SirSnookalot

I fish t rigged flukes quite often if I need to go weedless, I like to fish them on or near the surface, I like a good thump or watch that bass follow them in. As productive as bottom fishing is I seldom do it, not crazy for that kind of fishing. What I will do if the water conditions allow is swimming bucktails and marabou jigs. I can work them almost any place in the water column, straight retrieve, jigging them, twitching them, whatever I feel to get the strike. Since I make my own I can make any size and weight, and use a variety of tying materials.

I use 2 items, either I use Corrosion Block, which was suggested to me by a Shimano Tech @ Lott Bros in Florida. I also use Boca Bearings oil in a syringe, I buy it at their counter I live just minutes away.

For a slow speed troll I'd probably start off with hard jerkbait like a #14 xrap or a Yozuri magnum, something on that order. I've been very successful using metal jigs like (every company calls them by a different name) speed jig, sling jig, jig fish, crippled herring. Two companies' metal jigs I like are Braid and Gotcha. Not only do I troll them, I cast them and jigging them is real hot ticket down here. Bucktails like a flair hawk work well as they have a longer tail than many bucktail jigs.

You are the one that mentioned owning stradics up to the 6000, my feeling the saragosa is better suited for the demands of a reel that size, made In Malayasia too. Not that I would have any qualms using a 4000 for muskie, but most muskie anglers do not. Shimano does say the stradic is approved for saltwater and the warranty covers it for that use, I don't know how it could be construed soley a freshwater reel. I do think my Malaysian stradics perform well, but I have had problems along with many other people, I'm sure some people have not had the problems and would praise them a bit more than I do. I have reels that perform quite nicely made in places other than Malaysia too.

I totally agree. 45 seconds with a bass on the line is a pretty long time, and I'm sure it's not one 45 second run or 45 yards in distance. Working your drag, how so, by tightning or loosening, grabbing or palming the spool? I do all of that but not that often and not typically for bass. With all due respect the fish may have been lost due to over excitment and not being calm, not the drag setting which should be set where you want right from the start. A fish of any species that jumps will not be landed 100% of the time, that's near impossible. The more bass caught the more one understands the nature of their fight, making it easier to stay calm and land them.

When you have reels that constantly need some kind of repair that are experienced by other people as well, the country of origin isn't the issue, it's the parts and workmanship that suspect. Nothing wrong with a Malaysian stradic but not the only reel I use that I like. For a light duty reel it performs admirably, there is a limit in size, target fish and environment I would use it for, a 4000 would be as high as I would go. For a diehard Shimano user I do believe the saragosa in sizes 6000 and bigger is better option, it's made in Malayasia as well.

Exactly, line pulls out smoothly plus a drag knob that clicks in increments for a more precise setting. Strong max drags are not needed for the most part, setting the drag to line diameter is the important issue. There are cases where model A may have a lower max drag than model B, sometimes model B will be a more expensive reel with different drag components. In the case I'm thinking of model A doesn't compare to model B on any level, including drag performance.

This morning was a "Chamber of Commerce day" in South Florida, just beautiful with clear, flat water. Having about an hour of the incoming tide after sunrise the objective was barracuda, one of my favorites. Start fishing the beach side of the jettie just before sunrise, catch 3 small cuda. I turn my attention to the big boys and threw my tube into the inlet, first cast I get nailed by a 49". No one there to claim the prize for dinner I released it, no photo today, wanted to get the fish back into the water.

That's very true.

I wouldn't use f/c at all unless I was concerned with abrasion or stealth, which I don't see the need with a moving lure. A f/c leader used with either mono or braid would work just fine.

Everything you really need to know is out there flying around on the net. The good thing about a message board is that most of that information is in one place and easier to find. The bad thing about any message board are conflicting opinions, that can confuse a new fisherperson. Once the basics are understood nothing beats real time on your body of water, common sense goes a long way. There are thousands upon thousands of people fishing using equipment in all price ranges. From the newest amateur to the seasoned angler to the professional and commercial fisherman, all kinds of different brands and models are being used and catching fish. This term "best" is pure lunacy, no one can possibly use everything made to compare as what is the best, which really brings these opinions to no more than personal favorites. All that matters is the fish on the end of the line, spend what you are comfortable with and have fun.

It's all spinning for me, only time I use a mh is when the vegetation is very thick or I'm throwing lures that warrant using a heavier rod.

Hobe Sound is really good, Sebastion is even better. Florida surf fishing you don't need heavy gear, most fish are going to be caught within 50' of shore. I pretty much only use medium spinning with a 3000 or 4000 reel, 15# braided line. There is no control over what you might catch, one day it can be small jacks or bluefish, another day it can be 20# snook, big jacks or redfish. If hooking into a 20# jack and chasing it down the beach a few hundreds doesn't get your blood boiling, I don't know what would. Didn't have a strike yesterday off the beach, I did some peacock fishing on the way home caught a couple of nice ones to salvage the day, I'd rather have had that 20# jack, lol.

It's never numbers, but size is relative to the species. I do a lot of peacock fishing, in my area 5# is a really good one. It's a pretty decent fight but I have to use light or ml to get the enjoyment out of it. I have other fish in my area that even at half the size of the peacock is twice the fight, I love catching them. On the up side, it's as likely to hook into one of those fish bigger than 10#, that really is the expectation.

