[Frank_Mistretta]

welcome aboard. funs times are ahead, but first are usually challenging times…

one suggestion would be try and get some time fishing alone, as an attempt to get a good grasp on things yourself, then that would allow you to teach your boys better without them losing interest due to boredom or too many unsuccessful trips. I’m not sure what your schedule would allow, but I’ve quickly hit some neighborhood or shopping center ponds, park ponds, church ponds, interstate ponds, or local creeks before/after work, heck even on lunch breaks or snuck a few minutes in while making job-site visits throughout the day. I would think a versatile pond fishing setup would be a texas-rigged or weightless worm/craw/lizard or my new favorite bass setup; a whacky worm…

[Frank_Mistretta]

I own a few G Loomis, but I don’t have any experience with the IMX line.. I primarily use a NRX+ that I got from Puglias. (FYI: Puglias sells G Loomis for 30% off MSRP, sometimes even better discounts). It’s lightweight and sensitive, top-end components. The recoil guides are a love/hate relationship. I snapped an NRX+ on a hook-set for 13″ trout. Who knows what really stressed it, but I never stepped on it or damaged it, when I say stressed it, I mean large bull reds / black drum, etc… They denied my claim at first, after a couple back and forth emails, they agreed to replace it.. That did not ensure much customer service confidence for the future.

An extra sensitive rod is not going to turn me pro-angler but it can add a couple fish to the box, sometimes. It depends on the bite; when they’re chomping…not so much help or necessary. When the bite is super subtle or they hitting the lure on the fall or a slack line, the extra sensitivity can help. I use the rods for both specks and bass and all kinds of techniques (within the same category type; jigging/jigheads, texas rigs, whacky, weightless, etc) .

[Frank_Mistretta]

Also, not all ratings are the same from different manufacturers; Brand “X’s” medium can be different than Brand “Y’s” medium. sometimes you’ll have to test a rod in your hand. I own a 6’7″ medium-light/fast that handles heavier weights better than other brand medium..

[Frank_Mistretta]

Since you asked about G Loomis, I have 802, 803, 804 & 805. For speckle trout fishing and throwing 1/8 – 3/8 oz, I primarily use the 802 (medium/x-fast). When I start using 1/2oz, then I use the 803 (medium-heavy/x-fast). For other species, the 802 is effective even weightless; I throw weightless worms/creatures & whacky rigs, etc all the time.

[Frank_Mistretta]

If you normally fish with braid, then I would practice with braid. Braid should have less backlashing. I would learn with 20 or 30lb, thicker is a little more forgiving… I eventually moved to 10-15 lb braid (unless I’m fishing thick vegetation). *if you fish with braid, I advise you always have a flouro or mono leader.

But I’m interested to know why Timbo wouldn’t learn with braid, unless he doesn’t like fishing with braid.

As far as practicing, take 1/4 oz or 3/8 jighead and a soft plastic lure, cut the hook off and practice casting. Start with brakes more restrictive and loosen up as you progress. if you notice your lure swinging way to the right or left, try loosening brakes.

There is a learning curve; my first bait caster was an inexpensive H2O xpress (Academy brand) and I struggled to successfully use. I was not getting much distance or backlashing and I kept resorting back to spinning gear. Then I bought a Shimano SLX DC reel. DC=digital control, a feature to help with backlashing, etc. Within a few minutes of using a DC reel, I was making good casts. After one or two trips using the shimano DC reel, I tried the H20 xpress reel and was accurately using it as well. The DC feature helped me get over the hump, but is no longer needed now.

Also get used to pulling out backlashes, getting good in the backyard does not always mean you won’t have issues on the water. In the backyard, you’re standing on solid ground, probably have less wind, not dealing with waves, or sitting awkwardly, etc. Backlashes do happen, and it’s due to the spool spinning faster than the lure is pulling the line away, so then the line immediately coming off the spool begins to wrap/overlay itself.

Also while casting, don’t snap/whip the lure out; try casting in a consistent fluid manner.

[Frank_Mistretta]

In November/December of 2023 and again in 2024, I fished the lower Pearl numerous times and caught many fish/limits…I usually stayed away from mud lake/little lake due to boat traffic and it seemed like the river had a better keeper ratio than mud lake area. I mainly fished the middle and east rivers and ducked off into the MS marsh/canals a couple times. when the river is low enough, I caught specks as far north as highway 90 and rarely ever seen any other boats around.

