Hammer 4

Never have, really no need for one.

Well, I've days w/o a bite, but never weeks..I guess it depends on your fishery. Going weeks w/o a bite would give me pains..lol

I'm just south of the OP. I do fish from shore at park lakes and ponds. If I'm planning on throwing swimbaits, I only take 2 rigs that will accommodate 2 to 4 oz baits, and will spend a good amount of time throwing them until I'm convinced I'm not going to get bit, or have landed 1 or more good sized bass. So, 99% of the time I'm throwing Hudd 68's, I will mix those up with 6 to 7" wake baits, and a Rat. I find the 6" baits tend to get more fish vs the 8 or 10" where I fish. If I were fishing Castaic lagoon, I'd be taking some 8" hudds in trout, been a few years since I've fished there, but have had decent luck when I did. I'm using the same line as Tom/WRB, but in 17lb test for the 6" baits.

I toss a white, or shad pattern spinnerbait all year long and in all types of water conditions. Caught a ton of fish on them.

Aside from trash, ect. The guy who walks up while shore fishing, asks if I caught anything, the proceeds to start casting 5 or 6 feet away from me. Knowing that I was fan casting, key word is WAS.........argh!

Baby bass or a blue gill pattern for wake baits. Top waters, 99% trout pattern. And the Rat.

Smackdown..

If your talking True flipping, I would never use my frog rod to flip with. True flipping does not involve casting. Getting a bait down in the thickest/heaviest cover requires a Stout rod, and generally a longer rod, although a longer rod is not always needed in certain circumstances. My frog rod is 7'4" and is heavy mod/fast. Flipping is 7'9" and h/f, which is better to pull fish out of heavy cover.

I use to fish the salt a few years ago with my Shimano fresh water reels, like 3 times a week, I'd rinse them off with a slow running hose. I did have them serviced every 2 months or so, never had any issues at all. 'm sure your SV will survive just fine.

I would suggest the Irod 775c. Andy's x heavy flippin stick. These are Very good rod considering the price point $ 149.99. They get great reviews, and have a limited life time warranty. I have 3 of their rods, and will continue to buy more. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/iROD_Genesis_III_Series_Casting_Rods/descpage-IRGCT.html

I wouldn't call what I spend on fishing gear " Penny Pinching " I buy what I need/use. 5 or 6 years ago, I probably had more $$$ tied up in spendy swimbaits than most guys have invested in rods and reels. At my age, I came to the realization that I don't really need the most expensive gear, nor an over abundance of gear either. Years ago when I was roadracing motorcycles, I was spending about 2k per month, after about 14 months I realized just how much it was costing me, even though I made pretty good money. Sometimes some of us just want to cut back. Those who want to spend 6 to 800.00 for 20 rigs, that's fine, I catch just as many fish with what I have.

I only have 1 spinning rig. 7 m/l with 2500 size Diawa reel, that has ar. This rod has eva split grips. BC rigs range in size from 6'10" to 7'9", all have eva split grips which I now prefer. Use to use full cork grips, I find the eva split grips a bit more comfy. BC reels range from 100 to 200 sizes, of the 6 I have 1 is a Shimano the rest are Diawa's.

Mostly fish from shore, so being that I have to tote all my gear while walking sometime miles, I try to narrow my selection down on any given day. I have 7 rigs 1 spinning for light stuff. My bc rigs run from med, for lighter stuff, and range to my jr swimbait rig for 3 oz. or less. Some of these rigs can and do double duty. I see no reason to buy anymore, unless 1 breaks, or I decide I want to throw heavier swimbaits. FWIW, I'm not a believer that a person needs 1 rig for every technique. In the old days, we made due.

I've been using the slow roll spinnerbait technique for years fishing shallow ponds and lakes. I use double willow blades and 99.99% of the time it will be 1/2 oz. I do hav some 3/8 oz spinnerbaits, but seldom use them. Also where I fish the willow blades seem to work the best. I would try different blades to see what works best for you.

I always have flukes in baby bass, and yup, they catch fish. I also have small swimbaits in crappie, and bluegill. And to throw a curve ball in there, I also throw a number of different baits in rainbow trout, all of which work very well, Keep in mind, you can use a number of different colors, ect. But the bass need to see them. So finding the bass should be anyone's first priority, before color. I would keep throwing those color/patterns you will catch em sooner or later. BTW, a lot of the ponds/ lakes I fish do not have trout in them, but they still work.

Very sad news. He in my mind was a man's man. Giving, thoughtful, and very courageous. He will be missed in a big way.

I too avoid weekends. Although during the summer even w/o tourney's it can get really crowded, lines to get are crazy long.

Sometimes throwing a bait that is totally different than what is the recommended, or what everyone says works, i.e. at DVL the general rule is a dropshot is the only bait that will get you fish isn't necessarily true. We had a small club tournament in mid July, air temps were in the 100's, tons of boats on the water. I tried the usual stuff, then about 1pm, I went to the horseshoe dam, tied on a 7" jointed swimbait, and worked in about 3 feet of water, after about 3 or 4 casts, I had a nice 6 1/2 pound bass grab it. Granted I only caught 2 bass, but 95 % of the other guys only caught very small bass. That kicker was good enough to net a couple of hindered bucks. I would just say do something different, ya never know it may work.

Pitched many, many times with swimjigs, sometimes w/o a trailer. Worked for me, as will work for you.

I agree, you have nada to lose in trying it.

I've had the ole skunk jump on me more than a few times, kinda makes ya wonder If your really any good at catching fish. But on the flip side, I've won small club tourney's and have caught good sized bass when no one around me did, so that makes up for the crummy days. When the skunk hits, and I go home, I try to figure out why I didn't catch any fish, what could have I done differently that might have made a difference, and that's about all a person can do. Oh yeah, and learn from the bad days.

I've been using Elite in camo for the past few months. Very manageable, good knot strength, and pretty decent abrasion resistance, and the price is definitely right.

I have Live Target frogs that do catch fish, but, I would never buy any of their other baits.

I always stuck with what worked in the past. This year, I finally broke down and bought a 168 S Waver..

I just live with the e-mails. they get deleted when I'm done reading my e-mails. No big deal for me. I put my PC to sleep every night.