avid

Wow, did you come to the right place!

Fishing the surf on Long Island? I'm guessing he was using an inexpensive spinning reel and a 10 foot or longer rod. The bail probably snapped shut as he whipped out the cast. The rod tip recoils and the mono acts like a rubber band shooting the rig back into his face. Yup glasses or a better quality reel may have helped, but I think this comes under the heading of "When it's your time to go..."

If I haven't caught a fish yet, I'll usually cruise slowly around the usual good spots throwing proven search baits like ratltraps, horny toads or swim senko's. I'll do that for about an hour trying to establish a pattern. If still no fish, I slow way down. Senko's and/or finesse worms worked very deliberately in fishy looking areas. If still no fish, then I go into the tackle box and fish fun stuff in different ways. That would be whatever I feel like at the moment. I abandon all "knowledge" and fish random areas, and start going through the tackle box. I often will get bit doing this. Sometimes even establishing a pattern I would never have thought of. One example was fishing a deep crankbait in the middle of the lake and running it into the bottom and then fishing it hard along the bottom like it was a jerkbait. Caught several nice ones doing that on a skunky day last year. Ya never know.

Mr. warmth. Hey Mike, what's shakin'? To answer the question, I rarely took pictures of my fish. Then I got on message boards at about the same time camera phones came out. I have yet to catch a nine pounder. The memory of the experience would please me for years. No camera? no problem.

As with all things related to fishing this brings out the beast in the true believers. No doubt about it, some colors work better than others. No doubt about it, lure manufacturers create colors to catch anglers. I find that the dark water - dark colors and clear water - natural colors rule of thumb is pretty good, but there are some colors that seem to go well with certain lures in a variety of conditions. For example the watermelon/blk senko is used everywhere I have fished with good results. Then again the loud colors like merthiolate or bubble gum work very well on trick worms. I think the best color is confidence.

I only use owner hooks. I think I carry it to the extreme but they have always worked best for me, so the little bit of extra money is nothing compared to the improved catch percentage. I never tried the ones you mention, but they have certainly caught my eye. I just have such excellent results with the 4/0 worm hook that I pretty much stopped experimenting. Oh, and I can get these at the local wal-mart, and that is a big plus.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....I love this stuff. Soft plastic is a material not a lure type. For example, cricket imitations and some swimbaits are both made from soft plastic yet no one with any sense would consider them to be the same lure type. So I will say plastic worms are the most productive, with jigs running a close second.

Welcome to the forum. This is a broad area. Your question seems pretty straight forward but details such as the conditions you fish in, lure choices, and your pocketbook are all major considerations. I suggest you scan the articles provided here. Equipment needs, conditions, baits and presentations are all thoroughly covered. My recommendation for someone who expects to fish pretty regularly would be to get three rods of good quality. A medium baitcast, a medium heavy baitcast, and a medium light spinning will cover most of your possibilities. A 6 1/2 foot to 7 foot rod is fine. Reels should also be the best quality you can afford, I like Daiwa but Shimano has a larger following. Then there are always the Pfluegeroids.....and you see how this can go. Line choices .... well there's another book. But good quality mono has caught more bass than all other line types combined. Flipping, big swimbaits, Carolina Rigs.... etc. All these techniques and more have specialty equipment. Is it necessary? Of course not. Does it make technique specific applications easier? Absolutely. So again I urge you to do some research. The articles and archives here can keep you occupied for weeks, and provide all the basics. Good luck to you. Oh, don't be upset if on occasion one of the mods relocates your post. I hear they do that but I have no personal experience in that area :

I have a BSR 852 that I use primarily for small baits of all types. But I have often used it for senko's with no problems. I love GLX's, just love em.

I use only daiwa reels. My TD-Z's are sweet. Feather light, smooth as silk, and they just keep going and going and going...

No doubt about it.

I like high end equipment. I'm no tournament fisherman so showing off my toys to the boys in the club is not my motivation. I like the feel of quality. Little things like added weight, vibrations, handle play, and funny little noises diminish my enjoyment. It doesn't take much to catch a fish. I'll bet there are over a million bass caught on Zebco's every year, but once you feel the precision of a well made technologically advanced reel, your Shakespeare's will never be the same.

ditto on the ratltraps. Change em out. RIGHT NOW!! My lipped cranks are mostly bagley's and LC's and wiggle warts. No hook problems there.

Ditto on the good news. I know of a couple who use them with excellent results.

I'm with Daniel on this one. I think the fish were aware of you. I can here them now. "Hey Joe, check out the color on this power worm" LOL

Rarely these days. I fish alot in ponds and it's hard not to catch at least a few small bass if you put on a senko and make enough casts. On some of the bigger waters I fish where the probability of striking out is higher, I still manage at least a couple of bass, often much higher in both number and size, but that's because my fishing buddy SteveP. is good at locating them.

Even if you are absolutely certain that it is the same fish. You count it twice. Think of it this way. Your in a tournament on lake X, you catch the biggest fish and win the big fish prize. you mark the fish. Three months later you return to Lake X for another tournament and catch the same fish which is also the biggest fish caught in that tournament, would you not be entitled for the big fish prize in the second tournament as well?

I fish with power pro alot. The only time I use a leader is for top waters like spooks and poppers etc. and that's only because the braid is so limp it wraps around the rod tip when "walking" or popping. I no longer use leader for any other reason. I do however use a black sharpie to dye the last few feet black. My water is generally stained and this blackening is all the camouflage that's needed. The easiest method I have found is to use a sharpie with a chisel tip. then cut a slot in the tip with a pen knife. Next strip out about 6 feet of line or so and run it through the slot. Voila!! less visible line.

Just came back from wal mart and they aren't stocking the rage tails. They doubled their senko colors, but no rage tails. I think that anaconda would work for me. The "feet" on the taod lure look mighty zoomesque to me from the pix.

Now that he has a nose ring, get him some tat's.

I feel sorta left out. I have been fishing seko's for years and can't recall one fish I caught that wasn't a bass. What am I doing Wrong? :-/

real purty.

This whole story is pretty disturbing. It raises alot of questions about the police dept procedures in Providence. I mean, a guy being questioned for murder is able to disarm and murder a police officer with his own gun in the police station? I don't know how he got that beating, but what's with the mask? I don't think many criminals on trial for their life will choose to wear a mask when presenting themselves to a jury. What's next? professional makeovers for ugly chicks so the jury will believe they could make a living as hookers?

I assume that they are typically offset, wide gap hooks. Nope. I have tried many many different brands and styles of hooks over the years. I consistently have the best hook up and landing percentage with owner 4/0 worm hooks. NOT the EWG's. Available at your local wal-mart

there is no excuse for laziness awwwwww c'mon Mike, with a little effort I'm sure you can find a few. ;D