SirSnookalot

I just like catching fish, the weather is a secondary issue, I'm going anyway. The conditions predicate what my target species will be. I will fish for bass under any conditions, but prefer open water if possible and seem to get a better afternoon bite as compared to early morning, so bass fishing is later in the day for me. I like 15-20mph wind in my face, 4' ground swell, tsunami spoon or diamond jig, outgoing tide, for snook, jacks and bluefish. Calm wind, flat water, incoming tide, tarpon and barracuda, I like topwater the best.

I was at Dicks yesterday in Boynton Beach, hardly worth going, maybe the West Palm store has more inventory. I bought a 5 lures and saved a few bux. As far as rods go, had nothing in stock that was of interest to me. I had wanted a 7' spinning rod for high banked canal use with some backbone but nothing on sale fit the bill, no St Croix on sale there.

Line is my least concern in fishing, I fish nothing but braid and spinning. Once in a while I try a different brand of braid, as long as the line is strong, holds a good knot and wind knots are kept to a minimum, I'm happy with whatever I'm using.

Probably 50% or more leave the plastic wrap on at the piers. These men and women are not sport fisherman, they fish for dinner. I don't much care for the look myself, but if they like it it's fine with me.

That's a Tierra 3000 on a Tsunami airwave inshore rod, 8' 8/17. The only place I'm catching them is in the ICW, or once in awhile at the mouth of the inlet. Caught 3 this morning. Action is a little slow but better than a few weeks ago, hopeful the 4o inchers will be around soon.

Only time I use the spare spool is drift fishing in the ocean, braid on many drift boats is frowned upon, on those boats the cheapest mono is the way to go because the mates are always cutting your line, I usually take a larger reel loaded with mono with more line capacity. On private smaller boats nothing other than braid is even considered.

Blue Streak said he had no problem with Abu, well I haven't either for freshwater and can say the same for Shimano used in freshwater, but it stops there. The problems with my Abu reels that I used in saltwater were my fault, the problems I had with my Shimano reels that were used in saltwater were not. Abu always took care of the problem in quick order with the highest degree of professionalism, my experiences with Shimano fell short of the standard set by Pure Fishing.

About the only time I use a senko or any other plastic worm is when I'm doing some non serious fishing in my community ponds. I toss out the senko and just walk at a slowish pace trolling the senko behind me, I call it shore trolling and it is fairly effective. Boring yes, but I'm really just walking around and b'sing with the neighbors.

Bigger margin of profit on the higher priced reels. A $400 dollar reels does not cost 4 times as much as $100 reel to manufacture. Same labor, same shipping costs, slightly more in materials and parts, there isn't more than $2.00 worth of aluminum in a reel, spot aluminum is only $1.87lb., bearings are bought in such large quantity the price wholesale is very little, nothing close to retail. The biggest difference is the machining, it does cost more to machine a more expensive product due to the nature of less volume.

Fished 3 mornings this week before sunrise caught snook each day with 2 caught today, this isn't supposed to happen this time of year on the incoming tide. Went over to the beach a couple of blocks away and hit 5 nice jacks. Bite stopped so I left and to my main spot, no one caught anything there, I threw a couple of casts and landed another nice Jack. I'm catching more than my share of tarpon, snook and jacks but can't get a bass over 2# to save my life. Name change coming, Sirdinkalot.

Senkos and freshwater jigs.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Isn't the case with my wife's Toyota, but it's a 2009, maybe they have they have changed their policy. I've heard nothing about that or with any other car maker.

The intention of a 401k is long term investment for retirement, not to pay for a college education. Only early withdrawal should be made in case of an emergency. Don't know if this option is available in all states but college can be prepaid at today's rate. My sister has 3 kids in college under this plan and my daughter has pre paid for our gr daughter, she's only 10 now. Wish that had been available or I knew about when my 2 were in school.

