SirSnookalot

Picking 1 over the other I'd go with power. I'd pick timing as the the most important factor.

Exactly the way I do it. I only buy rods with a foregrip even for my bass fishing.

There is no cut and dried answer, people use all kinds of different gear. Where I'm fishing would have a lot to do with my gear choice, being in South Florida a 4000 spinning reel and med hvy 7'6 rod covers most of the bases. Most of the fish we catch here are within a few feet of the beach up to about 30 yds out. If I was fishing further north there would be more breakers and I'd probably opt for a surf rod, even a short one of 8' or 9' feet will significantly cast farther, they are designed to use heavier lures. I only fish artificial, in theory only 1 lure is needed a spoon. I happen to like Acme Kastmaster, the distance is exceptional but there are other good ones too. I do carry a few other things with such as bucktail jigs, flukes on jig head, never leave home with out top water, hard jerkbait. As important as tide may be the most important factor is baitfish. Catching fish from the surf can either be the hardest thing I do or the easiest, baitfish will generally determine that. If you're going to fish the surf buy a saltwater reel, it isn't the fish the wreck a reel it's the elements. A saltwater reel is no more expensive than freshwater one. They will not handle the fish any better, it's just a bit more protected against the elements. When it comes to a rod sensitivity isn't an issue or is setting the hook, most of my rods are about $100 and they work really well.

Couldn't pick one. Rock.......................Stones Motown...................Temptations Female new............Jennifer Hudson Female old...............Patti Labelle Male.........................Sinatra Blues........................B.B.King, just passed away

My first bike was in 1963, a 250 Yamaha big bear scrambler, at the time you just got on it and learned on your own. I graduated from that bike pretty quick, the hot bikes of the day were English Trumph's & BSA's, my favorite was Norton Matchless. My fastest was my Kawi 500, my last bike in 1971, haven't ridden since. There was just something about those old sportsters, sore leg and all from kicking it over. At that time not a very well made bike, but they were something special.

Perhaps what I said wasn't clear. The places I fish have a mix of all sizes of bass, some days it seems the larger ones are more aggressive and I catch more of them compared to smaller. Other days the bigger ones seem to be in hiding and I catch mostly smaller ones. Canals hold all kinds of fish and all sizes, in my area more of a variety than ponds. Some days it's the larger bass, other days the smaller ones. I have days it's very few bass but maybe peacocks or gar that seem to be the bite of the day.

Me either. Most fish are good for something, cut up for bait, good on the plate or a great fun fight. I've got species that I catch that will give you all you can handle on the end of rod, they eat well too, yet they are not gamefish. Contrary to that I catch gamefish that I can easily handle that I wouldn't want to eat. When push comes to shove there is no question in my mind what my priority target fish are going to be. Nice catch on those bowfin, that's a lotta fun.

From my own personal experience using a rod lighter than I should be using can cause a sore back. Overloading by an 1/2 ounce or so no problem, but more than that I feel it at times.

I use braid on all my freshwater spinning gear, my ul as well. I don't care to use anything thinner than 10#. My ul which is an old trion doesn't gets wind knots, I really think on this set up it's the rod that makes difference not reel, the rod is an inexpensive one. All my other set ups do get wind knots, that was until I changed a brand on one of them, it's been knot free for months. The video makes a good point about centering the hook, an off centered fluke can turn over causing additional twist. A bb swivel will help, but only the twist caused from the swivel back town to the lure, you will still get twist when the line gets wrapped around the spool, not "winched" in like on a b/c. Again the video makes a good point about reeling against the drag, not only will twist occur but it's counter productive unless the drag is tightened down, in most cases that shouldn't be done anyway. Closing the bail by hand then keeping the line taunt is a good method for loop prevention. A loop can cause horrendous tangles, but not to be confused with line twist, 2 different issues.

What I notice, happens with some other species too, either it's catching mostly smaller fish or catching the bigger ones with very few small ones.

I'm in state where there is potential to catch some really nice bass, I don't turn my nose up at 2 or 3 pounder. Quite often I'm fishing ul or light power even those 18-20" fish put up a nice fight. Contrary to that catching that same 20" fish with a heavy rod and heavy line then skimming on top of the water in warp speed, that's reducing that nice fish to a dink, the fish has little chance to win. The strike and the fight is what matters, that is if fun is the objective.

Line twist using mono on spinning gear can not be avoided. The line being wrapped around the spool on each crank is what creates the twist. The spool on the b/c is at a right angle to the rod, the line goes on without twist.

