SirSnookalot

I've used those salt away products, can't say I use them much anymore. About all I do with my saltwater spinning reels is light spray from a garden hose. I've read where people take their rods and reels into a hot shower with them, think about gargling with warm water and salt for a sore throat, the salt only suspends in the water it doesn't dissolve. I'm pretty lax about servicing my reels, only have it done when needed, If I tore a reel done myself I wouldn't get back together, lol. The only repairs that I have to address seem to bail, bail spring or line roller bearing problems, doesn't really happen too often.

The entire market sold off yesterday, about a 500 point drop since Dec 30. One analyst on CNBC thought resistance maybe around $47-$48. Problems in Greece, Europe, strong American dollar and low oil were the contributing factors. Good time to take an overseas vacation, your buck goes along way in other countries now.

The only real advantage I see in using a larger spool for bass fishing is line management with mono or copoly, being a braid user that's a non issue for me. I can understand the concern of picking up line while the fishing is swimming towards the boat or bank, I've yet to see a bass swimming at 20+ mph after being hooked. Being a non technical fisherman and not over complicating landing a fish, I just reel a 5# bass in, I don't over think it. What distinguishes bass fishing is the challenge of locating them and enticing a strike, that's the fun of it. I'm holding my rod just above the reel that seems to change the balance making the outfit more comfortable to fish with. With my hand on the foregrip (why I prefer using inshore rods) I feel I have better hook setting leverage as well leverage in handling a larger fish, that's just the way I do it. Don't know when I started doing it this way, could have been when I first started saltwater fishing, it has morphed it's way into my freshwater fishing.

I match the reel to the rod for balance and comfort. Rod length, lure profile, line type and size has more to with distance than a lot of line on the spool, bass don't make 50 yd. runs and most lures won't cast that far. Working many lures with spinning it's a twitch/pop/jerk and pause, don't see line p/u or ratio too important. It's what feels right to each individual.

^^That's really the bottom line, Detroit had them and let them go^^ All this schedule talk is moot, the regular season has ended. If Jerry, like someone is on first name basis with him, had anything to do with the schedule he Cowboys would not have played the Seahawks. They did beat Seattle in Seattle......lol.

I salt water fish nearly everyday, I don't rinse my reels every time. If I'm fishing with no wind blowing salt air or sand and my reel isn't dunked I may not rinse. If I'm boat fishing, beach fishing or it's windy then I always rinse, don't forget the rods too.

Why not both? A jon boat on a pond is nice but that doesn't mean you can't have a larger boat to trailer as well. You don't have to spend a fortune, as they say in the car business, " there is an ass for every seat" or is it a seat for every ass", can't get that one straight, lol.

As a Lion's fan I had hoped the outcome would have been different. Not taking anything away from Dallas they took the MoJo away from Detroit, they outplayed them in the second half. The P.I.call should not have been reversed, but not called in the first place, Pettigrew clearly grabbed the facemask. IMO Witten kept the Cowboys in the game, he played really well.

For a bit of insurance singe the tag end and put a little bead on it.

On BR saying St Croix is not a good rod is the same as saying Shimano is a poor reel, an argument that can't be won. When it comes to buying a rod certain criteria are important to me and some not. I don't fish techniques where I require sensitivity or super light weight, St Croix is pretty good in that area. I did buy 3 St Croix over the last couple of years, returned them all after 2-3 days, not because they were bad rods but they didn't meet my criteria any better than what I normally use. Couple of weeks ago I used a friend's Legend surf rod with a Van Staal for a few days, really a nice rod but very uncomfortable with that knarly butt and foregrip. My favorite brand casted every bit as well, handles the kind of fish I target and I'm not afraid to overload with a heavier lure. Where I take exception is basing quality on the country of origin, my main brand is made in China, some of my rods are nearing 10 years in age. Not one has ever broke, the guides don't rust out even though they are mainly used in saltwater, 2 of them are freshwater only, never had guides not aligned properly, cork still looks like good. I don't find them to be 100% perfect, I'd like to see a wider lure parameter (on the lower end) and I'd like a longer butt on their 7' models.

If it's spinning I'd go with braid. About 6 weeks I bought a spool of 10# US Braid at Walmart. In this period I have been catching 10-15 bass of all sizes daily, that's quite a few fish and whole lot of casts. I have not had 1 wind knot on the 10#, I normally get them almost everyday. Until this line proves to be inferior, which doesn't look like it will, it's going to be my line of choice.

There have been some very good deals on Pflueger Supreme mg, as good as any reel in the price range, but really just about any 75-100 MSRP reel will perform just fine. I would not recommend buying a used reel in this price range, if not off warranty it will be soon. You may get a good reel or you may not, not worth the gamble IMO. Also for the price of an ugly stick I would probably be looking at another option that would be more suitable for bass fishing.

