SirSnookalot

@slonezp............nice lookin tuna

I live inb a Florida community and our ponds are exactly as you described. Some years he vegetation is thick other years, like now it's sparse. I use a 6'6 6/12 rod and 30 supreme and 6'6 light 4/10 with a 25 supreme, anything along those lines will be perfect. I do not throw big baits as bigger rods are needed and for me big rods are for big fish and small rods for small fish, I have caught bass up to 8# in my ponds, that's pretty much the limit. When the vegetation is thick, I often go to a heavier med spinning rod just to pull them out, I really don't like it. No real need to invest a bundle on equipment and tackle, not much is really needed. Congrads on the 5 pounder, that's a good pond fish.

No fishing for me.............

This is a brown fish ( Cubera Snapper).....this one is a dink, they go over a 100# Cobia The ultimate warrior, a Jack Crevelle, only 25# but still had to be chased down, 5000 medalist mh spinner, I'm gettin old! Amberjack, never fought a tougher species. Caught one 100# in Mexico, took 3 men to land it. Dolphin Sailfish Too dumb to know any better, caught this on a fresh water spinning outfit, Cobia, 1975 in Key West, I had hair then. Backyard Peacock

I appreciate the vote of confidence. The fish have just not been around for inshore fishing, everyone is struggling, we call it the winter doldrums. Sometimes we can go for a week or 2 without a strike. My bass fishing has been going ok, my ponds for the most part are good. I normally catch good numbers and size in my backyard canal, but the going has been abnormally slow, I don't know why and no one fishes it but me. I fish a canal a few miles from home, what a difference, good numbers and size. I recently took a ride into Broward county about 50 miles from my home, hard not to catch bass and peacocks, location does make a difference.

I use Zooms for bass and I use DOA in saltwater. There is a guy I see almost daily, uses a standard Zoom and cheapo jig heads, like 10 2 bucks from Walmart, I use DOA and spend way more money. He catches as many as I do, who is the fool?........... Right, it's me ! Wherever I'm fishing I prefer light colors.

How much is your time worth to you? Even minimum hourly wage has more value.

Last year started off on a real blaze, 10 pound jacks everyday. Not this year, caught only a dink about a 28" snook......not photo worthy, and out of season. Did pop a few nice bass in the afternoon.

Bit of an over reaction to Suh..........it's game, some take it a bit personal. As a native Detroiter I can understand the fans wanting a winner, whatever the cost, been since 1957, Karas was no nice guy either, fans loved him. I listened to that game on the radio, most of you guys weren't even born yet. Remember the Bad Boys, they lived up to that moniker...........Pistons hadn't won anything for decades until 89. Fans just ate up these players, their personas were bigger than life. Rick Mahorn may have been the filthiest, off the court the nicest.......he flew to Asia and Europe in the off season doing basketball clinics for kids. Flint, Pontiac..........make inner city Detroit look like Beverly Hills....well almost, lol.

Less

Just a matter of personal choice. I own only 1 conventional reel, not used for casting, but ocean offshore use. I have a left hand crank as I like my right arm (stronger) on my rod when I'm pumping up and reeling down.

I have 3 supremes 25-30-35. I think the 30 is an excellent bass sized reel, it's my pond reel, for canals I use the 35. My 35 was my primary light duty surf saltwater reel for about 18 months, with no problems. Drag was good with plenty of line capacity. I've put exactly zero maintenance in these reels, except for a drop of oil every now and then, they perform like new.

Nice fish Goose, you did better than me. I was offshore fishing for cobia and caught 1 little blue runner, water was too calm.

Not a chance in the world I could do it............

I don't keep track of much ( actually nothing ) but I know my size and number production was not one of my better years. Caught about 20 bass between 5-10#, I keep a 20" mark on my rod, majority of my fish are caught in the canal behind my house, it's only about 1/4 mile long. Inshore was not reel good, biggest snook only 37", numbers were not up to par. About 15 memorable cuda and 40-50 tarpon. Biggest jack was maybe 20#. Offshore I did pretty decent, had around 60 outings. 6-7 sails, lots of kingfish and bonita, cobia and amberjacks, just guessing but many fish 20-50#, one went about 200#(reef shark). As Goose says, being retired does give one an advantage. I did some kind of fishing maybe 340 days.

Once I've lost the feathered hook, I just replace with a standard. Never really noticed much of a production difference.

