SirSnookalot

Some people like glue to smooth out the knot coming thru the guides, and I've read others use glue to strengthen a knot ties to a lure or hook. Tieing a proper knot in the first place is really all you need to do. What ever knots you are comfortable with, those are the ones to use. I am not a good knot tier, I stick to a few of the most basic ones, yet they hold fish of all sizes with few failures.

Spinning or casting? Balance is tip heavy or butt heavy, sounds like butt to me because of the larger reel. Just because you have a mh rod does not mean it requires a bigger reel. What is the target species, fishing conditions, line you plan on using? Personally If I haven't used the rod I would return it in favor of a rod that matches my reel or vice versa , a reel that matches that rod. I would want something where less tweaking is involved in the first place. Just sounds like the rod is too short for the reel or the reel is too heavy for the rod.

Your legally caught fish is your choice on it's fate.

Fading only means it has lost it's color, still fishes fine, no reason to do anything, all my green braid is faded out.

As said backing is a personal choice, myself I seldom use backing, I like braid all the way. This is a good step by step video on how to spool up braid.

HAHAHA..........I have pics but too lazy to upload them to my computer. Interesting afternoon, fished my #1 pond and it was dead, walked over to another and starting catching fish right away, convinces me it isn't always the technique or lure but where you are at. I'm catching some really nice fish, pond fishing at it's finest. I catch a little fingerling about 4" long on a 7" worm, I unhooked it and it was bleeding, thought to myself to use it for bait, I didn't. I'd say no more than 1 minute goes by and I see this fingerling being chased by a really nice sized bass that had it for lunch........Next time I'm going to be a bait fisherman, lol.

I agree with Francho about tucking the rod under your arm and a full grip is better for that, but I the only time my rods are under my arm is when I'm handling saltwater fish, mostly offshore but sometimes inshore too but not as often. From my observation most offshore fisherman have that rod tucked when fighting a fish and very few rods are split grip. I have handled the Blair Wiggins offshore split grip rods and they are the most awkward rods I ever touched. Removable butt caps are important, underneath quite often is a gimble butt for using a fighting belt. For casting and retrieving both freshwater and inshore (only spinning is used), a short rear split grip is not as comfortable to cast. The lack of a foregrip is a bigger negative for me, when handling some of the larger fish the extra leverage you get with your hand on the fore grip is a big plus, not to mention the stain on your forearm, this relates to the tennis elbow thread. I would not own a rod without a good sized front grip. The weight savings of rod and reel is of no issue to me, within limits of course.

Nope.......I normally buy DOA jig heads, as good a brand as I have used, 3 for about $4-5. I'm now using plain round Walmart non painted jig heads, about 8 for 2 bucks or so, every bit as effective. There some brands I do not like, with some my flukes don't stay on, with others the flukes split then fall off.

80% of my bass fishing is in my community ponds. Ponds like mine are totally different than rivers, lakes and canals, there is no structure at all. Some years the vegetation is heavy and sometimes it's very sparse like now. IMO this is bass fishing in it's most simplest and easiest form, just about anything and everything will work if the bass are "on". The last thing I do is overthink pond fishing, it doesn't take a great fisherman, it takes a great pond, I know that cause I'm a lousy fisherman and I catch tons of fish, lol. I catch the majority of my bass in the corners or alcoves, baits are selected just on what I feel like throwing that day and if the vegetation is light or heavy. One rod, 1 lure with a second in my pocket for a backup in case I lose the one I'm fishing with. I mix it up, different lure or technique every day and different pond, not unusual for 1 pond to be hot and another cold. One of my neighbors caught an 11 pounder last week, I saw the pic. Biggest pond bass I ever saw, my biggest is only about 8#.

My initial plan was to head out and do some snakehead fishing. It was too early to go freshwater and I had the last of the outgoing with tide change around sunrise. Forecast was calm west breeze and flat water, perfect for Cuda, that along with the fact water is warming and cuda have been in the area, it was a no brainer......glad I went to the ocean.

Hunger Games did 214 million at the box office this past weekend.

I just reel faster or slower, I don't pay much attention to ipt...........also retired.

No modern player brings excitement to the game like Tiger Woods. He was near perfect on a very hard course, I do not believe this is just a victory, I do believe great things are to come, no question in my mind he will regain #1 world ranking. Luke Donald is really a journeyman golfer, consistent but lacks the firepower to be a multiple major winner. McIlroy will challenge Tiger, but a small handful of victories and 1 major doesn't come close to 72 wins and 14 majors, he too will be intimidated, has yet to play against Woods when Woods is in the zone.

