SirSnookalot

@ Busy, If most people used nothing but a b/c, in a reasonable amount time they would become proficient enough to use it comfortably, it isn't that hard. In 60 years of fishing and catching more than just a few fish of all species I could count the times on my fingers and toes that I'm aware of beating one to pure exhaustion, on a percentage basis that hardly computes. Even a fish dragged in quickly is probably not returned to the water without some fatigue, still prone to a predator attack. I would agree some species of fish are not as hardy as others and do have higher mortality rates, I no longer fish for those species and never would again. That said those species have a smaller population to begin with and unless targeting them, they are going to be a much rarer catch. If it were to happen, believe me I'm going to land it, not an ounce of doubt in my mind about that. If someone chooses to drag a 2 or 3# fish in and land it in 30 seconds or less and wants to call it sporting, so be it, that isn't for me. What I call sporting is giving the fish a chance to win, I'm already using hi tech rods and reels, and lines with incredible strength.

Try a circle hook with a live shiner, 8# line should be sufficient.

You want my opinion..................you got it. I own only 1 b/c, as the name implies I use it for fishing with bait, live or cut and it's only for species I think may run over 50#, I have spinning gear that will handle those same 50# fish (and it's a lot more fun for me too). I do see the point of using a b/c with 65# line for tournament fishing, the object is to drag a fish in fast, for the most part those fish aren't too big and offer little or no fight. To me that isn't fishing, that's trying to cash a check. The times I need a bit heavier set up to pull fish out of heavy cover, I use a mh spinning rod and 20# braid. I've yet to catch the freshwater fish I can't handle on that set up, excluding only a sturgeon and one of the those big Texas gars, which I've never caught, bet a 18000 stella would handle one of them, lol. Growing up in Michigan in the 50's I was weened on b/c gear, I have no problem casting them, unless the new modern ones are more difficult, be my guess they would be easier today. It didn't take long to convert to strictly using spinning and fly rods, IMO the fun and challenge increased many times. I truly believe that b/c fishermen are missing some great action and taking the easy way out, just my opinion. This isn't a knock or a condensing comment, but look at the PB of most members, not too many PB's over 10#, just the nature of the areas that are fished. I want that 10# bass on a spinning rod, if I lose it so what, not one lands them all. In all fairness I believe bass fishermen have been programmed in thinking that a using b/c, heavy lines, having 3-5 or 10 rods with them is essential to be successful, I think that's pure non sense for the recreational fisherman.

The shark knot looks way more involved than I care to get into, it may or may not be a good knot, but for the bulk of fishing, it's overkill IMO. I'd almost be willing to bet that when knots fail it's because the drag on the reel is way tighter than it should be or the knot just wasn't tied right. A proper drag set takes quite a bit of tension off the knot, the old standby fishermen's clinch knot held fine for decades (even with braid), hard to believe it suddenly quit working, it's my most used knot and my knots seldom fail.

I use that same reel for my pond fishing, I would not consider anything other than 10# braid, you can pick the brand.

The last few days the bass have been busting bait in my ponds, it's been oppressively humid, I've lasted no more than 45 minutes. I've been tempted to walk out to my canal to locate some bigger fish or even maybe peacocks but the thought of insect infestation has kept me away.

@James, I'm glad you are pleased with the palomar, I'm not, but it makes no difference as long the knot of one's choice does the job. Not always but much of the time I don't wet my knots, I find the larger diameters leaders like 30 or 40# and up require wettness more so than the lighter ones. Being in Florida quite often the humidity in the air makes the line slide enough for a good cinch on it's own, not to say I don't advocate wetting the line, but for me it's a knot by knot decision. I am not a fan at all of leader to line via a knot, I much prefer leaders to swivels, I tie line to leaders only for a few targeted species. It doesn't really make a difference, so many people on here don't even use leaders and tie directly to the lure, both braid and mono. The argument comes up that 1 more knot is 1 more weak spot, tie the knot right and there should be no problem. I can't think of one pelagic species that is caught without a leader, to me that blows the weak link theory right out of the water.

