SirSnookalot

I grew up fishing Lake St Clair and the Detroit River catching SMB for 50 years before moving to Florida, I'm aware of how they fight, they're fun.

Sorry to say no, we fished together a few times.........he's a good guy.

Just before sunset is the time I like best, still too hot now so I won't be doing it for a while. At times I have a lot of floating grass, weedless fluke fished as top water lure works real good for me.

I liked Muddy a lot, was in touch for while but that was years ago. Didn't know he moved to Northern California, nice place to be.

Rocks don't swim, at the slightest tautness in the line set the hook. Braid is a big equalizer, in a wind keep the rod low to the water and your line as straight as possible.

Me too, I have a fish here with a pronounced birthmark on it's lip. I have caught it 2 days in row and always in the same general area.

With schooling fish it's about size, much of the time they seem to be all about the same size. If they are small move on, if big stay put. As of late the fish are very tiny, I'm wearing out shoe leather looking for something more interesting. I've been fishing here 10 years, I know what kind of fish I have, unless the otters have been feasting.

Even with cars there is a point of diminishing return. As a previous owner of 2 s class Mercedes I've also had cars less priced that IMO were as comfortable, appointed as well and as trouble free. No question a MB is a fine car but it's a status purchase. The same can be said for a fishing rod, there is a point of diminishing return. In all fairness the rod is probably a better investment, the car is a depreciating asset which is really a liability. You won't lose all that much on an expensive rod, from that standpoint it's more of an asset.

Despite the breakdowns I've had with my stradics, they remain some of my favorite reels. The breakdowns had nothing to do with the actual performance of the reels, but bail problems that were easily fixed. My 4000 reels are not used for bass, in 5 years of use the stock drags still work fine, a real easy fix when the need arises. My objection to a ci4 reel is a round handle knob, I like a paddle style better.

I don't use a UL but I do use a light with a size 25 supreme, can't think of any 4# fish that would take 20 minutes to land. I use this set up for peacock bass in ponds down here, a 4# peacock is great fun, but not close to 20 minutes.

My bass fishing is done from the bank as well, I use a 6'6 ml spinning for ponds and 7' med spinning for high banked canals. I have gone to a mh when I'm targeting snakeheads, they are generally in fairly heavy vegetated areas.

I have never had a bad experience with EBAY. In the past I've done auctions but I don't have the patience anymore, but I do use the buy it now option. I mostly use EBAY to buy off beat or discontinued items that I can't find any where else. I have bought reels in the past that I thought were very good deals.

I enjoy catching most fish but once I moved to Florida full time bass became just something to do. I dislike fishing muck, heavy weeds and having a tug of war with a plant that requires using 50# line and a heavy rod to catch a 10# fish if you're lucky. I want to catch a 50# fish on 10# line in open water with lighter gear. With all due respect to Sam I find saltwater fishing infinitely more challenging than freshwater. Where I live I can go catch bass any time I want, sure certain times of the year they are more lethargic but they are here. In saltwater you have to wait until the bait bring the fish in, I have many days I go skunk even off shore. Nowadays I do prefer shore fishing, for me there is nothing quite like hooking into a tarpon or big jack and having to chase it down on foot hundreds of yards. Not only are these hard fish to land but you better be in darn good physical shape, they're gonna put some hurt on ya. You just don't lock your drag and and pull a fish in 20 seconds here, you gotta play them. There is nothing quite like catching a tarpon, they are spectacular. But IMO #4# a crevalle or aj will pull the insides out of a tarpon.

If I saw them in a store I might try them, I don't think I'd go out of my way to find them. I do use a duolock sometimes in freshwater but I've been getting out of that habit and prefer to tie. I gave up on them for saltwater too, don't like extra hardware and I don't use wire either, even for barracuda.

I've kept my leader with an alberto for many days before needing to put a fresh leader, it's never failed in freshwater. In saltwater a fresh leader and knot for every outing, very few failures in salt, it's a darn good knot.

