SirSnookalot

No question about it, but an ugly stick is the very last rod I would use for freshwater bass fishing. As popular as they are I don't care to use them even in saltwater. If I were to take a beginner fisherman under my wing so to speak the first consideration is budget then level of enthusiasm. Most likely this will not be the last outfit purchased, for the lack of any other term I'd recommend a "disposable outfit". I have some bubble packed reels that perform well for less than $40. The smoothest I have found are shakespere agilty, cardinal 102, pflueger trion, but about any brand is going to work. A shimano soujourn rod decent at a budget price, a few bucks more a shimano sellus or see what Walmart has on sale.

Building equity is the way the go, starting modestly within ones budget and upgrading every 6 or 7 years, when equity and income have risen. At present home ownership would be difficult at best. Being debt free is not the only consideration a lending institution takes into account. Fico score, credit history, cash on hand and income. Buying my home 2005 at near the top of the real estate market my home has declined considerably in value. Being underwater I qualified to remortgage (I forget the name of the program), what a nightmare. Fico scores over 800, excellent credit history, ample income in retirement, cash on hand to buy the home outright and they still screwed me around. Changed the LTV qualifications in midstream, meaning I had to come up with more cash at closing that I was originally quoted, took about 4 months, and with my background that I thought was pretty good only 1 company would even talk to me. All said and done, I'm glad I did it.

Given my choice and my age I no longer have the desire to target fish that are several hundred pounds, I've done it and it's fun, but beats the crap out of me at 68 years old. For me it's a toss up on preference, catching moderate sized fish off the beach or going with a guide and targeting fish like a permit on the flats with spinning or fly.

My opinion anyway. Just because these lines break at some very high numbers I don't set my drag in accordance with their breaking strength, it's still about the fish on the end of the line. Much of my fishing is done with 15 or 20# braid, I do hook fish that can and do pull out as much drag as my reel allows, the beauty in the braid is that most of the time the line won't break. Hardly a day goes by that I don't adjust my drag once I have a fish on.

Take Cuba for example, a communist country where all medical and healthcare needs are free and provided by the government. An interesting article I read. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1215226 The situation here is the free market system, I thought we all loved it. Insurance companies negotiate the price of pharmaceuticals with manufacturers, then the insurance company sets the co pay priced based on the strength of group lobbies and the number of membership. That's why different groups pay different amounts. Elsewhere in the world governments negotiate direct with the manufactures, basically telling them what they will pay, take it or leave. In Cuba medications are manufactured by the government. Point is, our system is nothing like communism or even socialized medicine, not arguing that isn't paid for in other ways. insurance companies are trying to make as much money as they can and so are we as part of the labor force.

Not all brands break at the same point. I could't agree more about how the line lays on the spool, since I only use spinning 15# is my max size for bass fishing, lighter in open water.

I pay no attention to a fishing forecast as I'm going everyday anyway. I pay very close attention to the day's weather forecast and tides. The information gives me an idea of what type of fish I want target and the location I'm traveling to, plus my choice in clothing.

I don't think there is any difference in distance between a wide spool and a traditional spool. I own an arbor50 and have been using mine well over a year in saltwater exclusively for barracuda, I love it. It's as smooth as any reel I've owned, the drag performs flawless, it's been totally problem free, I probably use mine 20 times a month. IMO the reel is a winner at full retail price, if the reel stands up to my usage it's going to do well anyplace.

I only stay on top of the water, lol. Haven't seen any sharks since the spinners left but coming into bonita soon. They are bleeders and not uncommon to see 6 or 8 bullshark circling the boat, scares the crap out of me.

Stories of consumers being beaten is commonplace here. Taking deposits and not showing up, unfinished work, substituting cheaper grade materials, leaving a job and returning weeks later and poor workmanship. Several years ago we had fellow that come to the jettie every morning before work to fish. Nick had a contractors license, I was very friendly with him and liked him. He started a couple of jobs for 2 of my friends that also were at the jettie daily, both jobs were never completed and Nick ran with the money...........been about 3 years and haven't seen him since.

