Madhouse27

They say that with a larger bass such as this one that it's best to support the fish's body with your other hand when holding it. This will insure that the jaw is not injured.

Well said Crestliner. The warmer it gets, the more time you spend looking at your screen. There are few better sights in this world than a ball of baitfish with some bruisers lurking underneath it. I love July and August!

Great pics Husky. It's been a fun first part of the season up here despite all the rain. I'm curious, if you were coming back up and could only bring one bait for some big Maine bronzebacks, what would it be?

We all have our brand preferences (I like Yamaha) but it's hard to knock any of the new outboards. I might spend a little bit of time researching the reputations of the local dealers/service departments and see if that steers you in a certain direction. If you hear that one is head and shoulders above the others that might be the brand to go with. Do you already have a boat or are you shopping for the whole package?

Hard to go wrong with those two reels.

Thank you all for your input. This might be a good idea for a thread "Alternate uses for a Whuppin' Stik" ;D

I was looking through the new Cabelas catalog and noticed the attractive price on the Whuppin' Stick rods. I was trying to determine if one of these would be right for my application. I have a large oriental rug in my living room. In the spring we like to take it outside, hang it up and beat some of the dust out of it. It's fairly large so I was thinking the 7'2" Heavy Spinning model might be the proper choice. Now I know it was designed "to go after tackle busting lunkers" but something tells me it might just be a better rug beater.

Ihave YHUS 6lb on a couple of my spinning reels but haven't tried it on any baitcasters. What pound test would you guys recommend?

Hmmm, I think that the original post was about the Shimano Symetre. I really like this reel (both versions). Not only is it a fantastic reel for the money, it's a great reel period.

For my reels that have mono on them I use Stren green.

I agree, it's been a loooooong winter. It started early and seems to be hanging on late. I'm chomping at the bit to get fishing up here.

Good point. Put 3 lbs of weight in a plastic grocery bag and tie it to your line. GENTLY lift the bag. If you are not comfortable with the stress this puts on your rod, back the weight up to 2 1/2 lbs and try it again. I find that 3 lbs is about right on my Medium Power rods, but equipment varies. 8-) I learned something new today. After all this time, BR keeps on producing.

Good score!

1) Case Plastics Jack's Worm 2) Zoom Fat Albert Grub on an 1/8oz head w/ 3/0 Gammy hook 3) Strike King Bleeding Bait tube 4) Booyah Pro Finesse Boo Bug jig w/ Netbait Tiny Paca Chunk 5) Senko wacky 6) Zoom Superfluke 7) Spinnerbait chart/w chart blades

Now that's a receipt I might not leave laying around for the wife to find.

I'm in the beer business. I like beer. The great thing about it is that you can celebrate with it or you can cry into it. It's the perfect beverage for any occasion. Oh and the money's not too bad either. What I'd really like to do is teach a class on financial planning and debt reduction. I think that I could help teach some people a few skills about managing their income that might actually make their lives better. Now, dealing with the bait monkey...that may be beyond even my abilities.

Case Plastics Jack's Worm, Zoom Fat Albert Grub

The Zoom Super Fluke is one of my absolute favorite drop shot baits. When I've located a school of baitfish on my finder that is getting torn apart by a school of bronzebacks there's almost nothing else I'd rather use. Man, talk about a great versitile bait. Oh and the fact that they're cheap makes it even better!

Abu Morrum SX1600c MAG which believe it or not is paired with a BPS Pro finesse 6'9" ML casting rod. Hey, why is my most expensive reel is sitting on my cheapest rod?

I don't have one but at one point I was kind of shopping around to see what different types were available. I think the one I was kind of leaning toward was from Minn Kota. If I remember right it was a rectangular flat black piece that was made out of aluminum. At the time I remembered thinking this would be good for someone who was changing trolling motors and the new one had a different mounting hole pattern. This bracket would cover all the old holes and make for a tight looking install. In the end I determined that my boat is rarely parked in a place where I would worry about someone ripping off my tm. If I travelled overnight more and my boat was in sketchy hotel parking lots or something I'd probably break down and get one. They're pretty cheap.

Robby, You're the man!

It's funny, I've almost posted this very same question a couple of times. I hope somebody comes up with an answer. I have the latest episode DVR'd so I'll try to check during the credits at the end to see if anything is listed.

Nice looking bronzeback. That's actually a great picture. You really get a sense of how broad the tail is on a big smallmouth. No question where they get their power.

Starting the think that I"M not going to survive this New England winter. Pray for ice out.

Pondhopper, I know what you're thinking but the stomach probe is actually a great tool for flyfishing. It looks kind of like a small, narrow turkey baster or a big eye dropper. You really only need to barely insert it into the fish's mouth not cram it down into it's stomach. It's just a quick release of the ball on the end and you get a little sampling of what the trout's been eating. Great to help get dialed in with proper fly selection. If I thought it was detrimental to the fish in any way I'd throw it away, but it's much less intrusive than it sounds. I just hope nobody decides to make a vacuum cleaner sized one for us bass fisherman. Just chiming in.