J Francho

Sounds like you might want to switch to 20-30# braid in those cover conditions.

Spros or Koppers.

No he won't. An accurate scale has wiped out countless runs of trophy fish, LOL.

There's another example. Paca Craw vs. Rage Craws. About the ONLY similarity is that they go on a hook and have two appendages. They are completely different baits beyond that. So, to make a comparison that they are interchangeable is sort of like saying a DD22 worked better than a Rattle Trap, so I never use Rattle Traps.

It just means those "old formulas" are still good sellers. Doesn't make them better or worse. I used Trilene XL and XT for years with great success. I use other stuff now. Would I go back? No. Trilene sucks compared to what I use now, and doesn't match my fishing style anymore. New technology opens doors.

They are shields, not seals. You can leave them be - you'll probably ruin the bearing trying to remove the shield. I know, there was some article about it...let's just say a few guys know better than bearing manufacturers. It's not that it's wrong, but it does compromise things, and you should have a good reason to do it. Like having a stockpile of replacement bearings on hand, and time away from fishing to play with your gear. Leave them, and soak. Bearing Blaster....yeah it works well, but you still have to soak the bearing. I find there is always a small amount of debris left behind by the blaster. The easiest is to soak the bearings in acetone, using a small glass baby food jar. Give the jar a swirl every 10 minutes or so. Replace the water every hour, until it runs clear and free of debris. Put the bearings on paper towel to dry for about ten minutes. I don't recommend "spin drying," since I simply cannot get my head around running a bearing at max speed with no lubricant. Add a drop of oil to the seam of the inner race (it you can, small bearings just do your best), and gently spin them on a pencil or chopstick.

We are probably the worst offender. Doesn't help that we sit on huge salt deposit. There has been no snow in three days here. Driving from Delta Sonic to my house -about three miles- totally coated my freshly washed truck. They salt the day before, if there is snow in the forecast. The other day, I did a little fishtail turning onto my street because of all the salt, LOL.

We keep getting alternating cold fronts, with days of warm, southern air. Back up from single digits to high 20s again.

I'm pretty sure they are legal to photograph in their natural environment, LOL.

No one uses a 38' Fountain to bass fish. Unless I'm busy unhooking a fish on a windy day, no non/co is running the trolling motor on my $10K boat. In a team format, it's another story - most of my partners are boat owners, and are perfectly capable.

Mono-filament = one strand. Fluoro, copoly, nylon are all "mono."

I guess I'm the real dummy in turning rattling baits silent.

Add in the mind numbing single digit temps we've had...makes us all a little confused.

Almost all my issues with any spoon has been resolved by ditching the treble altogether. I generally pick I single trailer hook that matches the spoon size, and use an over size split ring.

There is, a big zip loc bag. Remove it inside the bag. It catches the wayward clip about 50% of the time.

Pretty sure that's what he meant- triggers are a much different fish.

I used to go to a place called Silver's Gym. That place was great.

As it should be.

My uncle and I had a day where he got so bore of catching smallies, he fish an unbaited hook. Yep, he got bit, LMAO. What was funny, they'd even get competitive over the unbaited hook. Two or three would follow the hooked fish. That day was awesome. We probably caught over 200 fish.

5-ish, by the looks. Very nice fish!

Somewhere between 5 and 10 lbs. No girth, tough to say.

You get to paw through it. Can't do that on ebay.

Traps can be a dink magnet - but generally you find larger fish after you've fished through the smaller ones. My take is with the higher speed retrieve you catch the smaller, more aggressive fish at first. After a a few, you begin to ignite the fish or activate feeding responses in the larger fish. I caught this one after the three of us caught at least 30 fish on a single main lake point:

Correct. A store has a pile of returns. They are sold in lots to a 3rd party that sorts and resells on ebay, what don't you get? You can still sell items "as is" without warranty. Gander does it, Walmart does it, DSG does it, they all do it. How do I know? I've seen items resold on ebay with the defective return tags still on the item, LOL. Again, I wouldn't touch this stuff with a ten foot pole. You are better off searching true sales from people that aren't pro ebayer - just need to get rid of some gear. They typically have less than 100 ratings, and you can tell by their other, closed listings what type of seller they are.

10 lb. smallmouth, LOL. Pitch or Flip?