Darren.

A very welcome laugh. Thank you, Sam!

So. Does this mean double the bass beds during spawn? Sorry, bad joke... Serious issue, the chemicals we flush down the loo.

Says the school teacher!! LOL No snow for the Tidewater area, please. I like my kids being in school, thank you very much!

Wow, you guys are killin' it! Well done!

Would have to be a 4" Senko, probably watermelon magic on a 1/0 Gammy splitshot/drop shot hook. That's today's "forever", LOL.

Well gorged bass. Nice catches!

I have the 6'3" LT and put my 2500 FJ on it and it balances perfectly. I normally prefer 1000 size, and have a 1000 FJ but the combo felt tip-heavy, as opposed to the 1000 FJ on my 6'6" Carbonlite which is tip-light. So if you want, or if you can, take your rod into a local BPS, Cabelas, etc., and put different reels on it to see how they balance out.

Ditto. I've got Stradic FI, FJ reels and the FJ is so much smoother thanks to X-Ship. So these would be my recommendation to pair with your Legends. I've got one of my FJs on a Croix Legend Tourney Walleye rod and it is spectacular.

Spot on. My primary spinning reels are 1000 Shimanos, too, and they skip perfectly fine.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, Damion!

I'll hope WxRisk is wrong here and we'll have a balmy 70º with winds from the south at a lovely 5mph. Yesterday's temps never getting to 30º down here were cold enough, thanks very much.

What kind of stuff are you throwing? Soft plastics, cranks, etc? I ask because there's a pond I frequent with a buddy that has no boat access, and no shad either. We've caught a number of bas over 2# and upward of 5#+ as well. 99% of what we throw are wacky worms, usually in the 4" range, sometimes 5". Watermelon Magic, June bug and other "regular" colors tend to work well. Also have caught on drop shot using Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worms.

When AM speaks, people listen. As a fan of high speed reels, I like what he has to say. Makes a lot of sense. Tom's comment, too.

Probably see leaks of the ads in a couple weeks. Last year was Feb 6-15, probably same range this year.

Welcome aboard! You could also spool up with 20-30# braid and tie on a leader.

IMO, yes. I personally prefer M rods for a lot of my fishing, but it depends on who makes it. I like the BPS Carbonlites a lot, they load up well for what I throw, which is a lot of weightless soft plastics. Bottom line is that it felt better in your hands than the MH. That's what matters. Now after you fish it a bit, you'll know better if it is the right fit.

Agree with buzzed bait concerning length. I went from a 10' to a 12' and don't think I could go any bigger. But there are plenty that like the longer yaks, so it's a "to each his/her own" thing. As well, please explain the rod locker thing. I thought at first you were meaning something akin to Hobie Pro Angler's "rod locker". Perhaps you mean a rod stager? I customized my Native Ultimate 12 to have my rods in front of me, laying flat, staged as it were. If you want that, consider adding the Native Slayer 12, Jackson Cuda and Coosa, and the Feel Free Lure yaks.

Welcome aboard, Matthew! Sounds like you're doing well with your own observation! Hit up the articles section on the site and you'll find a wealth of reading material.

I use braid + leader on every setup, spinning/casting. Line management is so much better in my experience, and I've had no issues with my line-to-leader knots. I use both 10# and 15# test PowerPro on my spinning rods, and leaders anywhere from 4-15# test depending on the circumstances. A spool of good fluorocarbon will last you a long time as leader material. I have some fluoro, but actually use copoly 98% of the time for all my soft plastics fishing.

Noticed this over the past year, as well. Fewer and fewer YZH spools until they were gone and not replaced.

Good grief, those are awesome catches! Congrats to you all!

Woo hoo!! Congrats, Jimmy!

Welcome aboard, Mike!

Welcome aboard, Yawai!