TV Show

[Speedy]

Bob, just watched the first show on Lakes Television, looks like an interesting and informative line-up for this season.
Tim Roberts
Spirit Lake,IA

[Bob Jensen]

Tim:

Good to hear from you, was in your area ice-fishing last week.

We're excited about this season, lots of fish and some big ones. Everything taped in the Midwest close to where lots of people can go without using a lot of gas.

Hope all is well, looking forward to seeing you sometime, maybe we can share a boat again.

Best Fishes,

Bob Jensen

[Speedy]

Bob, I would enjoy sharing a boat with you again as well. Heck, this time I could even wear my Ranger cap.

[JAK]

Bob,

I got to see your introduction for the upcoming season. It looks like another good year! I will be interested to hear your comments regarding your new sponsors as the season progresses.

Both Evinrude and Ranger appear to be quality products with great support in case you ever need it.
I also noticed that you commented that you were using fireline with a floro leader. I understand the advantages (increased sensitivity, basically no line stretch) but, have you found the need to use a softer/slower action rod and/or significantly looser drag settings to help eliminate hooks tearing out of the fish while playing them or during hook sets?

Are you using this line combination for multiple fishing situations or only for a few specific techniques? I have been debating trying this line combination for some deep water jigging, so can you comment on the need to go with a lighter jig to maintain a slow drop speed to offset the smaller line diameter and the fact that fireline sinks?

Thanks for your insight!

[Bob Jensen]

Some really good questions.

Yes to the softer rod action, also yes to lighter drag. FireLine has no stretch, so a softer action is more forgiving. A rod that's too stiff or a drag that's too tight will cause hooks to rip out.

Also, and I don't know for sure if this is true, but it makes sense to me: FireLine is very sensitive stuff, we can feel the fish better, so they can probably feel us better too. A softer action rod maybe prevents the fish from feeling us. Don't know, just speculation on my part.

I'm not sure that the fluorocarbon leader is necessary, but I do know that a lot of people use it when fishing FireLine. I've seen times when it did make a difference, I've also seen times when it didn't. On one particular trip this year to West Lake Okoboji in NW Iowa, which is a very clear body of water, the largemouth bass responded much better to a bait that was attached to Trilene Fluorocarbon.

I've seen FireLine Crystal under water, it's almost invisible.

I've seen Trilene Fluorocarbon under water, it is invisible.

We'll be including that underwater footage on one of our shows this year.

I've caught lots of walleyes on jigs attached to 6/2 FireLine of all colors through the years, and I've also caught lots of fish of different species on the really bright solar green line through the years. I think that sometimes a less visible line will catch more fish, sometimes it doesn't matter.

Just for the record, when jigging or rigging for walleyes, I still prefer mono, Trilene Sensation is my favorite. XT and XL are good also.

When ice-fishing, when using FireLine, I almost always use a fluorocarbon leader, especially when using a slow presentation. With that said, I've caught lots of walleyes through the ice on spoons tied to FireLine via a snap/swivel.

I haven't found a need to go to a lighter jig with FireLine, however that's a very good question that merits more research.

Great questions, thanks for posting them.

Hope all is well.

Best Fishes,

Bob Jensen

[JAK]

Just for the record, when jigging or rigging for walleyes, I still prefer mono, Trilene Sensation is my favorite. XT and XL are good also.



Bob, can you comment on any specific differences that you have noticed when using Trilene Sensation instead of the XL?

Thanks

[Bob Jensen]

Not really. It's one of those things where you know you like it better, you're just not sure why. XL is very nice stuff, maybe a little softer than Sensation. I would probably go with XL if I was using 4 pound test, but anything bigger, I like Sensation. 6 pound test Sensation on a jig rod is really nice stuff.

Thanks for the question, another good one.

Best Fishes,

Bob Jensen