Darren.

Sweet ride. But that...P ... in the rear window... Not sure it's the right symbol. I think this one is better for ya:

Very nice outing! Congrats!

Very strange experience. Did you contact PP to see what they'd do for you? Maybe they would send you a spool of regular as a replacement...

Welcome aboard! You can use straight braid if you want, plenty do, and I used to, but these days I always tie on a leader. For one, I'm 100% confident in my leader knots. Second, a leader allows me multiple reties of my hooks during an outing, thereby my braid mainline is depleted more slowly than going without a leader. Lastly, often people fish too fast. I don't know if you are, but slow down your retrieve with a TX rig, wacky rig, etc. When you think you are slow enough, slow down again.

You can find these, as mentioned, at Cabelas. Currently on sale, too!

Welcome aboard!

Don't know if legit, but once you add up the shipping, it's only a few dollars off regular pricing. With their cheapest shipping option it is $47.44 FWIW there's one on eBay with free shipping for $47.61 and from a high-rated seller.

Welcome aboard, Joey!

Well done and congrats!

Very cool, Bob. I've yet to do the Ned in my waters. One of these days I'll pull the trigger and buy the necessary gear.

Austin, I'll give you another take. I totally agree with using braid for mainline, but for me, I always tie on a leader. Many moons ago I used straight braid and did catch bass. Thing is, for me, today, braid is expensive, and I tend to retie lures a number of times during an outing. Each time, if straight braid, I'd be cutting in to my mainline. But with a leader of say, 4-6 feet, I can tie a bunch of times before I tie a new leader on. Just need to be confident in your knot, and I do suggest the uni-to-uni or mod'd Albright.

Actually, there was a worm made with the ring molded in to it. http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gone-fishin’/2012/06/big-bite-baits-5-inch-wacky-stick-makes-improvement-classic-bass-bait

Wow, sweet catch, and love the pic with the fly-stache

Welcome aboard!

Kinda like a Yugo will get you from point A to point B just like a BMW only with less flair...

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Then by all means keep it simple for him.

First, welcome aboard! As far as your son, that spinning setup would be fine to get him going. I've got 4 boys from 12-19 and they all do better with spinning gear, though the three youngest have both. They're all into casting because it is "cool". They practice in the back yard all the time. Only thing I might consider is getting him a ML power as Croix rods are a tad stiffer than their rating. I have a Legend Tournament 6'3" MLXF that I use for soft plastics (Wacky, etc.) and it is plenty strong. As well, I suggest using the 10# PP for spinning mainline. Much easier to manage, and then tie on a leader.

Welcome aboard, Mikey!

Welcome aboard! I fish from a kayak and I look for things like downed trees, stump fields, bushes in the water, grassy areas and so on. Look for points on the land as they'll continue from dry land into water. Bass often congregate on points. What kind of things are you fishing? Hard lures? Soft plastics?

Excellent, A-Jay. Great stuff.

Welcome aboard!

I've had it in both elbows, a couple years back. Couldn't lift my coffee mug without my arm shaking like a leaf. If you do a search, there are a few threads on the topic, with a lot of advice. For me, I took 1 Ibuprofen and 1 Aleve to help with the pain. But what actually worked for me was doing pushups - not full, but with my knees on the ground and then doing 10-20. I could feel the warmth of the blood rush to my arms and it actually helped heal the issue. If it is too severe they can actually take your blood, do stuff to it, and then inject it into the sore areas to bring fast healing. A bass pro had that done. Don't have the links as I Googled it years ago.

Welcome aboard, Josh!