SirSnookalot

Sure it would, but a big bass out of heavy cover may be more than just a challenge. The 2500 on the med rod is only a step up in size, still not a heavy outfit. Nothing wrong with the lighter set up if it were just another combo in your arsenal, but for 1 general purpose outfit I'd be using the next step up.

As Nike says " Just do it". My object is to get out and get some fresh air, clear my head and walk around mindless, putting no pressure on, I don't have to catch a fish to enjoy myself. IMO the fish are doing 90% of the work, I'm just tossing a bait in areas I hope they are going to be and they're in the mood. The days the bass are "on", it's as easy as fishing gets, the days they are "off" it's as hard as it gets.

If the commitment is for an Aird the 2500 size would be my consideration, the slightly heavier reel may balance better on a 7' rod. I have a combo, other brands with a 8.8 oz reel on a 7' med and it's one of the nicest feeling combos I have. The 2500 has 2 x the drag, not that you are going to batten down all the way, but better to have than not, there is also a significant difference in ipt, both reels have ample line capacity for most freshwater fishing. Never using it I can't comment on performance. Looking at the website I see the rod is a light not ml, if it were me I would pair the 2000 reel with the rod you mentioned, but for a more general purpose outfit my hands down choice would be the PFLT med rod with the 2500 reel, 10 or 15# braid. Visually speaking the rod has a nice look to it and I like the foregrip on that split handle model.

Crankbaits, even shallow runners don't do to well in the locations I fish. I bought 1 a few days ago, took 2 outings until I caught a fish on it, now I can toss it the garbage with no guilt feeling, keeping intact of never having a lure I didn't catch a fish on.

Yes Corey was a nice young man, very personable. Most years I don't do any bass fishing until this time of year, the heat, insects and lack of a summer bite keeps me away. This year was a little different, less heat and insects and I caught a lot of bass this summer (did slow down for a while in October), yesterday I went out with a game plan something that I don't normally do except in saltwater. In the ponds and canals in my area the bigger fish seem to appear after the 1st of the year.

A roostertail is a last resort inline spinner, a better quality spinner is cheaper in the long run and work better. Whether it's a roostertail or another brand, at hook replacement time (cut off the old with a wire cutter and add a split ring) single hook is a good idea instead of the treble. I've bought copies of a r/tail with a single hook but the same poor quality.

Being a diabetic all my meals are balanced, low carb, protein and fat, portion controlled and it isn't as much fun as it used to be, but that's the way it has to be. I eat 5 times a day, 2 of them are snacks, essential for me to keep up my energy and metabolism. I just love when I do off the wagon, nowadays it's a real treat.

My setup may not work for you but for my inshore fishing it's the best I've used. I have a fairly large fanny pack around my waist, it could be worn over the shoulder. I have 6 of this type of lure box inside http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/polybags-boxes/371111.aspx I carry about 6 spoons, 6 bucktails, couple hard jerkbaits, a couple twitchbaits or topwater, storm wildeyeds and a few gotchas. In a second compart I have 2 spools of leader line, bag of swivels a few sinkers and hooks if decide to do some live bait fishing........way more stuff than I really need, I barely notice carrying it.

When the snook turn off the bass turn on, that's when my bass season starts. Couple of days ago I'm fishing the canal behind my home, it's been poor due to some dredging the county did about 2 years ago. I ran into a fisherman in a boat and we talked, I had met him before but didn't know who he was. It happened to be a fellow named Corey who is the snakehead king. We chatted a bit and on his suggestion today I fished the same canal 2 miles away that had never been dredged, glad I did, fish went about 24-25" based on my shoe length, bigger than the snook I caught this morning, lol, happy I had 15# braid and 20# leader, this canal is a bout 10-12' banked, lucky to get it up.

I don't know if they migrate or not, but you may be surprised where some are caught. This was caught on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale and it isn't the first I've read about.

