SirSnookalot

Real fur coats are easy to find, just go to a real furrier or high end department store. Fur is probably not the best choice for fishing and I wouldn't wear it for hunting unless you want to be the hunted.

The only time longer casts are really needed is to reach fish more out of range than normal, most of my strikes are usually within an easy comfortable cast. The problem with mega casts is getting a good hook set, having to retrieve the fish from a longer distance giving it more of chance to get unbuttoned. I also think fatigue may come into play as well. Given a choice I'd prefer to sight cast to a given a spot where I see activity and the potential of getting a strike, that said there are those times when ya gotta turn it on.

I no longer fish canals that are low banked, the ones we have in P.B. county are high, gators and mocs are pretty much in the water or close to the bank, not as likely to be high up where I am, but it can happen. This is summer and it's growing season, not only is the bass bite slow but the grass gets high on the canals, I don't like to fish them until they are mowed which starts around November. I fear snakes much more than gators.

Some of the receipts I have seem to fade over time, on my more major purchases I'll scan the receipt and save it in my computer, also pretty easy to find.

There is a difference between an imported product and an American manufacturer making their products in another country to benefit their own bottom line. This forum in particular is very pro Shimano, that company is foreign and their products are not made in the U.S., I guess one could say Shimano is an imported product. We buy Shimano because it's a good product, not because it's an import and some of our members "bleed" Shimano. The U.S. being involved in the global economy both imports and exports items, some of our exports include medical technology, airplanes both commercial and military, autos and off road heavy industrial machinery. If we took a good look at the labels of our clothing, some may opt to walk around naked and barefoot. I wonder what we base the term quality control on? I personally have not been to a Chinese factory and couldn't comment on their quality control firsthand. Like many I get that kind of information on the net, probably much of it from people that haven't been there either or even being an expert in the field. Not implying that the quality control is good or bad, just saying I don't really know. I have seen 100's of quality control departments in American plants. Some more sophisticated than others but the nuts and bolts of it is, a person at a workstation checking a part for proper size and imperfections. If it weren't for bad parts I wouldn't have made a living for 35 years in the scrap biz.

It's possible that anyone can get sea sick even if they have been out thousands of times, but some never do. Been on the water since I've been about 5, fishing, boating and sailing, inland lakes and rivers, great lakes and the ocean and never sea sick. I've been boats of all sizes and designs, oceanliners have stabilizers and sea sickness is less likely unless some very heavy weather is encountered, they will always try and navigate away from it. My wife gets sea sick before the boat leaves the dock, we don't do cruises anymore, lol. I usually have a hearty breakfeast, but no greasy foods and very little salt. I just got back from offshore fishing this morning with 4-5 footers and it was rough (got skunked) and I felt just fine, next time may be in flat water and get sick, ya never know.

I can't agree or disagree, just call it the way I see it. I don't see the problem being Chinese labor, is it really any different than the labor in Malaysia and that's where my stradics are made. The materials and designing could have more influence that the actual assembly. As far as reels goes I stick with name brands and many of them are made in China and I can't say they have been problematic, they have actually performed well. We know why major companies make reels there, it's all about the overall expense. Overall I'm pleased but I would probably not buy a "knockoff", considering the fact that I find name brands to be affordable. I'm sure I'm going to have 40,000 people disagreeing with me, being a spinning user I don't feel bass put that much stress on my reels. For bass fishing I use 3 supremes and a $30 Shakepere agility for several years, each reel works as good as the day I bought them, my biggest bass are actually caught on the Shakepere which is silky smooth. That said this reel would not last too many 10# tarpon or jack crevalles before it was wasted, just not built for that kind of stress.

I had them all over the place in the canals near my home before the freeze, I'm in Delray. I have caught a few near Lake Ida this year but specifically targeting them is pretty much out of the question, it's just a matter of luck. I do believe snook season never did open back up on the gulf side. The outpouring of all this freshwater this year has made this a very difficult year to catch anything in saltwater, the fishing is nothing like it should be this time of year.

Pretty much for me too. I don't find bass to be that much of a problem with smell. The tougher odors for me are squid, frozen sardines and barracuda, as disgustingly as they smell they are are absolutely wonderful on the plate. I wash with soap before I leave the marina, then again when I get home, the smell may take a few hours to dissipate.

There is a difference between using certain rods and reels for specif species and an outfit for general purpose for a variety of different kinds of fish. From my point of view I don't do technique specific but species specif. I'm going to use an outfit pretty much based on the average size of my target fish, average vegetation if any, strength and stamina, and they way they normally fight. Another factor I find important is whether I'm shore, beach, jettie, or boat fishing, I may not use the same combos for each venue. For general purpose I'd be using a 4000 reel and a mh 7' rod, I can handle a wide range of fish with it. If I'm going to be target specif, which is pretty much my modus operandi, I'm going use lighter or heavier gear based on what my goal to catch is. When we happen to hook another species or a larger than average for our target, that's when the rubber meets the road, can't think of a better scenario than that.

A 4000 sahara on an ugly stick imo is a bit heavy in weight and not real comfortable. The sahara whether a 3 or 4000 is fine but I'd look for a different rod for better balance and comfort.

