Hammer 4

Google Earth..you can zoom in on the body of water to find structure, ect. Unless the water is muddy.

I'm just letting the line sort of slide/graze over my finger. To be honest, I never paid that much attention to it, it's just 2nd nature for me. I won't be fishing until the latter part of next week, otherwise I'd go out tomorrow, and report back.

FWIW, when I use to use a leader, I made 10 wraps on the main line using a uni to uni..Never had any issues. Do what Athlon said ^^^

I usually wait till the bait hits the water. If need be, I'll strip line from the reel manually, once the bait is in the water, my finger is glued to the line, in most cases..

I agree with this ^^^^. Get good at 1 or 2 presentations, once you can catch fish a good percent of the time, then move on. Re: Tackle..I would suggest buying stuff that will last, doesn't have to a 120.00 rod or reel, but something around the $100.00 mark. Get Proficient with that set up, then in a few months or so, then If you want to upgrade, or add more, fine. Buy decent stuff, and don't cheap out on line, ect.

I'll throw a spinnerbait when ever I fish. As for blade colors, mostly I go with silver or gold willow's. I'm going to brake down and grab a couple with colored blades, maybe white, chartreuse, and possibly some sort of red color just to see if they catch fish better or not.

MH/F in a length your comy with.

I've fished chatterbaits on every thing from a 2500 spinning reel to my old 301E Curado. There are ree;s better suited to some baits, i.e. big swimbaits for example, where you need line capacity, ect. and finesse reels for very light baits, however a chatter bait is a " normal weight" type bait. I think sometimes folks get to bait specific when thinking about fishing gear. I'll likely take some heat for that statement.. lol

Bait specific reel..?????????????? I don't get it, maybe I'm to old school.? Or am I missing something here.

Maui Jim Makaha's..in black iridium. With readers, of course..

Done.

As far as I know, you cannot launch any personal watercraft at El D..Do they still have park Rangers patrolling there..?

That would Not be good for the park.

I might have to take a drive down there soon..Good ole El D..Gets wacky during the spawn though, everyone and their brother is out there sight fishing..

4" Roboworm in Hologram shad , splitshot..7 lbs, 4 oz..on 6lb fluro. On a ML spinning rig. Also this bass was caught in a city park pond, in L.A.

Buy another rig then...

And..it's been that way for Many years..

Was good to see him reach down and lip that toad, instead of flipping into the boat and flop around..

I've thrown 5 oz baits with a 8' swimbait rod from a float tube. A yak can't be anymore difficult..

I'd stick with the 795 then..I had a 806, and as I said in another thread, it will toss a 6" hud, which is 2.3 oz..IIRC.

The 806 will throw a 6" hud a good distance, however, when you get into lighter baits, say under 2 oz, the 806 is a bit to much imho..The 795 would be better suited if you intend on throw anything less than less 2 oz. From what you describe, I agree with NortrhernBasser on the rod selection.

An old habit I got into many, many years ago, was to run my line through the eyelet twice. Not sure if this helps, but for some reason I keep doing it, using uni, or San Diego jam knots. I can say I haven't had a knot failure in a very long time.

Have a look at the Diawa Tatula XT rods, they run $ 99.00 to 119.99 depending on which rod you buy. I have 3 of them, and am very happy with them..oh, and they are super light, and sensitive.. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-DAIWAROD.html?from=basres

When I fished the local waters (salt) almost every one I knew of had a Whaler, ranging from the 15 footer on up. Another thing, when it came time to sell any of those Whalers, they really held their resale value. When I was looking at buying a used boat locally, I could not believe how much 3 and 4 year old whalers were selling for, so they are a very good value.

The type and weight of the baits will determine the rig you will need. I.e. throwing 6" Huddelstons vs say 8" Hud's vs 8" glide, or plastic baits will be completely different. As you may know, the heavier the bait, the reel will need to be in the 300 to 400 size, and the rod in the heavy to X heavy range. For 6 hud's ect, you can get away with a size 200 reel and a lighter rod.