SirSnookalot

Putting the price tag aside I want a reel that fits the fish I'm targeting as well as standing up to the demands of the conditions I fish in. Arguably bluegills give a really nice fight, I highly doubt I would spend over $500 for a stella even if I targeted them 7 days a week. On the flip side if I were targeting fish like dolphin 7 days a week, I'd be very inclined to buy a stella or other top of the line reel. Even giving consideration to some that believe that # for # that bluegill may be a tougher fighter.

Boat hands down, if for no other fact more total area of the body of water can be covered. I'm a member of a boat club, great concept but I'm limited with it.

Casting or spinning? I'd like it for surf or pier use, would not like it for a boat rod.

Tell the wife you want a Viking fishing boat.

I'd hate to catch 7 20# stripers at the same time on it, but I have caught 1 140# fish on spinning tackle.

I pretty much agree with this. Both derekxec and myself use mostly spinning gear, we use some conventional gear but not for bass fishing. The debate on quality and personal favorites will never end, some defend their position with in an inch of their life, I don't quite as passionate I just want the fish. I own reels from $30 to well over $200, the most expensive I own is my least favorite. For freshwater my Shakespere agilty has been going strong for several years and I can't believe how smooth it is with a pretty darn good drag, when or if it dies I'll just buy another. My 3 supremes work like they just came out of the box, none of my freshwater reels have ever been serviced. I own quite a few saltwater reels, many different brands and sizes, mine do get rinsed but not every time I use them, a drop of oil every now and then, but only get serviced when they need them, which is not all that often. IMO these reels are meant to be used hard, sand, salt air, saltwater and the fish themselves that put a strain on these reels, if you have one that's worry free and performs, you got a winner.

I've eaten them, there ok but give me heartburn, as a rule I toss them back or give them a way.......lol. As many of the Floridians know we get nice ones down here certain time of the year. This first one is about as big as I can handle of the beach (and it's not a big one), you cannot pull them in, you have to walk backwards and drag them from the swash. The second was a mere 22# and had to be run down with a boat to land it using a 5000 reel and mh rod, # for # IMO they blow tarpon out of the water.

Nope............that's my secret weapon and you can't have it, lol. You can't have it because it's one of those discontinued Chinese lures that's near impossible to find, the one in the photo was used for both fish, the pattern is clown. This $2.99 lure has accounted for more open water bass than all my other lures combined. I lost 1 last week and broke 2 this week, I'm heartbroken, lol, have only 8 left. These are my go to peacock lures.

Must be a generational thing here. I only want to use my smartphone while I'm fishing is for an occasional photo or important or emergency phone call. If I can't remember where I'm at, which is doubtful, setting the location feature on the camera and snap a pic of a tree or landmark, transfer it when I get home to my personal map on my pc that no one sees. Any information such as weather and tides are obtained long before I leave home to go fishing. My target, location, gear and clothing have already been decided, I leave home with a game plan. If I fish a freshwater public spot I have no problem giving out that info, saltwater my lips are sealed. Reason is simple, many places I fish early in the morning I want it quiet. Nothing I dislike more than the chaos and noise of someone throwing a castnet, not only may fish be spooked but we could get asked to leave, I'm not going to risk that.

I don't fish bass religiously in the summertime but I do get out a 3 or 4 times a week for an hour or 2 at a time. Summers can be tough, I mainly stick to ponds this time of year. I did do some canal fishing this past week, I was walking feeder canals due to the high water and some of the cleared out slop looking for peacocks, caught a few and some very nice bass. Yesterday for about an hour I targeted LMB in a tiny canal using flukes then a frog, and bass were there, lots of gar too. This kind of bass fishing is about as easy as it gets from the standpoint that electronics are not needed to find them, just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, some days you score some days you don't. Once the water levels drop a bit fish the bigger canals. Dec thru about Feb is a totally reversal in canal bass fishing, it can get very good.

I only made mention because you said a public course is fair game......it isn't. Only if it's ok with maintenance staff, most of them don't have the real authority, they are hoping no problems are incurred. I've fished on courses myself next to my home.

A public golf course means it's open to the public to play golf for a fee without having to be a member of a club. Public golf courses are either owned by an individual, a corporation, or municipality, public doesn't mean it's open for fishing at any time. You shouldn't be fishing while golfers are playing, you may be in their way and they have paid for time on the course. Sneaking, and that's what you're doing, before or after the day's golf is over is fine, as long as no one asks you to leave.

I've been hearing that for years, have no idea whether it's true or not. I fish artificial lures without any enhancement. I may as well use live or cut bait and get real smell.

^^ If you want bass advice, this is the man to get it from. ^^ Running on the tops of pads is great, I don't always keep my eyes open, I may close them close and wait to feel the fish on the rod, a visual can lead to a premature hookset. Simply because people can get too excited when they see a bigger fish. One of the beauties of night fishing is that it's mostly feel.

