Marty

Congratulations Shawn, that is one fine fish with a world-class pot belly!!! May I ask what your previous PB was?

Great day John!! Some top-quality fish and amazing that you had no breakoffs, or didn't report any.

It wouldn't do you any harm to call a local optician and ask.

Up here in my neck of the woods I consider a four-pounder as my threshold for a "big" fish. So I only weigh bass that I think might be that size, so I rarely weigh anything less than 19". Don't forget to test it a few times each season by weighing stuff that's already been weighed on a certified scale, such as the ones at your supermarket. These things can be quite accurate, but also can and do go bad for whatever reasons.

Good luck. There's no shortage of bass in there, but I haven't had much luck with them the last couple of years. However, a friend just bought a kayak a couple of weeks ago and he got a half-dozen decent bass on its maiden voyage. I asked him what he used and he said Banjo Minnow, so maybe soft jerkbaits could be a good option.

Congratulations to the Vols. Please post again when they're not 31-point favorites. ;D

Sorry, not trying to be mean-spirited, but I can't argue with your choice of words for the subject line.

I'm afraid so. Mono is no exception, everything has tradeoffs.

This sort of intrigued me, so I went to the site to see what I could find. It looks like you may have a tidal license that allows you to fish Chesapeake Bay and tributaries, but you need a non-tidal license for freshwater. At any rate, I'm sorry you have to shell out more money.

Yep, weedless topwaters are good, as are soft plastics dropped into weed holes and edges. If some of the weeds are submerged a spinnerbait or shallow crankbait over the tops should also be good if you can get away with using them.

I have one of those Cabela's bags in a smaller size and have been very pleased with it.

We had one here just this past week. A guy robbed a bank. He gave the teller a note which was written on the back of a traffic ticket he had received a little earlier. With his name and address on the ticket the police didn't have much trouble finding him.

Check your reel's instructions. Some reels with an anti-twist line roller recommend loading like a baitcaster, with the supply spool held in an up-and-down position. If this is not the case, then the supply spool should be laid down on a flat surface such that the line comes off it in a counterclockwise direction. The twist that this causes will mostly offset the clockwise twist that occurs when line is going onto the reel spool, thus the line on your reel with have a minimum of twist.

I thought the Booyah is built better and has better components than the Chatterbait, although I couldn't see a difference between them in their ability to draw strikes. I gave up fishing the Booyah because of problems with the leverage flexible hook. Maybe I was the problem, it doesn't matter, I lost confidence in the flexible hooks after losing about a dozen bass in one weekend.

I've used Daiwas for years and haven't yet seen a bail spring that lasts. I'm not good mechanically, but once a service technician mailed me hand-drawn instructions on how to replace a spring on a particular model, of which I have three reels. I have a couple of others with broken springs but I just continue to fish with them If you don't get free springs, then buy some. They're cheap. Last time I bought them they were 50¢.

I can't tell you brand, but get a brand that is stainless steel or some other anti-rust material. As to size, get about a #4 or one size bigger or smaller. You want to avoid rings that are large enough to cause the hooks to tangle and/or pick up more weeds.

Not true. Braid can even be used on relatively inexpensive rods without causing problems.

To me, the whole rookie salary thing is one of the biggest problems in the NFL. I think the union, as well as the league, would like to change the system, but the union wants to use it as a bargaining chip. Stay tuned.

I used mono for all applications for many years until I switched to mostly braid a few years ago. Now I use braid for all applications. Not everyone needs to use technique-specific outfits. And who says mono's not good for topwater? I use topwater a huge amount of the time and caught plenty that way on mono, as I also do on braid. For what it's worth, I use 15# Power Pro. Most of my mono use was 10# line, a number of brands, but mostly Trilene XL and Original Stren.

I've never seen one until I just looked it up. In general, I believe using a keeper hook, such as the Mustad Ultra Point, will extend the life of many, if not most, plastics. Often after a fish is caught, just the nose of the bait is torn. I cut off about 1/4" and re-rig. I've done this most often with Power Worms and Senkos. It can be done four times and your bait is only 1" shorter. My 7" Power Worms and 5" Senkos were just as effective after they were 1" shorter and I don't see why that wouldn't be the case with Rage Tails, whether you're talking the 7" or 10" size.

Chances are if the 8 looked like the original, it's the right size, unless your eyesight is really off. You mentioned Rapalas; if you're talking about the Original Floaters, they have smaller hooks than most hard baits.

I agree, but if they crash through and don't hit it, get a soft plastic into that newly created hole ASAP.

Only you can determine how much to spend based on what a good bag is worth to you. There are a number of bags that are well made. When I personally am in the market for a bag, I don't get overly concerned with the brand, I need to get something that is the right size and has the right number and size and configuration of pockets that matches my storage needs. A year ago it was Cabela's that had the bag closest to my needs, but you might need something completely different.

I don't have an answer to the question but I'd use whatever method of attachment while tuning that you use for the actual fishing. Because what you want to do--I presume--is have the bait run true based on the attachment method you're actually using while fishing.

Absolutely not!!! A little slippage on the hookset, that's fine. But peeling off? If you literally mean peeling off, then that means the force created by the hookset is being used to pull the line off rather than to drive the hook into the fish.