SirSnookalot

If I'm buying a rod or reel I'm not looking for a giveaway, although in the case of Penn and Pflueger an item was available and I took advantage, and got some great reels to use too. Being strictly a spinning user, I don't care for any reel that has a round knob, that's a deal breaker for me. I like my Shimano's and the best thing I can say about them is I don't get wind knots when using them, but 3 of the 4 I own have needed repairs, I have stradics and spheros all used in saltwater. Of all the brands I own only my Pluegers have never needed any kind of repair or service, used in saltwater too, as far as smoothness they are at or near the top of the list. Would I buy another Shimano, I might, but I might buy a Lexa instead.

The best is the one that becomes your personal favorite.

I've been to both Cabo and PV many times, I have a time share in Cabo and a sister resort in PV. In PV there are charters that primarily fish inside Banderas Bay, you may want to look for one that fishes out of a Panga (boat style). These charters fish for El Toro ( jack crevelles), Dorado and snapper that can run over 20#. Not knowing what you considered light tackle to be, the lightest I would fish for these species is a hvy 25 lb class rod and 5000 sized spinning reel, personally I'd be using the boat's equipment. Lighter tackle would be great for some beach casting. One of the best charters I had was in PV, caught 100# Amberjack, many bull dolphin and some very large snapper, using the boats conventional gear I was so sore the next morning I couldn't raise my arm high enough to brush my teeth. If you don't mind I'll give you a tip using conventional gear, when reeling in your fish pay attention to spooling the line back on the reel with your thumb, there are no level winds on these reels, you want the line to be evenly distributed. Pulling up and reeling down is an absolute must, and let the Captain set the drag and don't touch it. Out there you just never know what's going to hit your line.

If you own and operate your own company it's a good idea to protect your personal assets by incorporating, as an hourly employee it's not needed. You may be putting the horse before the cart, depending on how much equipment you own and what the gross income is. I might set up a DBA first, converting to an LLC is just a matter of some paperwork and fees, can be done quickly. Not being a tax expert, I would recommend if you do incorporate to consult a CPA as well, you will responsible for both corporate and personal income tax, doesn't mean the total tax for both filings will be more but could be.

Snook move out to the beaches when the water warms to about 80 degrees. Snook hang out in the trough and rougher water is best, if bait is present they will be in flat ankle deep water for sure. Once some of these fish are within just a couple of feet of shore they feel like they plant themselves like they were in cement, real hard to move them, you'll see the more experienced fishermen walking them back rather than pulling them in with the rod. Awesome catch in shallow beach water using a mirrolure twitchbait or top water lure.

You're my kinda guy.

If you're in Florida there is a good chance you are familiar with D.O.A., don't know the size but started out as a small 1 man operation. There baits are designed for saltwater but they tear bass up too (terror eyes). The owner quite often is the guest speaker at the West Palm Beach fishing club.

My bass fishing is from shore, my outings are usually not more than 2-3 hours. I keep it real light, 1 rod and few various lures in lure boxes in my pocket, a pack of flukes with extra hooks in the pack in my rear pocket and maybe a small spool of leader, pliers in a sheath on my belt, and couple spinnerbaits hanging from a belt loop, that's it.

I don't fish rivers anymore but I do fish the ICW which is like a river and inlets. Our inlet is about the fastest water in South Florida, the Coast Guard has reported 6-12 knots depending on tide, other inlets run about 4 knots. True about the water direction, at times near the shore it can run in the opposite direction, and that's when it gets fun. I'm fishing about 10- 15' of water, I like to throw against the current with a bait that gets down low like jig, be real careful not to snag which I've done hundreds of times, but that's where the fish are.

The problem is more form peer pressure, being taught values is one thing, but kids easily are influenced by who they associate with.

Once you "upgrade" your contract is rewritten, your old plan no longer applies. I buy my phones from wirefly, not always but many times the prices are better. I bought 2 new phones this year, thought the renewal for each was $35, don't remember exactly, I changed my plan to a sharing plan, unlimited phone and text and 1 gig of data which is all we need, $130 mo with taxes $155. I have a razr maxx and razr m, one was free the other was $50 I think, we like them.

It isn't what I paid for a rod that determines what I'm willing to spend to repair it, it's what's the rod worth. What if I got a rod for free that was only worth $50, or a free rod worth $200, entirely 2 different scenarios. Only what I would do for a $100 rod, I would not send it anywhere, the cost of shipping both ways plus the actual repair cost and the time involved would make that prohibitive for me. It's either finding a local, fixing it yourself, or buying a new rod.

@sn13, had that same set up, spheros on a redbone for snook for quite a while. Not really bass fishing too much now, but did catch a nice one the other day, I don't measure them but about 6 lb or so. I'm occupied with snook now, had several over slots this week.

I can just hear my parent's comments from 50 years ago " What's wrong with kids these days? ". The fact is some of these kids have become captains of industry and professionals and are now old and grey...like me. My parents grew up in the depression, work ethics were different than mine, I in fact was a delinquent in trouble. Time and a bit of maturity cured that, found myself, became a businessman and raised a family. One of my daughters walked around with red hair on one side and blue on the other, wound up in rehab, then in AA. Got married to her AA sweetheart and both he and she became lawyers, and she has written and published 3 books on child adoption, both of them are pillars of their Indiana community, I couldn't have a better daughter. I wouldn't be too harsh to criticize people with standards other than your own, time and maturity has it's way of making positive things happen.

It looks like the fish were caught at a turnpike pond, I didn't realize snakeheads were there too.

One thing I know 1 st hand, if the fish is strong enough having your drag locked down all the way sometimes doesn't end well. If a fish is pulling line out with the drag maxxed there are times when I have not been able to turn the crank, a rod can be broken or the line get snapped. In fairness to the conversation this isn't likely bass fishing, but in other cases it can be very likely, I can attest to that. I may tighten the drag a bit for short periods, why I like the hand on the spool method (I do this in bass fishing to pull fish out of cover) but I'm letting my fish run to tire them, not try overpower them with drag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_of_cloves

They are shims, if the line is not spooling up evenly.

You could probably jerry rig it with epoxy and braid and it should be ok. My local shop charges me between $8- $12 depending on guide size, I would always opt to have it professionally done.

IMO it's all about diameter and how well the line manages on YOUR spinning gear. I mainly use braided lines on my spinning gear, with a couple of exceptions that I do not use for bass fishing.

Many of the species in the Florida surf are caught within 50' of shore, snook can be caught in knee deep water. Unlike the northeast coast surf rods and reels are not needed.

Eugenol........which is clove oil.

Glad to hear.......I looked at the schematics and it's different than my tierra. The tierra has a metal sleeve on the shaft, being technically challenged I just sent mine back to Daiwa. My local tackle shop does a good job on service and repairs with a quick turnaround time, cheaper in the long run for me, I break them, lol.

Adding a shim raises the spool and that's a remedy for line gathering on the top of the spool. Question is, how many shims are presently on the shaft, if none I don't have a clue. Only way I have found to lower the spool is to remove the clicker. I had your problem on 2 reels, reel #1 the manufacturer replaced my spool and all was well. Reel #2 was a Daiwa tierra, sent it in and Daiwa said I had a bad part, which they replaced for free after warranty, turned out good in the end.

You did the right thing by calling the authorities, getting personal with them is not the way to go.