Really need a little more information, what size and what do you plan on using it for? Seeing as you haven't bought yet I'll give an opinion, I wouldn't want it for free. The newer ones are not that good and the older ones are worse. For just a few bucks more there is a host of reels much better, if you like Penn the fierce is pretty decent for the money.

I don't believe it was staged.

We see these threads all the time what is the best rod. There is no definitive answer, except what's best for each individual. I do believe one has to match the rod to their style of fishing, for me sensitivity and weight isn't much of an issue as I do very little bottom fishing. I've used rods 2-3 times the price of my favorite brands, for what I do those higher priced rods do not cast any farther or handle the fish any better. Having rods that are close to 10 years old still looking like new the question of durability has been answered, not to mention the thousands of pounds of fish that have been caught on them. Not a darn thing wrong with an ugly if it meets your criteria.

I don't think it's an issue of ethics using live or cut bait to catch any fish as long as the rules of the state are obeyed. Whether one admits it or not the issue is more of elitism as a sportsmen using artificial lures rather than bait. IMO the hardest thing about catching fish on bait is catching the bait, I see this every single day. Fishing saltwater far fewer people are into catch and release, the use of live bait is extremely popular. But being the elitist I am I do kinda turn my nose up to bait users, I don't do it myself more than 1-2 times every couple of years. My attitude probably stems from 50 years of freshwater fishing in Michigan.

Absolutely true with no doubt what so ever. I fish tide every day, lower low tide and higher tide with much stronger current on both new and full moon. November is the month where it gets even more exaggerated. Some of the best fish I've caught have been during conditions that were anything but conducive to catch fish, yet that one monster rogue just happened to be swimming around. I caught a permit in heavy incoming tide current on a bucktail jig, total opposite to their normal habitat and diet, so you just never know. We catch fish on spoons in the middle of the night with no moon, contrary to conventional wisdom of needing light reflection of a spoon. I say the hell with the moon and just go fishing, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Had 2 tarpon on lost them both on the 2nd jump, bait was fairly heavy on the beach but no fish under them. 3 rd day in row without seeing a peacock, but my community pond was on fire in the PM. Sadly the bass busting were so small that anything over a snoopy rod was overkill.

Probably 95% of the time when a rod breaks with a fish on it's user error. If one is using heavy rod like a 25# class rod there are very few fish big enough in the waters you fish to break that rod. IMO the only reason to use a heavy rod is to handle the weight of the lures or pull fish thru vegetation, we catch 40-50" fish on med rods all the time, never seen a rod break yet. I have caught dozens of 100#+ fish on a rod that size, it's about the drag. It's also about the fish species too, how they fight and what kind of runs they make.

I buy the theory using a lighter lure can create more wind knots, I get tons of them in freshwater and much less on my saltwater outfits, I overload my saltwater rods all the time. I do believe the line comes out straighter with a heavier lure thrown with a long flowing cast as opposed to a snap cast. The line hits the first guide and that's where the knot occurs. The Spanish Fly has a video depicting this in slow motion when he was discussing the Terez rod which is designed for braid use with k guides. I do have a few brands that have never had a wind knot, true I'm using them in saltwater but I do think the spool design plays a significant part in the reduction of wind knots. Another thing that can cause wind knots with braid is excessive line twist, caused by a lure turning over too much. Barrel and crane swivels are near worthless except for line connectors, a power swivel is slightly better and BB swivels are the way to go. I'm not so sure how well this might work for a freshwater application but the best thing I have ever used to reduce line twist is a ball chain swivel. I have been making my barracuda tubes which constantly turn 360 degrees with ball chain swivels for about year with no line twist at all, I use them almost daily too.

I'm not a fan of Irene, except in the case of this thread.

You won't ever break a rod if you take the right precautions. Take all the tension off the rod by opening your bail or putting the reel into free spool, then wrap the line around a stick or around your shoulder and walk backwards. Another method is wrap the line around the reel a couple of times, keep the rod perfectly straight and move the boat slowly with the engine, that's how we do it off a reef in 80 fow.