and I rarely use a flouro leader that is heavier than 12lb. I only recently have started using a flouro leaders in weedy lakes. I used to only use them in rivers and clear lakes. I am completely surprised that I have not broken my leader off yet, considering it is kinda light for all the grass and pads. I have caught a few 4.5lb lm and plenty 2's and 3's while fishing the super thick stuff with a flouro leader. I do not use leader on topwater frogs, buzzbaits, and spinnerbaits. Most all soft plastics get the leader treatment for me. I tie a double uni-knot to tie the leader to the braid.

This is the lake I typically fish

 

[Jim]

good job man! I would love a day like that! =D>

 

[FishinsMyLife]

When I'm fishing a topwater frog , I don't mess with a leader. That knot is just another point of failure when you're pulling a big bass out of the pads, pulling up a lot of the pads by the roots.

When I'm fishing where I know there are a lot of pickerel, I go with at least a 20lb mono or fluoro leader. Braid is so un-abrasion resistant that a pickerel can cut you off before you even set the hook (at least they have done it to me with a Horny Toad)

I guess if I knew that there were a lot of pickerel in the pads and I was getting broken off, I would add a leader via a double uni knot, but I would be careful horsing them out if they go down into the thick stuff.

Nice catchin, I love the way those smallmouth look

 

[Zum]

Thanks for the replies,
I normally always used a steal leader for small buzzbaits or nice spinnerbaits but they are no good for the lily pads and they kinda wreck the action of some lures.I think I'll try a thicker mono or fluoro next time as the bigger fish cut me off a few times.jkbirocz thats some thick slop there,thats as thick or thicker than anything I'll be fishing.
I noticed that it didn't matter which way I rigged my flukes that day as they were smashing it,I actually think I got better hook ratio by hooking the flukes on their sides.It was looking like my hands were dipped in hair gel at times,I forgot to bring a towel and needle nose plyiers,good thing I always carry a multi tool.