Darren.

Do you mean the snell knot? If so, I snell all my worm hooks except weed-guarded hooks which use the shank for wire wrapping.... Use with fluoro, braid, mono, copoly, doesn't matter. Phenomenal for worm hooks.

No. And when it gets the nick name "Squatch" ... please. Those shows are a joke, always looking, never EVER finding ANYTHING. Keep us watching, keep the advertising dollars flowing. Economics 101. But I did know someone who claimed to have seen Ogopogo. Seriously.

Welcome to the site, Bob!

Welcome aboard.

Yup, just trust your reflexes. If you're using spinning gear, when you feel that bite, reel down while lowering the rod tip and sweep it (up, to the side, whatever is automatic) and it'll set the hook.

In that case, yeah, most any baitcaster would do. You could look at any of the Daiwa, Shimano models in your price range and do pretty darn well.

I will sharpen hooks if they need it. But in my experience, Gammies, Owners don't need it much. BPS hooks need it a lot more, IMO.

I assume he's talking light baits, light line. It is an art form, and one can "finesse" a bait with heavy gear. But I think the confusion comes in when manufacturers specifically call their gear suited for finesse fishing... Just my .02. With that in mind, I happen to "finesse" with a Quantum Accurist 570PT. I spool it with lighter line (8lb, etc). However, if I could buy a "finesse" reel, I'd go for a small reel like the Daiwa PXY, PX Type-R, the Lexa 100, or Shimano Curado 50E that is geared for light lines and light weights.

There are so many anchoring options from home made to purchases. Couple of thoughts: 1) Not sure the regulations (if any) for coral protection in your area, BUT, a plastic-coated chain (or plastic-sheathed) of a few feet in length might work best. 2) A grappling anchor is good for sand. Folds up neatly and stores easily, comes in different weights. If you are in high winds, you might want something heavier to hold you better. With chain, you can hit a hardware or big-box hardware store and buy some pretty hefty stuff. Of course the heavier the anchor, the more problematic it can become. That's why most kayak anchors are 1.5 to 3 lbs. In heavier winds I'll either use my 7' Stik-It anchor pin, or my 8lb mushroom weight. Lighter winds I'll use my Stick-It pin or a 3lb weight I bought at Dick's.

Nice to have you aboard!

Welcome!

Largies. Spots, aka Kentucky Bass are not as prolific throughout Virginia, I believe. But we've got 'em. Then again, I have to look through my pictures to see if I've caught any spots. Maybe I do need to know more about 'em...

Awesome records there, man! Welcome aboard fellow kayaker.

Yup. I stand corrected. Thought he also made a cameo in one...regardless, he was still a fine actor.

LOL. Unfortunately the reservoirs around here are sun up to sun down, no night or early AM fishing, otherwise, that'd be me.

Welcome aboard, Joe. A lot (perhaps all) of us started bank or dock fishing! When you have the time and money, consider a simple kayak or canoe as your first boat. You'll love it.

Depending on the size of splitshot, I'll sometimes let the shot hit the bottom, then I twitch the rod tip, reel slack and so on, then cast and repeat. I actually imagine a bait fish (the worm) twitching about after a food source (the split shot), if that makes any sense. So that kind of helps my retrieve mentality. I'll also use a Zoom tiny fluke hooked thru the nose and work it the same way. Have found some nice success with this method.

I was throwing 8lb Trilene XL on a 5' Ugly Stick Lite (ultra light) using an Abu Garcia underspin reel and a tiny 1/16 oz jig head with a 1.5" minnow tied on. Hooked a 24" Pickerel, fought it for a short few, got it to the dock, reached down got my hand under the belly just as it snapped the line on a tooth. Yeah, 8lb isn't UL, but the rest of the outfit was. The Abu reel came with 8lb on it, not exactly ultra light, but the drag on the reel is horrendous. Might as well not have it, LOL. But the best UL fishing are the guys who catch sailfish on 2lb test. That's gotta be fun.

He was a darn fine actor. Enjoyed him in Mission Impossible, too.

I simply didn't find it necessary on PowerPro. Didn't make much, if any difference, that I could detect. On mono or FC, yeah, makes a diff. I've read it's great for all lines, even braid, but just didn't seem to live up to the braid claim in my experience. Thought it a waste of a $9 bottle of KVD to spray it on braid. But I bet there are some guys on this forum that have a different opinion. Perhaps a different brand of braid responds differently. Pretty much just use PP any more.

Fantastic for the little man! Memories to begin a lifetime of great catches.

Awesome catch! Love it when the log moves. Makes a hang-up so much more enjoyable :-)

I used KVD's brand when necessary. I used to use it on braid, but no longer, and since I've spooled my spinning gear with braid mainline, I don't use it much at all except on baitcasters w/o braid. I've only bought one bottle of it and still have plenty left. But I do believe it works as claimed. Buy at least one bottle and give it a try, only then will you really be convinced - or not.

Curious case there. Just by chance, this isn't old PP spooled on your reel, is it? If it is stripped of all the coating, I've found it prone to weird behavior from time to time, though not consistently at all. Assuming you close the bail by hand and all that. If so, you could be right that the reel is not laying down the line correctly.

Man, I'm boring. It's all about thin-crust pepperoni (Neopolitan/NY Style) with drippy grease and stuff. I'm hungry now....