Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

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Drakestar
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Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Drakestar » Thu Jul 30, 2020 2:53 pm

What are the fishing misconceptions that you wish people would stop believing or repeating? I'm talking about topics where credible/objective truths exist and it's not just intuition or personal opinions. But you feel that people are constantly getting it wrong, anyway. I'll start with two:

Jerkbait Suspension:
I'm tired of TW reviews that complain that Expensive-Jerkbait-A or Expensive-Jerkbait-B "is not suspending correctly". Every time I read that, I want to reply with something like "What line diameter did you throw it on? Fluoro or mono? What was the water temperature?" The myth of the jerkbait that suspends perfectly in all conditions is a misguided one; the tolerances on these baits are so small that it can't possibly suspend correctly on 16lbs fluoro in 39 degree water, and then also suspend perfectly on 10lbs mono in 80 degree water. The buoyancy is going to be totally different - that's just physics :) Of course some baits are also tuned to actually be slow-rising or slow-sinking, but at a base level, I wish people didn't forget the basics: fishing line pulls baits up/down, and water has different density (and viscosity, for that matter) at different temperatures. Of course that's going to affect the performance of each jerkbait, depending on conditions.

Red Fishing Line:
I'm also ready to retire the "red fishing line becomes invisible in deeper water" myth. Nothing could be further from the truth! As light hits water and the red lightwaves are filtered out (the more the deeper you go), red fishing line will lose its red coloration. That part is correct. But the line doesn't become invisible as less and less red light reaches the line, it starts looking grey and eventually black! As a result, red fishing line is actually very visible in deeper water because it's black and has a lot of contrast. So red line is usually one of the worst colors you can use if you're trying to be invisible underwater.

I have more, but let's save them for later :) What are yours?
Last edited by Drakestar on Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Cal
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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Cal » Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:28 pm

"This rod has a nice, parabolic bend..." ... parabola is a shape... all rods bend in the shape of a parabola... what they mean by that is moderate.

To that end "Action" does not equal "Power" ... Action refers to a rod's taper.

"You can balance the rod by putting a heavier reel on it..." - You don't balance an object by placing weight on the HOPEFUL balance point. Unless you're holding your combo in front of the reel, all you're doing is making your combo heavier. If balance is your goal, add counterweights to the end of the rod, or find a rod with the best balance you can for the application you have in mind.
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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by uljersey » Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:57 pm

Fishing at night requires dark noisy baits like big Colorado blade spinner baits that beat the drum. Nonsense. While I know noisy baits will work, there's been many times I've done very well on a pearl Super Fluke or a tube. Live prey doesn't get noisy after dark and the fish find it just fine. Fish what works for you during the day ... if that's a big noisy spinnerbait, fine, but don't be afraid to be subtle.

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Cal » Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:02 pm

uljersey wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:57 pm
Fishing at night requires dark noisy baits like big Colorado blade spinner baits that beat the drum. Nonsense. While I know noisy baits will work, there's been many times I've done very well on a pearl Super Fluke or a tube. Live prey doesn't get noisy after dark and the fish find it just fine. Fish what works for you during the day ... if that's a big noisy spinnerbait, fine, but don't be afraid to be subtle.
Fishing at night requires vampire eyes :lol:
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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Houndfish » Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:55 pm

Cal wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:28 pm
You can balance the rod by putting a heavier reel on it..." - You don't balance an object by placing weight on the HOPEFUL balance point. Unless you're holding your combo in front of the reel, all you're doing is making your combo heavier. If balance is your goal, add counterweights to the end of the rod, or find a rod with the best balance you can for the application you have in mind.
Eh, this one is 50/50 to me as a given rod will "feel" more balanced the heavier the combo becomes, even if it's still tip-heavy. For an extreme example, a Super Red Demon is still really tip-heavy with a Ryoga 1520, but it feels 10x worse with a Pixy on it :D

"Braid is more sensitive" it the one that really drives me insane, along with "Fluoro doesn't stretch". The second is really infuriating as its disproved the fist time you have to break off a snag.

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Slazmo » Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:42 pm

Fish have feelings.