Lake Worth inlet? If you mean the Palm Beach inlet, I've fished the north side, it can be a good fishing beach, that's Singer Island. South of the inlet is only fishable by boat and it's a great snookery right off the rocks, Rush Limbaugh lives a few houses south of the inlet, it has no public access that I'm aware of.

47" to the fork, glad my buddy had his camera. Mh spinner, Cabo 30 with14lb mono using a homemade cuda tube.

The overwhelming majority of predatory animals hunt specific prey, seldom deviate except when their food source is in short supply. Some animals hunt only a few different sources while others may have a wider range of species they eat, housecat's by the way may dine on hundreds of different animals, fish, birds etc, and are considered one of the animals kingdom's most prolific hunters, I've also read housecats are the only animal that kills for fun, except man. Most shark attacks come from mistaken identity, humans are not their food source, surfers often are mistaken for seals. No question that there are maneater sharks, bull, tiger, and some others, bull sharks can be found swimming quite a distance upstream in freshwater rivers like Mississippi or Ganges in India. Bass have a wide range of food they eat, some other species of fish eat primarily crustaceans, like Permit.

I don't get overly excited, especially if it's a routine fish, seldom are the fished weighed or photographed, it's just another 5# bass or 20# snook, not saying it isn't fun. I get excited when I catch a fish out of the ordinary, like the 8oz peacock I caught. The most excited I get is when I'm spooled and never see the fish, that's awesome to see 200+ yds line peel off as quick as you can blink an eye and can't do a thing about it.

Doug, as I understand it Beer Can Island ( Bird Island ) by the inlet has reds, snook, tarpon and bonefish. No way to fish it from shore unless you wade to the island on low tide, but you might get thrown in the clink for that. I never fished it by boat but would like to, we always just head out the inlet and fish offshore. I also hear Snook Island has redfish, never caught one there but many many snook and some big jacks. The new fishing deck is going to be great when the bait starts rolling in, you can cast out to the catwalks, a bait fishermen"s dream for huge snook, bring a pier net. All that said I'll give ya my private spot when I see you in person, I don't need every yahoo throwing a cast net, I'll wind up getting thrown out.

My PP hi vis yellow has hardly faded, been on the reel over 40 outings offshore in the ocean. I don't use any line application.

My daughter bought the tickets, I thought just presenting my ticket stubs would validate parking, it didn't.....I flipped out when the attendant said 9 bucks, I was bitchen about it all night...........lol.

None of my freshwater or inshore rods are foam, every one of my offshore rods are, I think the overwhelming majority of them have foam. We use bait offshore, sardines, ballyhoo, squid, that stuff stinks and it's messy. At the end of the day the rods are none the worse for wear and don't smell, just rinse them down. I do take a lighter spinning rod with cork grips, I may do some drifting and jigging so the combo gets the same workout as the foam offshore rods, there is no difference in sensitivity. The bite from bait is totally different than from a lure, fish can strip you clean without ever feeling a thing and these are not always small fish. Braided line makes more of a difference than the rod as far as bite detection.

Nice fish...........We have them everywhere here and I've only caught 2 on artis, they are vegetarians. A grass carp is really the largest minnow species, called a White Amur, go to be 100# in China, so I've read.

We went to see Hunger Games Friday at City Place Imax, 16.50 a ticket and 9 bucks to park, what a rip off. My kids loved it, I hated it...............I'll take Bogart anytime.

If it weren't for my daughter and gr kids I wouldn't live here. My area by far is not the best of fishing locations here in Florida, both for fresh and saltwater. Better areas are not too far away, when I can get my wife up early and drive to the keys, she reads on the beach and I do some bonefishing, have a nice late lunch someplace and drive home, makes for a great day.

Suspension may not be the right word, banned for life may work better. One of our offshore boat mates, whom I refuse to fish with, is a real PITA. He's uptight, doesn't know how to relax and go with the flow. He has to drive the boat, decide where and when to leave a spot, it's all about him. He whines when he isn't catching and gloats when he is, can't tie a hook on, get rid of a backlash or even put his rod in a rod holder to put his fighting belt on, all that said I have never been with a luckier guy. He catches the first and the biggest most of the time, using the same baits and gear as the others, and he is of the notion he's a world class fisherman. I won't fish with him anymore.