I would miss it, simply because I can step into my backyard and catch bass ( maybe more peacocks would move in ). If they were to disappear tomorrow it would merely be an inconvenience, I'm 15 minutes from the ocean.

If Yo-zuri were sold where I shop I'd try it. I'm not unhappy with the lines I use at present, but always willing try something different. I've read a lot posts on here and it just seems to me the people that catch the most and the biggest fish seem to have less problems, with lines, lures, reels and rods.

I take most reviews with a grain of salt. I may buy one reel over another based on playing with it in the store, but the real review doesn't come until months after I've had. I need to use it hard and catch some good fish, I want to see what it looks like after it's beaten up a while, how smooth it still is and well the drag keeps working. I like my Shimano reels, but I have reels in the same price range that I like too. I've backed away from recommending equipment, a lot of it is just a popularity contest. Last thing I want to do is bad rap a product, hate to depress someone that recently bought it. I find most of the equipment today works pretty darn good.

I think the number of people on BR participating is huge, nothing I've seen fishing related is close to it. I spend time on a saltwater site too, also a big site and very informative, but not near the participation that BR enjoys.

I use a duolock snap with an inline spinner, not aware of getting bit less, still produces quite well.

I agree with Capt Bob, the initial contact is important in establishing a rapport. My businesses have always centered around the phone, I'm a salesman first and I know how to get things done whether it be a beaurocrat or company small or large. In my experience Shimano's customer service seems to be the exception, for me things have not gone as well as they have with other company's customer service, both repair and parts. Sure Shimano is a big company and deal with many issues, all the more reason to employ more people to handle it. I do not buy into " they handle a lot crap every day", they are only working there and their own personal money is not on the line. There isn't a business in the world that doesn't deal with issues on a daily basis, I cut them no slack in that area. Several posts have indicated a problem in obtaining parts, Shimano is more aware of this than we are, it's an issue they deal with quite bit. It's a mystery as to why a business would not be more aggressive in a parts restocking program and an expanding parts department. It's apparent they feel it isn't worth the investment, in time it just may bite them in the butt.

I have never fished a freshwater pier or even walked on one, I don't fish saltwater piers because they are much higher than I like to fish, but I've walked on them just to check them and out what the people are doing. My S.W. forums have a lot of activity regarding pier and bridge action, I read them, BTW the jetties I fish are considerably lower than piers. A very large portion of the fishermen on piers don't release fish, pompano for example are a highly prized catch for it's excellent table, they can put up really good fight too. The fishing gear is quite a bit different than what most use for freshwater and inshore fishing, bait (live or cut) is the predominate way in which most people are fishing. The undersized fish for the most part are just tossed back in, this may not be to the liking of freshwater fishermen, but that's what's done, fish do seem none the worse for wear. Larger fish are hoisted up with a pier net, not many are released, if it's legal some one is going to eat it. What I can't figure out is how they get really large fish up, not unheard of to catch 40# kingfish off a pier, that takes some real know how, of which I don't know how they do it.

With the exception 1 BR member (and we were snook fishing) I don't know anyone that bass fishes. Every one I know only fishes saltwater.

Depends on high the pier is. If you are fishing 10-15' or higher you probably landed the fish with a pier net, just unhook them and lower them back into the water still in the net.

I live in a coastal area, I'm 15 minutes from saltwater, there by 4-5 AM, depending on tide, wind and weather. I'm home about 10 am most days, take a nap, have lunch and then bass fish for a few hours in the afternoon.

I'm in 100% agreement with Mike, I dislike the palomar. No reflection on how good or bad it may be, but for me it's very awkward, my knots hold as well if not better and way easier to tie. The knot is the single most important factor in fishing, badly tied knots lose fish and properly tied knots land them.

