SirSnookalot

Water levels are coming up some, I check the spillways every morning, the s44 has 1 gate open, wish it was closer.

There is a good reason why Francho is a moderator, he knows what he's talking about. Getting back to " losing fish", by no stretch of the imagination am I a world class fisherman. That said I routinely catch that fish that jump more often than bass, jump higher and twist more than bass, fight longer than bass and dwarf in size the largest of bass, and I land my fair share of them. The technique is like built in muscle memory, the more you do it the more your body just reacts without even thinking about it. No question in my mind that catching larger fish have made bass fishing easier for me. As I stated before staying calm and not getting excited puts the moment into reality, a 5 or 10# fish is still only a 5 or 10# fish.

I had a hook in almost the identical spot as Alpster, Delray Hospital charged me $1140 by the time all the charges were totaled up. I was in Bourbon County Hospital in Paris Ky for 4 or 5 days, 1964, my portion of the bill $0.25 (name tag on wrist, no tv's in that hospital) , my how things have changed.

I did little bass fishing in Florida until about 6 years ago, but have been fishing Florida waters for 30 years, I was a snowbird in 1980. The fishing then as compared to now is night and day and I don't mean for the better.

I see no relationship in bowfishing, abortion, charitable endeavors and how one views mankind in general.

I'm not a fan of hunting in any form, what some one else does is their business not mine. I'm curious, are these bow killed fish eaten, left on the bank for the buzzards, buried or taken home and used as fertilizer? What happens in the event a clean swift kill isn't made?

For me as I only use spinning and braid, I do not strip all the line off, just add as much as I care to put on. I do not fill the reel to capacity, I leave about 1/4 inch from the lip, I prefer a little less line for casting even with larger running fish.

For me it's b/c only for larger offshore fish using live or cut bait. Any kind of fishing using artificial lures is strictly spinning for me.

Summertime is the opposite for me, less fishing. Attempted to bass fish 2 times this week and lasted only 10 minutes each time, the gnats have been overwhelming this season. Summer is my least favorite time of the year for fishing, although the inshore fish do run bigger. I'm still fishing 7 days a week, but pretty much only in the early morning, no serious bass fishing until the end of the year.

I don't care how hot it is, beats winter so no complaints here. In South Florida there is no break in the heat, it's the same everyday for 4 months.

Normally for LMB 1 strike and they are history, I've had a few that have been very aggressive and come back at the same lure 2 or 3 times, but not often. Peacocks don't run away, they keep coming.

I don't make a habit of viewing profiles, I'l cut him some slack, at 15 I didn't know everything either.

75% of every soft or hard bait and bucktails is a variation of white, most of my fishing is done in the dark.

I don't think there is anything wrong with having a tackle shop spool your reel if you have just purchased the reel and new line. But this is not the case here, we have someone who is just looking for some cheap labor

No real favorite, I like everything I own pretty equal. I fish so many different venues and so many different species and sizes of fish no 1 rod can do it all. Probably one my more versatile outfits would be a 7' med action inshore spinning rod with a 2000 reel, 10# outdated PP. I use this outfit for higher banked canal fishing for bass with a wide varierty of different lures. In addition I double this outfit for a light beach setup, ideal for snook, jacks and fish up to about 15 or so pounds. I may not always use it but I have it with me 90% of the time.

We see this all the time, game fish inhaling bait from pods showing little or no interest in some lure that you think looks real but they know different. A saltwater ploy that may work for you, after all fish are fish regardless of what body of water they are in. There is a time and place for everything and this is the time for live bait, but before baiting your hook it's best to clip one of the fins, I like doing it to a tail fin. Your bait will be swimming different than the rest of the pod and attracting attention. It's my belief most predatory animals will go after the weakest prey, a struggling bait fish fits that bill.

All the pointers about the rod tip are correct, keeping a tight line is paramount. Experienced anglers lose less fish for 1 simple reason..........they don't get excited, they stay cool, calm and handle the fish instead of the fish handling them. Try targeting larger species, get used to a more dramatic fight, landing bass should become easier for you. NO ONE LANDS THEM ALL ! Personally, I want my fishing jumping, that's the excitement for me. Makes no difference to me if the fish comes unbuttoned, I'm letting it go anyway.

Never bothered to keep a tally, after 2 or 3 fish I forget, even if the fish are running 20#+, like this past Saturday.

I've never seen a Dobyns rod, have no idea of what they are like. My local tackle shops carry very little if any bass gear. I have read on here that they are pretty good, I'm sure they are.

If you are into trying different things, you may try this one..... I use a drop fly rig for tarpon. On occasion I use this set up for bass and it works well. You may try substituting a plastic worm for the fly, don't be surprised if you catch 2 fish.

I'm pretty happy catching 1-3 fish an outing, inshore fishing can be very slow going. Had 3 tarpon this week(jncoming tide too) and several nice barracuda. The weather has been good for cuda, calm west wind flat water and an incoming tide, however it's the kiss of death for most every other species.

Of the 19 spinning reels I own both for fresh and saltwater I have never heard that noise. I own 3 supremes that work flawless, an excellent freshwater reel. I would not spend more money for a freshwater reel.

Not crazy for split grip rods, material is not that important to me. Given the nature and the size of the species of fish that I catch on a regular basis rods with ample foregrips are an absolute must.

For me a positive on that rod is that has a decent foregrip, many split handle rods don't and that is a turn off for me.

I'll stick with the outdated stuff, serves me well. I never hear any noise, knots hold , guides are in perfect shape, never use anything heavier than 20# original PP, line handles fish easily up to 50#, bigger too. Can't see a reason to spend double the money to be in the same place.