Been on those boats many times. The target fish vary with seasons, they can catch dolphin if they are running in 150' of water and less (dolphin usually are in deeper water), yellowtail and mutton are common that time of year as cobia, amber jack, bonita, and black fin tuna. Bear in mind those boats can get crowded and not all the fisher people are experienced. Not that experience is needed to catch on them but the more seasoned angler will get his/her line less tangled up. Personally if I were on a budget I'd be casting lures off a beach.

A bronze hook should be soft enough to cut the eye with a wire cutter, put a new hook using a split ring. Many if not most spoons are made of brass which is a copper alloy (so is bronze) it doesn't rust but it can corrode or tarnish. Metal cleaners will do decent job of cleaning if hey aren't too far gone, toothpaste has an abrasive that works too.

My favorite is a Quantum Cabo 40, magnetic bail trip, corrosion coated body. Holds about 270 yards of 20# braid at slightly more than 13 oz IMO it's a light weight 5-6000 reel. Not the smoothest reel I own but it's right up there, drag is exceptional with 30# max. It has handled fish (tarpon) that I believe to be in the area of 70# off a sea wall, more than once.

In Florida I never put them a way. My waters are not deep, over the last few months about 95% of my bass have been caught on topwater, I'm not really fishing any other way...........it's the most fun for me.

Brasso should work.

My first trip to Lake Anjigami in the Algoma region in Canada the week of Memorial Day 1970. I went with 2 of my buddies, had the tent and sleeping bags packed, stopped at the SOO to pickup a rental canoe. None of us had ever been on a canoe before, we tipped it over within the first 10 minutes, my clothes and backup clothes were soaking wet. We learned the canoe and we were off running, or paddling I should say. Can't say how far we went went over the next few days, we had a map drawn by a friend of mine that was a guide there 20 years previous, the map with all the portage spots was perfect. My clothes never completed dried, each night we had frost on the ground and the worst part was this was black fly season, each meal we had to paddle out to the middle of the lakes to eat. Walking thru the woods and hearing all kinds of noises was a bit unnerving, one morning at sunrise this moose walks out of the water right thru our campsite, scared the crap out of me. Not having surviorman on TV then we were totally un prepared, didn't even boil water. We did what we were told was an Indian method, running the water down the paddle to purify it, we didn't get sick so maybe it worked. Cold, damp, bitten by black flies, we were miserable but caught a ton of fish in a weeks time. Each lake seemed to have it's one species, one lake was pike, another walleye, and when we got to Little Dozier lake it was all trout. We made that trip 2 other times, we were much better prepared as we knew what to expect.

First advice, make your room reservations now. There are options in the keys, drifts boats head out into the ocean and they supply the tackle and bait, your best chance to catch fish. Backcountry is my favorite place there but it's a wide open space, it isn't that easy for a first timer without a guide to find fish. Bridge areas generally hold some good fish, true about current and there can be a lot of other boaters fishing too. The most economical option is casting off the beach. It might not be a bad idea to form your game plan before you leave so you can decide on what gear to bring. I don't recommend buying specific rods and reels for salt because of the expense, take what you have and plan to target the species your gear can handle. I would suggest a mh rod and a 4-5000 spinning reel if you have it, smaller reel is ok but IMO that's marginal. Pickup a barracuda tube, probably the most productive for larger cuda, made with wire so you won't get cut off. Lures and spoons catch cuda too but be prepared to lose a few unless you use a wire leader, that wire leader will curtail strikes on other species. Bait wise nothing beats live, shrimp and a squid catch about anything and it's real cheap.

If you are going to use a jointed lure for stripers, Bomber Long A jointed are about 8 bucks at Walmart and they are durable, I use them for snook and tarpon. Bluefish have very strong jaws, diamond jigs and spoons is all that's really needed to catch them.

Private ponds under 20 acres are not regulated by the FWC. Any stocking would have to be with the approval of the HOA as you have ownership only of your home and the lot it sits on. There is a community not far from you where the residents have fishing platform as well as stocked with bait fish, I've heard stories of 10#+ bass there.

I tie up my own fresh water jigs, usually 1/8 oz. primarily for peacocks but I use them for LMB too. I use ul, light and ml spinning, reels match the rod. These set ups work well for 5-6# fish and smaller.

Bought a couple of Matzuo jerkbaits last week, bass and peacocks liked them as well as any other lure in the bag.

I'm not quite sure why I would use a different power rod for hollow body frogs compared to a soft plastic (Zoom) or any any other top water lure. Given similar lure weights it's how the rod is going to load up and how much cover I have to pull a fish thru.

Casting 100 yds + is commonplace using about any off the rack surf rod with a lure that goes thru the air with little resistance. Gear used for long cast competition take the equipment to an even higher level. It really has little relevancy in bass fishing.