SirSnookalot

I don't think it's unusual or abnormal to be obsessed or very passionate about fishing or any other endeavor. I fish 7 days a week year round, both saltwater and freshwater, most of the time both venues in the same day.

As a recreational fisherman my objective is just to enjoy myself, size really takes a back seat. The areas of Florida I fish will limit my chances of a super duper big bass. I keep 2 marks on my rods, one at 20" and the other at 25", gives me a rough idea of what I've caught. Most of the larger ones I've caught probably didn't happen because I'm a great fisherman. They happened as a result of being there with the exact perfect timing to throw that cast where the fish was in the right "mood", 15 seconds earlier or later may have been a blank cast. I play the numbers game, the more casts the better my chances.

Have had brim in Florida looked to be the size of a skillet.

Barkley on child whipping http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/charles-barkley-on-adrian-peterson---every-black-parent-in-the-south--whips-their-children-202259157.html I have seen pictures of the whipping marks, IMO quite excessive and I'm not going to post them. One punch or 20, I see no difference and don't care how Webster defines it. How significant is your "significant other" if one chooses to hit them?

Owning a business there were many days when I had nothing on the books, free to fish or golf. Didn't always work out that way, had to leave the course or water many times to go trouble shoot a situation.

I have the 35 supreme loaded with 15# PP, not the xt, that I used in SW for snook and jacks 2 years before I moved it to freshwater. I may have added a drop of oil a few times, that's the extent of needed maintenance, reel has been in service a good 6 years. I don't run into freshwater species that are 15-30#, if I did target that size I would use a bit heavier gear for sure. I don't know if it's worth $50 more, that's up to each individual to decide.

If I were to specifically target fish 15-30# I'd buy maybe a 4000 and a mh rod A 30, 2000, 2500, is a good bass sized reel.

There is only 1 guide I don't like, and happens to be on my favorite rod brand. Every inshore rod has had more than 1 guide rust and the insert falls out, have one in for repair and picked up another last week. The guides are replaced with some generic guide that don't fail. As long as a guide doesn't rust any of them are fine for me, have yet to see any of them groove.

I almost always use swivels, whether I'm catching bass or tarpon the knots are the same. Do some knots work better with certain types of line, I think so. I use braid and mono leaders almost all the time, my lines are 10-15-20# braid, my knot of choice is an improved clinch with 2 wraps at the end. On the leader side of the swivel is an ordinary clinch knot, the lure gets a double loopknot. Putting a bead on the tag end of the braid is a little extra protection. These knots will not fail unless not tied perfectly, being human I can make a mistake like anyone. Any "fishing knot" suited for the line you are using tied correctly is going to work well. The second part of the equation is your drag, a proper drag setting takes the pressure off the knot when using lighter lines, too a tight drag is your enemy not your friend.

Any data in your phone should be backed up beforehand, other than photo gallery, phone and email contacts, map locations and music, don't know what else I'd be saving. Good preparation makes the task at hand much easier, Google does a lot of this for you like your internet bookmarks. I wouldn't consider re formatting my home PC without backing it up first, same goes for my phone, it's a computer too.

Even better than a reboot is a factory reset. It's very easy to do, the most time consuming part is reinstalling your apps and your music playlist, that needs to be done manually. I do mine about every 6 months, it's like a new phone. I do take screen shots of everything first and transfer to my pc, no guesswork in setting it back up the way I had it.

With the exception of a good bucktail and spoon inventory I don't have a lot. I buy when I need something for fill in, other than that I hate going in a tackle shop. Some how I manage to catch and fish now and then.

