SirSnookalot

Isaac coming in has me very concerned, not about fishing but damage, power outages and possible injury. As far as the fishing goes, weather like this makes it exciting, groundswells often times bring in a lot of fish, the snapper guys will be out in force. Needless to say I won't be offshore in a boat, but I will be doing shore fishing both at the ocean and freshwater, in the past bass fishing has turned on well just before a hurricane, I don't want to miss this potential action.

The only experience I have with SouthBend are my Hurricane Redbone rods, I have a Calico Jack too. SouthBend has taken Hurricane over, not sure who really makes the rods. Redbone are my favorite rods, I have 8 of them, never has one broken regardless of fish size, plenty sensitive for me and they cost about $90. Only negative, which I have not encountered, is warranty, it's lifetime but the rods have to be shipped back to Southbend, they are no longer over the counter exchange.

Easy question for me to answer. My most used outfit is a 4000 spinning reel with 20# braid on a 7' rod and the lure I would pick would be a 1/2 oz bucktail jig, brand names would be irrelevant to me. I have in the past, I do in the present, and I will continue in the future to catch a variety of species from LMB to fish that may exceed 40 or 50#. The jig is probably the most important component, there is no game fish I can think of that won't strike it and it can be fished many different ways.

This thread is more about boat safety and etiquette than about fishing itself. Not all fishermen are boaters and not all boaters are fishermen. Living in Florida for the past 10 years I have spent a great deal of time both fishing from shore at the ocean as well as boat fishing on the ocean. In my area the jet skiers give room and pose no real problem, some even fish off their jet skies. Pleasure boaters pretty much go on about their business and so do the sailors. The problem are the fisherman, they block the inlets fishing for bait, creating a problem for other boaters to get by them, that's against the law. They fish along side piers, not yielding to the pier fisherman, not only is this un courteous but not obeying the 500' rule is against the law. Some of these yahoos come very close while we are drifting or trolling, paying no attention to the wake they are creating, they don't slow down or avoid the area. A 40' boat with three 300 hp motors creates a lot of waves and those boats are all over the place here, not that the smaller boats are any more polite. Confronting these people is the last thing I want to do, situations can easily escalate.

I've always liked the way this guy thinks........... I have my favorites but always open to try something new.

Probably true. I use but 3 knots, clinch, improved clinch and a loopknot with all line types. Each one of these knots are easy, fast and I can tie them without flashlight if I need to. Not that I don't bass fish, but do more saltwater fishing, my lines are not heavier than what many bass fishermen use. 10,15 and 20# braid, 14# mono and sometimes 40# f/c leader, IMO leader line takes a little more care than than mainline of the same size. If someone feels they need an " exotic" knot, well go use it, what I use works for me.

I've come across may many gators and caught some too, I pay very close attention to them. I fear snakes much more and I do not fish freshwater too much anymore, snakes being the reason. Even working around the house I'm careful, coral snakes love to hang out in the landscaping.

I see no huge difference in casting distance using the same size spinning gear with 10-15- or even 20# braid, I get ample distance with any of them. I'm picking the line for the conditions, if I'm tossing a frog in slop I may go up to 20# braid.

In 1988 I was 33 and purchased my first mobile phone, one of the best things I did, for me it was a valuable business tool for communication. Even more important was the necessity to make calls for towing, mobile tire repair and related truck mishaps (pretty common in the scrap metal business), it beat walking in sub zero weather to try and find a phone, especially if out in the country someplace. Once I got off the truck, my drivers were supplied with one for the same reasons.

Don't blame the electronics, there are probably dozens of people on this a site alone that started fishing either from shore or in a rowboat with no electronic aids, and I'm sure caught plenty of fish. Fish the drop offs, fish slow presentations, keep at it and you will score. I still don't use electronics for bass fishing and catch my share, but summer is not one of the better times.

I use them as they come out of the box, I will use a 3/4" duolock. On some of my top water plugs I will add a split ring, so I can use a duolock with the concave face of the lure.

To each their own...........I would never throw a heavy lure of any kind to target bass, I do not like using that heavy of a rod. It's non issue for me as we have no muskie in South Florida, but we do have fish some decent size fish most of which I catch on 3/4 jig or lighter, so a heavier rod is not required for me, mh spinner works.

I don't really remember what I paid for my stradic fi's (4000), I know I did buy one on closeout at an excellent price. Price increases are MSRP, not what one actually pays, not everyone gets or even looks for a deal. I would think there are many over the counter sales at a BPS or some other retail outlet where people just buy them at the MSRP. If my memory serves me, stradic fi 4000 MSRP was about $179, with 2 spools and the FJ 4000 is about $ 199. MSRP, that's a price increase. The fj has graphite sideplate and rotor, I think the fi does too, not that I have found that to be a liability in performance. Better or best is in the eyes of the beholder, I do like my stradics a lot, but I like other reels just as well. My 4 Abu soron stx's have no graphite that I'm aware of, bit stronger drags (meaningless really as I'm setting to the line test) 22 as compared to stradic's 20. The reels have been in service a couple of years longer and still perform like new, after catching many fish in areas with lots of blowing sand and salt air. Not saying they are superior, saying that they are my favorites and the MSRP was cheaper too.