Many reels today are braid ready, meaning there may be rubber band and just slide the line underneath or a strip of rubber around the spool, tie or tape, for me it's straight braid no backing. I just tape my freshwater reels and only use about 1/2- 3/4 of capacity, haven't had the need to change line for a couple of years and I fish 12 months. My inshore reels are braid, full spool, no backing and just tape. My off shore reels, some mono reels and some braided ones, they don't get backing. Tie or tape, is a personal choice, chances of most people getting spooled is pretty slim.

I think you are underpowered, probably enough line but that reel has only 20 max drag, don't worry about your line breaking, the reel won't stop the fish anyway. 150# tarpon, maybe but that wouldn't be easy but you could do it,( I'm too old, lol) Being in a boat is a huge advantage, not only can you chase it down but you can brace yourself, too hard to do from the beach, nothing is harder than beaching a bigger fish, I can't stress that enough. Several years ago while fishing for kings I hooked a lemon shark about 6', on 7000 spinning reel with a 25lb boat rod, I got in in ( in fact I had 2 that day back to back, could't walk for a week) If those fish had been a pound heavier I would not have landed them, but I was in a boat, that's the difference. I wish I was there.

I have some pics posted of an aprox. seven foot reef shark, maybe that will tide you over.....in the gallery. No I didn't catch it on an ultra lite set up........lol. My buddy is 81 so when the fish hit he handed me the rod, 40 rod lb, senator 4/0, 40# mono 60# mono leader( I'm guessing) using a king rig. No fighting belt, pressed my back against the center console, braced my legs against the gunnels and sat on the rod until the fish weakened.

Fact, not fiction. I'm one of the people that had their warranty voided. Sent my spheros 4000 in for repair and they did void my warranty for not using their oil. I had an issue with one of my stradics, ordered a part from Shimano and when the part never showed, I called and they had no record of the order ever being placed. I avoid Shimano service, will only use them as a last result.

I prefer the saltwater shows, but not too much trolling for pelagics. I like shows that highlight sightcasting in the flats or backcountry with lighter gear or fly rods. My favorite show is the "Spanish Fly"(Jose Wejebe).

Up until about a week ago the bite from shore was hot, anything was working. It has slowed down considerably and I've been using senkos that last few days, no question about it, even when it's slow senkos produce.

What kind of rod and reel are you using and how much line capacity? Make sure your drag is not overly tight, gradually increase the drag with fish on. If the fish is that big, either you won't stop it, get spooled, your line will break, sounds to me that maybe you need heavier equipment. Being on shore you have the disadvantage of not being able to run the fish down. From my own personal experience I find nothing fights harder than a fish off the beach, have caught the same fish from both boat and beach and it's easier from the boat, running the fish down helps in not getting spooled. If it is a shark, the nature of most of them is to run deep, then kind of lay on the bottom until you tire them out, fish that size maybe 60-75 minutes, then pull up and reel down. Now you are on the beach, water probably is only 20', that fish is going to strip out line to get to deeper water, not being able to brace yourself against the gunnels of the boat, you have a hell of a fight waiting for you. Here's what most people don't think about, how are you going to unhook the fish and drag it back in the water? Be careful, sharks don't have bones, they have cartilege and can do 180 turn and bite you., even a 2' shark can give a nasty bite.

The problems in using a larger spinning reel is weight. A spinner big enough to use 20lb mono is going to average around 20 oz, like an 8000 series reel, there are exceptions like my Soron 60 which weighs about 15, still heavy. A reel that size will produce coiling with mono line, hot water or kvd L& L are temporary fixes. I soak my mono then troll it out before each outing, if simply drift fishing with bait not as much caution is needed as in the case of constant casting. Needless to say I do not use these reels are for bass fishing. Without giving too much thought as to how many people use spinning exclusively, 2 come to mind. Both Fish Chris and Rolo are excellent anglers that have posted pics of some really nice fish, they use nothing but spinning. True they may not employ every technique but when you catch the kind of fish they do, I see no reason to change. I haven't used a b/c for any kind of fishing where I'm constantly casting for better than 40 years, with no plans of ever owning one. I can't think of anything I can't do with a spinning rod.

I don't think a mesh bag would allow fish to swim around, the cooler with an arerater would work fine. That's a lot of extra gear to lug around on shore just for the sake of a picture. It's one thing to drive up to a spot and walk a few feet to start fishing, another if you have fairly rough terrain and healthy walk, not to mention a lack of fishing mobility. Be just as fast to snap your pic and put the fish back in the water. If you are worried about putting the fish on the ground to prepare your photo shoot, tie your rod to a tree and keep the fish in the water until you're ready.