Marty

With the prevalence of delayed mortality, how can you possibly know that?

I wouldn't rule out any lures, as I've caught bass on the same variety of lures from ponds as lakes.

Maybe I don't know what heavy cover is, but I've caught some nice fish in what I think is heavy cover using 15# braid.on my spinning gear.

I've seen advice that you can keep a fish out of water for as long as you can hold your breath, but have no idea if that's valid. I've never been accused of animal cruelty, but then, I've never had a PETA person approach me while I was fishing. I think I speak for a lot of fishermen when I say that I hate to harm a fish. But I know I will harm some, it's part of fishing, it goes with the territory. Obviously I'm (reluctantly) willing to harm some fish, as much as I hate it, but I'd hate it even more if I didn't fish. You have to take the bad with the good and in the end we do what we are comfortable with.

I don't think you can make a generalization. You don't know what they'll hit on any given day at any given time. I've had a huge amount of experience on the stained water of the Erie Canal, mostly with crankbaits, and they hit on a very wide variety of colors, some of which would defy the conventional wisdom for color.

Well, even if you get some replies, I wonder how much value they'll be to you. You are talking only about reel brands, but different models can have different measurements. For example, I just looked at a Daiwa 2500 and 3500. I didn't take any measurements, but measurement #1 was visibly longer on the 3500 than the 2500.

There is no "best." Plastics come in a wide variety of sizes. If you use one size it might be too small for your largest baits and too large for the small finesse baits. I like the guideline that says use a hook with a gap at least double the diameter of the lure.

Please, do yourself a favor and ask your cardiologist.

The original Chatterbaits had poor hooks but the next version supposedly improved them, but I have no experience with the newer ones. I use trailer hooks with this style bait and fish them very similar to spinnerbaits, but you can fish these in different ways, such as lift-and-drop. They do seem to be good fish attractors.

Yes, people really do this. Sometimes there's little choice. Twist is generally not a problem with braid. I've used 15# Power Pro or Fireline braid on Daiwa 2500-size reels.

X3

You're using plastics requiring harder hooksets than hard lures, so I'd go with M over ML. I've used M rods for years and they're more than adequate for soft plastics hooksets.

Rapala has changed in recent years as far as I'm concerned. On a few occasions I sent back lures with various problems they promptly replaced them. A couple of years ago I bought a lure--forgot the name--but it was advertised to dive to one foot. I viewed it as a nice alternative to a Baby 1-Minus. Well, I couldn't get it more than a few inches down, so I sent it to Rapala with the form mentioned above saying that it wouldn't perform as advertised and requested another lure as a replacement. Two weeks later I received a package. I opened it eagerly and found they returned the lure back to me. There was a letter telling me that if I had a problem I should've dealt with Bass Pro, who I bought it from. It was obvious that they changed their tune and were now playing hardball and I still regret that I didn't return the lure back to them, reminding them that I didn't want it and to not send it back again. I don't know what they would've done.

As others have said, both work fine. As to the big one that broke you off, maybe the more important question than which one to use with a Senko should be which one to use for the line needed for the conditions you're facing.

I'm another one who believes in conventional names. Maybe it's harmless, but in years to come people will joke and call him Poetic Justice or Justice Denied or some such thing. But a lot of people like to be more creative, which is OK, but that's my old-fashioned opinion.

I can't either. I've set many a hook, most of them with $40 rods, and never broke one on the hookset.

I know nothing about PIB. But my partner has a 17.5' aluminum boat with a 50 HP and we've fished a variety of waters, some large lakes included. He also fishes tournaments (not with me) and I know he's been out during some rough conditions. I just found this out about PIB: "Its 5.8-square-mile (15 km2) embayment is about 4.6 miles (7.4 km) in length, about 1.8 mi (2.9 km) across at its widest point, and an average depth of about 20 feet (6.1 m)." I see no reason for concern about using this boat there. Just use common sense, as should always be done.

I've read consumer advice that says you can dicker on just about anything, so boats would be included. I know nothing about boat pricing, but I personally wouldn't be concerned about looking like a dip. Do your research and make a fair offer that you're willing to pay. If they refuse, just walk away toward the door, and like a car salesman, they'll say "hey, wait a minute" if you're in their negotiating range.

That is not a good way to do it because label placement varies, even within a manufacturer and I've even seen variation within the same brand for different pound tests. Place the filler spool on the floor so the line comes off counterclockwise if you're doing spinning.

I'd e-mail the manufacturer if you're curious enough. Even given the fact that there are no standards for diameter and that diameters of the same pound test vary among manufacturers, there is still something very wrong when actual capacity is just about 50% of the stated capacity.

Technically, a cold front is the leading edge of a colder air mass. It might be called a cool front or strong or weak cold front based on the temperature difference between the air mass and the air it's replacing.

Good luck with that shoulder. Hope you're back on the water soon.

You could always use the "Contact us" feature on the manufacturer's site. What sort of information are you looking for?

I wouldn't, but I'm sure others would.

I'd definitely try the crankbaiting as you described, as well as cranking roughly parallel to shore. As to topwater on choppy water, I do it all the time. As was already mentioned, a Jitterbug can be used in a moderate chop, but a buzzbait can be used when it's too choppy for Jitterbugs. Of course, don't forget your crankbaits and spinnerbaits too.