If one has to ask for some one special to get good service, doesn't sound like it bodes well for someone that has no knowledge of who Dan is. Not everyone that calls Shimano is even a BR member, until yesterday I had no idea of who Dan is. I've made calls where the rep was polite and tried to be helpful, other calls the rep talked down to me and was anything but helpful. A customer with a $50 reel should be treated no different than one with a $900 reel. I rate their customer service as not being one of the better ones out their, this is not a reflection on their original product. I have been to several repair shops here in Florida, even the authorized service centers can't get part if they are not in stock. There is a difference between the parts department and the repair department, they are different entities. My roller bearing was on backorder for better than 4 months, part totally unavailable, sent the reel in instead and was back to me in a mere 4 weeks, luckily at no charge.

I both agree and disagree with 21farms. I'd give up fishing altogether if I were to using heavy equipment with 50# line to drag a 3# fish in within seconds, without the joy of playing it, that is why I'm there. In 60 years of fishing with many thousands caught I can probably count on my hands and toes the number of fish that were totally spent and I know for a fact died. Even fish landed quickly that swim off have been stressed to a certain degree, quite often we have no knowledge of their fate. Also while fishing for smaller targets with lighter gear, there is no control of what may be swimming by to hit that light set up. Where I agree is targeting certain species that are known to have a higher mortality rate, muskie for example. Not long ago on BR I said was a firm believer in fishing for them with fairly light gear as compared to their overall size. After doing some research my position has greatly changed, I would never target muskie again. I've caught many of them fishing on lake St Clair and I don't feel the fight justifies the risk of these fishing dieing. I am not interested in overpowering a fish with tackle I could land a 100# tarpon on, that on average don't go over 30#. I say let those beautiful fish live.

A novice fisherman may be better off using just one rod with no quick change snap( master those knots in windy conditions). Learn a technique at a time and don't be so fast to change lures. It's apparent that many people try to emulate the pros they see on TV with a huge arsenal of equipment, the amateur may be doing them self a disservice. The seasoned fisherman probably only needs 1 outfit, but human nature makes us come up with a plethora of reasons to justify the expense.

IMO dolphins are a magnificent looking fish, maybe my favorite, and can put up one hell of a fight, I don't catch too many of them anymore as we mainly fish water 80-150', as rule dolphin are in deeper water, look for the weedline or floating debris. When I moved to Florida 9 years ago a disc with a number of my fishing trips and vacations got lost forever, wish I had. I do have quite a few hard albums full of fishing pics, been here 9 years and haven't opened the box, lol....gotta scan some of those pics one day.

Some of those species really lose their color, some turn brown. It happens both during the fight and also when we have them sitting on ice, doesn't always make for a good picture. Many of the nice fish I catch are caught on smaller boats 21-24' center console, these boats do not have much storage space, photos become hard to take with gear, clothing, nets. gaffs and crap cluttered around, not to mention fish thrashing, we take very few pics out there. Most of my friends don't care about pics, they don't even have a camera, just me and I always don't take it. I've got some fish in my gallery that have turned brown, check out the sailfish.

I like your pic better than mine

Mono fishing line takes hundreds of years to biodegrade, can't be much better for the environment than braided line. Fishing where I fish there is no control of what size fish may strike your bait, getting spooled can happen anytime, I've been spooled 5 times this year alone, some braid and some mono. Getting spooled is never the intention, it's just the luck of the draw. Fishing for kings for example real heavy gear just isn't used, we're using equipment basically targeting 50# fish and less, no control of what's swimming around, lots of big sharks out there. I've been spooled off the beach fishing for smaller fish with light equipment, been spooled there too by a big tarpon, they come with a few feet of the shore all the time and hit the same baits. Getting spooled certainly is not deliberate and far from a crime. I accept this not as attack on anyone's integrity but lack of knowledge and experience on what can and does happen in a coastal environment. I fished the Great Lakes for nearly 60 years catching most of the popular species, never close to being spooled, been fishing the salt for 30 years, last 9 living here full time, and getting spooled is anything but rare, it just happens once in a while.