Line should be checked for wear whether it's braid, mono or a leader. Sometimes braid may look a little fuzzy, doesn't mean that's frayed or bad, it gets that way sometimes. The type of lure or method of fishing can put some excessive twist on it, braid cannot be easily trolled out, the life span can be reduced. Using baits that do not turn over or spin too much like jigs, the braid should last a very long time. Experienced fishermen do not lose too many fish with a poor knot or bad line, the knots are tied until they are perfect and the line is not used if it's questionable, it's replaced. Most fish are either lost on the jump or getting themselves wrapped around something and sometimes ya just gotta break them off.

I use 2 Chinese lures for bass that are my go to lures, far and away both of them are my best producers. Both are discontinued and not easy to find, when I do find them I'm a buyer. The jerkbaits are perfect for my ponds and canals here as they do not run very deep, hooks are terrible but easily remedied with 3x trebles, I get a pretty fair lifespan out of them. The top water lure excels, 2 of them have lasted me a good 2 years, sadly one was lost in a tree, I have 4 more in the package that I haven't needed to open yet. The one depicted here has 4x hooks on it, keeps working perfectly, I use it probably 3-4 times week.

Gotta DQ myself, don't carry a tape, but I measured these 2 on my 20" rod mark......20 and 22, didn't guestimate the others. I was actually fishing for peacocks in a feeder canal that feeds into the main by my house. Water was high and the recent rain moved out the top slop, no peacocks but these. Don't report me, lol, but I walked them over to one of my ponds about 30' away.

Running around a boat is commonplace with ocean species, even with 10# fish standing in one spot and dragging them in is next to impossible. I'll tell you when you are old (have a timeshare in Cabo at the Villa del Palmar), when I first started going the pangas didn't have motors. The guide would row out this heavy wooden boat maybe a mile or so offshore and literally every imaginable species was available in the right season. I used to go out with a guide in Ft Pierce, Florida, Plenty of 30 and 40# jacks offshore up there, great fishery for locals. I've meaning to get up Hobe Sound, I love that beach.

I agree with Hogsticker, imo 50# or even 30# braid is overkill. As often as I've read the digging in issue I've read about people using lighter braids without that problem. Heaviest I use is 15# braid, if I need to break off it's much easier. If you do need to break off, put your reel in free spool or open the bail and pull the line not the rod, you can't break your rod that way. Speaking only for myself and as a recreational fisherman I do not care to drag a fish in at warp speed with heavier lines and rods, I play fish and if I loose one, so what. A different story if in a large money tournament but that's a brand of fishing I find very unappealing.

I'd be looking to use a traditional spinning outfit. My level of enthusiasm would dictate my investment, the more you spend the more refinement the gear will have, price ranges literally run all over the map. Everyone has their favorites in a choice of line, I prefer braid and in the long run it may even be a bit cheaper, but nothing is wrong in using mono or copoly, some prefer it. If I'm using mono I don't want a line too heavy for the reel (that can promote coiling and don't over fill) I soak my line in warm water first but the real important thing is to troll your line out before you fish, probably soaking and trolling wouldn't hurt for your spincast. I for for sure would be setting my drag with mono just tight enough for a good hookset. 15 or 20# braid lines are very strong, it's doubtful a bass can pull out over 20# of force, even with a tighter drag the line should not break from a fish, but that's where you're knot tying ability comes into play.

Not too much out there like anything in the jack family........ amberjack, cravalle, permit, even a blue runner. Trevally are jacks too.

I posted the pic because it's as pretty a peacock as I can ever remember caching. For a fish that is probably less than a pound it's a pretty good fight. I always get amazed, give someone my phone that's self focusing and foolproof and they take a lousy picture.

I'd prefer the 30 over the 25. I don't own a freshwater Quantum but I do own 2 saltwater Cabos, older model as well as the new model I recently purchased. One of the very few reviewers I pay attention to is Alan Hawk. He does completely breakdowns and field tests mainly higher end saltwater spinning reels. In his latest review of the Cabo he ranks the Quantum ceramic drag 2 nd only to a Stella. I believe the drags are similar in both the Exo and Cabo and both are in the same price range, the drag on my Cabo is excellent. I only wish I would have read Hawk's review on my Penn Conquer, he was right, I'm sorry I bought it.

You won't ! Spoons are extremely popular and effective in saltwater, most spoon types will turn over and cause line twist even using BB swivels or a ball chain swivel. An alternate to traditional spoons are free style or sling jigs, these are variations of the butterfly jig, many companies make them and each call them something different. These spoons waver back and forth, much less line twist is imparted, I use them for trolling too. I change my braid frequently for the salt. I've used Performance braid and it's been fine, I mainly use PP for the price and convenience, don't have a problem with it either. Just about all of the brands break quite a bit over the labeled number, too high in my opinion, isn't that why we set our drags. Diameter would be more important to me than strength. Never been too fussy whether the sinks or floats, fades, what color it is originally, how many strands it has. It's only fishing line, most of them work fine.

Me too.