kemper

Been playing with it all night...here is what I've noticed...in addition to been noisy and slow spinning it also wobbles badly ....I have the bottom end of my float rod on the carpet and the rod laying under 45 degrees angle against my desk and spin the reel...only use the bottom portion of the rod for this experiment...so when I spin the reel fast the section of the rod that extends above the desk vibrates really badly...has to be something wrong either with the bearing or with the shaft....in order for such a violent shaking of the rod.

Josh tried convincing me today there is nothing wrong with the reel but the more i play with it the more I feel it is in need of repair.

 

Cheers,

Ice Fisherman

Have you ever slipped on the bank and landed on your rod/reel?

Usually this is the only thing that will bend the shaft on a pin, especially a solid one like an islander. I did it to an old raven matrix and the barely spun at all anymore...

Kemper,

 

It got me lot of fish since I owe it...probably over 250 bows over the last year. It bothers me not because it is not getting me fish but because it is spinning worse than it was a year ago. I tried removing the bearings but couldn't do it...they seem to be pressed in the housing...is there any trick for removing them?

 

Cheers,

Ice Fisherman

I don't think they are pressed in - if I remember correctly Islander uses Loc-tite to secure them. If you're careful you should be able to pop them out using some type of dowel that will spread the force of tapping them out on the outer ring. In case I'm wrong, you probably want another opinion.

Forget how many minutes it spins for because that means nothing on the river, how does it fish?

If it really bugs you, pull the bearings and degrease them then put a tiny amount of sewing machine oil on each. Problem most likely solved.

Why in the world is it illegal to transport live minnows?? Doesn't say anything about that in the Reg book I read....

Pretty easy to transport invasive species from one body of water to another if you're not extremely careful.

I've always trapped my minnows from the same lake that I was fishing in, that way anything I'm tossing into the lake was already there and I don't have to worry about it.

I'd never buy waders used, almost every pair of waders develops a leak at some point in their life and that's usually when they go up for sale.

If there's one thing I've learned about gear in the last few years its to buy the best quality gear you can possibly afford even if it means waiting for a while.

I spent 5 or so years burning through cheap equipment and being cold and wet all the time. This year I bit the bullet and upgraded everything and I'm warm and dry every single day on the water. Changes everything.

Those look dynamite.

I haven't been using jigs enough lately, but I've run out of roe and I think I'll just fish the season out without it. Some of those guys are in my near future at the vice, I think.

If I can stop tying spey flies that is...

Kemper, are you straightening hooks or just popping them? My hookup/landing ratio is pretty good.. If I get hooks into them, they rarely if ever come off.

 

Although my Loomis IMX and IM6 is nothing like that XST, lol!

Also have a new build in the works to tone it down a touch when I'm not on the big water... stay tuned for that one.

Kemper, are you straightening hooks or just popping them? My hookup/landing ratio is pretty good.. If I get hooks into them, they rarely if ever come off.

 

Although my Loomis IMX and IM6 is nothing like that XST, lol!

I was straightening hooks, until I went to the octopus strong.

Problem is, they just aren't great and a lot of fish come unbuttoned after 5-10 seconds.

If I really try to fight the fish carefully I bank most of them, but the fight is so much better when you really put the boots to them on heavy equipment.

Next experiment is those Kamassans.

Sorry for the hijack Mike.

True. I've found that the thinner wire ravens just don't cut it, even of 5 drennan tipet.

 

The Raven octopus strong seems like a better hook but it's a thicker wire than I prefer.. I'll have to give them a try though.

 

cheers

I'm still searching for the right hook.

I should have mentioned that my landing record is absolutely awful this season. I'm hooking more fish than ever before, but pulling a ton of hooks.

Might be simply that I'm not so worried about landing them anymore, and most fish are on full lockdown as soon as theyre hooked up?

What I'm trying to say is I've been on a terminal tackle search ever since I went to the XST 3 piece for bigger water. I finally found a lead that I like, that seems to stand up to the abuse I give it, but hooks are still a challenge.

Doesn't make much sense to me, eggs can't be fertilized after something like 24 hours...

I believe (could be wrong) it's more about the eggs carrying disease

My understanding is that roe MUST be cured if it's to be sold. Pls correct me if I'm wrong.

I believe you're correct, but there are many different levels of "cured".

If Pautzke or the likes has touched the eggs, I don't want them.

I've been in that place before, when I was working a summer job in highschool delivering beer to a karaoke bar upstairs. The owner of the bar (a kid, MAYBE 21-22) tried to pay us off in cash at significantly less than the final bill.

After convincing him that we were NOT, in fact, and illegal liquor operation (I guess the branded delivery truck didn't give it away?) he took us downstairs to our fish selling friend here that ultimately wrote the cheque for him. My guess is that most of the operations in that joint are shady...

