SoFlaBassAddict

So as I was out fishing earlier today using some of my spinning tackle, I realized once again just how comfortable it seems in my hands. Now obviously thats because I've used spinning tackle the majority of my life. But it got me to thinking, I can sure twitch a rod and put more action into a lure using my right arm to hold the rod than I can with my left hand holding it.. So if you were me, would you pick up a left handed retrieve baitcaster or not? For those of you who do use spinning gear regularly, which do you prefer using? I'm just curious if it'd be worth the trip over to BPS for me to swap out a reel that I haven't opened up yet or not. Edited to add: I am right hand/eye dominate although slightly ambidextrous.

Yeah it is, at $3.60 a bag I would have picked up at least 10 or 15 bags of them.

For me it would really depend on where you are fishing. Down here I'll use something like a 30 lb Power Pro braid to help cutting through the lilly pads once you get hooked up. But when I'm on my home lake I'll just use something small like a 10 lb Trilene mono because I don't have much stuff that will abrade my line.

Dude, your steering wheel is facing the wrong way!

I don't know for sure, but I've heard it plenty of times that they do pre-hook the fish. From a business standpoint you can easily understand it. People are sponsored by a certain lure company so they obviously want to make that lure appear to be catching quality fish. I'm sure that there are shows that don't. Offshore saltwater shows would have a hard time of doing that kind of thing. Bass fishing shows...yeah I could easily see that.

I don't paint baits, but I've used a Paasche VL for several years now. I agree with idlov2fish that the gravity feed airbrushes are much much easier to use. I think I picked up my Passche kit for like 100 bucks at a local store here. Comes with the brush, like two or three needles, a few cups for paint, etc etc. Not a bad airbrush at all for the cost. Like anything though, the better you maintain it, the longer it will last.

Gotta love a bass caught so long ago causing such a controversy to this day. For all of the people out there stating that it's a "FACT!!!11" thats it's not Perry in the picture, prove it. On the other side somebody needs to prove it is him. Honestly though, does it really matter now? The record is the record and it will be until somebody lands a bigger fish. Personally I could care less about catching record fish as cool as it would be. I'm sure theres bigger fish floating around some of the remote areas of the world. It wouldn't surprise me if theres a few massive fish floating around in the unmolested parts of the Everglades or some of the swamps up in northern Florida. Nobody will ever know for sure. One day it will be broken and people will be calling whoever the person is that catches it a cheater, lier, etc etc.

I had one for about 3 days. I just was never really happy with it. Took it back and picked up a BPS PQ on sale. Much, much happier with that. The reviews on the Daiwa weren't that spectacular either. A bunch of them had worm gears breaking on them. Not exactly a nice thing to find out about down the road.

Nice lookin lures right there. Should catch some fish on those. How'd you paint the scales on them? Fishnet stockings laid over it?

So I went into my local BPS' earlier today to try and find a lizard. A few years back I picked up a bag of chartreuse glow in the dark lizards. They've produced some of the biggest fish I've caught in my lake at night hands down. Unfortunately I can't remember the brand that sold them. The few people I talked to in the stores said they've never heard of them before or ever seen them. Luckily for me I know thats where I picked them up. I've got two of them left, but the glow powder has lots it's mojo and doesn't hold any light for longer than about 30 seconds or so. This is where you all come in. On the underside of the head is the word "Grinner" with a small smiley face next to it. It doesn't have the regular curled arms/legs on it. It has three toes on each hand/foot as well as a kind of scaled back. If any of you have ANY clue as to the company of this thing please let me know. If you need a pic just tell me and I'll try to get one up for you. Most appreciated.

Wow, great fish right there. Seeing stuff like this makes me want to drive up there more and more everyday. Looks like you guys had a great outing.

Early morning in the everglades. Tossing out a topwater frog and crankin it back in. There is nothing cooler than watching some huge fish blow up a line of lilly pads to grab a frog on some perfectly flat water.

Well, a good answer from me would really start with a question. What fish did you see? Peacocks and Largemouth act very different. At least for me they do. Obviously different bass in different lakes all act different.

After going out for a few hours, I realized how aggravating jigs are for me in my lake. Mind you, I'm not hurling jigs with the specialized heads on them (1/4 oz strike king bitsy bugs w/trailers). It seems like nearly every time I retrieve a jig I'm getting hung up on the ledges close to my shoreline. I probably need to pick up some of those arkey style jigs and try those out some. Just frustrating the heck out of me because I'm about 85% sure that the bass in my lake are hiding down in the depths right now and I can't really reach them easily. And I don't have the excessive patience needed to use a c-rigged bait enough.

I picked up one of the PQ's a few weeks back (got it for like 65 bucks) and it's been great so far. Really smooth reel, especially for the money spent. I think I actually use it more than my revo. I would buy another one in a second if I had the need for it.

Oh thats a bummer right there man. Although, I wish I had that problem. With the economy the way it is, I can't see myself going out and springing for another boat just for freshwater... I need to make my way up to where you all are one of these days so I can check out some of those lakes up in your area. These residential lakes that I have down here are a downright PIA sometimes with the sharp drop offs. Eats jigs up like no tomorrow..

Those are some really nice lookin fish right there. Really nice cat too. Bet he put up a nice fight.

Like most people here have said, don't just instantly hammer the fish. You've gotta give it a moment before you yank on the hook. One other thing that you may want to look at if you're using soft plastics (I skimmed the thread), is to make sure you're using the appropriate size hook for the lure. If you're using a hook thats too small, you make be getting strikes that are behind the hook on the lure. Never going to get a hookset that way.

If you do go into a store, don't get overwhelmed by the huge assortment of different colors/shapes/sizes/etc etc. There are a TON of different lures and baits that you can buy. Depending on your budget, you may just want to start off by picking a few items in smaller numbers. Work with those for a while to learn how they work in the water. Luckily soft plastics are really cheap for the most part. You can very quickly stock a box with a ton of them. On average you're looking at 3-5 bucks for a bag of them. Senko's are a little bit more pricey, but well worth the cost (6.99 or so I believe). As far as colors go, pick three or four so you can cover yourself for a days worth of fishing. Lighter, middle ground, dark. Make sure you toss a chartreuse in there somewhere. Don't be afraid to use the search feature on the forums here. There is a ridiculous amount of good information floating around on pretty much every different type of tackle that one could want.

Added to my favorites also. Thats a really nice, informative post in the thread by Joe. A few of the other posts in there are filled with some great tidbits as well. Nice read.

Dude...Ft. Hood. Move or PCS... Oh, and welcome

Honestly, if you ask 10 different people, you'll probably wind up with 10 different answers. Although there are a lot of really popular colors (watermelon, junebug, etc etc), I've never really found a single color that works better than another on any given day. Like somebody else said, fish the color you like and see what happens. Unless you've got a bass mind reader handy, you're guessing no matter what you do.

I use the AZ4 most of the time. Holds plenty of stuff for decent fishing. The Flambeau bags are really well made. I'm much happier with their bags than I am with the Plano bags I have. They just feel a little bit more "tougher."

Done and done.

Largemouth down in my area have been really finicky (sp?) lately. I've watched them leap and jump and rip into baitfish at times. But it seems like I can hardly catch them. I think the odd weather that we've had recently has had something to do with it.