Marty

Sounds like there's a reason that TW doesn't want you to know.

You can catch bass on ultralight gear using, say, 4# test line, as long as you're not dealing with heavy cover. It's loads of fun, but the downside is the increased chances of line breakage, leaving the fish swimming around with a lure in its mouth, not to mention the loss of the lure. But with good line, a sound knot and proper drag setting, you can fight and land large fish in open water. As to the choice between those two reel sizes, I'd go with the 1000 because there will be fewer line problems because of the larger spool.

It helps to have a good mental attitude, that is, don't worry about the fish, cover and structure that you can't reach and concentrate on what you can do. I tend to keep moving and cover a lot of ground unless I have reason not to. Also, there have been exceptions, but most fish have been caught within, say, 20' of shore, so it's a better bet to cast at an angle to or parallel with the bank. But keep an open mind and don't rule out anything.

I bought my Yakima roof rack from the canoe dealer. It was quite expensive, but I wanted something that would require minimum effort to tie down.

Manufacturers' web sites are notorious for not being current. That said, the site makes it appear that your lures are available and can be bought directly from them. http://www.lurenet.com/catalog.aspx?catid=Spit%27nImage

I use braid on spinning. Two big reasons are its strength and incredible abrasion resistance to wood and other vegetation. It's not without problems, but the pluses outweigh the minuses for me.

I think it's safe to assume that lures are discontinued for the normal business reasons, i.e., the product is not yielding an adequate return on investment. It might be a great lure, but if it doesn't sell, there's no good business reason to continue. Basically it's the same principle as when your supermarket discontinues some food that you really liked. They determined that they can make more profit from that shelf space by stocking something else there.

I think it's a matter of mental approach. It's a fact of life that products, colors, models, etc., will disappear. As far as I'm concerned, there are very few things that can't be replaced. Now if Jitterbugs were discontinued I'd be seriously unhappy because that's my favorite lure and there's nothing like it that I'm aware of. But crankbaits, spinnerbaits, plastics brands, colors and the like have come and gone and I've had no problem with something else. There are loads of lures that are productive and we should try not to let the loss of one affect our fishing.

I use spinning gear, but I'd think the principle is the same. At any rate, I use cheap mono as backing and spool 50-60 yards of good line on top of it, thus getting five or six respools from one 300-yard spool.

I'm not a soccer fan, but I caught the last few minutes and that ranks right up there as one of the most dramatic finishes I've seen in any sport.

While a couple of people said don't unscrew the hook hangers, I'll add that I prefer to discard the hangers and install screw eyes to attach the split rings to.

I use #4 hooks for the 5/8 oz and used #6 when I used the 3/8 oz. Currently I use Gamakatsus, but that's because they're readily available where I shop. In the past I've used other brands, such as Owner, VMC and Eagle Claw. Anything with a point will be an improvement over the hooks that come with the lures.

Topwaters work great on cloudy days. And over the years they've worked great for me on sunny days with blue skies. There's never a time I'll rule out topwater barring cold water in spring and fall.

I don't think there's a best movement. Sometimes they might want a fast drop, other times a slow drop, and so on and so forth. I haven't used Gander, but in addition to Senkos, I've used two other brands plus something I've put together by fusing two pieces of other plastics. All have caught fish and I have confidence in all of them and I'm not prepared to say that one will outfish another over the long run. You may be well served to try a few and see what works for you.

I think you can exceed the rated weight, although I'm not quantifying it. Just don't make hard snap casts. Take it easy and lob the lure and you should be OK, as long as the lure weight is reasonable.

Maybe you meant to say: Cottonmouth...aka water moccasin?

Lots of sharpening tools will work well. I use a standard file with a handle, like the Luhr-Jensen mentioned above. Because I'm a klutz, I tend to avoid the small files because something will slip and I'll end up with a hook in my hand.

I don't agree that Trilene XL stinks. Like any other line, it has pluses and minuses. I used it on and off for many years and never had any particular problem. I think you'd be better served by examining what might have gone wrong, as opposed to just assuming it was the line. If you insist on changing lines, I do agree that Original Stren is a good line. I've never used P-Line.

No fish you are apt to hook can break your line just because of the size of the fish. Consider that a giant will just spool you--not break the line--if the drag is set properly and there are no external factors involved. The line could be weakened by something in the water or some sort of user error. Often line size is dictated by the nature of the cover more than the size of the fish.

Another factor is the amount of water you're fishing. For example, if you're fishing a small area you can use a popper and give it numerous small pops and still keep it in the area. Then there's covering water where buzzbaits, Jitterbugs and walking baits are good. But regardless, you have choices for a given set of conditions and there's no one correct bait. You may have to make an arbitrary decision and then make changes depending on what happens.

Thanks for the tip, but I use braid almost exclusively now. I just haven't had a need to go stronger than 15# based on what I do.

Maybe these have some advantages with regard to weight and rustproofness, but I seriously doubt that they'd help catch more fish due to their so-called invisibility. Consider a hard bait with two or three treble hooks attached to split rings and clanging all over the place. If the sight and sound of that doesn't deter strikes, a small swivel wouldn't either, especially considering that the fish has no idea of what it is anyways.

Perhaps baitcasting is better, I wouldn't know. But I regularly use 1/4 oz. spinnerbaits and 3/8 oz. Chatterbait-style lures on spinning equipment and catch fish and have no problems. Maybe it is felt that baitcasting is better, not because of the lure, per se, but because it is recommended that they be fished on heavier line which is better handled by baitcasting. Whatever, I've used 10-12# mono and 15# braid on my spinning equipment. Based on my experience, if you have spinning gear you should not be deterred from using these lures as long as you stay within the equipment's capabilities.

Jitterbug is my favorite lure. I'll fish it anytime, including hot, sunny afternoons. I just use a steady retrieve. Unfortunately, they have lousy components and from out-of-the-box to my tackle bag requires some modifications, some of which have been mentioned previously.

How about NEVER and that's in 40 years of fishing.