SirSnookalot

I didn't use a b/c for about 30 years, but it's like riding a bicycle. I bought an Avet about 5 years, no brake or spool adjustments and no level wind. I loaded up with 300 yds 20# Shakespere Supreme for about $4.00 and headed to my pond to practice. Lobbing a 1 oz sinker for a short while I started casting for distance, had my share of bird nests (flattened the barb on an old hook for a line pick), about an hour later I was back in in the groove.

I'd prefer locking them inside unless you are going straight to your fishing spot with no no stops, and taking all your rods with you when fishing. We see stolen rods from pick up trucks now and then, guy goes into the john for a quick whizz and they sometimes disappear. Not that I have seen anyone ticketed, but some of these longer rods hanging over the tailgate should have a red flag on them.

My bass sized reels don't hold mega amounts of line to begin with, true my initial expense is a bit more, but always using leaders cuts down on lost line. If I'm spending $200+ on rod and reel, the cost of say Power Pro I don't find to be prohibitive. Especially considering that I'm going to deal with less line twist and I'll be getting a lot mileage on the line.

I've never met this man, the majority of his posts seem to echo mine almost to a tee with very few exceptions. Both of us are primarily saltwater fishermen but we fish for bass as well, that said I've have yet to meet a sw angler that does it much different than us, must be something to it. Backing..........never, just add line when needed, except offshore ocean which is always a fresh new spool when neede with no knots. Spinning gear for everything, 10# braid for pond use and 15# to maybe 20# braid for canal and frogs, we have slop in Florida. Inshore, 10-20# braid depending whether it's from a low level position like a beach, up to 20# from an elevated position like a jettie. B/C, for live or cut bait only targeting bottom fish or surface runners like wahoo, have yet to see lighter braids like 20 or 30# dig in.

I have tried everything mentioned plus many more, even insect shield treated clothing. Nothing has worked on me for gnats or no-seeums. I get attacked often times when no else does, it's my sweet blood they're after.

You'll probably get no less than 25 recommendations, but I don't give them. Regardless of brand I have not been disappointed in any bass sized spinning reel form $40- $140, you're choice as what to spend.

My first thought would be the water I'm fishing, if it has a lot of vegetation I'd prefer a mh rod, if not I like a medium. There are no industry standards, one brands med is another's mh and vice versa.

I can only comment on spinning gear as that's all I use. Stradic is a good reel, I do believe a bass sized one can be purchased much less than $200.

Ladyfish are called the poor man's tarpon (same family), these fish can strip out amazing amounts of line for a smallish fish, most don't go over 5#, so much fun to catch. When they start running, which in my area is late August the best lure to use is a spoon because spoons are indestructible except for the hooks, I would recommend replacing the treble with a single hook. Ladyfish will destroy your lures, like a tarpon their mouth is rock hard, unlike tarpon they do not inhale bait. Ladyfish will hit about anything, use what you don't mind losing or getting destroyed, when they are "on" it's non stop action.

I would get a lay of the land so to speak, before I purchased anything and that info would be available in 2 places. On a local saltwater forum before you leave and local tackle shops when you get there. All the well meant comments may have little or no bearing on the area you will be. I'm in South Florida, I pay very little attention to what's happening just 2-300 miles away in N. Florida, the baits runs are different, the species may or may not be arriving at the same time and the water conditions are not the same.

I fish saltwater every day. Having my roots in freshwater at first I came with every imaginable lure known to man, only to discover in short order that only a few are needed. 2 lures are must, being a bucktail jig and a silver spoon, hard jerkbaits like an xrap work well as does a fluke mounted on a plain jig head, I would round it out with a top water plug or a mirrorlure twitchbait, any thing else is more for your own variety. If I were to start with 1 rod it would be a mh spinning rod, one with a wide lure range of of 1/4 or 1/2 to 1.5 or 2 oz, I have several that fit those parameters. A 4000 series reel and 20# braid and you are ready for just about anything from a blue runner to a juvenile tarpon, snook or redfish. Certain species do not strike artificial, like a sheephead, tree & rock crabs and barnacle scrapings are the most popular baits used around here, but they are pretty much gone for the season now. Sand fleas are killer for pompano but they do hit small jigs too.

I have PP on about 20 spinning outfits, have tried several other brands that are good too, but seem to always gravitate back to PP. Price is usually right and can be bought about anywhere, it fits my needs.

Fizzing or venting is more prominate in saltwater when fishing for species like snappers and groupers. No need to vent any fish if the bladder is not in the fish's mouth. I do not believe I have ever fizzed a bass but have done it many times with grouper.