As long as you can find roe that isn't cured, its (for the most part) all the same stuff.

I haven't had any roe in the fridge for a couple weeks now, I thought it would be tougher than it is.

With beads, worms, bugs, jigs, etc all available in a million varieties I'm finding less of a use for roe. That said, I've also been trying to make the sport more challenging by taking up swinging flies.

Some days I want nothing more than to tie up a million bags, sling them all day and bring a parade to the bank. Other days I'm perfectly content washing spey flies.

Sweeet chrome bud!! I've lost a couple fish in the dime range lately.. Hooks would just bend right out..

 

Pray tell.. What hooks are you tying to your 8lb tipet??

 

cheers

HD

I can't speak for Mike, but I've been running almost the same rig this year and I've only found a few that will stand up.

Gammy Octopus in size 6 or better, and Raven Octopus Strong also in 6 or better.

Awesome fish Mike but really what possess you all to think 42 F is water to stand in brrrr. I used to Race Jetskies in that temp range but it was in a drysuit and we engineered the heated engine water to spray on our gloved hands to keep them from freezing to the grips.

 

 

Art

I'll continue to stand IN it until it gets to 32F, at that point I retire because I hate standing ON water.

Not bad, I guess.

Criminal negligence causing death? Sorry, sounds like Murder II to me.

Anyone who is willing to pull the trigger because they "think" they saw/heard a deer is a liability to society.

This should remind anyone who fishes in areas where hunters may be present (many of us river anglers) that we need to wear bright colours, preferably orange. You never know when the next idiot might mistake you for a deer.

Do trout suspend in pools if the water is dirty? Or is the water clearer lower in pools?

 

Always learning

Some fish suspend all the time, that's why I hate when people say "if you aren't hitting bottom sometimes you aren't on the fish".

When I step into a new hole I always start my rig 3-4 feet ABOVE where I think the bottom is, and move down from there until I find the sweet spot.

That said, there are some places where I will purposely run a very short lead (2 feet?) in deeper water (5-6-7ft) because I know the fish suspend there.

I fish exactly the same way myself. As I've progressed over the years I've learned that getting your bait where it needs to be is far more important than finesse.

 

This fall is a perfect case in point. I've purposely been running even bigger and heavier stuff: 12lb main, 10lb fluoro or 8lb Maxima lead, large amounts of shot, big hooks and even bigger baits.

 

I've really hammered the point home to myself that presentation is what counts with these fish as it's been one of my best falls ever. Stupid numbers, and I've been fishing all over the map.

 

The biggest mistake most rookies make is not getting down to the fish.

 

The added bonus of course with heavier rigs is you don't play the fish to exhaustion and casting is exponentially easier.

I think I went to the Mike Borger school of trout fishing

Why do you run such heavy floats kemper?

Small ones are almost always unnecessary. Even in the slowest and most clear water I've found no noticeable difference in hookups by running a tiny little clear float.

My entire rig is gorilla sized, you will also never see me run lead below 7.5lb, or hooks smaller than a 10 (and even 10's are rare for me)

Must be fast water?

Not always. I like to make it easy for myself, heavy rigs cast far and they cast easy.

If I am not mistaken here kemp. If you tigthen up like you say,does it not make it hard to wallis cast? Fishing a large float, tells me you are fishing heavy waters. I use from 4 to 6.4 so far. I had to go with a larger float do to the fast and rising waters (heavy bulk shot) this past weekend.

I don't mean tight to the point of not spinning, I just mean tighter than spinning for hours on it's own.

In the waters you fish, I still run a 10g float and as much shot as it will handle.

Believe me, you get some funny looks when you sling a 12g rig anywhere out East but they stop as soon as fish start coming to the bank.

I know I sound like a broken record, but these aren't perch we're fishing for. They're big, aggressive, carnivorous, predators. In my experience (limited compared to many here) I've found that any fish I miss out on because of a heavy rig I make up for and then some BECAUSE of the heavy rig once I'm hooked up.

Thanks for that Mike, looks like the trip of a lifetime.

I've had the same one on my radar for a while now, would love to share a drift and bend your ear sometime this fall.

I've always wondered about this obsession with a reel the spins for 3 hours...

I actually crank the pin down on my reel so it spins SLOWER. Then again, my rig almost never sees a float less than 10g so I don't worry about the start-up.

Read what I said again

Already been a long morning.

Want to drift Bronte this afternoon? Haha

I've been waiting for this one Mike, I'll post a reply when I have time to sit down a read/view it properly.

Even Bronte makes the east ditches look good.

Wrong Bill - Bronte is by FAR the worst of the ditches.

This same crap happens everywhere though, at least out East the bows get released. Up North it seems like 3 or 4 killed for every 1 released.