[Frank_Mistretta]

The transducer type and placement and making sure it’s setup correctly is critical. Even a new unit using the 83/200 transducer may not offer much more SONAR capabilities than what you have with your 5″ unit. Lowrance (all manufacturers) has multiple transducers and each offer different capabilities/features. Lowrance’s Totalscan Transducer is a “useable” 3 and 1, but its outdated. By the way, 3 and 1 just means it offers 2D sonar (83/200), downscan and sidescan. Some better 3and1 options are; the Active Imaging 3 and 1 or the new Active Imaging “HD” 3 in 1. From a quick look, the Simrad Go9 had a package with the 83/200 or a more expensive package with the active imaging 3n1.

2D sonar, downscan and sidescan all show different things and I usually run a split screen showing all 3 at the same time.

You can watch a youtube video of 2d vs downscan vs sidescan.

**again setup is critical, you can have the best unit and transducer and if its not setup correctly it may not show accurate or useful images.

some other useful features of GPS/Depth finder units to see if the simrad go9 offers if you want: maps/charts/ can you use a satellite imagery card, tracking (leaves a track of where you been), routes (create a path of where you want to go).

some units are capable of connecting to your outboard to show temps, rpms, trim position, water pressure, etc

[Frank_Mistretta]

which transducer does it come with? If its the 83/200, pay the extra to get the 3n1 active imaging. The 3n1 has side scan and down scan which is better.

[Frank_Mistretta]

great job, especially if I read your report correctly and that was your first trip there. I was also out there yesterday (and left a report on Rigolets fishing). The bridges can be tricky and one thing I learned is; what worked yesterday may not work today…the right time/tide can be a big factor because let’s face it; hungry/feeding fish can be dumb fish easy to catch… but, for me at least, that time window usually seems small and you have to work for the fish you catch. sometimes its presentation, sometimes its lure size/shape/color and sometimes its timing. Yesterday, I noticed the north side was very clear waters and further south got cloudier. Most of my fish came from the mid/south side. All of my fish were caught on green hornet (regular sized) and avocado (mega sized) matrix shad. for a little while I tried midnight mullet without much luck (though this is my favorite color for Lake P).

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  Frank_Mistretta.

[Frank_Mistretta]

Awesome job. Jigging is my favorite style of fishing. I save the expensive jigheads for highway 11 & causeway…the trestles have way more debris to snag and I’ll use the cheaper jigheads there.

[Frank_Mistretta]

I also mainly use braid to flouro….but I do have a couple setups using strictly flouro. What size flouro are you using? Maybe try stepping down…Mine setups range from 10lb to 12lb P-Line Flouro and I don’t deal with much memory.

[Frank_Mistretta]

My advice would be favor more of your budget towards the rod. I have some high-end reels, but in my experience that is not the difference maker for jigging/bottom contact fishing. I personally like a smaller profile reel that I can palm (if/when I want to) and also have the ability to keep my middle finger on the rod blank under the reel seat. But I say favor your budget towards the rod, because this is the part of the combo that will help detect bites. As for power/action; for 2 years, I mainly jigged with a medium-heavy X-fast 6’8″ rod, but I felt like I lost more fish on side of the boat than I was happy with. So about 12 months ago I swapped to the same exact rod but in medium and I definitely have lost less fish. But also consider that I primarily fish with braid main line and I feel like the medium x-fast rod has a little more forgiveness while fighting a shaking-head trout or making a boat flip.

black friday is just around the corner, research beforehand but you may want to use that time to find a good deal.

[Frank_Mistretta]

Whether it was a “placebo effect” or mental thing, for me the DC technology helped get pass the initial learning “hump” very quickly. In no time I was interchanging with non-DC reels. I no longer use DC reels, not because its a bad tech, I just moved on to others reels that were not offered with DC.

[Frank_Mistretta]

when you did the trotline experiment, were the trout dead or alive? I’m wondering if they had air/gas in the bladder..

[Frank_Mistretta]

If you only have a LA license, You can fish the MS side of the Pearl River but must follow the MS creel and size limits.

https://www.mdwfp.com/enforcement-education/rules-regulations/public-waters-reciprocal-program