shorefisher

Thanks for the advice. I would have been happy to have given you a hand as well. I'm a certified diver. But if you wonder why I don't just dive it myself the answer is its below a landfill and I don't relish the idea of going back in that water anytime soon. :-/ Although as ponds go it looks remarkably clean with surprisingly little snot algae. Unfortunately I only had a senko (salty stick on the line) so I'm not sure the magnet would work as well for me. What I was thinking was making a small grappling hook by brazing some hangers together and dragging the area. Ron were your cork handles permanently ruined by their prolonged soak?

From what I've heard he was accused of weighting the fish with lead in the gullet and his records were stripped but then reliable witnesses cast doubt upon the accusers so his record was re-instated. -shore That wasn't George Perry. You're thinking of the world record smallmouth and DL Hayes. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/columns/story?columnist=wilson_taylor&page=g_col_Wilson_smallie_record_turns-50 You're right it was Hayes. :-?

From what I've heard he was accused of weighting the fish with lead in the gullet and his records were stripped but then reliable witnesses cast doubt upon the accusers so his record was re-instated. -shore

Palomar knot hands down. There was a recent test shown on the Versus website and the Palomar knot outperformed every other knot by quite a large margin on thier test equipment. I also had some knot failures while using the improved clinch and when I switched to the Palomar those problems immediately stopped. As an added bonus I find it the easiest to tie. -shore

While I am by no means an expert, what I would recommend for what it's worth to cover your bases are: Finesse: 6'6" Medium Fast or XF spinning rod with 2500-3000 size spinning reel. Spooled with 6-8# mono or hybrid. Crankbait: 6'6" Medium Moderate baitcast rod with slower (5.1-1 ratio) reel. Spooled with 10# mono or hybrid. All around: 6'6"-7' Medium-Heavy Fast baitcast rod with faster (6.1/7-1 ratio) reel. Spooled with 12-14# mono or hybrid. Flipping: 7'3"-7'11" Heavy Fast baitcast rod with faster (6.1/7-1 ratio) reel. Spooled with 60# braid. At least this is what I would buy with my current level of knowledge. Good luck. -shore

I'm not much of a clean freak but I've never seemed to have the urge to kiss a fish...I'm not very superstitious either. How many of the big pro's kiss their fish? KVD?

I agree and found it very interesting that the recent world record bass was submitted as foul-hooked, there was no attempt at deception. I applaud this whole-heartedly and would do it the same way myself. http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20060320-1251-bn20bass.html Those guys spent almost every day trying to catch old "dottie" validly until she died this year after spawn. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/news/story?page=world_record_bass_dies

I sure is fun catching bass with a spook. I caught my pb smallie (3.5lbs.) on a frog colored super spook. He dragged that spook 4 ft underwater in a blink of an eye.

No I've been a little under the weather. I would like to get my rod and reel back, but I don't really have much faith that I will. I will try to drag for it the next time I'm there. Do you have any suggestions to make snagging it easier?

One word: Gore-Tex. Nuff said.

I would say yes from a looks perspective but they definitely do not perform 3x better than a rapala or heddon. I personally prefer Megabass, they are funkier and yet still very beautiful

Why do you think these are lower end "Chinese reels?" Both are American companies that have their reels built there (high end Pfluegers are made in Korea). I don't know much about Pflueger's bearings, but I've never heard anything bad about them. Quantum's hybrid bearings are very highly regarded. BTW, wherea reel is made doesn't have much to do with where the bearings are made. Revos are "made in Korea" but their bearings are German made. Truth be known, Shimano and Daiwa probably get their bearings from companies that supply other reel manufacters and sewing maching companies. Pflueger President -10 bearings -made in China -$59 Shimano Stradic -5 bearings -made in Japan-$179 That was what I was talking about with the lower end "Chinese" reels and the difference in bearing counts. The Japanese reel is 3 times the cost but only half the bearings.

Congrats, thats good to hear.

I would suggest a jon boat as well. Canoes can be a little unstable. I recently went over.

Maybe you are a little depressed? A lot of stress can do that to you. My prescription is to try to get a "slap in the face". Something that is shocking and forces you to get out of your rut and look at things around you differently. Many things can do this but the best way is to do something completely different than you're used to. Best of luck, Shore

Looks great to me.Nice job!

6lb on spinning tackle for weightless or finesse is the bomb!

Very well put Natural.

Congrats! Now here's to not having to wait another 19 yrs. to break this one.

Thanks for your support guys. I learned my lesson the hard way as usual. But it's not all bad. I needed a new pair of glasses anyways.

lol dammit burley

Thanks for the suggestion, it makes a lot of sense.

So you're saying that the Incyte with it's 11 bearings is a better reel than a Stradic with it's measly 7 bearings? I think there has to be more to it than that.

Well I read RonDef's account on flipping a canoe and it sounded so interesting I just had to try it myself. 1st Mistake -Couldn't seem to find anyone else interested in fishing today and sometimes it's better to fish alone anyways so I decided to load up the 17ft. aluminum Grumman canoe and head out to my favorite pond solo. I got her out on the water and quickly realized that she wasn't nearly as stable with the front 4 feet of the canoe out of the water while I was sitting in the back. But no matter or so I thought. I got up into my favorite little cove and proceeded to quickly nail 4 bass. 2nd Mistake -I decided to that my spot was fished out for now so I got ready to go to the next. I leaned over to grab the paddle and the boat shifted and just kept on going. I had one of those really long seconds where the oh crap is flashing through your mind, I tried to counterbalance the other way but quickly realized it wasn't gonna happen so to save the canoe from completely flipping I just went with it and rolled in. 3rd Mistake -My rod and reel were previously on my lap but now around 15ft deep in the muck along with my regular glasses and of course my cell phone was in my pocket. BONUS: Tacklebox with ALL my prize tackle didn't go over. Oh and the flip-flops managed to stay on my feet. I wish I had a video of it, it must have been pretty funny. Ahhh SPLASH! There was a guy shore fishing across the pond and he must have wondered what the devil I was playing at. So I'm pretty bummed right now. The moral of the story is that If you are canoing solo you may want to try sitting in the middle of the canoe. Thank god it was summer that I learned my lesson the hard way. Also if anyone has a quality spinning reel for sale in the 2500-3500 size range could you please pm me and let me know? I feel sick that I lost my other one and I don't have anything to use right now.

I was just wondering if someone knew how the bearing game is played. For example the more bearings a reel has, one would assume that it would be better. But clearly this isn't necessarily the case. A Pflueger President ($59) has 10 bearings a Quantum Incyte ($59) has 11 while a Shimano Symetre ($69) has 5 or a Shimano Stradic ($169) or Daiwa Fuego ($220) both have "only" 7. Are the bearings better utilized on the Shimano's and Daiwa's? Better quality? Do they add bearings unnecessarily to the lower end chinese reels (Pflueger, Quantum) to simply be able to claim more for marketing? I realize that there are hundreds of other components that differentiate these reels but I was just focusing on the bearings.