SirSnookalot

Pretty much how it happened for me, except I still bass fish. Mullets runs are awesome, doesn't mean that's it's easy. Sure many times it's astrike a cast but just as often the bait is so thick they don't look at artificial. I've had times that I've casted over an hour into busting fish without a strike. That's the time to use live bait, sounds strange, not really if you know how to present your bait among the tens of thousands natural bait swimming around. The trick is to clip a fin, or cut the bait and make it swim different as it's in distress, your bait stands out and probably will be closer to the bottom of the bait pod. You freshwater guys, don't think clipping a fin on a shinner works, try it, you might be surprised. Fish are are fish, I don't care what body of water they are in.

I didn't say this...............but I agree with it. I've got $29 shakephere's and abu's that not only have caught 100's of bass for years, they are as smooth as the day they were bought, never suffering any kind of failure and basically made out of plastic. IMO you just don't need all that much to pull in a bass or perch, I really have no need for superior technology for something I can handle with ease. Before I get bashed I fish bass because it's fun, no other reason and for the record supremes fit my bill for my freshwater target. I've also been fishing everyday, I've been catching 50" barracuda and a 43" also, snook maybe 20-25#, several commonplace 10 pounders and don't think for second these fish come in easy, you don't tail drag these puppies in. Have i used shiman, yeps a stradic for the snook, but my cudas are caught on a Plueger 18 oz medalist (has less drag than the 4000 stradic). Bottom line, it doesn't make a difference what you are using, bigger fish are landed on talent, not gear. Just saying, my medalist is older than my stradics and it's in better shape too.

I'm on my second Genesis sedan, it compares in every way to any of the MB's, BMW's and Lexus' I've had. Next time it will be something else for variety, be nice if Hyundai came out with a ragtop.

Those look like "toadies", people come out in droves when they are running to catch them fro the dinner table, I have never fished or eaten one. Yes, for inshore fishing just about any bass lure will work. IMO I would stick to some real basic stuff, spoons, bucktails, flukes on a jig head and a topwater lure will usually produce. One very main difference between freshwater and inshore is in freshwater you are looking for the fish, in saltwater you are waiting for them to appear. Fish most of the time will follow the baitfish coming in, when that happens you could catch them on your mothers old garter belt. No bait and you could go skunk for hours, happens all the time.

About mid Sept or so the fall mullet run starts, that's when fish are everywhere and yes you can get a strike a cast on some days. Anything north of the Florida nipple is exceptional fishing, I'd like to be up there.

^^This is the question.^^ My answer is I don't know, but I do know there are some very good rods in that price range, whether they are St Croix or not. For me, if I can have a rod that performs at my expected level has a lifetime warranty( over the counter is a big plus) and is durable, I don't care who makes it. For the most part I don't look at recommendations, except from a select few. As previously stated one of the members catches similar fish as me, I value that opinion, I'm always open minded.

This thread is starting to resemble the hardcore shimano one about reels, again it's preference. In the $100 range I like my Redbones and my Star's. Star has an over the counter lifetime warranty, Redbone discontinued their over the counter(still lifetime) in 5+years never had one break and I'm catching some mean hard fighting fish with. I fish with a guy sometimes that owns a 42' yellowfin with 3 300 motors, has an array of offshore combo that most people could retire on, he can afford anything. I was on the beach one day and he happened to be there we swapped outfits. I fished his St Croix and he fished my Redbone, 2 days later I see him again with a Redbone in hand, didn't take him long to be convinced. I have caught 1# fish and felt every vibration of my bait, have also caught fish well over 30# and with the same rod. Just boils down to whatever you are comfortable with. Only thing I recommend is having an open mind and not to be a lemming.

One of my home boys just got back for fishing the beach in Melbourne, he caught a 42# redfish on the beach using an artificial shrimp on a j-hook. I understand the inshore bite is pretty good the more north you get, it's quiet in my area.

If 0119 says it's a good rod, that's good enough for me, anyone catching tarpon, snook and redfish knows what I would like in a rod...........I may look at one the next time I'm in the market.

There is a disease that runs rampant on this site, it's being narrow minded , it's of epidemic proportions. I can only address spinning gear, I don't use anything else. I do own Shimanos, my 2 stradics are excellent and my 2 sheperos are, lets just say I have better reels in that price range. For my freshwater fishing my 3 supremes are more than adequate, they last, smooth as any other reel and handle anything in freshwater I'm going to catch. Spending money for a stradic, sustain or stella would be a waste of my money for bluegills, bass, perch or wallyeye, none of those fish on average are big and are not the most formidable fighters. Saltwater, where I do most of my fishing, is another story, reels need to be well made to function properly to handle both the salt conditions as well as the fish. For some reason Shimano does not seem to be as popular down here and my saltwater forum as some other brands, both spinning and conventional. I do like my stradics, but like my other brands just as well. I will say this, if I made my living from fishing I would consider replacing my 15-18 saltwater reels with stellas, but at $900 a pop, it's prohibitive. My own personal opinion, it's much important in knowing how to land fish than the rods, reels and line one is using.

Living in a coastal area you have a great fishery around Jacksonville, not a bad time to consider being a multi-species fisherman. I can hit one of my ponds and usually catch a few bass from shore, not 10 in 30 minutes. I don't think I'd want to catch that many anyway, be mostly dinks, not enough challenge for me. This time of year I prefer other options.

