Hammer 4

Nice work..good lookin fish too..

Yes, I'm a righty and crank with my left. I tried crankin with my right and it seems that I don't have the control that I'd like.

caught a couple of catfish on a 3/8 oz white bleedin eye spinnerbait..lol

A Scotsman in Texas...that must be interesting..lol Welcome mate, you've found the Best bass resource on the planet. 8-)

So...how did your day go with the new boat..?

Yup, I'm sure some of those guys did suck at fishing, but not all of em..Look, I'm not sayin a good rod and reel won't help, in fact I agree they do to a certian point, i.e. you fish alot, are a tourny pro ect..all I'm sayin is you can catch bass on a less expensive rig..btw, I have never bought any gear from wally world.. Just for reference, I've been at lakes where bass tourny's are goin on, I'm out there with my inexpensive gear, but well maintained, and in a rental boat..I catch a limit of bass..at the end of the day, I check the weigh in..winner was 22 lbs..I didn't "offically" weigh mine, but would have finished in the $$$$$ where at least 8 boats didn't..not bragging, juts giving an example re: less expensive gear. Ya know, maybe it's my inexpensive gear that's keeping me from catching that "lunker"..?

Being a spinnerbait kinda guy...can't wait to see em..

I'm sure I'll get blasted for this, but what the heck..my finesse spinning rig is...a 7'6" Shimano Clarus rod. M fast action, with a Shimano Shara reel, I use 8lb yozuri ultra soft hybrid..also have used a 6'6" teamdiawa rod too. I like the 7'6" for shore fishing as it lets me cast further out than my 6'6" does.

Muddy, I did take to reputble reel mech, and had it cleaned. I keep my reels clean and lubed. O.K., I see what your sayin re: the hype. just to be fair, there's other good reels out there to, but I haven't used those, so hence I didn't comment on them..

Fwiw...I have a BPS (bc) rick clunn also have a Shimano (spin) clarus, and a couple of team diawa's, not the high end modles. With the economy the way it is..my earnings have taken a huge dip to say the least, yet I still enjoy fishing..I usually fish mostly plastic's i.e. ds, ss, trigged ect, with worms and the like..i don't fish heavy cover, cuz they is none where I fish.. So, I see all these guys with their 300.00+ rods, and highend reels, yet I catch fish while they don't, or at least I usually catch more, so do you really need the specialty type rods and reels, imho no, do they help, I would say yes, if I could afford them, I'd buy em, but you can catch fish with a lower cost rig, at least for the weekend fisherman like me..lol just my 3 pesos..

I guess for the $$$ they'r o.k...however my extrem needs constant adjustment on the spool brake, could need serviceing. I've had really good luck with Shimano for the last 30 yrs. their customer service has been great (ordered parts) I've owned both spinning, and baitcasters. Whether the shimano brand is hype or not it's a solid reel imho. having said that, I spend the xtra $$$ and get the citica.

Nice fish...I may have to move to Fla.. ;D

I don't know for certian how often you should respool, I can tell ya what I do...btw, spinning has 8 lb yozuri ultra soft, baitcast has 12 or 10 lb depending..anyways, I fish somewhere around 16 to 20 hrs a week, in our wonderful resivors that have really dirty water. I usually respool every 2 weeks, depending on how my line looks, I'll respool sooner if I think I need new line.

First I've heard of them...they do look good though, and kinda pricey..

i buy mine pre painted..in brown, purple, black and red..I also have the silver ones, and as said from others, both work. FWIW the painted bullets seem to be finished better, i.e smoother and no rough edges on either end.

Awesome...always great to see the kids get involved..Um Dad, might be time for an upgrade on his rig...dontcha think..? ;D

Fwiw..I just got a 7' Clarus spinning rod...gonna try it out tomorrow..M xf action

I use 12 lb yozuri hybrid ultra soft...have also spooled up 10 lb too, which seems to cast a tad further.

My thoughts too..

OTH... I've tossed these out a bunch, and never had so much as a tap. I still have some left, so I'll keep tryin.

Same here...gotta love slow rollin a spinnerbait..

I think you did get a bad one..like others I've caught fish on mine w/o any problems..

Dang...and I thought we had it bad today..6 hrs. and not even a bump.. :-[ On a positive note...like you, I'll hang in there...we'll get em next time.. ;D

T rigged with a 1/4 oz bullet worked for me..

Good start.and nice fish.