Hammer 4

More lakes, and less crowds..

Are you fishing the 8 or 6" Hudds.? Yes, you could always add a stinger hook on top. I only fish the 6" weedless hudds, and find that a hardhookset is required, I also wait just a tad before setting the hook, and using at least 17 to 20 lb line helps.

Take a look at the Irod Genesis III rods. Great reviews on TW, awesome customer service, and a great warranty to boot. I have a few of these rods, and aim to get more. Oh yeah, and they look good and are light. If your a fan of cork grips, never mind, these have EVA grips..

Year round for me too.

Congratz ... My Granddaughter graduated from UNC. She is planning on taking a 6 month break, then going back for her Masters degree, so yeah, I brag on her a bunch. Funny, she minored in forensics. Anyway, best of luck to your daughter.

Rage Bug Sweet Beaver

My swimbait rods are the Irod gen III's. Great rods for a very good price.

If I could only have one, it would be the Zako..

Very Nice..

CONGRATZ... I missed working when I retired, was bored to death, but I soon found ways to keep me busy, and for the past 13 years have been enjoying the retired life. Being a carpenter/contractor was not an easy life, but I loved it, as I'm sure you did. Have fun and enjoy life.

Re: Wallyworld..I've seen to many items that were mislabeled, to trust who ever did the labeling. Why not get good quality jigs from a well know and trusted vendor..? Siebert Outdoors makes some great jigs, that many here can attest to. Here's a link to the Arky jigs available. BTW, arky is a style of jig, not a brand name. https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/products/grid-iron-arky-jig

Lucky op. Tom is a wealth of knowledge that can really help you. Welcome to BR...

Great rods for the price. I have a few XT's. Pretty happy with them.

Yup, you can carry as many rods as you want, but only 2 max in the water at a time.

I've had my Maui Jim glasses for about 8 years, granted they are not cheap, but you get lenses that are of a much higher quality, i.e. less distortion, better impact strength.. I've had Strike King glasses, and the lens scratched fairly easy, mine only lasted about a year.

I prefer a 5 speed for SB's, cept I don't have a reel in that speed, so a 6 speed will have to do. Buzzie's 7:3 for the most part, occasionally I'll use an 8 speed.

Ditto.

Retired for 12 years. Worked some odd jobs for a few years, then got into construction. Had my own biz for the last of over 25 years building stuff.

A top hook is always going to increase your hook up ratio, however, the weedless 68 can go where the top hook version will usually get hung up. In the late spring and summer times, for example all city park ponds and lakes get a bunch of vegetation which makes it tough to toss the top hook hudd. I've caught several nice bass, all in the 6 lb and up range on the weedless hudd. I find that giving the bass a second or two longer, then Jack em hard gets the job done.

I used the Okuma rod that you mentioned, found the tip to be a tad soft for the weedless hudds. Switched over to a Dobyns 8' Champion heavy. Hook sets improved a bunch. I also wound up using 40 lb braid for the 68 weedless hudds, which imho helped. Lately I've been throwing the 68's on 17 lb Sufix Elite, seems to work o.k. Also may try them on 17 lb Sufix Advanced at some point. I'm using the Tatula 200, but the 150 should be o.k.

Every type, but my favorite is standing timber. Rip rap would be next.

Work outdoors i.e. a carpenter year round for 25 years, wearing mostly shorts and a t-shirt. Even after retiring for over 10 years, the stupid tan line on my ankles is still there. Also surfing for 40 years with certain wet suits can make for some goofy tan lines too.

As someone who's fished L.N. lake many times, when they use to rent non motorized boats, I totally agree with what Tom suggested. Nowadays there's very little access to most of the lake. Best pace there is by the coontails/toolies. Cast out as far ass you can without casting into them. Warning, the fishing is very tough there. There are a few city park ponds/lake in the O.C. that IMHO are easier to fish. All of them get tons of pressure. Good luck out there.

RE: the red hook deal. I bought into that years ago, bought a bunch of red hooks for my baits, used em for months. My final opinion is that the red hooks made no difference in my catch ratio compared to the standard hooks. I also us e to add some red marker to the gills on my swimbaits, thinking that might get more bites, again it made no difference in catching fish.

Ditto, have had good luck with both brands.