IwillChooseFreeWill

I keep mine forever. I have not seen any degrading of performance of rods that I've had for 15+ years. Same here... even have a few cheapo Kmart/walmart special rods that have never had a problem.

I had one slip out of my hands but the cork handle kept it floating where I used another rod to bring it back.

I have used a variety of braids and my preference is Power Pro in green, usually 20-30 lb. Some prefer higher test but I have not seen a need for it myself yet. there was a write up in Bassmaster a month or two ago but I cannot find it online... i will get back to you with that link if/when I find it.

As a person that uses almost exclusively spinning reels, I suggest and use either 20-30 lb Power Pro braid or 10-15 lb Pline CX or CXX. The braid is a smaller diameter, and the Pline works very well as an all around line. For spooling, these guys are 100% right, reel it in so the line comes off the spool itself the same direction as it spins it into the reel. Make sure you keep your ffree hand further up the rod so it stays fairly tight as it spins it on the reel. bah they modified the link to the video I posted... guess they don't want to allow other sites to explain the information better

I prefer to stick with Garmin for GPS and the other main companies for FF... Lowrance, Navionics, Humminbird, etc...

I tend to prefer the front red on shallow slower cranks where theres plenty of light and possibility for the bass to see the red "blood" like an injured bait.. so far it seems to work well on the main one I used so I have no switched out others to see how well it works on those as well.

This thread is exactly why I bring a wooden yard stick along. It floats and gives you the length needed with a quick measure.

Not sure he has seen this Florida vegetation that roots from the bottom fairly thin but then the top 2-3 feet of the water column is so thick it stops a moving boat and tangles any motor that gets into it. Even had some stop my canoe at a local lake the other weekend, had to use the paddle to lean forward and pull myself forward as if I was on grassy dry land... it was rough. I do plan to get to those same areas in the heat of the summer, use my paddle to make a hole in it and use a jig or drop shot setup in the middle of it.

if its that important to you, just drill your own hole and mount your own hook on the back of a $3 lure

Same here, great hooks and works well for a variety of lures

good stuff, I am starting to get my 7 year old daughter into bassin too... knowing my luck she will be kicking my butt in a few months.

agreed... same here... of course it would help if I actually had the chance and went fishing

I am a minimalist, I only buy what I need, what works most of the time and don't bother with the rest. On a rare occasion I will spend a little to see if something new works but thats usually only a single or small pack. This winter I did spend almost $300: Pflueger Trion GX-7 spinning rod/reel combo, 7' Med. 1 piece rod BPS $25 rod/reel combo with 6'6" M rod for panfish and light bass fishin 300 yd 12 lb Pline CX all sorts of lures Replacement transducer for my PiranhaMAX 215 and stuff for a removable mount for my canoe Handheld GPS

I have found that the colder northern water tends to make most of these plastics stiffer, but once the water warms up over 60-65º, it makes no difference. I have used a wide range myself and have not found a difference in the southern warm waters

being it is held closer to the camera, I would say around 18" and 3 lbs.

Looks like fun. I have 2 daughters (ages 2 and 7) that I try to get out when possible as well. Have not had much chance or location for my 2 year old yet this year but I plan to this summer.

Lunkerville has lots of great shows online and is MUCH more realistic

I found that it tends to be a warm water, dawn or dusk lure. Those are the times they tend to be feeding close to the surface and works the best from what I have seen. I also use it in the local river where it gets strikes of all kinds

wow I was going to suggest the same thing as I ran into that with my old 76 and 91 GM beast

Living so close to Eglin AFB, I get a chance to meet some excellent men and women in uniform. My neighbor is going on something like 15 years now and still going strong. Both of my parents did I think 6 years in the Army which is how they met (in Germany, Stutgart). My best friend growing up and for the past 25 years did 6 years before his convoy got nailed in Iraq from an IED and he got medical discharge. Sad part is they are trying to screw him out of most or all of his benefits and he has been fighting that for the past few years. My hat is off to your guys for doing what you do and did on a daily basis.

I am starting to teach my 7 year old daughter on spinning reels now. I need to get a replacement trigger spin since my 20+ year old quantum broke finally, so I will start her on that and then work her into the normal spinning reels. I figure it is better to start them young so they have this experience now and don't have to learn the spinning and baitcast reels in their teens or 20s.

I understand what you mean and I agree.... and I am sorry if I made it sound like I was discouraging doing the saltwater fishing, it is just a good 75% of the charters here go out for partying and catch a few fish, not dedicated fishing. Thats why I suggest read up on it and make sure it is an actual fishing charter. there are various reviews online where people may write about it. Avoid the charters that are like "the fishing was ok but we had a blast since the captain brought plenty of beer" type of charters make sure you ask if the cost you pay covers EVERYTHING: food, drinks, fishing license, charter fees and so on. Some don't tell you that food is not covered, or the fee covers beer but not food, also look at the boat and ask how many others are going that same day. If it is more than 6-8, then it may become a party barge very quickly. Make sure it is a boat like this: or maybe this: Many times boats like this become the party barge types if too many people are on board:

People down here dress the same way when it gets below 60ºF... I was walking around in shorts and Tshirt yesterday and a native southerner neighbor asked if I was crazy, it was freezing outside (it was around 58º).

just looks like someone did a custom paint job and replaced it with clear eye, but with the gold backing instead of red... no big deal

This works well on both baitcast and spinning reels. For spincast, you need to fill it all with the same line or it gets tangled easily. Also for step 3, cover the backer line as much as possible with tape, leaving the end of it up slightly to stick the start of the line being used without the need to tie it. This keeps the smaller line from digging down into the backer line and you still have 100-150 yds of usable line.