J Francho

Now I see the poll, LOL. I'd want a longer rod, and 8 footer, but go with MH/Mod. and a Zillion.

What is a "very small swimbait"? Anyway, Its got more to do with the rod, though I use a Daiwa Sol to thropw everything from peanut size cranks up to big DD cranks.

Terminator Super Stainless "Stained Water" series and Secret Weapon lures are two that I use that have chartreuse blades. I can't remember who makes this one, but its another productive bait for me:

Insulin free? That's pretty good. I've been using a pump for the past six months. Many Type 1 people pack it on since they can now practically gorge themselves all day long - just keep pressing buttons, LOL. thankfully, I only put on a much needed 10lbs n muscle mass, and I'm actually thinner than before I got sick. Its the meat and veggie diet. Good luck in the support group, and stay healthy!

I just gotta post this one my buddy caught yesterday. 36" length, 19" girth. Looks like a 14-15 ponder to me. Awesome. My PB steel is 18 lbs. State record is 31 lbs! Imagine that beast! And a real treat, anyone guess what it is? Props if you know!

I prefer open water to holes in ice. The big rivers can more dangerous than thin ice though: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1229450146

I think it looks pretty cool and ingenious. The same things were said about other baits when first introduced. Here's why I wouldn't buy it: I don't have that much trouble catching bedding bass that I would need this much complication. Perhaps in Japan's heavily pressured waters its a different story.

In freezing temps, Real Magic is better at keeping water off your line. Otherwise, KVD is THE STUFF.

I had some tendinitis over a year and a half ago, so I can sympathize. My doctor said to stop fishing - not an option. I ended up adjusting to all two handed casts, letting my right hand merely guide my stupid left arm. Since most of my BC rigs are right hand retrieve, hooksets were not an issue. Spinning wasn't so bad, but power sets struggled a bit. Anyway, a very cold January and February slowed my fishing enough to give my shoulder the time to recover. If you can let it rest, it gets better. All hail Team Ibuprofen!

Up until last year, I had a great spinning rod, a Berkley Accuflex. I believe it was basically their Series One, before they had it. I bought it in the very early '90s for around $80, a small fortune for a rod. It had a split grip, and a raedical shaved front grip. Great rod. I still miss it. Don't ask how it met it's end. Too painful.... Same goes for an old Pinnacle 9.5' casting rod I used for float and fly SMB, floating for perch and crappie, and steelhead. "Big wretched," a very big chrome buck that lived in a small stream near home finally broke it one cold, winter day. I hooked him at least seven times that winter, never beached him. My son still uses one of the old 33's I had for guiding people that couldn't use a casting or spinning rig. What a great reel. Probably works better than new. Has to be about 18 years old. There are untold rods and reels at my parents' house that get used when the whole family goes up to spend a week at a cottage on one of the bays locally. They are left over from when we had our own place on the water. Everyday, literally dozens of us kids might be on the dock fishing. SOme of that gear is likely 40 years or older. Still works. AT this point, most of the gear currently in use is either new this past year to about five or six years old. Most of what I have, I plan to keep using until its unusable. That's not to say I won't be spending untold $$ on new stuff anyway, LOL.

I didn't know they had music back then... Mostly just guys beating on logs with bones.

This costs just an arm: http://www.kustomrides.com/supplies/chrome-paint-clear-kits.html.

Really, .002" is undetectable, but yeah, it works for that. 8-)

Yes, but 12# CXX has the strength of 25# Sufix

LOL, perhaps we should talk about rods and cones .....in their eyes, I mean, and what that means to a fisherman. 8-)

Jeez, Kent, SHHHHHHH! Sammy 128's do not work! LOL, actually, aurora black is my best color. It must look "alewifey" to the fish

Sufix Elite is analogous to Trilene XL, whereas Siege is their version of XT. I used XL and XT for years, and switched to Sufix a few years ago. I've always felt that love it or hate it, Trilene is the benchmark for all nylon monos. I found Sufix to be marginally better. I have since switched to P-Line CXX for most of my "mono" type applications, but still use Sufix for trout fishing in the winter. It comes in ridiculously bright colors, which aids in that style of fishing. I would say that you can be confident in spooling up with either. Elite is the softer of the two, whereas Siege is their tougher, abrasion resistant line. Siege has a tad more memory than Elite, but if you use a line conditioner, this is a non issue. If you want to step up to really tough line, use P-Line CXX.

I wouldn't call having three of the past 36 reviews featuring Shimano as "in the bag." Also, their reviews run the gamut from budget gear to super high end. I may not agree with everything they spew, but for the most part they fairly objective.

Multiply the price and/or weight of a single 12 volt by two or three. ;D

They use a Premier (SCII) blank, but feature updated look and different hardware.

Fixed cold brutha Actually, the picture is dark because a camera meters (reads) a scene as gray. When it "sees" bright white, it darkens it a bit, and when it "sees" dark it brightens it. Some cameras have a 'EV' adjustment. A +1 setting will brighten up snow pictures nicely. Anyway, looks like fun. Ice took a little while to fully develop up here, due to a week long warm spell with temps in the 50°'s. I noticed a couple of brave guys out yesterday and today with their shanties. Not all is completely frozen, but I bet there is at least 3" where they were fishing.

I would think that if they were sponsored and advertised that notion here, they would then behave as a representative of that company, and act appropriately.

Sail boats use lead in the keel. I know that some have gotten huge amounts from shipyards and boat repair outfits.

Bass are crepuscular animals. Twilight is the simple answer for a start. Conventional wisdom says they work well when its overcast or there is some chop on the water. Those are good times to try it, for sure, but don't be limited by conventional wisdom. As far as when its a better choice than other topwaters, let the bass tell you that. Bass fishing is all about adjustments. I was fishing a Sammy 115, and was getting lots of dorsal and tail flicks from smallies. They were very active and aggressive, but not committing. I switched to alternating between a Spit'n Image and a Sammy 100 (both smaller baits) and was immediately rewarded with several fish. Adjustment

Define "finesse" and you'll get a better answer. The rod will be the crucial piece. Any reliable reel from Daiwa or Shimano will do. I have a Kistler Drop Shot Special that I use for light DS, small tubes, shaky heads wacky jigs, and split shot or Mojo rigs. For finesse jigs, bigger tube jigs, and wacky rigs I use a a 7' Team All Star MH/Fast spinning rod. I've got three Capricorns, two 2500 mand one 1500, and they are decent reels that have held up very well.