The largest I throw is 6" Bomber windcheater weighs about 2 oz used when I'm targeting larger snook and tarpon. Lure dives too deep for the freshwater places I fish in Florida, and I don't care to use a rod that heavy rod for bass. I have some larger lures that I use offshore but they are trolling lures, those are even weighted down.

Match the size of the hook to the bait. I'd be using different sizes for red, leaf worms, or nightcrawlers. Same would apply for baitfish, as small as a 1/0 up to 6/0 to catch the same sized fish. I do a lot of fishing with bucktails and flairhawks, form 1/4 oz with a smaller hook to 1oz with a larger hook, the target species and size remains the same.

Never thought about it, being responsible I never bought anything I couldn't afford. In addition to tackle boat ownership is as much an expense as anything else, has to be counted. When I was in Michigan my boat was at a marina on Lake St. Clair, insurance, maintenance, dry dock in the winter is all part of it, not being a bass boat it was used for other outings as well. Changing my residence to an inland lake, didn't use the primary boat for fishing, I prefered a rowboat with a small OB. Moving to Florida 10 years ago I brought nothing with me for fishing, no way could I estimate what I've spent. I have everything I need but not everything I want, so it never stops.

Tough question to answer, fishing everyday I get both very productive days and days that are totally dead. I have great days when I've only caught 1 fish in saltwater if it's the "right fish" and not so good a day if I've caught 20 unchallenging fish. I do most of my bass fishing from late Nov to about March, that time of the year it's usually productive so it's enjoyable.

On my initial spooling it's all mainline with no backing, when needed I'll add 50-75 yds. For many reasons line on certain combos I use doesn't last that long, in those cases it's a fresh respool. I load up between 1/4 and 1/8 of the lip, better casting performance and less revolutions on the crank during retrieve, I do believe the drag works better on a full spool too. I like being prepared as much as I can, that being good healthy line and my spool full, never know when a lot of line is needed for a fish. You're as good as the weakest link, best line in the world is useless if you don't tie proper knots and check the leader.

I think pike can put on the afterburners and move out a pretty good speed, 20 -25 mph wouldn't surprise me at all, maybe even a bit more. From my own experience I catch fish that swim in that speed range, if they want that lure you cannot reel faster than they can swim.

When I use my conventional reel offshore I put it on a 25lb class Star handcraft, being as the Avet mxj is a fairly light duty reel it's primarily a kingfish outfit. My offshore spinning outfits pack punch 30 and 40# class rods with reels having over 30# max drag, they handle most of we encounter.

Right......... use a rattling bobber and trail off about 4' of leader then hook a jig or spoon, brings in spanish mackerel

I usually wash with soap and water, but other remedies: Tomato juice vanilla extract activated charcoal

We are getting a constant fresh water flow out of the spillways due to Lake O as I understand it. Every charter captain, commercial fisherman and recreational anglers I know have been saying this is the worst fishing they can remember, too much freshwater flowing into the ocean.

Where have you been using the reel? It's possible to get sand in it if placed on the ground in a sandy area, on beach when it's windy, dunking the reel. Sand can be a nightmare, a good professional cleaning is probably in order. What I would do first is take the spool off and put some lube on the spindle, then I would oil the handle bearings. With all due respect to your financial situation, it may may not pay to have a pro clean it, especially if shipping is involved, that being the case buying a new one isn't a bad idea. With the present state of the reel you may want try a complete teardown yourself, I don't think there is much to lose in trying. Little tip, tuck a towel or rag into your belt and place your reel on that instead of right on the ground.

There is a time and place for a bobber (I believe in this hi tech world they are called floats today), if I needed one I'd use it. I think for the most part it's for a bait application, not for lure use. But there are exceptions, it can used for a flowing water situation like a shallow stream to keep a grub or jig from scraping the bottom and getting snagged, I'm really not too familiar with that but it makes sense.

I was having a bit of trouble with one of my spinning reels, take in to my local reel tech and he said I needed a bearing, maybe 2. This local shop does not stock every bearing, I could have ordered from the manufacture but I want to put the reel back in service right away. Boca Bearings is only a few miles away so I stopped in for the first time, this is one class A operation. They measure the bearings at the parts counter, mentioning it was for a reel their fishing guru "Larry" comes out to assist. He gave me 2 choices, stainless or ceramic bearings, I've never had a problem with this particular located stainless bearing on any my saltwater reels, but I bit for the ceramic one packed in grease, his claim was smoother operation, who doesn't want a smoother reel. They were not cheap, $10 for stainless and $12 for the ceramic, I could have paid $4.00 from the mfg, but I have to wait, I didn't care about the money. I'll see at 7:00 am this morning whether it was worth it or not. On a side note we were discussing line roller bearings, one nameless company in particular where that bearing was constantly failing, his claim was the braided line was doing the damage. I have had that bearing fail on that reel and Larry did say it was common. That would never deter me from buying another one as it's an excellent reel, I have 2.

It's going to depend on what company is making the rod, not all mh are identical. For much of my bass fishing I use a 7' 8/17 medium spinning, with a reel weighting 8.8 oz, very well balanced and I can fish all day without ever being tired. I have handled mh's that pretty much fish the same as my medium, it boiled down to trial and error to get what liked.