Out of pocket expense (copay) is going to vary depending on the health plan and group. Not all groups have the same copay with the same health care provider. At least for me a 90 day supply is the exact same copay as 3 30 day supplies. Be thankful you're in a group, when I retired I was forced to abandon my group plan and get an individual plan, ours did not cover prescriptions. Having to buy a prescription where generic is not available can be expensive. Even on medicare there are different copays depending on what tier that drug falls into.

That's true, a lot construction going on here, but a phone not being returned for 2 weeks only shows a lack of business ethic. Probably not the people I would want working for me anyway.

I don't like a knot going thru my guides, I use about 20" leader. I'll use a duolock if I'm fishing lures with exposed hooks. It takes very little time to tie a fresh leader on. One thing I've been noticing lately when putting on a fresh 30 or 40# leader, which I do every morning, the knots do not always cinch down well even being really moist. If I tie my leader on at my fishing, rather than at home, the humidity in the air gives me a perfect cinch on the first try.

Fine for open water, pulling a decent fish out of heavy cover isn't the best use for it. Real nice set up for open water smaller peackocks, but a bit iffy for those larger woodknockers.

Those are nice snook

Don't know about other areas of the country but for some reason the contractors here in Florida are not interested in making any money. This isn't the first time I have experienced here and have heard others with the same complaints. We are doing some mod to our home, I called for estimates. Out of the 8 contractors I called, only 2 have bothered to call back, what's with that? Being a business man myself, no one ever waiting too long to be contacted, especially a new customer. I know literally dozens of people back in Mich in the mod business, you call there and they show up at your door quickly, competition is fierce. I did have nice young man come over, the estimate was good, company approved by Better Business Bureau, I committed.

Yesterday was ok, I started off with a tarpon, then 2 snook and then window closed as fast as it opened. Once daylight hit the area was void of any fish. About noon I do some pond fishing, hottest bite I've seen in a while, fish were very small but catching them on a light action rod was fun, that window shut down pretty quick too, lasted only about 30 minutes.

Getting so many different opinions on brands of gear and line can be a bit confusing, this won't be your last outfit and in time you will know yourself what is best for you. On your budget I'm sure you can find something that will perform well. Never fishing heavy moss I really don't know how thick that stuff is, but if you have been pulling out nice fish on trout gear I would think no more 20# braid would be all that's needed. Leader or not is an individual choice, but if using one going too light negates the strength of the braid. If I may, let me give you a snag tip, do not use the rod to jerk your lure out, that can stress your rod and may lead to breakage. I always open the bail and release the tension off the tip, then I wrap the line around my shoulder and just walk backwards, your legs and shoulders are stronger than your arms. The bow snapping technique can work quite well too.

Facebook is a good tool, it's all what you make of it. I keep in touch with family and friends, member of groups with topics that interest me. The majority of my sphere share my political and social sentiments, I group I'm in is 50/50, makes for some excellent debates. I do keep fishing forums, android forums, and tech forums separate from FB. The info coming in plus FB would be overwhelming to keep up with.

No doubt about it, blue tilapia of African origin. They can go upwards of 8#, biggest I've caught is about 3#, they like spinners and crappie jigs. The smaller ones with the bars are spotted tilapia, I've had them peck at plastic worm but never caught one.

There are guides for saltwater, I've used them in the keys and in Mexico, generally fish inshore flats. Your guide will pole on a platform looking for fish to sightcast to. Charters usually are on larger center console or cabin cruisers and will have a mate as well as the captain, most target species are bigger.

I'm a braid man I like it with spinning gear. Looking at that pond in your avatar I'm wondering how thick is the vegetation, I'd be using 10 or 15# braid most likely. I don't get into specific brand recommendations bur for a $100 budget you should be able to find something that's going to work quite well. The printed numbers on the reel are a guide to line capacity, I have reels that read out 150 yds at 20 lb, I would never use line that heavier on that size spinning reel. On bass sized reel If I were using mono it would 8# unless it was a thin 10#.

Generally holding them by the lower lip stabilizes them. One of the nice things about bass, snook too, are no sharp teeth it's sandpaper and pretty easy fish to handle. If your thumb does get irritated put a band on or cut off the thumb from a latex surgical glove.

I'm a spinning man, if I were consistently catching larger bass I'd use a med inshore saltwater rod or mh freshwater rod and 2000 or 2500 reel.

What's your address, I'm coming over​.