.ghoti.

;D ;D ;D Depend on an IT guy to come up with that

New additions? Whose says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I wonder just who will be the first celebrity fisherman to endorse these. For catching "big, giant bass", of course. ;D ;D ;D

For in and around vegetation, anything green. For bottom bouncing, rocks and wood, browns. In very clear water, a bit of camouflage is a good thing.

I guess I'm stuck in a rut also. Trilene XL #8, #10, #12 and #14.

I used to use flourocarbon line on about 3/4 of my setups. here's my trick for memory management. I used an old, 1/2oz double willow spinnerbait. The skirt was gone, and I had a 1/2oz rubber core sinker clamped to the hook shank. The blades on this thing were about 3.5" long. The water resistance was pretty high on this monstrosity. I'd sling it out as far as I could, let it hit the bottom, and crank it fast enough to put a good bend in the rod. One cast was usually enough to remove most of the spool memory. If the reel had been unused for several days, it sometimes took two casts. Every now and then I'd actually catch a fish doing this.

I had to use one just like that, once on a guided trip in Cancun. It was the only baitcaster the guy had; an old green Curado mounted on a BPS Bionic Blade spinning rod. Makes one realize the importance of the trigger on a baitcasting rod's reel seat. I would not recommend it.

I fixed one of mine a few years ago by drilling four small holes in the reel seat. Two on opposite sides; just ahead of the trigger. And two more; on opposite sides just behind the threads. Mixed up some two-part slow cure epoxy, and forced it into the holes with a toothpick. Two things to really pay attention to. Do not drill into the blank. If you do that, you are done; the rod will break. And, make sure the seat is straight, lined up with the guides, and will stay in the correct orientation while the epoxy sets. I sanded mine smooth after the epoxy cured, then hit it with a sharpie to make less noticeable.

I too am color-blind, so maybe that colors my perception of the color question. Now that's a color-full statement, if I've ever heard one. You don't have to over-think the question of color. I carry a variety of craw type baits in a few basic colors. Black/blue works a lot of the time. You already indicated you have greens and browns. Those are good choices. Sam said get some orange in the mix, and I couldn't agree more. A little JJ's Magic will provide some coloring options, along with a potent scent. Lately I've been liking the two tone craws. They're one color on the top, and a different color on the bottom. These are a nice option. You get two colors for the price of one. If it doesn't work at first, just rig it upside down, putting the other color on top. I've found that to be effective at times. I've heard a lot of people say you have to "match the hatch". Well, one of my most productive craws is a Berkley Power Craw, black with chartreuse claws. I bought a couple of hundred count bags several years ago, from a yard sale, for a buck a bag. 200 craws for two bucks. Couldn't pass "em up. Now, I've never seen a black crawdad with chartreuse claws, and I doubt the bass in my area have either. That doesn't stop them from trying to eat it. Any advice, you ask? Yes sir. get some of these. http://www.***.com/descpageSHD-MSSH.html I just started using these jigheads last year, and now I won't leave home without "em. You can put any plastic on them you care to try, but they really shine with a craw or creature type bait.

San Diego Jam knot. Does two things for you. 1. it tends to reduce lure changes. I've been guilty of swapping cranks way too often when using a snap. 2. you always have a fresh knot. When using snaps, it's very easy to keep using the same snap and knot. You need to re-tie every now and then.

I break one every time I do something STUPID.

I once had a guy try to make me move off a point. He said I was &^#ing fishing for his (*&%ing fish. he found "em in practice, and they were his *&^ ^%$# fish. I moved. right onto the middle of the point, and threw out an anchor. His fish! ;D ;D ;D

Wayne, you and I seem both be buying some "faulty" trick worms. I've never seen one float either. Observe, if you please, the power of marketing. ;D ;D ;D

I use two Setyr rods for topwater and spinnerbaits. Both are 6'6", both are fast action, one is medium power and one is med-heavy. Both have Daiwa Fuego reels. The medium rod has #10 XL, and is used for smaller topwaters like Pop-R's, Jitterbugs, etc and spinnerbaits 3/8oz and under. The MH rod has #12 XL and is for larger baits. Both rods have what I consider the most important characteristic required for spinnerbaits and topwaters; a short handle.

