Red Bear

so ive been reading just a little about Una Lake out of curiousity, came across this in the comments section of a site.

i too have seen a ghost in the house i grew up in down in NC. several stories from that house, my aunt now owns the house, completely remodeled it, used to have big spacious rooms but is now all cramped up, she claims she has had no encounters there. but anyways, nothing to do with fishing in that story. but i do have a story while fishing that creeped me out at the moment it happened. at the time i was just getting into the subject of bigfoot, even thinking about it made me a little nervous while night fishing alone off a lighted dock in a fairly busy cove of Smith Mountain Lake. well, here i am sitting there fishing for catfish, 3-4 rods out, chillin and drinking some beer. radio on low volume with some classic rock playing, just enjoying myself. to my left is the way out of the cove, straight across the cove is a bunch of lit up docks and an apartment complex. to my right is a bank that comes out and forms a point and then the rest of the cove past that point. on the bank to the right, its at the bottom of a grassy/weedy hill and then a layer of trees right along the bank. in between me and the bank is the neighbors dock. so im sitting there fishing, watching my rods, out of nowhere i hear this loud crashing and running through the layer of trees along that bank, sticks breaking loudly like something was running(and on two feet) and tearing down everything in its path. all of a sudden it got by the far corner of the neighbors house and just stopped. so im sitting there looking over that way wondering what the heck was that, all of a sudden a hear a LOUD howl, that made me jump out of the chair immediately, and the hair on my neck and arms stood up. then it howled again and again repeatedly and it was my uncles cockerspaniel wanting in the house. but that first howl really got me. still doesnt explain the crashing through the woods, no way that little dog did that, that part is still a mystery to me, possibly deer, but sounded like no deer ive heard running through the woods before...

im not familiar with the bait youre talking about, but i have good luck on the rage tail lizards, at the same time, i also catch as many fish on the zoom lizards...

man, wish i could get some of them when i go striper fishing at SML. but i cant throw a cast net for crap. when i do all i get is alewives off the spot light on my uncles dock, so hard to keep them alewives alive...

I dont think the Pfluegers are overrated at all. Nope, not one bit. I think theyre just that good and of great quality. They receive excellent reviews for a reason. I rarely hear about anyone having problems with Pflueger reels, yet I frequently hear about problems with Shimanos. Mostly that Shimanos like to stick and freeze up, and mostly its on hot days seems to be a common trend. Well, most of my fishing occurs on hot days during the summer and I need my gear to not lock up and stick. I started buying Pfluegers with a Trion of which I had read no reviews to take on a trout fishing trip with my uncle, I love that reel. Then got a Supreme and it blew me away. Next was two Presidents and I haven't looked back since. No problems with my Pfluegers at all.

the president is good, but if you want a lighter reel, go with the supreme. i love how smooth mine is...

just take a rod and reel, tie on a bare hook, bend down and hook the catfish in its mouth, now its fishing...lol

cant believe this thread hasnt been shut down if it is indeed illegal to transfer bass in california. thought bass resource didnt allow the discussion of illegal activities..

there actually appears to be a double rainbow in that picture Sam...

id much rather have the budweiser, not a fan of all those weird beers coming out... not a cider fan either. i will stick to my backwoods moonshine. just got a jar of blackberry and a jar of pineapple moonshine from franklin county, va a couple weeks ago...

bluegills love trout magnets...

why is that strange? you and many others may prefer to use a baitcaster for worms, in fact many only prefer to use baitcasters for everything, but it doesnt make using a spinning reel for worms strange at all, even if not skipping. many people dont use baitcasters at all and fish worms just fine with spinning reels.

i used to use trilene XL a lot, never had any issues with it but fraying after a little use. but i tried sufix lines and like them better as they dont fray as much as the XL. sufix siege, sufix elite, and sufix promix are lines that i have used a lot the last 3 years or so in various sizes. definitely check out the sufix siege if nothing else...

perhaps his parents dont want him working while in school. or perhaps he lives in a country area where there really is no work and you have to drive an hour to get anywhere. you make it sound so simple, but i dont think you really thought it through. $50 may not be a lot to you, but it is a lot to others...

caught a double once but it was two white perch, on a single hook, i pulled them out of the water onto the dock and one fell off and started flopping around on the dock, the other was hooked in the mouth. i assume they were fighting over the nightcrawler and one just happened to hang on for the ride and let go once pulled out of water...