I've been the route with boat ownership, nothing negative about as I really enjoyed it. Had a pleasure boat docked at a marina on Lake St Clair. Once we moved to an inland lake the boat was at my own dock, had a rowboat there too and that's what I did much of my fishing from. I wouldn't mind having a kayak but I do not want to drag it out and mount it on my car. I could easily launch it in the ICW but using it in the ocean would mean I would have to drag quite a ways to the beach, then back when I'm, a lot of people do it. Even using it in freshwater canals here still means I have to drag it, I just don't want to that any more, there are some brackish canals that kayak would be super. I prefer bank fishing now, travel very light with only 1 rod, my method for both freshwater and saltwater is pretty much the same. Nothing I love better than fishing a beach. I do like my boating options, have several friends that I go out with plus I joined a boat club about 7 years ago. I joined with 2 other guys, one passed away, initial membership was very reasonable and the monthly dues are only $100. It's gas and go, I do have to make a reservation several days in advance. There are quite a few center console boats available from 21' to over 30', we like a 28' Sailfish with twin engines, we may take a smaller one if not available. I still like fishing the beach better.

I had a situation recently and I went ballistic on this guy. A guy about my age was fishing for moonfish with a crappie jig and gets hit by a small snook about 7#. Fishing off a jettie about 8' high using a lighter rod picking up the fish is impossible. The guy is holding the fish in the outgoing tide and said he is waiting for tide change so he can pull it around to the beach, that was in 30 minutes. I tell the guy to break it off, it's only a 20 cent lure, he didn't want to lose 20 cents. The fish did die, and the guy is still doing the same thing.

My price point is not based on budget but more on experience using equipment priced all over the map. I tailor my equipment to my brand of fishing, a rod for example needs to be able to cast a pretty good distance, have the backbone to handle the type of inshore fish that I catch. I have used rods that are close to 3 times the price of what my favorite rod is, granted they were a bit lighter (which is not too important to me) but no more comfortable, or cast any farther or handled the fish any better. Some of my rods are close to 8-9 years old, the cork still looks like new and I still love the rods. I've found my niche.

It's surprising how much salt is in the air even being inland 10 miles. I don't seem to have a problem with rust on my freshwater lures, I take no care with them either. Salt water hooks are different matter, I use VMC perma steel and they still rust up pretty bad. I do carry a diamond file for quick touch up, that seems to work well. I'm doing very little freshwater fishing now, peacocks have pretty much really slowed up around here. This hasn't been the best year I've seen for inshore fishing, most likely due to the lack of bait showing up. There are fish to be had but one needs to understand the tides and winds. To the gentleman from PSL, Hobe sound is one of the better beaches to fish, all free parking too. Taking a young fisherman to catch blue runners or small jacks off the beach is some pretty good stuff, those fish can really fight. If the fish are in it's pretty easy to do, all you need is a spoon. There are snook, redfish, ladyfish be coming in soon, from now until the end of the year there can be a lot of action in salt water.

How is it working? I bought some Zebco braid a couple of years ago, haven't had any problem with 20# on one of my cuda set ups, it's slightly thicker. I'm sure it's possible to get a bad spool of any kind of line, I can't recall it happening to me. I've used a number of brands of braided lines, PP is my most used because of the convenience and price. I don't see enough difference from 1 brand to another for me to take to issue. I do the same thing that everyone does, cast and retrieve except most my target species are different. I use 15 and 20# braid, if I'm having no problems landing 40 or 50 and have caught bigger tarpon I'm sure not going to have any problem bass fishing with the same line. People are pretty quick to blame the bow when it was the archer's fault.

Spinning or b/c doesn't make difference. I use flukes quite a bit but only when I have to fish weedless. I like to fish them sub or on the surface, excellent bait used working just off the shore of canals. If I have more latitude in the water column I prefer swimming a bucktail or marabou jig, I can work it more ways.

NO. I leave soft plastics in the trunk of my car year round and I'm in South Florida, they are in absolute pristine condition. I do not remove them from the package until I use one. I don't use senkos too often, have had a pack in my car for a couple of years.

I do get out on a boat but for offshore fishing, my inshore is done from shore. It's all personal but for me bass fishing doesn't do it for me like inshore fishing does. I do bass fish in the cooler months when the inshore bite is slow. Right now I can't force myself to go out and deal with the heat to bass fish, I've even curtailed my peacock fishing. A 10# bass which I probably won't catch or a 10# jack that I will catch, there is no thought involved which one I'd rather have on my line.

NO ! What lands a fish is a tight line........PERIOD !

I believe there can only be 1 world record and for redfish it happens to be North Carolina, 94#. Sebastion does hold some great fish, Florida record is 52# caught in that general area.

A b/c would not help or hinder, both are just tools to get the lure to the zone. I don't use a b/c but I do use a conventional reel with no level wind or any brake settings, I can cast the crap out of it. But I don't use it that often because I prefer spinning. If I were bothered by the bail I'd be using a bailess spinning reel. This being a freshwater site with the focus on bass, I understand when people feel a spinner is finesse and b/c is power. As much as I understand that, I understand that it just isn't true. Quite honestly when I'm bass or peacock fishing I'm not expecting to catch anything where I would need or want any thing but a light spinning set up. Where I do most of my fishing now the sight of a b/c is a very rare event, it's spinning or fly.