This bait is the real thing. Just tried them for the first time. Awesome. Got some free baits from Big-O, rigged one on a Shake2 head, and started catching fish. We faced some tough conditions Sunday and Monday on Kentucky Lake, but the Space Monkey came through. Get some. Thanks Big-O Cheers, GK

My part of the RoadTrip was short, but sweet. Mary and I got there Saturday, about 5:30PM. Got checked in and hit the lobby to meet whomever was around. Saw some old friends, and made some new ones. Guys, I'll be in touch. We set out the wine, cheese, fruit, crackers and chips about 7:00, and had about a dozen people there. We brought five bottle of wine, one a magnum, and Kent contributed two more. We ran out. I miscalculated. It won't happen again, I promise. We are officially blaming CJ for drinking us dry. ;D ;D ;D We got enough wine into Big-O, that he broke out the Rage Tail baits, and started passing them out. Big-O is a hoot. He was sitting next to Mary, and had her laughing all night. The guy can tell a story. He's also a very knowledgeable fisherman, very free with his advice. Very generous with his baits to boot. We fished with CJ Sunday. Hit the water about 7:30, with only a couple of mild hangovers. We covered a lot a water, and never quite got onto a pattern. We put a lot of small fish in the boat. Mary got the first fish, a small keeper. CJ got a nice 2.5 pounder, and the rest were short. All together we got better than 3 dozen fish. CJ gets the award for embracing diversity. In addition to the LM, he got a smallie, a crappie, a drum and a catfish. A Kentucky Slam. Mary's fish were caught mostly on a Strike King 3X worm on a Ike's Spike jighead; with a few fish on a spinnerbait. Most of mine hit a Space Monkey, rigged on a Shake2 head. I got a few on a spinnerbait, and a couple on a T-rigged Cut Tail worm. CJ got his on a jig, a shakey head, spinnerbait, etc. That was the problem. Too may clues. We caught fish on almost everything we tried. The only real positive clue we had was; they were not shallow. Had to break out the GoreTex a little after noon, and fished in the rain until the thunder got close. That's when we called it a day. Special Thanks to CJ for taking us out. He's a great guy to hang with. Mary fell in love with his boat, and all the cool electronics. Back to the lodge to meet some more old friends, and make some more new ones. What a great bunch of people. Monday morning, Mary and I went out on the water with Long Mike. WHAT A DAY. Cold, windy, rain, sleet, snow, wowzah. Again, Mary put the first fish in the boat. She had to hold it up and say "see guys, this is what a fish looks like". I can't repeat what I told her. Mike said "the marina is right behind us, we can drop her off now". ;D ;D We managed six fish and gave it up about two minutes before hypothermia set in. Another special thanks to Mike for taking us out. If you haven't met Long Mike, make sure you do. He's one of the good guys. We had to leave way too soon. Can't complain; at least we got to go for a couple of days. Hopefully next year will be better for us. Now, the rest of you guys who are still there; put up some pics of the big fish I didn't catch, and make me feel even worse. ;D ;D ;D

I caught quite a few good fish last year on both the shad and the toad. I've so far added anacondas and space monkeys to this years selection. Lobsters and craws are on my buy list.

Hey, I didn't forget you youngsters. I'll throw in a couple of boxes of Fruit Loops for ya'll. BYOM

Hey, you gotta give the guy an A for effort. And the comment to the unhappy wife; I'm only doing it for the money? Priceless. ;D ;D

Two snakes. A diamond back water snake, caught by me, on a 5" Senko. A very large copperhead, caught by my wife, on a 4" Senko. I caught mine in the water. She caught hers on an errant cast that landed in the grass, about six inches above the water line. The water snake survived the encounter; the copperhead did not.

BAIT!

I fished with one last year for about 30 minutes before my buddy took it back. I may have been able to try it out a bit longer if I hadn't told him I intended to keep it. ;D Very nice rod. Light and sensitive. Ugly too. The whole time I was using it i was thinking "I need to get a couple of SpongeBob bobbers to go with this thing".

I gave up on flouro a couple of years ago. It was a case of why bother. You have to be careful with kinking when backlashed. You have to very careful with knots. You have to careful when spooling. You have to use a line conditioner. I use Trilene XL for everything. The only thing I have to do is spool it on the reels, and go fish.

Strike King 3X ribbontail worms. Don't have a second choice, these have been by far the best for me. I got a whole grocery sack full for 25 cents a pack last year. They last forever, so it will be a long time before I have to buy any again.

It would be theoretically possible, in a machine shop, to remove material here ans there. But, you'd have to have a machinist in the family; somebody who would be willing to work cheap for you. I just cleaned up one of those for a buddy of mine. Going from memory I don't see much you can do. The brake side plate is graphite. You don't want to be whittling on that. The handle side plate seems to be just what is needed, and not much more. Any machining in that area would accomplish more in the way of weakening than weight reduction. Ditto for the frame. There's just not that much extra material anywhere. Your best bet would be a carbon fiber handle and compressed cork knobs. That will set you back $100+. I haven't seen a lighter weight "tuning" spool for this reel, but I haven't been looking. That would be you're only other possibility. If there is one, it's going to be in the $80-100 range. That's quite a few bucks to spend, and you'll still be no where near the Mg weight. I'd say leave well enough alone, and do a few "12oz curls" to build up your wrists. ;D