My first advice would be to check out a saltwater forum that fish the area you are going to visit. I do my share of surf fishing but I think it's a bit different here in South Florida, IMO knowing the nuances of the species there is important. Baitrunners are generally used for live or cut bait and your present rod should work fine for that. Not that people don't cast lures with baitrunners, but they are a bit on the heavy side for my taste, again a very usable reel. Where I fish the surf most of our fish are caught fairly close to shore, sometimes in knee deep water, we do not need surf rods here, but in the area you will be fishing you just might.

What those testing machines don't do is utilize a drag which IMO is very important in fishing, especially for larger stronger fish. The palomar is a good knot, I find too awkward for me and it's a knot I seldom consider using using. I do vary the way I tie my loop and improved clinch dependent on my target species.

The initial intent of the original post was to claim the superiority of St. Croix's customer service. The only way to determine the best would be dealing with each and every rod manufacture's customer service, something I believe that no one has done. I do not use St Croix rods and have seen very few of them down here, of the several brands that I use not a one of them in the last 10 years have needed to go back to the manufacture. I really don't know how good their service is, because the rods have performed with no flaws and never needing any repair, except an occasional guide replacement. We fish some pretty harsh conditions, my primary fishing spot is an inlet with current that can run as fast as 12 knots, so the Coast Guard says and that's pretty fast. Not to diminish those nice walleyes, but in my opinion snook, tarpon, permit, barracuda, and jack crevelles are some very formidable fish. We do not use heavy gear and lines for these fish, yet our rods do stand up to the task. This thread is no different than one being devoted to reels, it's all subjective and based on one owner's experience with a limited number of brands.

The only thing that really matters is the..........FISH !

I don't think any damage will be done to the line on repeated soakings, the water does not have to be all that hot.

Any of them work when tied correctly. Leaders get a clinch knot, braid gets an improved clinch, lures get a loop knot and line to line gets an alberto, tag ends get singed.

I'm near the border of Delray and Boca. IMO I believe there are 2 seasons in Florida, freshwater and saltwater fishing seasons. As the expression goes down here, " when the bass turn off the snook turn on and when the snook turn on the bass are off.............it's true ! I do a lot of canal bank fishing for bass in the late fall and early winter, not near as much from April to December. What I like better about the Palm Beach canals is that they are high banked, does make fishing more difficult but it's a good buffer from gators and snakes. I almost always wear socks due to the fire ants, watch where you step, it's when you don't watch is when you get bit and it's seldom only one. I keep it simple, for canals I use med 7' 8/17 spinning rod 15# braid using weedless flukes, jigs and a trailer, open water it's a top popper or a hard jerkbait. The only difference in my pond fishing is lighter gear with the same lures, 6/6' med 6/12 rod and 10# braid. Although I've tried many other lures and techniques I've reduced it to what works best for me and gives me the most pleasure.

I use 4/0 standard worm hook, probably my most used set up for Florida canals. If I can go weedless I'd probably use the fluke mounted on 1/8 or 1/4 lead head, but in that case I'd most likely go with hard jerkbait. I wouldn't be too harsh on yourself, some days they don't hit those flukes aggressive and other days they do.

I agree with 38......I've had vintage cars and done some restoring as well. The important fact is the owner is not ready to sell, if he was he'd probably take 20 or 30k, the car was treated like crap and not a valuable asset, wasn't even covered with a tarp. I had MB's and Porsches, my German mechanic pointed out to me several cars he had totally restored, an example a 68 sl that someone put 80k to restore and it only raised the sale value to about $25,0000. I'm driving down the street one day and I see this fantastic 65 Porsche speedster, I pull over to see it. Talking to the guy he tells me he totally restored it to the tune of about 80K, yet market value was about 40............ I loved driving that car for a few years.

A common practice for me is a hose rinse after each outing as I mostly fish saltwater, in essence it isn't much different than getting the reel wet from rain. I know fishermen that just put their reels in a bucket of freshwater to rinse them down. My reels get serviced or oiled only when they need it, my freshwater reels that are used 12 months a year, get no special treatment other than a drop of oil maybe 2-3 times a year, they still perform as new. IMO a real worth it's salt (excuse the pun) should be made to fish in the harshest of conditions, my wife kills plants with too much kindness and that could be said said for more reel maintenance than is really needed. Dunking is a different story, the water may contain sand. There is a thread going on now about a reel binding when it's wet, that should not happen. We don't always fish in perfect weather conditions and the equipment should be built to take it.

I'd be more concerned with the water from those Coral Springs canals.

I would add a silver spoon for the beach and a pack of flukes in case you need to fish weedless for bass.