Team9nine

It's fun to track numbers, baits, etc., but largely meaningless. Every so many years I track, too, just for something to do. A lot obviously depends on the individual angler and the waters you fish. You tend to catch the most bass on the baits you throw the most. For example, I haven't caught a bass on a spinnerbait in a good 10 years, but I also never throw them. This year I started a rough tracking log again and have over 650 bass landed to date. About 50 percent are Ned fish, 30 percent are swimbait fish, 10 percent are crankbait fish, and the other 10 percent misc.

Recent color/vision studies done on bass suggest bass often appear to confuse the colors black and blue, so the guess would be they are seeing blue as perhaps a lighter shade of black (gray?).

As of the end of 2012, the list according to Ken Duke was: Todd Faircloth (10) Kelly Jordon (9) Greg Hackney (8) Brent Chapman, Randy Howell, Dean Rojas (7) Ish Monroe (6) Guessing this was since the inception of the Elite Series and not since the start of BASS

You shouldn't need to use line conditioner at all with any fluorocarbon. Not saying it doesn't help, just that if your casting skills are up to par, you don't need it, especially with the advanced versions of fluoro out on the market now. Sounds like you're trying to force the fluoro issue too much. If you use braid and like it, then just stick with it. Nothing wrong with that. If you want to love/use fluoro, start with a straight mono/copoly outfit with an easily manageable line (use L&L conditioner to help if needed) and work your way up.

The only thing you did wrong was start out on braid You're probably stuck with it now, unfortunately. Again, just MHO, but while you may end up as an all braid guy, you should never start out as one. Reverses the normal learning curve and you can rarely get it back. As for line management difficulties, you just need to practice more and become a better caster. Fluoro is somewhat stiffer in most cases (vs mono/copoly, and much more so than braid) and requires a bit more "educated" casting skills. If you start on mono/copoly and work your way up to fluoro, the leap isn't that difficult. Going from braid to fluoro is a bigger challenge (again, MHO).

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't move right to braid this early in your progression. stick with mono/copoly or an inexpensive fluoro to begin with and learn some of the subtleties of "feel" and line watching first. Don't get caught in the "trap" of believing you need maximum sensitivity or that somehow you'll magically start catching more fish because you'll feel more with braid. A lot more involved than just sensitivity alone.

So many great pioneering anglers that time (and subsequently modern anglers) have forgotten. Charlie was definitely one of them

Doubt you'll have a problem. The old technique is called "backtrolling," using your gas engine, typically a smaller engine, to hold position and slowly move along breaklines, etc. Kind of forgotten about these days, but I've been doing it for the past 12 years for all kinds of species (not just bass) and can't complain about my catches

From what I can tell, the term was first used by snowmobilers back in the mid to late 1990s when Arctic Cat changed the color of their ZRs from all black to green. Since snowmobilers frequently run the ditches alongside roads because of the excess snow accumulation, that particular model got the nickname "ditch pickle." When it transferred to bass is hard to say for certain, but in 2010, a fly-fishing only tournament for bass was created in Vermont named the "Ditch Pickle Classic." According to Urban Dictionary, the most common definition of "ditch pickle" is, "A slang term for Largemouth Bass, a green fish that often lives in small murky ponds or in ditch waters."

Depends on the knot. For the Palomar which I tie the most and have used for probably 30 years, you want to pull both lines at the same time. Also, if tied properly, wetting that knot makes very little difference. Most times I don't.

We all have our trials. Mine is with the SDJ and J Knot. No problems with Uni, Alberto, Seaguar, FG or a host of others

Bought one too, about a year ago - turned it on once, and never worked again after that. Ended up in the trash about a week later after no luck trying to figure out why.

In my book, shaky is much more weedless and fishes faster and deeper. Neko is more specialized and “finessey” and falls/works slower. You can obviously adjust parameters of the two presentations, but you start losing some effectiveness IMO by doing so.

Once upon a time, trick worms were a specialized type worm and floated, and were used weightless as such, while most all “finesse worms” were used as some type of rig (doodle, slider, splitshot, texas, dropshot, etc.) and largely didn’t float. Now days, the lines have been blurred.

Same knot I use for braid, fluorocarbon, and any other type of line - the Palomar. Keep the game simple ?

So many different ways to slice this pie, but there are a lot of articles covering much of it online. Here is just one example: Classic winning lures

Totally normal. That’s what happens when you start out with all braid. There’s a learning curve, and going backwards on it is more difficult than going forward. Braid doesn’t belong on a baitcaster, except for a few instances where it does (MHO), but you’re probably stuck using it for most everything now. In the end, you just have to go with what works for you.

Unless the size of the fish you regularly catch, or the cover you fish around dictates otherwise, about any ML or M spinning rod will work fine. It's what I personally prefer (instead of heavier), and I've used everything from a Lightning Rod up to a custom built Avid blank. Not that critical from a setup standpoint, IMO, and a 6'6" is the length I tend to use most.

Depth offset - yep, but that's just the way I like to set my units up. Bugs me if I don't - lol. Personal preference

Straight fluoro here, and never use L&L. Do whatever works best for you.

The few times and applications I used mono for, I've frequently stretched a certain amount of end line to straighten them immediately instead of waiting for it to normally happen during use (and it does happen on its own). Contrary to popular belief, and @MassYak85 just beat me to the punch here, is that proper prestetching (pre-stretched for one minute to 75% of it’s breaking strain), increases the line's breaking strength by about 0.5 - 1 lb. depending on brand (based on ~8-10lb. lines), and stretch (% elongation) will drop between 3%-9% from original (less stretchy).

Palomar - all day, everyday. SDJ is a good one, also.

I don’t worry about it. I will rinse or wash if convenient, but that’s about the extent of my efforts.

Lol, fortunately, I fish alone most days. Nearly all the 110 breaks I can recall came in cold weather (near winter). Seems like the plastic gets brittle or something. Maybe it’s just when I throw them most. Have broken the bills off 1 or 2 DTs, but those have been from hitting riprap along the shoreline edge or bridge pilings (user error).

No, it's what happens when you're not paying quite as much attention to your backcast as maybe you should have