Am I fan, not really, but it's the way of the world these days. Kids don't have phones to just make calls, it's their social outlet. I have 5 gr children ranging in age from 5-18 years, they all have smartphones and can work them better than me..lol. For the most part they are good kids, do well in school, have other activities that help make them more well rounded, all their friends as well as their parents have them..................so I say why not ! Sitting next to each other on the couch texting each other sounds pretty stupid to me, but that's what they do, my parents thought I did some pretty stupid things when I was 14. My wife looks at me as being some kind of idiot for spending time on forums, not only fishing, personally I think she is right, I am an idiot, so it's hard for me to be overly critical of gr children.

I have enough technology, don't mind giving the fish a sporting chance.

I do a lot of trolling, but really not for bass in the last 50 years. As I kid we had a cottage on 1100 acre lake, I trolled in a rowboat using, night crawlers on a harness, plugs and spoons. I did have 6.5 ho OB, but quite often I did my trolling rowing the drop offs around the lake. Not only did I catch fish, I got a nice workout too.

There are but 2 functions for 50# braid, tying up your tomato plants or raising the Titanic, which will you be doing? J/K about the Titanic, I'd be using 65# braid. I don't feel there is anyplace for line that heavy for small game fishing. I know I've heard all this digging in stuff, that's why I use spinning with 15# braid when I'm targeting fish I know that are going to be less than 10# and most are smaller. I'm not into winching and dragging them in.

The slack can cause a loop while your jerking, it happens and more so with lighter braid. It's a good idea to close the bail by hand, but that does not eliminate twist. Twist is primarily caused as the line wraps around the fixed spool as you are reeling in, also certain lures like inline spinners and some spoon types that rotate a lot create line twist. A BB swivel may help some for the latter problem, but it isn't a cure all. That said I never tie line to line (except for a few SW species), I always use BB swivels.

Nothing keeps those no seeums away, except an east wind if your at the shore. It's a shame we didn't score, as a rule I love that fast current on the incoming tide for tarpon.

By your own admission you have had to wait for paycheck or 2, that tells me business probably is not as strong as it could be, doesn't mean he is a bad businessman as these are not the best of times. Pressure for an owner of a business is not having enough income to pay all the obligations, like paychecks, healthcare, Soc, sec, taxes, various insurances, and the list never ends. Good chance your employer has more on his mind that patting your fanny, owners come with many different personalities. IMO getting advice from a social network, whether it be BR, Facebook or whatever is getting opinions from people that have little or no idea of what you are going thru. If it were me and I needed to vent or get some help I'd be turning to wife, parents, co workers, associates working for other similar companies in the area, I may turn to my clergy for some spiritual or inspiration help.

What I use as a guide to determine reel size mostly is similar line capacity and comparable drags, not weight near as much. I have a 2000 reel weighing over 11 oz, that's heavy, and on the opposite side I have them 9 or so . Pfluegers are a little different, my 35 supreme is 8.8 oz, 12# drag holding 200 yds 8# line, to me that's a 2000 reel with more line capacity (one of the reasons I bought in the first place, i used it for snook). I think max drags are a bit misleading, as you are setting the drag based on your line weight. For example my soron stx 20 has a drag of 16 vs the 35 supreme at 9, but both are set about the same. I guess you can call a reel what ever you want, the stats are the stats.

Money

Using Pflueger as your guide, I personally would use a 30 sized reel for a med 6'6 6/12 rod, a 35 reel for a 7'med 8/17 (some companies do refer to that as mh), not that the 30 reel couldn't be used too. I do believe a 35 prez and cardinal 102 are about the same size, I would have no problem using that with a mh rod, assuming this would be a bass set up. Boils down to your comfort level, all the scenarios would work.

I fish early morning nearly everday usually start around 4, all my fishing is tidal. I'm not bait kind of guy, I'm walking and casting and looking for signs of fish. I carry a small flashlight around my neck, hardly use it as I fish with 1 or 2 lures, does help to keep the insects away. There is nothing I love more than fishing that time of day, for me not much compares to tarpon jumping in the moonlight in dead silence. I will be doing this as long as I'm physicaly capable.

Everyone's situation is different, I wouldn't give advice one way or the other.........I'm not there. The owner of the company of my last job in 1973 was a real sharp guy. He didn't get to the yard until 10:00, left at 2 or 3:00 to go to the casino every day, in those few hours he brought in so much business the company was highly profitable. We all knew our jobs and did them, he didn't have to be there and we liked it better when he was gone. I couldn't stand this guy, we had a personality conflict, 2 years on the job I left to start my own company. He never once thanked me for anything, nor did I seek any accolade, I got paid and had a place to go everyday. I should have thanked him for giving me the job and teaching me the business, I would never have made it with out him. Being in business for 30 years showed me what he went thru, it wasn't always peaches and cream, he had pressures that he never outwardly showed, I didn't understand it all at the time of my employment. I wish you well, whatever direction you take, the grass may or may not be greener elsewhere.