I eat very little junk, there is none at all in the house. Even healthy foods may contain large amounts of calories, they can be just as fattening. I watch my portions, too much of any food will put weight on me. I don't like being fat, if I gain 1-2 pounds and I'm really watching myself. 5'5 and 135# for the last 40 years. I had a period a few years ago when I lost around 20#, that's when I discovered I was diabetic, I've since put the weight back on.

At my tender age of only 66 I still fish every day. My bass fishing time is greatly reduced from June until Mid November. I'll get out once in awhile just to do something in the afternoon around my home, it isn't the heat that bothers me, it's the bugs and lack of quality fish. My challenge in fishing is in the winter, the saltwater bite really tapers off then, I still do it everyday year round. That's the time of year I appreciate bass fishing, I don't get skunked.

Yep..............The MH is probably your best bet. I don't want you to get the idea that this rod competes with a $500 rod, it doesn't, but it's a very decent entry level rod. I have the medium and I use mine for bass fishing, for me it's light enough to fish it all day with no fatigue and it handles the fish quite well.

You can't have too many, I do, but I still bought a new rod last week and of course I needed a reel for it. may be a first for me, but I order a reel on line without ever touching it first, I took a flyer. I believe all the companies make something you might like, I have a 6'6 redbone light that I use for freshwater. I like all these rods, but you being experienced I would advice doing some homework, I don't like taking responsibilty if you don't like one of my picks. The airwave to my knowledge can only be bought on line DSG, no longer carries them. They are made for Bimini bay outfitters.....http://www.biminibayoutfitters.com/

It might be, but it isn't.............there are lots of 20# snook caught, not many 40 pounders. Lots of 20-30# redfish caught, not many 80 pounders, the same could be said for stripers and any other game fish. How often are 50# muskie caught? It isn't that a trophy bass is hard to catch, but a trophy of any species is difficult. Trophy fish are a challenge to catch for any species, not just bass, simply because fewer fish live long enough reach their potential size. For me using bait for certain species is unthinkable, bass happens to be one of them, so are some saltwater species, strictly artificial is my choice. Only time I ever use bait is when I'm on the jettie just b'sing with my buddies, bait is never used when I'm serious fishing. Personally, few of my fish get weighed, I don't care about trophies, I only care about enjoying myself and that's throwing lures.

For a beginner wanting to see their rod bend, try live bait, it does make life easier and will curb the frustration on those days with a slow bite. Against every fiber in my body I've been using live bait for snook once in awhile, simple because when the artificial bite is off, bait seldom fails., that said......I HATE BAIT !!!!!! Catch your bait, toss it out and wait, it isn't my style. When it comes to bass fishing, under no circumstances would I ever use any thing but artificial lures. Sure I get skunked once in while, but for the most part bass are far from the hardest species that I try to catch. I know many call bass fishing a sport, floating a live bait and sitting on your butt is about the furthest thing from a sport I can think of.

I know that spot too, won't say where it's at. I have gone freshwater fishing only once in the last week or 2, don't like the weather. I've been consumed in trying to catch another species.

I've had a smart phone for several years, I do not utilize all the features available to me as I don't really need them. The only app that gets a workout is stock market index futures, most of the time I leave the phone in the car. If you need an app to learn a fishing knot you are probably best served by practicing it at home in front of your pc, you won't even need that app. I'm not against smart phones, great tool if one really needs it for business, but if the primary business use is to make and receive calls, all the other functions really don't matter. Smart phones are made for 2 reasons, the modern generation's lifestyle and for the phone companies to make more money off your data plan. When I'm fishing or doing some other activity, I don't want to play games, a smart phone will not help catch more fish, it's distraction and my main gripe is in daylight my screen is very difficult to see, I'll be going back to a flip phone and If I want pic, I'll take a cheap camera with me. Save your money and your time, you'd be wasting both.

For the fishing you will be doing a max lure wt of 1 oz should be fine, that being the case this is what I would pick. Hurricane redbone 7' 10/20..........$89. Calico jack 7' 10/20..........$55, made by the same company as the redbone, this rod is a sleeper. Star steller lite 7' 10/20..........$ 99, will handle a heavier lure. Tsnumai air wave

The Penn fierce 4000, I would not go smaller, has a pretty decent paddle handle, it isn't real small. Some reels out there have handles that I find too small to my liking. For an entry level saltwater reel I think it's more than acceptable. At twice the price I haven't used many rods that rival a redbone. I have only 2 complaints with it, 7' rods have a shorter than I like rear butt, the 7'6 is great, secondly the 10/20 rods have max lure weight of only 1 oz, their 15/30 model is 2 oz I think. I'm using both a Star stellar lite mh10/20 and Quantum blue runner mh,for use with my heavier lures, I like both those sticks.

Take a nap........... My pre fishing prep is more important to me. I fish 7 days a week, check the weather, tides, then decide on my target species and location, it's different most days. The last thing I do before leaving my home is select my combos, usually no more 3, all my lures are in my car.

First of all, there isn't a person in the world that doesn't lose fish, blaming it on the rod or line is an excuse, not the reason. Merely getting comfortable with the gear you are using is going to prepare you to handle any kind of fish under any situation. If I lose a fish, it's not the equipment, it's usually me. Horsing a fish, your kidding of course.

If you have to pull your fish thru cover then 4# leader is too light, that negates any strength the braid has. For pan fish you don't need much braid, I would use no more than your furthest cast, then add 10 yds, the rest backing. My own preference when using a light rod is no knot going thru the smaller guides, I'd be using a swivel to attach my leader.

Not a knock on their product but I didn't like the way the rods were listed on the site. At least in the saltwater section I did not notice the line or lure weights listed on the rods offered.