SirSnookalot

Been retired and in Florida full time for about 10 years, hadn't been for my gr children I'd be in Costa Rica. Fishing for snook, tarpon, jacks, occasional trips for bonefish, redfish and permit, then some bass fishing in the afternoon, think that's fun......... It isn't all it's cracked up to be, yeh I fish 7 days a week, some days I don't have a clue on what I want my target to be, just gotta have variety. That said I miss the action of being in business more than being retired, have lost my edge. Sometimes I look back and wish I was back in Detroit doing what I did.

I've got way more than I need, I try to use everything just to make sure my gear is in top notch condition. I don't need a darn thing, that doesn't mean I don't want something from time to time. If I get the whim I buy it, I don't spend my waking hours dreaming about new gear or cruising the net for deals. Fortunately I do not have to justify anything to my wife or myself. My wife is my main squeeze, if she wants a 100 pairs of shoes, let her have them. All I ever did was make money, she raised the kids and took care of the home, a much harder job. I'd go without if I had to just so she can have whatever she wants.

I've used Google earth and google maps since the *** and I have found some nice spots. Being a shore freshwater fisherman one negative is that a place looks tasty on a map, but in person I may not be able to access it, fenced off or something, I've made long drives for nothing sometimes. In must be something about the area, I go to a place yesterday only to be disappointed, I catch just so many more and more quality fish in backyard and a few places within a short distance of my home. About this time of the year I get bassed out anyway, getting close to the time to get back to the ocean.

A few years ago I had a neighbor claiming to be a pro bass fisherman, I say claim as he never impressed me by being better than any average fisherman. He also had claimed to work on some production crews and did say sometimes those fish were pre hooked underwater, I honestly took everything he said with a grain of salt.

Quite true, I was mugged twice, in both cases I was someplace that wasn't the safest (Detroit). Both occasions the perps were on me so fast I had no chance in the world to defend myself. Once in my 20's and the other in my late 30's, I had a significant amount of cash both times. Working in and understanding the inner city mentality, I never kept all money in one spot, they took one wad and ran, actually the 2 nd time they took my car too, after they bladed me up a bit.

If you're going to get held up it's just going to happen, they have not looked into your pocket or wallet first, unless you're flashing Franklin's in a bar or store.

Fish are fish, just about kind of lure will catch just about any kind of fish in any environment. So many of these different "species lures" catch more anglers than fish, it's all about marketing. Go figure, one of my favorite spanish mackerel lures is an ice fishing jig, and Florida home boy turned me on to it.

According to Dodd-Frank, a state can't add a surcharge or fee. A state has the right to nullify a federal law, but the supreme court has never allowed states to do so.

@scorcher.....bassclary objective is to get a job. In this age of texts and emails how many emails do we get that we never read and just delete them, for me it's most of them unless I recognize the person. I once needed a question answered, the person that was going to get the information for me sent an email to an associate, took nearly a week to get back to me. What I found strange was that both of those people had their cubicles right next to each other, all one had do was stand up and talk to the guy, I was standing right there and could have had my answer in a few seconds. That experience and other ones as well taught me to seek alternate ways to contact people, as I say you need to be noticed above others. A hand written shows than an applicant wants THAT job not just any job for a paycheck, show a passion and emotion, never hurts, but not a guarantee either. One of my employment hiring rules was never to hire anyone sharper than me, they could very well be my next competition, mid level managers in corporate America do the same thing, always protecting their job. Hence my signature "I'll teach you everything you need to know, but not everything I know."........lol

I've never had a job or dealt with any kind of employment department but have dealt with countless numbers of large companies. Forget emails, too common these days. Forget the phone, receptionists are trained to screen them or automated voice prompts can be a nightmare. In person may be ok but dealing with person a can make bit tough to get past hers/his desk. I'd try a hand written (very legible) letter that has to be signed for, I'd be willing to bet that letter gets read, if nothing else it will show how serious you are. ANY JERK CAN SEND AN EMAIL, ya wanna get noticed, ya gotta stand out.

I saw that show when it aired. One thing I especially liked is when Bill Dance used his bass rod for a redfish, notice his hand is up on the foregrip then the shaft to gain leverage on the fish. Wiggins being younger with more body strength didn't have to, for some of the older or not as strong people that's a great method to land bigger fish, being 67 and 135# I do it all the time. Make no mistake about it, Bill Dance is a real pro.

For the last few weeks I've been using a jig and trailer. I'm not one to be overly brand loyal or technique specific gear. I've been using some of of Big O's baits, not because they catch more but because he's a nice guy. I've used some other brands with equal success. I've been doing this in the most simplistic way I can think of, a strike king 1/4 oz generic jig and fish them either jigging, dragging on the bottom and the most effective way for me has been swimming then with my rod held a little high using my grandson's $30 Shakespere agilty on a 6'6 spinning rod with 15# braid. I don't weight fish but some have them right around 25".

