J Francho

Just flush the ones that came, and use a high performance oil, like Oust Metol or Rocket Fuel. Otherwise, better performance has more to do with who's hands are on the reel - e.g. practice.

Pre-spawn? Spinner baits, square bills, traps, basically moving baits, if I can get away with them.

I've seen the Accu Cull E-Con tags in use. They work fine, just don't expect to lift a bigger bass by them.

Death is a bandwagon everyone is jumping on. It's been so sad my way as well. Sorry for your losses.

Pike bait....

This right here is good advice. In fact, I know some clubs that require you start as a co-angler/non-boater.

http://rotundacleaning.com/rotunda_store/perfect-solution/

Straight through the front windows, lmao.....

The Avid AVC70MM will throw peanut sized baits with ease, so long as a quality reel that can throw light baits is put on it.

That's a terrible photochop job.

Leaders that are longer than the rod itself, where the knot runs up into the spool often cause more issue than they're worth, on a baitcaster. Spinning reels aren't much of an issue.

You used one of my favorite vocab words!

I'd probably just throw a topwater popper or spook, all over the main point around dusk. That works on the quarries around here that have smallies in them.

Actually, the term "meanmouth" was coined to describe a smallmouth x largemouth cross. http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/hybrid-black-bass/ So, they probably won't hybridize naturally, but it has been done in a lab.

So, "Buffalo bison Buffalo bison buffalo buffalo Buffalo bison."

The explanation is in the link. It's a grammatically correct sentence. I figured @*Hootie would get a laugh out of it.

So, help me out here - you have a bunch of broken rods you paid $50/ea, and one you paid retail? I don't understand, seems like a lose-lose deal.

@MickD Is that insult directed at me? Anyway, I found the email where I got the "3.5 oz." It indeed was in reference to the blank only, which as @bigfruits pointed out is 3.6. I guess that number stuck in my head all these years. The overall was reported at a little over 5 oz. I don't build rods, but I know why I wanted spiral wrap for this build, which was the original question. I still owe @bigfruits some info, and I'll be back with the guide count. Maybe I'll try to get a picture up. That rod is in my avatar pic, coincidentally.

There's a ton of species of Annelid worms (earthworms are part of this family) that are aquatic, and forage for bass. I guess it's kind of funny to call them "earthworms," but they are superficially similar.

I like 10 or 12# Tatsu.

This is what I think of when someone says "erratic." Most of the mentions in this thread are about thump, and most of the baits mentioned have a steady thump, not erratic. An OG Wiggle Wart is erratic, a Speed Trap is not. So, in my opinion it is the angler that usually adds the "erratic" to plastic baits, with pauses, twitches, lifts & drops, etc.

I'm not capturing data, but I love going to some local ponds and just watching the bass on beds. It's also an eye opener to see just how large some of the biggest fish are. One particular pond comes to mind. It's funny, it gets a ton of pressure, totally visible, lots of non angling foot traffic, and it's loaded with slobs. It's just interesting to watch them - they definitely display lots of body language. Not as dramatic as dome of South American Cichlids in my aquaria, but interesting anyway.

Maybe it was 4.5, then. It's been a long time since it was built. It's the lightest of any of my 7'+ rods.

Thanks for the info...

Seriously? It's literally titled, "I Can't Login! The Logo Blocks The Left Side! How Do I Login?"