Getting a reel filled with sand is certainly not the fault of the reel, I dropped it in the surf. Wanting to upgrade a good reel to a better one and getting the upgrade for free is just great customer relations, I offered to pay. Catching 150# fish ( several of them) on equipment designed for smaller species one may expect that the reel would wear down much faster, it did and was replaced for free, was went in for repair not replacement. The big S on the other hand denied my warranty on a spheros saying I used oil that was not there brand, does any car company deny a warranty if you get an oil change at Jiffy lube? In fact the oil I used was recommended to me by a satellite authorized repair center, Lott Bros. They played back and forth with the roller bearing on my stradic 4000 ( I've read about a rust problem with this reel many times, not just mine) finally fixing it only to have the reel start making noise from a completely different area of the reel. Originally the part was on backorder until Feb, this was last November, my local guy says he has trouble getting some Shimano parts also. Bottom line, they just don't stand up to the kind of fish I catch, probably why why many aren't seen down here. It was hardly a jab just saying I thought their service didn't compare. many others seem to agree Pure Fishing has great customer service, I never asked for a replacement, it was offered. Some may have had better luck than me, but waiting for a repair to come back in 3 or 4 weeks tells me they are busy fixing other reels or just slow to satisfy a customer. Quantum says 24 hour turn around time, I've never used and Pure Fishing gets a reel back in a week, postage paid by them. No doubt this is a Pro Shimano forum but that is not the case elsewhere, other reels seem to get more favorable attention. I'm sorry if some have had their feelings hurt, but that's the way i see it.

If I were fishing a Stella or Steez( I might have more fun ;D ) I'd be embarrassed to use an old beat bait. I have an unlimited fishing budget, I use soft baits till I can't use them anymore, I don't repair them but get a lot of mileage. My hard baits are beat up, paint gone, takes a long time for me to get around to replace hooks, many of my lure only have 1 or 2 hooks on the treble, they still work great. I just hate taking time to go to the store or ordering on line, 75% of my fish are caught on spoons anyway.

I have received no less than 10 new abu's from pure fishing over the last several years, not only replaced but paid the shipping back as well. Just this past year I dropped a soron in the surf, totally filled with sand, sent in for cleaning and go a new reel no charge. I had an older 704 lx, was feeling a bit of gear grind, asked for an upgrade and was willing to pay difference, new upgraded stx at no charge. I was having a spool filling problem on a spare spool on a soron 60, Pure fishing was so apologetic that they offered to send me free of charge a new Revo premier, I turned them down as the Revo is too small and I didn't want to take too much advantage. I don't know how any company can beat there service, the Big S, is pale in comparison.

My wife is a natural blond................once every month !

A loss is always a sad day...R.I.P.

I got skunked today too, been catching some decent snook and jacks. Went to a spot I know, long drive, where 40# jacks regularly show up, they didn't today. One little bump and that was it.

Most already know that a 15 year old part time worker will not be allowed to participate in a 401k program, but not everyone understands exactly how a 401k plan works. A 401k is for employees, but not all companies offer it, there other options are available , Ira's, money purchase pension plans and more Never too young to get an education, Bilgerat was referring to the future once Bassclary entered the job market as an adult.

Very close comparison, spool size is close and max drag is close also, soron 20 has max drag of 14# and stradic 2500 rates at 15#, which is no real difference at all, both good reels.

Good tip but I would wind up just breaking my reel, I'll just stick to the dinks I catch with my imperfect drag.

Some excellent suggestions already covered. As far as the 401 k goes, it's a wise move. Many companies that have a 401 k plan match 100% or contribute a healthy share to your retirement account, meaning you get free money. For example if you contribute say $3000 and your company matches with another $3000 that's 6 grand invested, so you have doubled your money with no investment growth. That said a 401k is not not free but tax deferred until age 59 1/2, at that time you pay ordinary tax on the money withdrawn at a tax rate based on ordinary income, instead of paying saying 35% tax now, you may pay 15% later. If a 401 plan is not the best investment tool to come along, it ranks real high, IMO a real shame pass it up.

I use a lure as it comes from the manufacturer, I don't add or remove split rings. I use just about all the time loopknot.

Since I primarily use PP I'll comment only on that line. Outdated or not, it works well, holds a good knot, casts beautifully and has excellent strength. I routinely fish over rocks and coral for inshore fishing, with no more or less incident than any other braided line. I use 20#PP offshore for kingfish, dolphin, bonita and sailfish, perhaps if were catching NY bass I may need a better line like Berkley, but PP serves me quite well for the dinks I catch. PP works well for my Florida bass too ! For the life of me I can't understand why anyone would winch up a 5# fish with 50# braid, for me lighter line and tackle is much more fun.