tholmes

Rebel Teeny Wee Craw. ~ 1/10 oz. Lots of fun on an ultra-light, smallmouth love 'em, as do big ol' bull 'gills. Tom

I'm sure I could, a 7' MH casting rod would throw T-rigs, jigs, medium to deep cranks, lipless cranks and spinnerbaits OK. That would cover 95% of my fishing. But I wouldn't want to. Tom

I fish a fleet of round Ambassadeurs and, from my experience, the best thing you can do to improve the performance is to have the reel professionally cleaned and tuned. I do alot of routine maintenance myself, but every couple of years, I'll have them professionally serviced. I have a couple of 4600 Cs that are 25+ years old and, with 8 or 10 lb. mono, will still cast a 1/4 oz. lure very well. For anything much lighter than that, you're better off with a spinning rig. You should never lay your reel down in sand, and definitely never dunk it in water. All that does is wash the sand deeper into the reel. If you do get sand in the reel, STOP using it until you can get it cleaned out. With reasonable care and regular service, that reel should last a lifetime, and then some. Tom

Grease on gears, oil on bearings and the levelwind worm gear. There are many options available. I use Ardent reel butter for grease and Rem-Oil on the bearings and level wind. Tom

I wish there was a bait & tackle shop in my area. The ONLY place in town that has anything at all is Wal-Mart. I'd have to drive 2 hrs. to Wichita to find a decent shop. A large part of my tackle purchases are via the interwebz. Tom

Bandit Squarebill in Pearl/Splatterback and Rootbeer. Tom

For myself, I prefer Bay Rum. For my fishing lures, I use Baitmate crawfish or Megastrike. Tom

Pretty much anytime. Morning and evening seem to be the most popular, but I've caught bass on buzzbaits in the middle of the day and well into the night. Tom

Right here. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/dressed-treble-hooks/ Tom

I've hooked a couple of rod and reel combos. One was an Abu Garcia 5000C on a Lew's Speed Stick, the other was a cheap spinning rig. I cleaned up the 5000C and used it for many years. I also hooked a metal trash can lid once. It put up a pretty good fight! Tom

Hook Keeper. Tom

X3^ Yo-Zuri Hybrid is the best handling line I've ever used. Tom

I've been tying bucktails and catching largemouth bass (along with smallmouth, stripers, and many other species) for years. Bucktail jigs are, IMHO, the most overlooked lure out there. Tom

X2^ I have a few baits with red hooks but I don't see any advantage to using them. Same thing with worm hooks. I've bought red hooks, but only because that was the only color available at the time in the size and style I wanted. Tom

Great news bigbill! Congratulations! Get out there and catch some big 'uns! Tom

Claymore mine under the window. Set it and forget it! Tom

Yeah, there's a lot going on around the water at night. The "red fish" was probably a goldfish that someone released into the pond. They'll get quite large in a big body of water. I've seen 'em around here as big as 15-18". My go-to nighttime baits are a big black jitterbug, dark-colored 10" plastic worms, and black spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. I've had pretty good luck recently with 3" to 5" soft swimbaits, specifically Lake Fork Live Magic Shad in white. Good Luck! Tom

Heresy! Us lefties like the "00" reels just fine! Tom

Like others have said, they're solid as a rock. reliable,, strong and smooth. Some don't care for the bulk and weight, but I find them easier on my hands than low-profile reels. Another plus in that the're easy to take down for service, and parts are readily available. I have eight of the round Ambassadeurs, and love every one of them. I've been fishing some of them for 30= years, and with routine maintenance, I expect them to go another 30. Tom

Lipless crank, chrome w/ blue back. If I were fishing strictly for LMB, 7" ribbon-tail worm in tequila shad, t-rigged. Tom

Nice! I hope they bring back the 4600 size Record! Tom

It matters to me. For fishing jigs and t-rigs, I like a line that's highly visible. I don't think the fish really care. Tom

$12.98?? Great deal! Enjoy! Tom

My hat. Sunburned scalp is not fun. Tom

Wow! There's some seriously beautiful reels on that site! Tom