J Francho

A few brands were made with color on the "bottom." I have a chrome Cleo with an orange bottom. They wobble so much, that I don't think it matters much. One thing I notce - most brands I throw, wobble covex side up. I can see the color on the retrieve. That's why my hook is oriented in the pic above.

99.999999999999999999 % of the time, nothing a bass is eating is hatching, lol.

The cost of fishing skirts has never really hit me in the wallet. Chasing skirts....that's another story.

My buddy has a Rocket. His intention was using it for frogging, but went back to his Viento. The Rocket didn't have enough torque, as he put it. I used it to see, and didn't have too much issue with it, but YMMV. As long as it's reasonably quick, has a strong drag, gears, and metal frame, it should work fine.

Because.

Avaya? Aspect? Other?

I'm pretty young, but I've been fishing for so long, sometimes I feel like I relate to the old timers better.

I'd say I throw plastics on an even split of CXX, InvisX, Power Pro, and have been playing with Tuf-Line Hevi-Core. I do have one spinner with 832 as well.

Most often it's my pinky while trying to control a big trout on my centrepin reel. Not so much with bass fishing.

If that place has water, I can get there in one of my boats, whether it be in a kayak or a 22' bass boat. I've had great days on shore, but on any given day, off the shore will always give you greater opportunity. One exception:

Here is a good article: http://www.examiner.com/article/reminder-be-safe-the-water-is-still-pretty-chilly

I know some old timers that are pretty adept at it. Modern drags are far superior for me.

Under Armour top and bottoms, and a packable rainsuit will take up the least space. A microfiber towel is a good idea too.

Evil, evil man. I worked, and ate Wendy's for lunch.

Posting backstraps frying in a pan are not allowed. Unless you are sharing them with me. Same goes for FB, bub. LOL.

They just did a demo this weekend at my local paddle shop, and I was impressed.

1 and 2 are really subjective, and has more to do with developing your skills. If you learn how to feather a spinner, you'll have the same control you have with a caster. 3 depends on your storage system, though I always put spinners on the top. It's easy to get a caster around a spinner, but the opposite isn't as true. 4 is a misnomer - most spinning reels take up more line per turn than a batcaster. The spool circumference is larger, and therefore a lower gear ratio is used to achieve similar or greater IPT. 5 is dictated by rod ratings, though most spinners for bass stop at medium or MH. I know plenty of people using heavy inshore rods, 4000 series reels, and 50# braid to chuck frogs into heavy mats. It's a pretty swet setup, especially if you fish in heavy winds.

No joke, I have a 100% recovery rate, if you include the umbrella rig that I mangled to death. Got to reuse the swimbaits, so only a few bucks lost. Literally saved me hundreds of $$$.

I'll even be so nice to add a couple more that work very well.... L-J Hus-Lure*, Super Duper, Phoebe, Kastmaster... I REALLY don't like putting this one on the interwebz, lol. It's a really good option for slow presentations.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/99956-plug-knockers-pay-for-themselves/

I think it's funny that you'd compare the risk levels between kayaking in cold water/air temperatures to standing on the deck of a 22' bass boat that is clearly moored in a protected harbor. What you can't tell from the pic is that it was taken in mid July. I don't care if you want to call me a hypocrite, but when it comes to advice, being a moderator means I have to be very careful what I recommend. Even though I'm just a average guy that fishes, some take our advice as gospel. For the record, A-Jay's post above shows a good option. I personally DO NOT prefer neoprene. There are other options in material, in various price ranges. I used to use a Palm semi dry (neoprene neck, arm, and feet instead of rubber). Currently I'm looking at suits by Kokatat.

Get a plug knocker.

That's a 1/3 oz. I carry many weights. Each weight has a depth it runs best. The trick is to get it so it ticks bottom, or whatever cover your fishing. There other styles as well. I KO Wobbler will run shallower with it's wide shape, at a slower speed, but still have a big profile. A Krocidile or Cyclops will run deeper, due to is narrow shape. They catch every species of game fish for me - black bass, pike, pickerel, kings, coho, steelhead, browns, white bass... I think my biggest bowfin was caught on a blue and silver or green and silver Cleo.

A drysuit, or semi drysuit is more important than a PFD. I won't downplay a PFD...EVER, but in the case of extremes, a PFD often is just the difference of having a body to bury or not. I see guys out in small craft with jeans and sweatshirts...cotton kills. folks! Another mistake I see is waders. I hope you have a firmly cinched wading belt on, if you go this route, because otherwise, you're not getting out of the water once those are filled up. Also, this is where a sit on top kayak is preferable to a sit in. You may think you're more protected in a sit in, but water re-entry to a sit in is nearly impossible, even with help, and without a drysuit you're in trouble, fast. I have done one cold water rescue, and it gets ugly fast.

OK, I'll use a different word....I'm against using poison to treat them. What does Zequanox do to native mollusks and crustaceans? Probably kills them too.