If I were targeting stripers I would most likely be using a MH rod, if for no other reason it would be their size potential. A MH Redbone has a min lure wt of 3/8 oz, that jig head with a fluke on it should render no problem regarding the rod loading up to cast. The max lure wt. is 1oz, which I exceed quite often as I do with most of my inshore rods, no rod has ever suffered any ill effects regardless of brand due to that commonly used practice. I question the motive to buy a sight unseen Redbone, just because someone like me uses them. As much as I like these rods there are negatives, such as being a little heavier in weight as compared to freshwater rods that a lot of people are used to. I've had the rod guides rust out from saltwater several times, and my biggest gripe is a short butt with the 7' models, the 7'6 ones have good butt length. Very common for me when fighting a larger fish to place that butt under my armpit, I like the added butt length for that reason, plus the 7'6 has more backbone, but it's heavier too. I've caught 40 and 50# tarpon, snook, 20# jacks with that rod. This is an opinion, I don't recommend when it comes to spending other people's money, I'd be looking at other options too.

I'm not interested in buying anything used. I'm also not interested in selling anything used (except a trade in at a retail store), if I'm done with that gear I'll give it away to someone that needs it and can't afford it themselves. I've accomplished 2 things, making someone happy and not feeling responsible if the product fails.

Been a little nippy for me here in Florida, but hard to resist bluefish.

I think you did just fine. The light rod isn't enough for canals, good for ponds. The MH will be fine for dragging them out of heavy cover and lifting them up from higher banked canals. Anything south of the Hillsboro canal, a snakehead or even a tarpon or snook can happen.

In my case the apple didn't fall far from the tree, except my dad was more aggressive than me. Cutting to the chase, if I die being half the man he was, that's going to be just fine with me.

I do agree with Unionman, coming from a union state I have seen the standard of living for union employees compared to the non union. It isn't Utopia, there is a down side, that being companies that can't afford to unionize will not get the creme de la creme of the labor pool and some don't last in business. As consumers we all pay for those union workers, their cost is passed on to us. Hostess' problems are not unique to them only, in a capitalistic society the strong survive and the weak perish. The concern of hierarchy of most companies is profits first and if that can be done with fewer employees, that's is exactly what they are going to do. I don't think for a second if a company from outside of the U.S. buys Hostess that production stays here, considering cheaper labor costs elsewhere. With regard to slonezp's comments, right on the money, except I would say that comparing a union skilled worker to a twinkie filler does not require the same level of expertise and continuing education.

I do jig fishing all the time with patience never being a problem, just can't get into it for freshwater fishing, despite the payoff that can be had. I feel pretty much the same about using plastic worms. I am going to give it another shot, I know there are fish in both my canal and my private ponds, see if I can get some more enjoyment out of it.

For the most part, YES I do. I recently replaced rings and hooks on a fairly light jerkbait, the added weight of the slightly heavier hooks and split rig was not accommodated too well on this lure, I resorted back to a smaller size and all is well. This is not the normal reaction, I do prefer the next size up, I use 4x trebs too.

Not that I didn't know it but I rediscovered what goes against my fishing personality......jigs. I have never used a bass jig, used plenty of bucktails for bass and bucktails are my #1 lure for snook and tarpon. On my way home from the ocean, I stop by a canal put a bass jig and trailer on and I was bored to death before the jig hit the water on my first cast. I tortured myself for about 20 minutes, all the time I was looking for garbage can, switched to an xrap and suddenly it was heaven on earth.

KDW, Thank you

The gallery works perfect, not that I understood a word about the improvements.

I'm using all my equipment 12 months of the year and everything is kept in my garage, for a good part of the year it's hot and humid here. I've yet to see any line whether already spooled or new in the box deteriorate. I had some 25# big game that was never used stored for quite a few years, needed a respool before an outing so I used it......it was just fine.

I avoid slop and heavy vegetation when possible, nothing I dislike more than pulling up a 2# fish with 5# of weeds. Most of my fishing is done with exposed hooks on my lures, I don't mind too much cleaning them off after every cast. Most of the time I do not retrieve my lures with the reel, I move the baits with slow arm movement and reel up the slack, that's when I get a lot of strikes on that momentary pause. I know I may catch less fish that way, but I get more pleasure and I always have a topwater lure with me. I use pretty much the same technique in saltwater, except that I'm more tuned in to swimming baitfish, birds working and sightcasting is my technique of choice.

I don't really care what color the hooks are, I'm not fussy at all on brand providing I buy a 4x treble. I have quite a few lures and spoons that have broken trebles, not to mention pretty some of my saltwater hooks getting pretty rusted up. Do I change them, while not as often as one may think. I actually prefer on 2 hooks on my trebs (some guys here purposely cut one off), much easier to unhook a fish. Everyone has heard of using a siwash (single hook) on a spoon, try it on lure and you may be surprised.

yep