McIntosh visit

I made a visit to Lake McIntosh this morning.
The plan was to get there a little earlier than usual, but I had to deal with the insurance company about getting my front porch fixed that had a tree fall on it almost four weeks ago.
I took a favorite, a 5’ St Croix Avid ULF paired with a Daiwa Fuego LT 1000d and 6# Daiwa J Braid and 4# Floroclear leader . I’m slowly adapting to the braid .
After trying a good many reels , it’s hard to beat the Fuego LT . Daiwa is changing it this year , I hope they don’t mess it up .
St Croix is changing the Avid this year , the shortest Avid UL rod to be offered will be a couple of seven footers . And it looks like they’re going to mess up the grip and handle , making it more like the Avid Panfish rods .
So if like nice short UL rods , you better grab them while they’re still available.

I didn’t catch any monsters today , but it was a relaxing couple hours messing with my favorite fish , panfish .
I caught 9 gills and 6 crappie total . Caught one of the crappie on a spinner I made , that was fun . Mostly used Bobby Garland Itty bits and micro spinners .
While walking the trail to a section of the lake , I ran across a “ lady slipper” a cool wild flower that grows around here .

Nice catches and that is a cool little flower. Thanks for sharing this.

Good trip and fish, wildflowers are always a nice bonus.

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Originally Posted by moonrunner

Good trip and fish, wildflowers are always a nice bonus.

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Found this one on Monday .
I’ve forgotten what it’s called .
Cool looking little flowers .

Congratulations on another great UL outing.

Nice fish. Enjoyed the wildflowers to.

Sorry to hear the news about changes to the Avid line. Hope they're not going to mess with the Premier line too.

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Originally Posted by UpstateSC_Bill

Nice fish. Enjoyed the wildflowers to.

Sorry to hear the news about changes to the Avid line. Hope they're not going to mess with the Premier line too.

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The Premier line was updated about two or three years ago . I say updated, not upgraded because they went to using a cheaper brand of guides . But I haven’t seen any issues with the Kigan Master guides they’re using .
I like and the feel of the traditional grip and handles on these rods , especially the ultralights . Both the Avids and Premier.
I wished they’d left the design of the Avid line alone . I liked the Fuji guides , but an upgrade with more and smaller guides in the tip area would have been nice .
I found another five footer that had been discounted for clearance and jumped on it .

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

The Premier line was updated about two or three years ago . I say updated, not upgraded because they went to using a cheaper brand of guides . But I haven’t seen any issues with the Kigan Master guides they’re using .
I like and the feel of the traditional grip and handles on these rods , especially the ultralights . Both the Avids and Premier.
I wished they’d left the design of the Avid line alone . I liked the Fuji guides , but an upgrade with more and smaller guides in the tip area would have been nice .
I found another five footer that had been discounted for clearance and jumped on it .

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Yes I much prefer the conventional full cork grip. I don't care for a split grip at all. And I prefer to stick with shorter rods as well. I do my on the water fishing in a 12 foot solo canoe and I find a longer rod doesn't handle well for me in my canoe.

For me a shorter rod is a more accurate caster .
I feel like I have better control over big fish with a shorter rod especially out of a boat .

Some nice lookin gills bud, and those flowers are pretty too. We have some that grow along the river whose blooms are softball size, and they’re everywhere. I’ll take some pics next time I see em. Weather must’ve been better if you were out for a while.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Weather must’ve been better if you were out for a while.

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Only out for a couple hours . Had a good breeze going on . Made fishing tough but helped with the heat .

Nice catches

Thanks for the photos, gill. You had a nice trip out.
Bob

Congrats on your catch. I’m just the opposite on the short rods. I do not particularly like using them from a boat. I have a number of very nice ones and when I bought them I was wade fishing tree lined banks. After my move I came to the conclusion that my wade fishing days are over. Of course I will try them in my new boat when it is ready. It is going to fish different than my old boat. As you observed I did feel more control with the short rods when hooking into larger trout.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

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Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Congrats on your catch. I’m just the opposite on the short rods. I do not particularly like using them from a boat. I have a number of very nice ones and when I bought them I was wade fishing tree lined banks. After my move I came to the conclusion that my wade fishing days are over. Of course I will try them in my new boat when it is ready. It is going to fish different than my old boat. As you observed I did feel more control with the short rods when hooking into larger trout.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

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I can understand your rod preference from the boats you use. But there's boats and there's boats. My little canoe doesn't provide a lot of space for longer rods. No doubt some folks are less uncoordinated than me and use longer rods from a canoe. My UL's are all 5'6" or less. It is interesting to read on here about the different perspectives in rod, reel and line choice especially among the UL fans.

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Originally Posted by UpstateSC_Bill

I can understand your rod preference from the boats you use. But there's boats and there's boats. My little canoe doesn't provide a lot of space for longer rods. No doubt some folks are less uncoordinated than me and use longer rods from a canoe. My UL's are all 5'6" or less. It is interesting to read on here about the different perspectives in rod, reel and line choice especially among the UL fans.

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Most of my fishing is from the banks , but when I do take my boat , it’s an Alumacraft 1436 , and my seats are mounted directly to the boat’s bench seat , so I sit inside the boat and there’s not a lot of space from the seat to the gunnels.
Longs rods make it more difficult to land fish .
Also I find I don’t need to make long casts when fishing out of my boat , even though my shorter rods have proven to cast just as far or farther with light lures . Accuracy is more important.
I like rods between 5-5’ 8” long with the sweet spot being a 5’6” .

And I kinda fit in there also with the short rods. I use a lot of 5’ and 5’6” rods. My recent builds of 6 and 6’6” have changed my mind some. The 6’ is just as sweet as my 5’6” and the sensitivity right there too. But the 6’6” I have are all different. The browning is the softest rated UL and has some real big guides. Casting lures like a beetle spin or rooster tail is good but the softer action makes tight quarters rough. The build has more in the middle and so behaves nice, I can even shoot with it. The tss is rated light and is lighter, firmer and more responsive than any other rod. I only fish from the boat, a 1648, and carry many rods so I guess it’s an apples/oranges thing. If I had to take one right now it would be the six foot build, but the Pfenix isn’t done yet. More news when it’s done. That tss may even make it to the coast one day.

I still like my longer rods , but mainly will be using them in float n fly or jig .
Hard to beat a seven footer or even longer for casting a float . I have an eight and a nine footer I break out sometimes.
Even tossing beetlespins or bigger spinners a longer rod will work for me , especially from shore .
I just prefer the shorter rods for tossing jigs and micro lures which I do 90% of the time .