SirSnookalot

We want wind here and lots of it, that's when the bite really turns on.

No goals, except to see the sunrise on the beach every morning and to come safe to my wife. Catching a fish is a mere bonus, not saying landing a 15 or 20 pounder isn't great.

A good morning isn't numbers it's quality. Started at about 5 am just after tide change, within about 20 minutes bagged 2 juvy tarpon probably in the 25-30# range on medium 17lb class rod. Then for a change a pace I caught some live herring and moments later got cut off, lost my only 2 oz sinker so I started throwing a tube, 2 hours and a thousand casts later got slammed big time by a 43 inch cuda.......someone will be enjoying a nice dinner.

Could be a made for walmart

Same here. Hate wasting my time in a tackle shop unless I'm looking for something specific.

I use braid and a leader on all my spinning reels. I use PP because I can buy it anywhere and it serves me well. Only a few brands that don't get excite me but it boils down to personal opinion.

With regards to a lighter rod I don't exceed the recommended lure weight by much, however on a beefier rod like a 20 or 25lb class rod with a max of 1 oz, I toss 2oz lures with no problem, same rod 2 years now and I use it most days. I think a short leader leader works best for this , about 6".

Live shrimp is probably the best, everything feeds on shrimp

It isn't clear what kind of reel or line you were using I have a feeling spinning outfit and mono. That being the case it was inexperience and not necessarily equipment failure, don't feel bad it happens to everyone . No one lands them all. You may have had a bad knot 5lb pressure is pretty weak, there may have been a rough spot on the bottom of a rental boat that weakened the line, my guess is too much drag. Was it a bass or maybe a pike that cut you off? As far as equipment I wouldn't change a thing until you have a game plan as to how often and how involved you want to be. You can have a ball on the equipment you have right now. I only use 10# (braid) and a net is never a bad idea.

I have that reel and I do not think there is anything under that logo, I may be wrong. I'ts a great little reel but personally I would just toss it and buy a new one, it's only about $35. I put reels like that in the category of disposables.

I highly recommend fishing with a guide, it's just a great outing. First time out with a guide is a crap shoot. There won't be a second time out with that guide if I don't care for the personality. If you are going to spend 6-8 hours on the water much of it not catching fish, it's nice to be able to communicate, imo makes for a better trip. I like to go sight casting with a guide every couple of months.

It took nearly 60 years to make my first trip to the emergency room and it was from a little dink with a treble in my thumb. I will do whatever it takes to avoid that in the future, I remove hooks with the utmost of caution now keeping in mind my safety is paramount over any fish. My average fish is 5-10# and they will be lying in the deck and the hook removed with a pliers. You can have my man card.

Of course, every chance I get. First marriage and a 40 year old daughter, you can say been married a while.

I pretty much agree with Grimlin. My marriage has no boundaries at all. We don't wear leashes, monitor activities and can be friends with whomever we choose. If in fact when we see a pretty lady walking down the street she is the first to point her out to me, she knows how much I love art. IMO tight restrictions by one spouse or another may just work against a good marriage. I never trust the words of anyone preaching their own morality, often times they don't live up to their own preaching.

I'm really a braid man, but only use mono in 1 scenario, where braid is frowned upon so I switch spools. Under normal circumstances for me nothing but braid is used.

Yeah, I'll get right on that. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you do. Works for me

Chaos is shut down for a while, moving back to Miami as I understand it. I have a friend that has an "in" with them.

Go custom, have it built the way you want it. I just had a Chaos custom rod made up, really nice $150.

I fish every day with a buddy that has nothing but old wide spool penns. He uses a 15/30 ugly stick and his casts pass mine buy at least 15 yds and I have all modern equipment. He uses 20# generic bulk mono, no twist, no coil and boy does it handle larger fish, just a terrific setup. Only problem is no parts available, repairs are all jerry rigged. Quote Mark Sosin " Penn, I went back "

I should have known better, tried copolymer before and wasn't happy then. My application is for open water fishing abrasion resistance is not an issue but strength is. I have 20# pline floroclear on a conventional rig and it's plenty strong, no coil either, I have caught very sizeable fish on it. The key to no coil with mono is soaking in hot water works everytime without fail. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this method.

Seems to be about 10 different opinions, confused? Buy what feels right and what is in your budget and if you made a mistake learn from it, next time you will know exactly what you want.

I bought a spool of 20# cxxx on the recommendation of pline's web site. A lot of coiling and I won't say it's crap but just not for me. I emailed pline and they are exchanging it for me, hardly worth the postage of $4.50, but just something to do. In the meantime I spooled with 17# trilene xl, no coiling no line twist and was catching very sizeable fish with 50+ yard runs. About every charter I go the Captain is using either bulk mono or Ande, imo these guys are the real experts on equipment. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND obtaining as much info as possible from guides and captains.

I bought some and I'm hesitant to use it, once I read the directions it did some like a royal pain. IMO nothing beats soaking your line in hot water for 10-15 min, it's free and does no harm.

As long as Andy Griffith was mentioned, 1957 movie called "A face in the Crowd". dramatic role........great flick. Best remake, better than original imo " Cape Fear"

Seems like Daiwa and Shimano recommend spooling the opposite way. Can't understand why as both reels turn in the same direction, clockwise. I always soak mono in hot water before spooling for 10-15 minutes, have never had the need for line conditioner, although I just bought some but haven't the need to use it.