About "Catch & Research"

Welcome. I found my passion in ecological economics and fishing. They are all about pursuit of unknown and uncertain objects. I always enjoy the seemingly reckless pursuit itself. This blog is a record of my long journey in research and fishing. Your comments are welcome and appreciated.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Uses of Fishing Lures

I happened to find these "art" souvenirs in New York. I could not stop laughing at the store, Pylones. I have no doubt that one who make them is die-hard fisherman.

These keychains are actual fishing lures, which you can use in cases.
There were bottle openers, staplers and a couple more fishy souvenirs. But I didn't buy, because I probably can make it so easily with my lures... If you are not an angler and looking for a gift for an angler friend, they will be perfect!

Monday, July 12, 2010

New ultralight reel

I bought a new ultralight reel for my 5'6" ultralight blank rod. I was considering to buy another Shimano's Sonora, but Dick's sporting goods did not have one. I tested couple of reels at display and picked Field & Stream's Ravenna reel, which is a store brand of Dick's.

I know that someone despise store brands. But the reel was not that bad considering its price, $39.99 ($29.99 after $10 discount). A rumor, which I heard about Field & Stream's reels, says that they are actually OEM products of Pflueger. I could not confirm this rumor and could not find a matching model among Pflueger's reels. I could not find further information about this reel at all on-line. Strange... Anyway, so this post is going to be the first review of Field & Stream's Ravenna reel (model# RV-10).

Specification and Features
  • Gear ratio: 5.5:1
  • Line rating (lbs./yds.): 4/210, 6/170, 8/80
  • Weight: 7oz. (I measured it with my fish scale)
  • Graphite body
  • Seven ball bearings
  • One infinite anti-reverse roller bearing
  • Even line wrap oscillation system
  • Precision balance rotor
  • Ported aluminum spool
What I liked most was solid feeling in reeling. Reeling was smooth but reel arm was not shaky. Definitely, my personal preference. Some prefers light feeling. Design and color were OK. Actually, better than Sonora's new orange color outlook. I liked that reel arm was big enough for my hands. I found that other ultralight reels had small reel arm, which sometimes makes reeling painful.





I spooled the reel with 4lb test mono line. I test-cast jig, crank, spinner, etc. and could not find any issue with it. I have not caught fish yet (it has been too warm...). I hope to catch one soon. Someone may question about durability of this "value" reel. At this point, I cannot comment on it. But from my experience of using other value reels, I think that modern spinning reels do not really have durability problem if handled properly.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Lure Monger (1)

At my previous post, I mentioned about Yo-Zuri lure. When I went to a Dick's sporting goods store near my apartment on last Friday, I found that some Yo-Zuri lures are on sale! You will not believe it: $1.46 for a lure. Absolute steal!!! Because I intended to buy more Yo-Zuri, I bought total five. There left not many at the store, so I didn't really have much choice of type and color. Yo-Zuri is Yo-Zuri anyway, I picked whatever left. Here they are:



I feel like I become a lure monger. I have not had time to test them. For today, let me talk about the Yo-Zuris that I have used.


Crystal Minnow (F8-C27, yellow tiger): floating, 5-1/4" (130mm), 5/8 oz (18g)
This lure hooked me onYo-Zuri. I originally bought this for Striper fishing a couple of years ago. So far, it has produced 10 something stripers. It is specially deadly at night. What I do is to float away and then slowly retrieve it at river. That is it. During striper fishing, this lure was naturally compared to other lures for striper fishing, and it proved its outstanding quality.


YO-ZURI.F
Here is a back view. Yo-Zuri's website claims, "The Crystal Minnow™ features a realistic wiggling action and is equally effective worked in a twitch-stop-go manner or with a steady retrieve. Floating models will dart and dive then float to the surface."


Aile MG Diet (F729-?, color code is unknown): floating, 2-3/4" (70mm), 3/16 oz (5.5g)
I bought this one last year. It was another hit. I has caught many bass and other species on this lure. Like the Crystal Minnow, it presents very natural wiggling action. I think that it distinguish Yo-Zuri lure from other lures. This lure also works for trout trolling.


View of back


70 F
At the bottom, 70 F means that lure type is floating, and length of lure is 70 mm (2-3/4").


3D 100 Minnow (F621-YM): suspending, 2-1/2" (65mm), 1/4 oz (7g)
This is my third purchase of Yo-Zuri. I have not caught many fish on this lure yet. It is suspending, which makes me hesitate to use it at shore. It is never pleasant to lose not-so-cheap hard bait. I mainly use this while I do kayak fishing. In this reason, I personally prefer floating type hard bait.


DUEL 3D (SP)
SP means that lure type is suspending.

More post on Yo-Zuri lures are coming soon.Search Amazon.com for yo-zuri

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Fishing for food

I went to a nearby state park to catch some fish for 4th of July BBQ. It was kind of chilly in the early morning, but water was surprisingly warm. I first trolled for rainbow trout with small minnow and then jigged for bass. I paddled around for two hours without success. Then, when I cast jig at rocky bottom, I got a strong bite. This is it, 15" large mouth bass. It must be enough for BBQ.



It was firmly hooked at upper jaw. This poor thing bit the jig without any hesitation. Thanks, we will appreciate you a lot.


I put cray fish imitation soft plastic on the 1/2 oz jig.


After catching the bass, I started trolling again with Yo-Zuri minnow. Yo-Zuri is my favorite lure company. I have had said that there is no significant difference between lure makers, but Yo-Zuri produces pretty more fish than other brands. I can say it for sure. Anyway, I caught 14" rainbow trout on the Yo-Zuri minnow.


It is my fishing vessel. Tiny but works just fine for me.


I spent about five hours and then left for lunch. I was exhausted, but it was productive trip.