Darren.

I found the post I made about my experiment. I also show pix of the worms I mentioned. You might find it interesting (or not) http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/108274-experiment-a-success/?hl=bps%20stik#8208o=

Welcome aboard!

Yep! I use 'em in the 4 and 5 inch varieties. Colors work very well. Favs are watermelon magic and pepper frog hot orange. Set out one day to use nothing but Stick-O's to gain confidence in them. Probably catch more on these now than I do Yammies! Don't have a picture offhand, and the BPS site doesn't do the worm justice. The Pepper Frog side is a green color, with the other side orange. Unfortunately BPS doesn't have the best quality control on laminates, several in every pack I've bought have been mostly green with little orange. But they still catch.

Got me one of these at BPS...like it enough to wear it often, but sometimes the wind drives me nuts as the brim will flip up all the time. But it's super cool to wear (not cool as in The Fonz). http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-XPS-Summit-Explorer-Boonie-Hat/product/12083105205454/ Otherwise I'll wear a ball cap style hat.

Is that an X-Ship mark?! And swept handles!

Welcome aboard, Tim!

Hmm. My eldest son and I were in boggy waters in our canoe. 50lb thrust motor was up and out so we could cross over fallen logs near a beaver dam. Got a little stuck on a log so we scootched forward. Unfortunately we tipped and the motor broke, our $300 digicam was soaked beyond saving, my brand new mobile phone was soaked, and my crocs were sucked off thanks to the goopy muddy bottom. Rods saved. Some gear lost. Very expensive. After that I made pontoons so it would never happen again. Now I ride a kayak I can stand in w/o pontoons. And everything is in waterproof pouches, LOL. That's my horror story.

Oh man I wish I didn't watch that. Nobody tell my wife, K? I promise not to buy one until some credit cards are paid off.

Welcome!

This makes the most sense to me. I'm in love with my CH50e, would eventually love another one (7.1:1 would be awesome, please), so if they keep the white aluminum lineup and add a black Ci4 series, that'd be fine by me.

Welcome! So much you can learn from the folks here. Fantastic resource!

Welcome aboard, destroyer!

Welcome TBG. I graduated from UNT in '92!

I tried it, and boy what a mess! Red got all over my baitcaster, fingers, etc. Now that was a couple years back, so maybe the formula doesn't bleed as much now. It's PowerPro, so a great braid, just didn't like the bleed. I use yellow PP now. Bleeds a little, but less noticeable.

Bass Thumb is a badge of honor, wear it well.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome!

That's cool. I've seen bass around bluegill beds, but haven't observed the same behavior (that I was aware of) you describe.

I'll vary my leader length. When I was fishing really clear water I pulled three lengths off the spool, stretched each between my outstretched arms and used that. Don't think it made much of a difference than when I used a shorter leader. In my normal waters I'll use anywhere from 4-6 feet.

Welcome aboard, Ryan!

Welcome aboard, Kevin!

Yeeeowch!

Stuff like this happens. We all forget something here and there. One of my sons left a long pole unattended and a 3 pound bass took the worm and the pole for a ride around the pond. Fortunately the pole floats, and another of my boys took a different rod and cast out to retrieve the pole -- and the bass!! On the other end of things, I lost a phone, a camera, crocs, and a trolling motor in a canoe "accident". So like I said, it happens. Keep your chin up, chest out, don't get too discouraged. And like Red suggested, take a big old treble hook and drag the bottom. Or if you can grab some snorkel gear and search, that could help, too.

Another braid + fluoro leader fan here. No worries about managing straight fluoro. Heaviest fluoro leader I'm using is 12lb.

Welcome aboard, Roger!