J Francho

It's not really a stretch. They were all decent fish that completely ate it. It's the little doinkers that ruin the baits. Smallmouth are ruiners too.

Caught 6 bass on the same senko Monday.

I'm in NY state and I wouldn't consider anything less than 50# braid for frogging in any kind of cover. It has nothing to do with the size of the fish.

Same. Nice work the both of you.

I don't think they're thinking twice about it. They should. It's probably not intentional, but maybe they could be intentional.

Marketing.

Exactly. Yeah, I wasn't speaking of just fuel. Infuriating.

They are probably the people that are profiting from the high prices.

I've had days where it would have been more fun (and less expensive) to just take a few rolls of quarters and chuck change into the lake.

I skewer them with the hook, so it's not like I am trying to prevent them from getting torn, but I definitely heal them up if I can quickly to get a few more bites out of them.

I've got a really nice one from the butcher to grill for my birthday this weekend. It's interesting to see alt-cuts on high end restaurants' menus commanding steep prices. It's sort of like they're promoting them over pricier cuts. I'm thinking they are cashing in on higher margins on the novelty. I'm talking $40 skirt steaks and the like.

Was some of this covered by insurance?

This looks so much better, and not just because of the handsome guy holding the fish....

That tells me all I need to know.

My last two boats had Optimas and they worked flawlessly.

Those are beautiful.

Get a Popmax. You can pop and walk all at once. For a couple years, it outfished all my other baits combined.

Anything will most likely be posted here:

Yeah, it's super misleading. The ONLY time I would a swivel like that would be for something like a pre-rigged worm that spins on the retrieve. I don't fish Carolina Rigs, but that necessitates a swivel. A donkey rig with two flukes is another that requires two swivels to rig. I can't think of any other rigs. As far as connecting braid to leader, I try to avoid leaders when I can, and use straight braid or straight fluoro. If I must add a leader to braid, I use an Alberto knot.

I think you're referring to snap swivels. They aren't the best thing to use for connecting your bait. If you need to, use just a snap, like a Duo-Loc snap. I mostly use #2 and #3 size snaps. If you want to eliminate line twist from certain baits, attach a swivel (not a snap swivel) with a split ring, and tie to the swivel. If you're super lazy (like me) you can attach a snap to you're line, and the snap to the swivel, creating a durable snap swivel set up. Snap swivels are meant to thread up the main line and attach a bell sinker weight for a trolling rig. They rarely hold up to the impact of hooksets in bass fishing.

It won't void your warranty and you can have someone else install it. It's pretty much the default solution for what you want to do here. The only other thing would using drift socks, which will be a pain to deal with. Changing the pitch to something lower than ideal can result in overrevving and also make it difficult to get on plane. The only other option I see is to install a transom mounted electric trolling motor.

For cranking and big swim baits I like a full rear grip. Anything else, it doesn't matter.

I think that's the USCG requirement as well.

17 species, but just timber and Massasauga rattlesnakes and copperheads are venomous. I've never encountered any of the venomous ones. https://www.newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2016/06/meet_new_yorks_17_slithery_snakes_--_three_are_poisonous_to_humans.html