braid is a different thing for sure. dont use it unless you have a real need for it. for one thing if you get it wrapped around a hand or finger and it gets pulled you finger is gone or cut to the bone. you have to be aware of that.
another it is extra hard to take out tangles with it unless you have 65 pound or more.

and knots slip easily so you cannot use your old standby knots in many instances.
the uni knot is the easiest to tie that works and the palomar knot as well.

i get by with a triple surgeons on the river sometimes when its hard to tie something better. when tying to lines together.

This knot thing is killing me. "They" say don't tie the braid directly to, well, anything. Use a flourocarbon leader. And "they" say use a uni (or double uni) knot to tie the two together. It takes me about 5 tries to get it right and I still don't get it right. Well, the lighter line I can do but that 50lb. stuff doesn't cooperate as well. LOL, today I spent 1/2 hour trying to get my leader to tie on only to 1) forget to thread the line through the rod eyes followed by 2) somehow tied a knot in the braid about 5 ft. in. This be hard. Well, for my uncoordinated fingers at least.

So, on that note. There are some BIG sharks here. My neighbor lost 2 and I lost one. The first one on 50lb. mono ran off about 100 yds then wrapped around a channel marker and broke off. Second one spooled a spinning reel with 35 lb. braid. The one I lost took about 75 yds of line without slowing down. I kept cranking down the drag until the knot failed. It felt like the fish didn't even know it was hooked. It was just swimming slowly away.

Learn to tie the uni, it's a good knot.

Here's a nice bull mahi I landed off the north coast of Papau New Guinea two weeks ago:



15cm black/purple weighted squid, trolled about 50 meters behind the boat. Picked him up as we sailed right past an enormous floating log which was most likely his house. Right at sunset, just in time for dinner.

Fluorocarbon carbon leaders are the bee's knees.

First tarpon. These things are absolute beasts.

I fought it for an hour.

i like the dolphin you got there. great catch.

i used to catch lots of small tarpon on my fly rod in miami decades ago. most were around like 8 pounds. that was some fishing.

where you are is the best. have a blast. im sure you are. im jealous

bb,
nice fish.

now you've got some bait to catch a real shark.

Getting the grandson ready to go fishing!

First Fishing trip with the Grandson. What a fun day. The bluegills were very cooperative. He got to catch well over 30 nice gills in about 2 hours.

Seriously, there can't be many things in life better than that.

Yep, it ranks right up there at the top.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I was trying to think of something I'd rather do, and nothing came to mind.

Nice box of perch today. 165. Threw back anything under 8" (unless they swallowed the hook). 35 short of our 4 man limit, but those little ones dont yield much meat. (we probably threw back 200 or so).

Probably 15 12"+

Deliciousness!!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I lost another big shark tonight. Sharks are definitely winning.

Anyways, this one bit through a 275lb. wire leader.

Just got a bow for bow hunting - I am a complete novice. How many shots a week is a reasonable amount to get better?

you practice until you can put every shot into a small circle at the farthest range you will shoot at your target game. which will be maybe 20 yards your first year. and never shoot farther than you are ready for as wounding is a terrible thing.

all depends on how fast you learn but mucho hours of practice from all types of shooting positions. when hunting you will never draw and shoot standing upright aiming like you do at a practice target.

Agree with Ray. Not sure if I agree with just 20 yards assuming you put in the time to practice at longer ranges and are hitting the target well.
Another thing I would add is to make sure your bow is tuned well and set to your proper draw length. If you bought from a good archery shop I would think they would have covered that base but if not it is important.
Most states require a archery hunting course and certificate. If you haven't taken that make sure to so so. They are usually very good and teach a lot.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

sure if he puts enough practice in he can get to whatever his ability and equipment will allow. his post seems to imply he wants to get better and maybe he doesnt know how hard it is to get good.
i want him to shoot close in so he doesnt wound any game. when i was learning i hunted totally unprepared for shooting correctly and couldnt hit the broad side of a barn. even though i thought i could.

Very true. Can't argue with that logic. Closer is always, every single time, better.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Caught this beauty in Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park, Canada. It was a 2km hike from the parking lot to the point where I was casting. There was this steep 25ft drop off. Over the course of two days, caught 2 Brooke Trout and 1 Rainbow. I have a bunch of scenery pics that I'm gonna post once I get them off my camera.

nice trout ive fished that lake. gone up that way a few times from banff on up. love the icefield hiway and the town of jasper. also lake louise on the way up.
went that way on my alaska trip as well. made jasper my first nights stop.
that trip is one of the most beautiful in the world and worth the ride.

Nice. Sounds like a good adventure.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Ray and Fish,
Thanks for the replies and tips. I just went yesterday and got my tune up/draw length done. Gun hunted for the first time last year and one of the people who took me out wounded a deer which we tracked for ~8 hours until we couldn't find blood. That was a pretty good way to learn about wounding.

secret is to only shoot at what you can hit in the right spot. it get tempting to just fire away especially when you havent shot too many deer before. and of course on your first few everyone gets a little shaky or hurried by the excitement.

Yep, Having something get away after you know you have hit it is about the worst. I would like to say it has never happened to me but the reality is, it has and most people I know who have even hunted for a long long time have had it happen at some point. It completely totally sucks. You hate it, but, the thing to keep in mind is to do like you did and give every effort to find the animal.
Also:
- If a shot is too far or you do not have a clear shooting lane do not take it.
- Shot placement is really important especially with archery. Broadside or quartering away give the best chance for a good kill shot.
- Sharp blades in the broadhead are really important for a bunch of reasons
- Patience. If you hit an animal you have to give it a chance to bleed out. Sometimes it can be very quick. Other times it can take quite a while if it is not a great hit. Unless you see the animal down and are confident it is dead wait at least 45 minutes. If you think it was a marginal shot wait longer, even overnight if necessary. The last thing you want to do is get after a wounded animal too quickly and have them push out so far you never find them.