J Francho

I always cheaped out on spinners for years. Anything over $50 seems to hold up just fine. I do fish with a few CI4 Stradics now, but I bought them at a reduced price, and wanted to try something light. They were worth it to me.

Most of those rules are common sense, cold water best practices. Unfortunately, common sense can be uncommon, and deaths and injuries have provoked lawmakers to respond. We love making laws up here, lol.

I like MLF, Hunt for Big Fish, and Lunkerville.

Perspective. Relative size of objects in a photograph can be distorted when using a wide angle lens. http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/wide-angle-lenses.htm

I say this a lot. It really is what fishing is all about, if you've been doing it a while.

I'm talking in general. If I meant "you," then I would have quoted you. That my post followed yours is purely coincidental.

If anyone thinks a bass sees anything the way we see it, they're missing a ton.

I do things my own way. Since I often fish alone, I don't wait until someone clobbers fish with something new. I learn how myself. That isn't to say I don't learn when someone else is fishing with me, though. I guess I'm lucky, living on one of the Great Lakes. I can launch at one place, and fish three or four completely different types of fisheries, from creek/river, to marsh, to weeds, to deep open water. Lots of opportunities to try new things. To me, action and profile are important, but location is most important. The fish have to be there, otherwise it doesn't matter what your throwing. I embrace improvements, not fads. The Jika rig has just about supplanted all of my Texas rigging, save for heavy punching situations, times when I am using it as a search bait. For the typical pitch, penetrate weeds, and hop, it simply is better at it. Call it a fad, I call it a better tool. Same goes for wacky jigs. I use to pinch a tiny Water Gremlin Bullshot on the line just above the hook on windy days. Now I use a wacky jig. It's more connected, and easier to rig up. As far as carrying lures and not using them all the time, who cares. I like having a big selection. Sometimes I'm learning about one lure, and how it works, and don't care if I'm catching fish. That knowledge will be useful later. So far, this mentality has worked for me. I've never been a follower, never will.

Just clean the teeth with a degreaser and a toothbrush. Make sure the drag surface is clean and the drag washer isn't to worn.

That's a smoking deal!

Here's my old dog. My ex took her when she left. She plans on producing a second litter. Her grandfather was Calvin Klien, look him up, world champion in 2003. I'll let you know if she's got puppies if you want.

My favorite for the past three years is a certain JDM Flash Minnow. It's different than what is currently available, and my love of this bait has more to do with me knowing EXACTLY what it's doing because I've thrown it so much. I have a couple others that I like on specific waters, but they're X-Raps, and we all know they don't work! Flash Minnow: Mr. Pink: Mr. Construction Cone:

No, that'sa completely different reel than the 200e series. That's pretty much retail what you paid.

This gets updated as more info comes in: http://www.wnybass.com/opentournaments/

Live fishing would be incredibly boring.

I hear this a lot, and to an extent, I agree - I mean, I own two boats. But to me, I would be there, co angler/non-boater or not. If someone offers me a few bucks, or even lunch, that's cool. I just think it's a little low rent to demand cash. If you can't afford, then why did you buy it? If it's a team format, and my partner will share in the decisions to make runs, where to fish, etc., then we split the gas and tournament fees.

Pressure? I do what I do, and continue to look for the big bites: deeper, slower, and with bigger baits. That doesn't necessarily mean gigantic swimbaits. A 6" worm on a flick shake jig actually represents something fairly large. But if you have to have a specific bait, that always catches fish, a T-rigged 7" or 10" worm, with a sliding weight is a classic presentation that never gets old. A jig with a craw trailer is another. I personally prefer the action of Ragetail baits, so I recommend the Anaconda and Rage Chunks and Craws for that.

To think I blew a dozen or so Curado e's out the door for around $100 a year ago...I could have been rich!

I don't really have a favorite. I throw, Pointers, Flash Monnows, Staysees, Rogues, Deep Rogues, 110s, OSP, McSticks....and on and on...

Cast control usually refers to the spool tension knob. You probably need a new shim. You can call Daiwa and order the parts. The parts diagrams are on their site, or came with the reel.

To answer the OP, I'd either want jet black, or bone white.

Yes we do have them.... HERRINGS blueback herring* Alosa aestivalis alewife* Alosa pseudoharengus hickory shad Alosa mediocris http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/fish.html

Sorry, no new topics on this. See the Forum Rules and FAQ:

I can't remember not fishing.

I use 12 or 15# P-Line CXX for this.