Bass I just flip them up, that said there aren't that many that go over 8 pounds and I'm doing it from shore which is easier to land them IMO. From personal experience I would look for a net that had some rubberized griping on the handle, the aluminum handle can get pretty slippery. I had about 30 or 40 # cobia swim off with my net because it slipped out of my hands, then broke my line. Had we not been limited out I would have gaffed it.

Personally I don't care for any spinning reel that does not have some type of rubberized paddle or power knob. I have had reels with metal knobs of various shapes, never cared for them especially in damp cool weather. Not unusual for the cork on my rod to get little slippery when damp or wet, can't imagine cork on a reel grip being to good.

My wife is totally opposite of me, if she has 6 bucks on her that's a fortune, I'm always yelling at her sometimes you just gotta have cash with you. One time when cash was valuable to me was in 1992 down here in Florida on vacation. We went to visit my f/inlaw around 8 PM who lived in South Beach, whatever you have seen on tv about South Beach is totally different than it was in 1992. Parking was and is tough down there, I pull into the lot of a run down coop, walked down the block to visit. 45 minutes later I tell my wife, I got a bad feeling about the car, run down to check it out and it's gone. I can barely make out the phone number of the towing co. on this rusted out sign, call up and the guys says" 92 white eldorado, yeh it's pulling in right now, no checks no credit cards cash only $195 towing and impoundment". We hop into a cab, cash only, go to this area of Miami Beach that rivaled any slum I've seen in Detroit, pay thu bullet proof glass and off we go. Has my wife learned anything, no she still carries only $10 she's doubled the amount due to inflation, lol.

Pretty good.........lol

More than once have I played with the ci4 reel and each time I was turned off. Just something about that reel just doesn't feel right, that isn't being harsh. Not only did the smoke feel much better but bubble wrapped $30 reels with the handle sticking out felt better too. Probably be no problem in landing that striper on one of those 30 or $40 reels. When ever I see something over rated or over priced I just think of what P.T. Barnum said. Diggy if I get a ci4 for free it's all yours..........I promise.

Rootbeer is referring to the Dodd-Frank legislation. It is not illegal to have a minimum amount for credit use, but it is illegal for a vendor to charge a fee or some type of handling charge. http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-minimum-payment-purchases-law-1282.php

I don't fish tournaments but seems to me a sensible approach would be for every entrant to have a cell phone and or radio for communication to the people in charge of the tournament, then a committee can be sent for aid. I fish out in the ocean quite often, I wouldn't consider being out there without a means of communication. Not only do we both have our cells with us, but the radio is never turned off in case we hear somebody. In the event of medical emergency or danger it's a moral responsibility to render assistance, even if means a DQ.

I've been fondling some as of late, not that an in store turning of the crank handle is going to tell you whether it's a winner or loser. That said I wouldn't want the ci4 for free, but the regular stradic is a superb reel. If I limited myself to Shimano I'd buy a symetre long before the c14. As far as my in store fondling goes, the quantum smoke is the most impressive I've seen, but can't say under fishing conditions how it will be. Any $100+ reel should be fine, I'd be paying attention to what feels best on my rod and if my eye likes it or not.

Assuming this will be on a bass sized spinning reel 20# is the absolute max, no need for anything heavier. As long as it's one of the popular brands it doesn't make much difference, the important thing is the quality of your knots. Winds knots generally occur because the line gets twist, 2 main reasons cause that. Some lure types spin or revolve like spoons, flukes may not have the hook centered and they can turn over. Secondly the natural action of line being wrapped around a spinning spool will put twist on, BB swivels help some but it still happens. If your snap casting the line is coming off the spool very fast, it hits the first guide and bingo a knot, try to make an easy long flowing cast this will help some.

There is a difference between win 7 32 and 64 bit, bet you have 64 bit and that's why. I have had identical issues.

I used thunderbird for years and it was the best for me. There was an update some months ago and it doesn't work as well now, they automatically had deleted some emails. Since then I have tried 4 or 5 popular email clients, only to go back to windows live which has been perfect for me, the only negative is log in time, about 30 seconds when it used to be immediate.

First thing I would do is determine how much money shipping or extra baggage will cost, then double it because you have to come home, secondly how much will packing supplies be, rod tubes or whatever. Knowing where you will be fishing and what you may encounter 2 outfits can do it all. I would take into consideration buying a couple inexpensive combos in Florida and just leaving them there for your next trip. In the W. Palm area there is not a lot of inshore saltwater action this time of year, your best bet to catch fish is bass fishing which is pretty good now.

Teal's summation is right on the money. You should never lose any kind of bass because of the fight, it just doesn't last that long. True you're going to lose some due to a variety of reasons, mostly due to unbuttoning, the more experience the less it's going to happen. Probably intimidation could be a factor.