if the bluegill arent some sterile engineered ones and can reproduce then i dont see how removing any of them will help as some have suggested. if anything you remove the bluegill and youre removing future food from the bass. the bluegill spawning is gonna produce a majority of the basses diet in bluegill/bass only ponds. you should pull out as many small bass as you can. when you stop catching the small bass with such frequency then stop removing them. youre gonna have to wait to see the results though, it wont be immediate.

i was down there at SML this labor day weekend, it was crazy out on the water. i doubt half the people know about or even care about the safe boating course requirement. i took it and i dont even own a boat, but occasionally drive my uncles boat. my uncle who has a house on the lake has yet to do so, i have been telling him for the last five years. now that the law is applicable to all ages he seems to be worried about it all of a sudden. i guess he didnt believe me because he asked a couple of other locals we know about it and they told him they had passed the course themselves. when he made a remark about using ignorance as an excuse for the law they laughed at him. he would have an absolute fit sitting in a class for 8 hours straight, i told him to take it online, its not hard at all but he seems very reluctant. he is not one of the idiots out on the lake causing problems, but he doesnt want a ticket either. i feel the state hasnt dont enough to make people aware of the law, i also dont feel they enforce it enough but thats just my personal speculation. Also, im sorry to hear about your brother going overboard because of idiots that cant control themselves. maybe you can convince him to go back out with you on a different body of water someday.

LOL at thrown your wallet in, that cracked me up. and seriously though, i dont care who is backing it and who made it and all that, as long as i can catch bass on a 5 dollar pack of plastic worms i will never spend $90 on a lure, outrageous

i hit them just right during the spawn once, i mustve caught 600lbs of catfish or more that weekend, nothing above 4lbs either. just lots and lots of catfish with bellies full of eggs...

bigfoot trying to intimidate you to get off "his" pond at night so he can enjoy it for himself. theyre known for pushing trees over. it was also him you heard wading, he may have a family to protect that uses the pond at night definitely bigfoot here. ive read a bunch of similar encounters. he wanted you gone. they love to throw rocks

that is awesome

it seems obvious you dont want a smaller size reel, and that is fine. you can fish for bass just fine with a bigger sized reel if thats youre choosing, the fish dont know what you got. the tiger reel from walmart if i had to guess is a 4000 sized reel, ive had one. i had it in spinning and stripped the handle screwing it back on too tight, my fault, switched the handle side and gave it to my uncle who still uses it. i also have a tiger spincast combo from walmart when they were metal and not plastic, i have pulled in striper with it, but its a longer fight because of weak drag. the live liner reel youre talking about might be a good idea if youre fishing with live bait, ive been wanting to get me one and i hear Okuma makes an excellent live line reel. actually i just did a search and realize the Fierce comes in a live liner model now, i might have to check those out myself... if i were in your shoes, i wouldnt go any bigger than the 4000 or 5000 size, nor any smaller. you will figure it out whats kind of funny to me, i actually have my fierce paired up with that walmart shakespeare tiger rod, just an older model rod than the one you posted....

Just dont act like Parker Schnabel from Gold Rush and you should be ok lol

12lb mono

I own the Penn Fierce in a 4000 size and use it for catfishing and at times have striper fished with it using lures in the past. even though i only have 17lb sufix siege mono on it, which some people would consider small for catfishing, it doesnt cast very far so i never use lures on it anymore but only because i have better combos for lures. if youre looking at a Battle in the 5000 or 6000 size, i dont think it would be suitable for casting lures for bass or striper unless youre casting real heavy lures. would probably be great using bait for big cats though. In my usage of the Fierce, aside from lack of casting distance with lighter baits and the weight of the reel(sorta heavy), its strong, durable, drag is good, and it operates smooth. I would probably go down to atleast the 4000 size and not bigger if you insist on using it to cast lures. if live bait and catfishing, the 5000 or 6000 will give you plenty of power. I also own a Penn Captiva size 6000, this reel is super smooth, great drag and is powerful and casts better than the Fierce. I have 20lb Stren on my Captiva and i have cast crank baits with it for striper/lm bass, and brung in plenty of catfish with it. I have the Captiva on an 8ft MH Ugly Stik Catfish rod. I love that combo. As for the Battle, ive never used one, but Penn does make fine reels. If youre going to go size 5000/6000 try to put it on an 8ft rod, if you like the Ugly Stiks, as i do, then perhaps look at the Ugly Stik Catfish or Striper lines to pair with the Battle...just remember that bigger reel will wear you out if you do a lot of casting with it...sorry i cant speak directly about the Battle, but hopefully something in here can help you...