J Francho

It's a faint hiss, with no skips.

No, that's what I use when I'm in the back.

It'll be fine. The stench lasts weeks.

To me, a shaky head is a finesse presentation. It's an evolution of the jig worm my grandpa taught my to use on tough days, except it has a longer hook and is weedless. A variation it the standup jig styles like the Megastrike head and Spot Remover. I like a light jig, less than 1/4 oz. and light line - 15-20 lb. braid and leader or 6-8 lb. fluoro. For the worm, I like a floating worm. For the presentation, I cast it out and gently "shake the head" of the bait, as the name suggests. Each twitch causes the tail to drop, and then rise, if you use a floating worm. A Texas rig to me is a bait rigged weed less, with a sliding bullet weight. Period. You can add a bead, peg the weight, whatever, but it had to have those first two elements. You can use many of the same presentations listed in the shaky head section of my post, but for me, a T-rig has all the action on the drop. A shaky head is all about after the drop. There's crossover, for sure. You can use extremely light weights on a T-rig and peg it to get a similar bait. And you can get some big old shaky head jigs - Bobby's got some nice ones in the Megastrike line - and pop a big old monster creature on there. Both will catch, and neither is "wrong." But when I hear each term mentioned, I immediately think of what I just described above.

All but two of my reels have been totally cleaned and rebuilt. Cork has been cleaned, refilled and sealed. A couple rods are getting a few guides rewrapped. Waiting on my line delivery.

The I is too new to tell. I'd take a D or E over a G. Nothing wrong with a G, but the E and D are built like tanks.

The seat was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. A wimpy camel, that is, lol.

That's part if the reason I like to let them sit on a towel for a few minutes. It lets some of the excess drain out. It'll eventually drain out during use, but it can make a mess. If there's way too much, it can get to places it shouldn't.

Clayton is a beast. I dented hood on my Maxima trying to load it on the roof rack with the battery and seat still in it, lol. My old, and Clayton's current PBG has a steerable rudder option on it, and while it shouldn't be a must have on a good tracking hull, it is on the original PBG. The trade off is a massive capacity, stability of an aircraft carrier, and enough storage to being a bass boat worth of gear. Hadn't had a chance to see the new boat, but a lot innovations in design have happened since the originals release. OK make a great boat, though.

I live and die by the go big or go home plan. Many tournaments that I've finished high or won, it took all day to get five. To me, a kicker is not bonus big fish. A kicker is a shot at the lunker pool. I feel real good when all my fish are big. I can't stand getting beat by a dude with four 12" dinks and one slob, lol. Last year I didn't come close on lunker, but I finished in the too three in all my tournaments save one, where I got fifth. That limit fishing thing really only works when no one pre fished, and your going to a new lake cold. To me, that takes the skill out of winning, and reduces it to the luckiest guy winning, not the guy that always catches bigger fish.

Id rather a flat bottom jonboat in current, and on the Susky, it would be better too, with its shallow draft. Semi v hulls are better in lakes with chop, they are also easier to row. The trade off us usable fishing space. There's a lot more room in a flat jonboat than a semi v of the same length.

I'd be looking at Cardiff or Calcutta.

For $100, most rods I've used are "average." Let's face it, that's an average priced rod. And it's not a bad thing - today's average priced rods are leaps and bounds better than the above average gear I used just a decade ago. Leaps and bounds better. Almost all these average rods get closer and closer to the $150 rods I upgraded to just a few years ago. Many if those rods are still being made, but they're closer to $200 these days. The sub $200 market is very competitive and pretty much anything in the $100 range is a really good stick.

As far as soaking your stock bearings, I recommend soaking in Perfect Solution, in a covered jar over night. Scrub any junk off the outside with toothbrush and warm water. Replace in fresh PS overnight, rinse in hit water until thoroughly cleaned. I use a hair dryer on low to dry mine. Give them a gentle spin test, if not smooth, repeat. Before replacing, use a single drop of oil in the gap near the races, gently spin and set on a paper towel for a bit. Put in the reel, but don't wing it full blast, let the oil disperse throughout the surfaces in the bearing with gentle rotation. Next day, and they should spin like crazy. For oils, bantam oil is a good gen purpose, Oust Metöl is a good performance oil, but needs to be reapplied frequently, after 12 hours or so of use.

Really, spool start up effort causing fatigue? I can honestly say that hasn't been an issue for me and was never a consideration when upgrading bearings. My biggest reason to upgrade bearings? Because it's cool to soup up a reel. I don't have any issue with guys popping the hoods on their cars, and showing off mods that don't get you from point A to point B and faster. Just call it what is. If you looked at many of my reels, you'd never know what I've done to them. I like the sleeper look. If you want to add new bearings, go for it. If the five minute swap and expense is worth avoiding the process to get the most out of stock bearings, that's ok too. To say its a must isn't exactly true. Not in my experience anyway, and I've had a few reels come across my desk. In the case of OS bearings, I've never understood why anyone would pay a premium for a sealed bearing, only to remove and discard the seals. Yet they are the most oft recommended bearing. Get a quality shielded bearing, and you'll be in business with a low maintenance, quality bearing.

Regardless of the size of fish in your lakes, proven swim baits, always produce some of the biggest fish in the lake. I'm not chunking huge baits, but what I throw are pretty big - 6-9" -and they do work. Haven't tried any of these baits yet, but the Deps baits I've used are quality, and worth the money. Buzzjets…mmmmmm.

Cent brakes aren't going to matter at slow speeds for pitching. I generally use a completely free spool, and leave the brakes as is.

You're looking for a Sportmaster or Torquemaster LU. The Sporty is for top speeds over 80 ish. Pay attention to gear ratio as well. It's not as hard a swap as you might think. The tricky part is lining up the splines in the shaft to the receiver on flywheel. You'll want an extra hand to rotate the flywheel to get it aligned. Note the direction it spins when you start it - don't go against it. I'd say one way or the other, but I honestly can't remember off the top of my head. There's several vids out there that show replacing the impeller, and the process is essentially the same.

I'd be looking at Hawgtech if I absolutely felt the upgrade was necessary. I have several Chronarch Es, and a good flush and lube with good bearing oil gives me more performance than I've needed. I have other reels with Bocas, ZPI, and Smooth Drags. The net gain over stock in these reels is nil over a properly oiled stock bearing. When I think of upgrading reels, I generally look at the drag washers and a CF handle with bearing knobs before I consider a bearing upgrade.

Emergency sugar source.

Maybe Hi Salenity and slonezp should meet up.

I leave this up to the fish, and what gear I'm using. My personal best NY largemouth fought about as hard as a water logged boot. Another fish, just an ounce off that fish made three drag stripping runs before giving in. My philosophy has always been that the longer that fish is in the water, the better it's chances of escaping. If I was in it just for the fight, I'd be targeting different species. In fact I do, winter steelhead are probably the most spectacular fighters out there, especially in tight tributary quarters on light line.

Using a strong material like para cord is a good idea. I often use the paddle as a quick mud anchor, when it's on the leash.

Okuma has been upping their game in the bass department. I know a ton of inshore and bass guys from the kayak fishing scene in the SE love the stuff. I hope to try out the new TCS series that Scott Roland uses.