SirSnookalot

I use Ande mono for my leaders, 15 or 20# test and I'm using 10 or 15# braid. Inshore I double the braids test 15/30, 20/40 and 30/60 lb.

I keep it simple, they hold great and easy to tie. Loop knops for lures, clinch knot for leaders and a double wrapped improved clinch to tie a swivel on braid. I've had 2 problems, first is when I join braid lines I've been using 2 clinch knots, never had a problem until a sailfish pulled it thru and another time with an amberjack, anything up to 50 or so pound fish have held just fine. I'm now doing 2 improved clinch knots, has worked fine but haven't caught fish like I mentioned since I started using it. Second problem was the alberto, it works great but this is what happened. I only use this knot for some toothy critters, I tied a leader of about 5', I found 10 total wraps held like iron. I caught fish including some bigger jacks and lots of fish 5-10 pounds and I never changed the leader as I didn't use up very much of it. After about 2 weeks while casting the knot came unraveled.

I'm kinda with Lund, Motown rules, especially if you're a Detroiter. A lot of the Motown people lived in my neighborhood, David Ruffin and Marvin Gaye used to ride motorcycles with us. My pick would be Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin On " album. As far as putting energy into song and getting the crowd into it......Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, and my favorite Patti Labelle.

My disorganization is perfectly organized. My freshwater fishing is all shore and only fish moving baits. I only have about 20 or so different lures and found that's all I need so everything is just laying on table. When I go out to fish I put a couple of lures in a old rapala box and stick them in my pocket. I keep no saltwater gear at home ( except rods, reels and line for replacement), it's all in my car. I use a fanny pack as my day bag with lure boxes, I actually have quite a bit of stuff in there and keep a lot of back lures in the car.

I have reels that I'm not using anymore, sitting in a box and probably won't ever be used again unless I give them to someone, these reels are like new and I bought new ones only because I wanted not needed them. I'm not a typical bass fisherman, in fact I'm not really a bass fisherman at all, just a guy that lives in Florida where there are lots of bass. My bass fishing consists of carrying only 1 rod at a time, I use pretty much use the same lures on every set up, so no I don't carry spare, but at times I may have a back up rod in the car. Most of my bass fishing is very close to my home so I'm hoofing it with no excess baggage.

Good news ! I've fished the Weaver many times from shore @ Hagen Ranch, close to my home.

From piers and bridges a round net called appropriately a bridge or pier net is lowered down. Now you have to slip the net under the fish then lift up. Guys use these same nets from jetties which are maybe a 1/3 as high at most. Very often in the case of some fish like a barracuda we drop a weighted 12/0 treble hook and gaff them, only from jetties, piers are way too high.

The fish don't get buttoned as much as I would like them too, getting a fish very close and and having it unbutton is what we call " a Palm Beach Release ", we find that desirable, we don't keep them anyway and we had the pleasure of catching and fighting them and they swim off in much better shape. The fish that I can swing up are not slot, can't keep them and a 7 or 8# fish isn't photo worthy. I take the occasional photo but pics and weights are a very minor priority to me. Bassn was with me when I caught about a15# snook and was going to walk back to his truck for a camera, I told him wasn't worth the effort. We get tarpon out there quite a bit, not going to lift them up, can't even do it with a net. I match my rod to the bait not the fish, so I don't use anything near as heavy as swimbait gear and I can still spring most of them up. It's about technique, we all do it here. It would be very difficult to spring a fish from a boat, too low to the water, why not just use a net. Saw an interesting way to bring them up last week, I had never seen this done before. A guy catches a 25 " redfish off the jettie on a gotcha, a second guy lowers his lure down to the fish and hooks in the lip, then they lift the fish up using 2 rods.

I use a duolock most of the time for freshwater and a barrel swivel to connect my leader, with absolutely no negative effect on lure movement. I know the trend is not to do this but it works for me.

New car

I have not had that happen in freshwater, in saltwater a spanish mackerel will bite the swivel off, that's the only time I tie leader to line.

If I'm not mistaken a rapala knot is very similar to a loop knot. I use nothing but swivels and loop knots, I tie line to leader less than 1% of the time.

Most 8/17 rods I see are rated 3/4 oz lure and medium power, I really like that 1 oz and mh power rating. I've got a tarpon with your name on it waiting for you down here, I'd be in the Keys fishing the Back Country with that rod. Real nice !!

In all honesty a 2 year old rod should no longer be the concern of the retailer, unless the warranty states over the counter. If any retailer goes above and beyond their policy kudos for them. Had the OP mentioned this was an old rod, bad rapping a company may not have occurred.