I take my chances without wire for most species, I do get cut off but I catch a lot too. When I do use wire I go with 20# coated and I crimp, usually have 1 with me just in case. Crimping may not work for everyone, still need a crimping tool as well the crimp sleeves. There is nothing wrong with using pre made wire leaders, I've used them plenty of times, they work just fine and are inexpensive.

I use a lure as it comes out of the package, don't add or eliminate a split ring. Most of the time in freshwater I use a duolock, in saltwater I always tie. I tie a loopknot but make a second wrap, very easy and fast.

Toss up between a spoon and bucktail jig, both lures catch any kind of fish in any kind of place.

Not only do the mfgs. load up with bloatware the carriers like Verizon do as well. Rooting is the only way to get rid of the stuff, that will negate the warranty and one should be pretty tech savy to do it. I use both dropbox and google drive, everything synchs to my home pc too. I like my smartphones but I don't really need one. The technology can be very useful for business, if I were still in business I'd never be without one. But different strokes for different folks, got a buddy back in Michigan owning a pretty good sized scrap yard, spends his day on the phone, still using a black rotary, lol, I kid you not.

Using a leader won't make a difference unless it's wire leader. Pike, musky, barracuda and mackerel down here will bite thru 50# mono or f/c leader quite easily. With the exception of mackerel I don't feel any of the other species are too line shy, including bass. I don't think the movement of the lure suffers much if there is a loop connecting it, your lure may run a bit deeper, sometimes I use wire for that very reason. Simply haywire twist with single strand or crimp coated wire.

Rod ratings is only a guideline, the individual rod tells the real story. I over load almost every rod I own, for the heavier lures I use I much prefer a med to mf rather than a faster tip. I don't use anything heavier than a mh, get plenty distance, lures are about 2 oz, good set up for me.

That lake sounds just like my subdivision ponds in South Florida. At one time they were very good, the HOA spraying program has been aggressive, now there is a lack of vegetation. We have a few people here that drag senkos and do pretty well, I don't fish that way. For the most part I fish 2 lures with the emphasis working just off the shoreline, although at times the fish are deeper. I use a roostertail and chug bug, both produce well for me, not as good as senko. Another lure I use, mainly for peacocks but bass like them too is a Rapala flat rap, a fairly shallow running jerkbait. Being in Florida these ponds can produce some very decent size bass. This kind of community pond fishing is totally different that fishing a larger body or water, it's a lot easier. Easy doesn't mean you catch them all the time, it means the fish are there and it's whether they are aggressive that day. When they are on it's pretty darn good, when off you'll struggle like any where else. In the winter I fish them almost everyday, it's summer so I'm spending less time chasing bass.

Been an android user for many years, can't comment on Iphone. I do check out the android forums, people have been complaining about lollipop, seems to be some bugs. Going from a Motorola to a Galaxy that I have now, the battery life of the Motorola is far superior, the functionality of the Galaxy is pretty good and I like it. Other than the battery life a complaint I have with the Galaxy is the speaker, it's a bit tinny sounding with it's one speaker compared to the 2 with Motorola. I kept my size down to a 5" screen, didn't want to go bigger, if I had chosen a larger one the HTC and LG are pretty nice, think the LG has the sharpest display.

All kinds of fish can be landing in 60 seconds or less, people come down to FLA to battle peacocks, it won't take 60 seconds to land the majority of them. 60 seconds is actually quite a bit of time to land fish, I've landed snook and redfish in less time than that, it all depends on size and the kind of water your fishing. The 55" reference is only to amplify that having something larger that takes longer to land won't hurt the rod.

Just means a longer fight with a fairly heavy fish won't do any damage or hinder the landing.

I've done plenty of stupid things and will continue to do so, missing a guide or 2 isn't stupid just an oversight that's easily remedied. My largest barracuda to date is 55" caught on mh rod using 14# copoly off a 12' jetty, by no means a 60 second or less battle. After landing it I noticed I missed a guide somewhere in the middle, the rod along with the other guides didn't suffer a bit. Sad to say this was the rod I dropped and lost in the water last week, but had years of great service from it.

You're right the freshwater ones don't rattle but still very effective. I do use the 1 oz rattlin one in saltwater, works there too.

Some pop better than others, fish hit any of them. The chug bug is easy to work and it's pleasing to my eye, pretty much the only one I use in freshwater.