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by GOOD YEAR 71 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 5:59 pm

If a fish swims away it will live
PEACE

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Drakestar » Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:10 pm

Houndfish wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:55 pm
"Braid is more sensitive" it the one that really drives me insane, along with "Fluoro doesn't stretch". The second is really infuriating as its disproved the fist time you have to break off a snag.
Mono stretches ~18%, mono stretches ~10%, braid has no stretch. I think those are objective truths. Braid is more sensitive though, isn't it? I thought that was objectively true, as well :?:

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Cal » Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:43 pm

Houndfish wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:55 pm
Eh, this one is 50/50 to me as a given rod will "feel" more balanced the heavier the combo becomes, even if it's still tip-heavy. For an extreme example, a Super Red Demon is still really tip-heavy with a Ryoga 1520, but it feels 10x worse with a Pixy on it :D
if you're holding the combo the same way with either reel on there, I beg to differ but we can agree to disagree ;)

We disproved the stretch deal with fluoro years ago during our original Fluorocarbon Showdown. :)
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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Cal » Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:44 pm

Drakestar wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:10 pm
Braid is more sensitive though, isn't it? I thought that was objectively true, as well :?:
Only if your line isn't slack ... you can still feel that "tick" with fluoro on a slack line :)
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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by goldrod » Thu Jul 30, 2020 9:12 pm

I’m not sure where this falls in the spectrum but the snell hook being better for Flippin and pitching but if you flip or pitch a jig the hook never moves
Whatever a person’s preference is their preference and if you adapt that preference it doesn’t make it truth.
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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by QUAKEnSHAKE » Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:05 pm

Houndfish wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:55 pm
Cal wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:28 pm
Cal wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:44 pm
Drakestar wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:10 pm
Braid is more sensitive though, isn't it? I thought that was objectively true, as well :?:
Only if your line isn't slack ... you can still feel that "tick" with fluoro on a slack line :)

"Braid is more sensitive" it the one that really drives me insane, along with "Fluoro doesn't stretch". The second is really infuriating as its disproved the fist time you have to break off a snag.
Braid is more sensitive during 99.9% of the fishing experience.
Define slack?
Even when braid has a slight bow in it you can still feel light taps it does have to be straight line tight.
I can throw out a 1/4oz jighead with 3.8" fat paddletail and feel hit on the fall with braid.
Dragging a lure across the bottom braid gives much more feedback than FC.
During the retrieve of the fish when hooked braid gives more feel to the fight the movement of the fish than FC mono.

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Hogsticker2 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:35 pm

QUAKEnSHAKE wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:05 pm
Houndfish wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:55 pm
Cal wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 3:28 pm
Cal wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:44 pm
Drakestar wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:10 pm
Braid is more sensitive though, isn't it? I thought that was objectively true, as well :?:
Only if your line isn't slack ... you can still feel that "tick" with fluoro on a slack line :)

"Braid is more sensitive" it the one that really drives me insane, along with "Fluoro doesn't stretch". The second is really infuriating as its disproved the fist time you have to break off a snag.
Braid is more sensitive during 99.9% of the fishing experience.
Define slack?
Even when braid has a slight bow in it you can still feel light taps it does have to be straight line tight.
I can throw out a 1/4oz jighead with 3.8" fat paddletail and feel hit on the fall with braid.
Dragging a lure across the bottom braid gives much more feedback than FC.
During the retrieve of the fish when hooked braid gives more feel to the fight the movement of the fish than FC mono.
I can feel my bait get taken on the fall more with fluoro than braid, especially when windy. If you're dragging a lure on bottom, the line is constantly tight. With no stretch, of course we will "feel more" with braid. Fighting the fish is the same thing, no slack and no stretch. I stopped fishing for walleye with braid. Especially on high wind days, where a huge bow in the line is created. No way you're going to feel a walleye with braid in those conditions. They spit that bait the instance they detect weight. Braid doesn't transmit feedback like fluoro does if there's slack in the line due to different properties. It can even feel rather dead at times.

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by Hogsticker2 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:37 pm

How about the Senko is the best bait ever. "You don't work them, they work for you" :roll:.

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Re: Fishing Misconceptions That You Wish Would Die

Post by aavery2 » Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:30 am

Drakestar wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:10 pm
Houndfish wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 4:55 pm
"Braid is more sensitive" it the one that really drives me insane, along with "Fluoro doesn't stretch". The second is really infuriating as its disproved the fist time you have to break off a snag.
Mono stretches ~18%, mono stretches ~10%, braid has no stretch. I think those are objective truths. Braid is more sensitive though, isn't it? I thought that was objectively true, as well :?:
When 10 inch pieces of line are tested on an Instron device braided line stretches at about 2-3%. This is so low that it is in fishing practically unnoticeable. Another interesting thing is the way FC line and Mono line stretch they seem to exhibit very different curves, Mono seems to be more parabolic where FC tends to less stretch on the frontend and then becomes more and more parabolic as it reaches breaking strength. Just an observation.

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