Have about 6 perfectly good spinning reels that are collecting dust and 3-4 rods, probably never use them again. Just the combos I use Freshwater: 6'6 light redbone........... 25 supreme 6'6 ml clarus.................. 30 supreme 7' med calico jack........ 35 supreme Inshore: 7' med redbone.........20 soron, double duty bass fish with sometimes 7'6 med redbone.......40 soron, favorite beach set up 7' mh redbone..........40 soron 7'6 mh redbone..........4000 stradic 7' star..........................4000 stradic 7' blue runner..............50 arbor 7'6 star........................40 cabo, my #1 favorite 8' tsunami med............tierra 3000 8' okuma mh ...............30 cabo Offshore: 7' 25# star inshore....... 60 soron 7' 30# redbone.............8000 spheros 7' 40# redbone..............6000 conquer 7' 25# star.....................avet mxj, only conventional

I don't use chrome on the phone, I use the standard browser and have no problems. Not sure I know how to clear the cache either but I have found a phone reboot can do wonders.

A recent experience. Bought a pack of flappin shad at DSG couple of weeks ago, really enjoyed using them and they were productive. I stopped in at my local tackle shop which is 90% saltwater, carries some bass baits. Happen to have flappin shads so I bought pack, first thing I noticed it was a different package, this was old stock. I rig up the older flappin shad, the plastic was harder, more difficult to rig and the paddle didn't move as well, the result was no fish. Take it off and rig up the newer one..............fish on ! We have 2 identical baits made by the same company one being durable with an obvious different plastic blend, and the other has little durability but catches fish. I've run the experiment a few times and the results are consistent. For me the choice is an easy one, spend money and catch fish, or save money and catch nothing.

Well said. I may add that situations arise where the guide or charter captain has to be at the helm to maneuver the boat when a fish is on. Can't say how many times when out in a private boat we get cut off on the engine or trim tabs. A guide does more than find fish, their boatsmanship comes into play quite often in landing fish.

I agree about breaking off, I mainly use PP and used other brands as well. My 3 most used sizes are 10-15 and 20#, when I'm snagged with 20# it does take a lot of effort to break off. Not 100% of the time but seems to be the majority, using 20# braid and 30# leader with swivel I break at the lure and with the alberto I break at the knot. I always use a leader for any kind of fishing, while I do use the alberto I do limit it's use for only a few applications.

I keep it simple. All spinning, body of water, size and type of species isn't really considered, backing is never used. 4/10 rod......10# braid 6/12.............10# 8/17..............15# 10/20.............20# 25,30, 40.......30# last 3 are only used offshore

As soon as you feel the head-bob you know it's peacock.

Had this been a water moc I would have called 911 and let an expert deal with it. Knowing it was a non aggressive snake the broom seemed like the quickest and safest way. My removal method took just a few a seconds with no harm to me or the snake, I didn't see any reason to kill it. Things tuned out well so I think I handled right, gotta admit I didn't sleep well for the rest of the night but everything is back to normal.

I just got in from peacock fishing, hit 3 spots. Caught one and had another bump my jig 6 or 7 times, changed to a lure and it bumped that a few, wouldn't take strike hard enough to take the hook. These are single fish not paired up and are males, they just haven't been real aggressive as of late. Caught a bunch of blue runners last 2 days, the fight never ceases to impress, fight exactly like a jack.

Braid on all my spinning reels with a leader. Don't fish for trout and smb anymore, but found I had no more or less strikes with a f/c leader than a mono or copoly leader. My leaders are no more than 3' usually with a swivel unless my target species go after a swivel as readily as the lure, quite common here. I enjoy the little bit of shock but more important to me is not having to untangle braid from a treble hook which can be a pain and time consuming, mono unravels in a breeze.

I'm happy as long as my rod is bending, the bigger the bend the happier I am.

With this hot summer big bass being a big no, but have done well with peacocks. My biggest fish have been at the inlet, have done pretty well with both size and numbers.

My wife comes home about 10:30 last night wakes me up, there is a snake in the kitchen. Wasn't big, that doesn't make me any braver lol, I'm afraid of snakes. It appears to be a coral snake, it's known fact they are in the area and other people have had them in their homes. I know by nature they are not aggressive but highly venomous and I'm freaking out. I manage to brush it out with a broom, my heart rate must have been 180 bpm. Couldn't get back to sleep, had visions of snakes through out the house.