As I tried to explain in post #26 line twist on spinning gear is caused in part on how the line gets fed back onto the spool during retrieve,I can't take credit as I read this someplace years ago. I am an advocate of closing the bail manually, it seems to be easier and it may put less wear and tear on the reel. I do not feel closing by hand has anything to do with line twist, all you have done is closed the bail, nothing more. The line twist is about physics and how the line gets fed back onto the spool..............bait issues as well when they revolve too much as in plastics, or trolling with certain spoons. Not to get too far off track but I will always use a swivel to attach my leader, BB prefered, it will not eliminate the problem but does help some.

I don't deadlift, that could break a rod. I spring them up like a trampolene effect, the mometum plus a healthy pull up at the apex hoists them up, key is to let the rod do the work, it does take practice and there is a size limit of course. The closer you are to the water the harder it is to spring them up, be hard to spring them from a boat and there is a max height of about 10', I could never do it from a pier, they are very high. Our average snook is about 6-7#, we get them up pretty easy.

If I had a problem I would either be making a phone calls to Daiwa & BPS or visiting a store in. Get the right information from the powers to be, after all they are the ones you did business with and only them can give you the right information. I've had equipment bought at BPS and they bent over backwards to make me happy, even outside of their return policy.

This subject was brought up not long ago. Just about every time I go to my jettie Im catching fish larger than your average bass and we all lift them up from maybe 5' to as high as 10 or 11", depending on how high the tide is and different sections of the jettie, 6-8# fish are no problem at all. My buddy Bassn Blvd has been to the jettie and seen it done, probably has done it himself. We do it by " springing" the fish up using m or mh rods, just got to learn how to it, many times it's isn't possible the fish are just too big. I posted a pic yesterday of a fish about 12# that I lifted with no effort at all from about a 2' seawall using mh rod. That said, I'm using spinning gear and maybe a spinning rod has more spring effect, I don't really know. When I'm doing my bass fishing in my canals which are probably 6' high, still using med spinning gear, a 4-5# bass pose no lifting problem at all, at about 6 or 7# I have to drag them up, I fish leaders and use 20#, I'd have no chance to lift them with a light leader. If I were bank fishing in a confined area, I'd have a net. I walk and cast too much, nets are not practical for canal fishing for me.

Tom, That's a basic "chicken rig" used more for bottom fishing. For casting and retrieving I'm talking about having the weight high and the jig at the bottom of the leader. I still don't think anything is better than using the right equipment in the first place.

Dan makes a good point about being on record, especially in a corporate structure. In reality the "man" is always right, whether he/she is or not, especially if they is sign checks and give evaluations for performance and attitude. This kind of employee is one I would not want working for me, in the end they would be the one disappointed.

Ultra light gear makes small fish seem bigger, I think the small ones put up a better fight than the larger ones. I'm using the lightest equipment I can get away with, only time I go a heavier is hoisting them out of a high banked canal or pulling them out of heavy cover. If I'm fishing heavy lily pads I'm sure not going ultra light.

If I were fishing up there for those species I'd certainly give it a try, looks like fun. Down here when I'm fishing off a jettie at the inlet I'm letting a bait float in the current ( a bobber type device is not practical), the object is pretty simple.......to get lucky. Fish have to be there and they have to be interested, getting lucky plays a much greater role in success than actual bait selection or technique, when the fish are on it's hot and when their off it's dead. Ya gotta fish the species and techniques available in whatever geographic location you're at.

I got mine on a Mirror Lure Poppa dog, about 3/4 oz., had 1 shot and they were a mile a way........lol They fight 5 times harder off the beach than they do in the ICW, not that they are are cupcakes. Of all the different kinds of fish and any venue I can think nothing beats bigger Jacks off the beach. Pound for pound I give those beach jacks the nod over snook, stripers, bluefish, sailfish , dolphin and tarpon and anything else I ever caught.

I probably see guys tossing light lures like crappie jigs with mh or hvy rods couple of dozens times a day, if I'm at one of the jetties. Bear in mind these are people looking for a meal for their families but this is how they do it and they catch lots of fish. 1. Small egg weight 1/4 oz on top or the lure 2. Egg weight on main line, swivel, leader to a light jig. 3. Snap swivel on mainline, small bank sinker on the swivel and leader to bait. If I were to do it for freshwater fishing at water level, lighter equipment would be my first choice, if not try a split shot or 2 and place them about 15" above the lure. Your lure may run a little bit deeper but I don't think all that much.

Is float fishing using a bait under a bobber ?