bilgerat

Wow, someone that 'gets it'. Well put.

;D Good one.

There's a custard stand my neighborhood that makes 'Artic Swirls' - your choice of any frozen candy bar crushed and mixed with any flavor you want. The Snickers is my favorite.

Well, I'm a spinning reel guy myself, but I don't think baitcast is the way to go for you. Not because I don't like them, but they can be frustrating to learn on. You can get a decent spinning combo at Dick's for well under $100. Dick's always has a sale going on, also $10 off $50 purchase coupons pop up occasionally. Maybe someone can post a link for the coupon, I've never had any luck finding it online.

The Zebco will be fine for the boy, but you can do better. Give us your budget and we'll try to keep the "but if you spend an extra $50 you can have this" wolves at bay ;D

Another vote for the Trion here. Bulletproof. Also, Mitch is on the money about the graphite vs aluminum question. To me, it becomes an issue with larger saltwater reels, not so much with freshwater. I have the little 25 size Trion. Early in the season I foul hooked a huge brown carp that ran me 8 ways to Sunday. That reel did not flinch.

Do you like the reel that much to put the effort into it ? It may be time to look into another one.

7 - 8 lb Bluegills. Now that would be insanity

I've had bass attack a worm I was 'ripping 'across the surface because I wanted to cast to another spot because nothing happened on the prior cast/ retrieve. This has happened to me often enough that I don't believe it's a fluke. The point is, as has been mentioned, to try ANYTHING. Perhaps the bass have seen too many "by the book" presentations. Earlier this month I spent a week in the Poconos fishing. I had quite a few torn up senko style worms. I cut the last 2" off and rigged them on 1/8 oz. ballhead jigs. Cast them out and a slow retrieve, sometimes a yo - yo retrieve. I absolutely killed with this setup. No action to them all, yet I could do no wrong with them.

Plastics keep better sealed up and out of the light. One option is a large enough zip lock bag that the 3600 can fit in OR individual sandwich size bags for each individual worm color.

I recently re lived my childhood by catching my own nightcrawlers in the backyard the old school way - soaking the grass then going out after dark with a flashlight. I forgot how fast those little buggers were. I still use bait when taking the kids out or going for catfish. No baitstores where I live either.

The first one you pictured could likely be made by cutting the back off of , say, a Culprit or any ribbontail worm. Then 2 skinny Creme worms or something similar could be attatched with Mend - it or some other soft plastic glue.

I 'tweak' hooks all of the time to suit my needs. Go slow with the bends. Excessive heat will weaken them. Some makes are more brittle than others and will just snap. Try a couple and tie one on. Hook it to fence and pull to the point of either line breakage or the drag engaging. If it doesn't break or straighten out, you should be ok to fish with it.

Jigs. I fish light tackle mosly, I don't have a use for them. Crankbaits. I never really used them much. I'll hold on to the ones I have for the occasional deep sand pit. Spinnerbaits. I've caught fish on these, it's just not something I feel I must have. If I had the discipline, I could get by with 7" worms, 5" Tiki Sticks, 3/0 Tru Turn hooks, a few topwaters and 1/8 oz. ballhead jigs with some 1.5" to 3" grubs. I could fit it all in my pockets. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that............. :

I had the exact same situation. Then I went back to these http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp?id=0018472&navCount=2&parentId=cat20291&masterpathid=&navAction=push&cmCat=MainCatcat20166-cat20291&parentType=index&indexId=cat20291&rid= I'm done with EWG's for worm hooks

Yup, just funnin' ya It cracks me up that you've caught fish most of us can only dream of using the most basic of gear. I wanna see Fish Chris EXTREME fishing, no rods or reels or tackle of any kind. Just stick your face in the water and come up with a fish. If anyone can pull it off, it's you No challenge ??!! Fishing is always a challenge. I think some of us get caught up in the details too much and make it a job. I've witnessed 9 year old kids pull nice bass out of the water using a piece of hotdog for bait. You think that kid was sweating details ?

Why not ? There's quite a few members here (myself included) who only use spinning. Speaking for myself, I'm a light tackle guy. I don't feel I'm missing out on anything by not using baitcasters, including accuracy. I own one, even got decent with it at one point, but it just never "did it" for me.

It's a law here in New Jersey as well. It's not enforced, but it's a law.

People who drive in the rain without their headlights on. You gotta be kidding me. I see it more and more. I guess I notice it more because I drive 30,000+ miles a year for work. You would think automakers would have caught on to this by now and have the headlights automatically come on when the wipers are turned on. Then again, that would be dumbing down the cars to the level of the drivers. Then they would just drive in the rain without wipers or headlights. Which would be fine if only the idiots crashed into each other and left the rest of us alone.

Will that make you fish more or less ? I love fishing in the rain.

Yeah, it is sad. I just got back from a local spot. There were a total of 8 other fishermen there during the course of my stay. I did not see a visible license on ANY of them > Kinda makes me wonder.

Big fish on nightcrawlers and ultra lite ? You, Sir, go against everything this site stands for. Your privileges are hereby revoked immediatelty. The guard will escort you to the door Just bustin' your chops. I love it. I'm headin' out in the rain now for a little action. See ya....

....do you encounter a Game Warden, Conservation Officer or whatever they happen to be called in your neck of the woods ? It's been over twenty years since I've been asked for my license here in New Jersey. Last year in the Poconos in Pa. they were on the lake a lot during the week I was there. I have the $90 summons to prove it. I had a non resident license. The boat I was using, which came with the rental house, was not registered. I would have been fine had I used the oars for propulsion. The minute I mounted a trolling motor, a registration was required. It was noted as such in the last page of the house rules. Obviously I didn't read the rules Anyway, maybe it's because I fish the little out of the way places and not the state areas that I don't see them. Also, the ratio of wardens to the area they have to cover is huge here. Or maybe it's that they see me but I don't see them (binoculars ?) Other than the summons, that's been about it for me. He wasn't a d*ck about it either. Very professional. How about you ?

What exactly is the trouble you have with spinning reels ? Most of the ones these days manage line well, with the advances in bails, rollers, rotors, etc. Here are some of the common causes of spinning reel line troubles: 1) Using too heavy line. 8# is generally the heaviest you should have on the average bass spinning rig. Don't be afraid of lighter lines. Thats what drag is for. 2) Closing the bail by turning the handle. ALWAYS close the bail by hand after casting. 3) Improperly spooling the line. Proper spooling is critical on a spinning reel.

I never bagged a "10", do multiple 2's and 3's count ?