SirSnookalot

My Hurricane Redbones are my favorite inshore rods, as inshore fishing is my main venue this is where I put my attention. I'm having trouble with my redbones, I keep having guides corrode and break, 2 are in for repair right now. They are good Fuji guides and the same ones are on other rods I have with no problem, maybe I'm not rinsing them down well enough. At any rate next time around I may be looking at another brand, I have 2 Stars and they are pretty good.

I had an addiction.....gambling. I played the ponies, cards, bowled, golfed, casinos, blind pigs, real lucky to get out alive some nights. I started most days at the pool room, playing golf or pins on a Canadian snooker table and finished up at the 24 hour bowling alley early in the morning. I played or backed someone but money was on the line every day, it's never how good you are but how good you make the game. It's not all it's cracked up to be and I can't imagine a worse addiction, but I kicked it. Halloween night 1970 I'm at a Bacarat table at the International hotel in Las Vegas, I just got up took a cab to the airport flew to the first available destination which was L.A. and visited family there. My only regret came some 20 years later, my stepdaughter got married in Las Vegas and I refused to go, not wanting to test myself. I can now go anyplace where there is gambling and just be a voyeur. 40 years has gone by and I haven't made a bet. Edit : My life totally changed when I got into the scrap metal biz in 1973 and the irony was the guy I was working for was a real hardcore gambler, I never let it bother me.

Even inexpensive equipment will do the job if not abused. Losing a fish happens to everyone........PERIOD!!! If a person isn't mature enough to except that, chances are slim that they will ever be a good fisherman. It doesn't make sense to put your equipment at risk by throwing it around, cost you time on the water and money out of your pocket. I personally would not want to share a boat or shore with some one like that.

Tilapia originally came from Africa, Mayan cichlids are from Central America and peacocks from South America.

No.........that's a Mayan cichlid, they are awesome fighters for their little size. Great fun on ul with a roostertail or crappie jig.

I guess you never had a party line...........haha

Technology is created for big business to make more money, sure we have modern conveniences that we think are great but they are created not for us but for big companies to make lots of money. Robots do the job of many people, cost less to operate and don't take a lunch break, increases unemployment. Technology has either eliminated jobs by doing tasks better, faster, and cheaper than a humans can or having those tech jobs done offshore cheaper, either case technology puts people out of work. Once people get retrained and re employed,other kinds of jobs become obsolete, the cycle never ends.

Very cool stuff.

I see you're in California, how far from the ocean? I use an 8' med Tsunami with a 3000 spinning reel for light surf casting, when I target fish I think that will run 5-20#, I have no problem using 1 oz lures, even thought the rod is rated for 3/4 oz. I don't think I would use for bass at all.

I have an old BPS tourney spinning rod 7' med 17# rod, I was using it for bonita and kingfish offshore years ago that was sitting and collecting dust. I put a 4000 spheros reel and 20# braid and I use it with frogs for snakeheads, catch a lot of bass with it too. I don't fish frogs enough to go make a major investment, this rod does the job.

5 1/2 and 6 that I haven't used in many years, should just give them away. Shortest one I use use is 6'6, longest 12', most used are my 7'6 rods.

As you can see it's 3:AM AM and I've been up for a while and I'll be leaving to fish soon. First thing I do is check the weather, winds, and tide direction and change, now I know what I'm going to wear and even more important what my target is for this outing, my destination may not be selected until I'm in the car. My gear selection has everything to do with, target species and the kind of bait that has been in the area. We have a west wind and calm water this morning, that's barracuda time, only negative is an outgoing tide, not incoming. I'll start of before sunrise fishing some seawalls looking for snook, then hit the beach at sunrise with top water lure for cuda or a tube off the jettie. Then I'll do some bass fishing for a few hours after that.

Yes and no.......depends what kind of fishing I'm doing and where I'm at. The waters I fish in Florida put very little wear and tear on my freshwater gear, not much abrasion on my line. I leave my leader and duolock on for several weeks before I put fresh ones on, I do remove the lure when I get home. Saltwater gear gets fresh knots and leaders before I leave home in the morning. I may drive home with a lure tied on but while I'm rinsing them down I take everything off and cut off a few feet of mainline. I take 2-3 rods so morning prep is pretty quick.

Inches per turn is more pertinent than ratio but should't really matter that much to small spinning reels unless you fish like a mechanical robot and just burn a bait in. Many light baits are "worked", paused, jerked, jigged, I'm using my arm to work them and the reel just takes in the slack. I do not fish deeper freshwater, I do not fish for smallmouth anymore and I don't dropshot, for some that do ratio and ipt may be important. I have a tierra and stradic both are small inshore salt water reels but the same rules apply, the best thing about these 2 reels is that in several years of use I have never had a wind using braid, I can't make the same claim about Abu and Pflueger, imo it's spool and bail design, but I just fish and don't get into technical aspects. As far as casting, drag, durability, the above mentioned reels are pretty much on a par with each other.

The knot got old or the line had a weak spot. I fish 20# floroclear using an ordinary clinch knot for offshore fish like sails and amberjack, no normal issues. A 6# fish on 15# line should never break and any knot should always hold, even with your drag on full max, which it shouldn't be anyway. If your line and knot are in good order you would be surprised on the size fish you can handle with 15# line.

I make my cuda tubes with a 12/0 hook, a limerick hook is bent, that's what makes it spin. I have used these tubes on any med and med h rod, but lately I use them on a dedicated rod, Shimano soujourn 25 lb class, $29.95 and I like it a lot.

Based on your other thread you are using a president size 35 reel, 8# mono, 10# tops or 15- 20# braid.

I don't own a Loomis rod, but I like the logo, ...........Big deal I don't fish Loomis, I still catch great fish. I wear Guy Harvey.

Bleed it up a bit and use it for to catch a bull shark, used a 12/0 limerick hook to catch it.

Wearing a Univ of Mich sweatshirt to a U of M - OSU game in Columbus............lucky to get out of the stadium alive.

Emblem of a snook on my license plate

I have been killing the fish on inline spinners the last 3-4 weeks. Double edge sword, a lot of small fish and bluegills, but the occasional quality fish, peacocks and mayans love them. Those mayan cichlids really put up a fight for a small fish.

I would keep a small portion, which is still a ton of money. I'd buy a summer home around Charlevoix, MI, I love it up there. I would not buy a boat, I'd do exactly what I'm doing now, a member of a boat club, let them have the headaches. I would not keep more than 10 mil or so, I would never spend that. My children would have security but not so much as to remove their incentive to be productive in their careers. I'd set up up charitable endowments for causes I think that are worthy, Special Olympics would be first on the list. Plenty left over for me to see the world, I'd do quite a bit of traveling. It's all moot as I have no ticket.

I have never experienced braided line from spinning around the spool, when I read that other people do I'm in bewilderment, it just shouldn't happen. This is the wrong way but I'm mentioning it because I had no problem. I have $30 shakespere for my grandson, I was using it myself the other day and I noticed I just tied the braid to the spool with zero problems, I may have been lucky but the line has been on there a long time and it's fine. The right way is either using backing or tape on the spool, then tie your knot over the tape, it will not slip. If it does slip you need a better tied knot or a different kind of knot as it is not cinching tight. I use masking tape, some use electrical tape, electrical tape is easier than masking to remove from the spool. I posted a video on how to spool up a spinning reel a few days ago, I'll post it again. This is a very easy video to follow, I think it is explained well too. I use braid all the way, but really for most freshwater fishing it really isn't needed, you aren't using that much line.

Blue sw xraps, all blue and sardine color.