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Nice pics George. Never seen an owlet. Thanks. Good to see Avid again.

Best of luck CJ. You're about to become very busy. We won't be hearing from you as often now. Stop in when you can, knowing you'll be welcome.

I have 7 Energy PT's, 5 cast, 2 spin, that I use all the time. I've never had a problem with any of them. The only complaint I have is the brake adjustment on the baitcasters. it hard to change with wet cold hands. It's too smooth to get a grip on in those conditions. But, it's comfortable in the palm. A trade-off I can live with. So, they're a little heavier than most others. When I get to the point in life where a 10oz reel is more than I can handle, I'll take up a less strenous sport; like knitting or needlepoint. I've also had several other Quantum reels before these. The only real piece of junk from Quantum I had was a hypercast spinning reel. I let a buddy of mine talk me into it. Last time I listened to him about gear. I don't know where the bad rap comes from. I'm happy with mine. Cheers, GK

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Any knot will work on flouro as long as you lube it well and cinch it down s-l-o-w-l-y. Friction generated by pulling it together quickly will weaken the knot, particularly in flouro.

http://www.flyshack.com/DisplayCategory.aspx?CatID=15 Here's the best place I've found to buy bass flies. You can't beat the prices, and the service I've received has been top notch. Shipping is free if your order is over $35. Check out the Rabitt Strip Divers. These have been the best producers for me. Get the largest size. You can also throw one of these on a spinning rod, once it gets soaked all the way through. The Dilg Slider has also been good. And the Bouface. Both of these in the largest sizes. Alot of folks recommend some kind of popper, but I've done a lot better with the ones I mentioned. The topwater bite is not always there. Cheers, GK

Hey RoLo, try one of the 5/0 EWG superline hooks sometime. I always used to use a heavy wire 4/0, or a light wire 5/0 on lighter line. I tried the superline hook once, and now can't get away from it. It gives the Super Fluke a nice side to side wobble on the fall. A lot of times, that works better than the nice glide you get with a regular wire hook. I seem to recall that you're a braid user, so setting the hook with the larger wire won't be a problem. Cheers, GK

I'll tell you exactly what it is. It's bigger than anything I've caught this year, that's what it is. :'( :'( :'(

about seven bucks

I guess I'll be the odd man out. My best Senko color, by far, is Red Shad, and I know exactly why. It's the first color I try. Cheers, GK

Clear water, bright skies, topwater. Doesn't always work, but when it does, it works very well. Cheers, GK

1. Skitter pop 2. Pop-R 3. Chug Bug honorable mention - Hula Popper

One of the all time great baits, for numbers and for size. I never leave home without "em

best uses for braid? let's see what I can come up with. emergency repairs to blue jeans or rain gear. A small hook, with the barb filed down makes an OK needle. Stitch up the arse of your knickers and keep fishin I like jerky when I'm fishing but it gets stuck in my teeth. Braid to the rescue. backup dental floss. last ditch cooler. tie your six pack to the end of your braid, and drop below the thermocline. Troll for 30 minutes or so. Voila, cold sport's drinks!!

The main thing to look at in a topwater rod is the length. Match it to your size. Make sure it won't slap the water on the retrieve. A shorter than usual handle is a big plus too. A long trigger handle just gets in the way. Most people prefer a moderate action rod over a fast action for treble hook baits. I'm not really in that camp. I want a fast action rod for topwaters. A soft rod makes it harder to make the bait do what you want. SteveF's recommendation sounds right on to me. No need for a burner reel for topwaters, but I don't like a slow reel either. 6.3:1 works for me. This is an application for mono line, not flouro and not braid. Flouro would be OK if you never stopped the bait. But, occasionally what you want is a twitch followed by a long pause, the longer the better some times. Flouro will sink, and that will screw up the works. Braid will often tangle when walking the dog, or when jerking and popping. Cheers, GK

I have both, and I like them both, just fine. The only time I would pick one over the other is very light weight baits. If you plan on throwing mostly very light baits, 3/16oz and under, go with the JM. The dual braking system can be adjusted to throw light baits effectively. Cheers, GK

A new supermarket opened near my house. It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on you hear the sound of distant thunder and the smell of rain. When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh cut hay. In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks with onions. When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying. The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread and cookies. I don't buy toilet paper there any more.

About the only thing I do is cut the weedguard off entirely. Think about it. If it's so stiff that it gets in the way of the hookset, it's totally useless. And, if you've trimmed it and thinned it so that it doesn't get in the way of the hookset, well, it won't get in the way of the wood or weeds either. I cut "em all of.

I keep trying the jerk in the summer, and it just doesn't do it for me. I remain convinced that it will work. It just hasn't yet.

LAO162, with an unpegged t-rig, the bait has so much resistance that the weight slides quickly down the line, leaving the bait to just drift down, with little or no action. It has to drop fast enough to make the tails wiggle to get bit. I could not buy a bite on a t-rigged hula grub. I haven't tried pegging the weight. It works so well on the jighead that I don't fish it any other way. Spiroh, I use both the Ike's spike and the Weed Whacker heads in 3/16 and 1/4oz. These weights give the right action on the fall. I like these heads because of the shape of the hook. I really don't like the price, and if I could find that hook with a lead head, I'd switch in a heartbeat. I now have a selection of football heads to try these baits on. No comment yet, I haven't had a chance to use them. Cheers, GK

A man walks in a bank, gets in line and when it is his turn he pulls out a gun and robs the bank! Just to make sure he leaves no witnesses, he turns around and asks the next customer in line, "Did you see me rob this bank?" The customer replies, "Yes!" The bank robber raises his gun, points it to the customer's head and BANG !!!, shoots him in the head and kills him! He quickly moves to the next customer in line and says to the man,"Did you see me rob this bank?" The man calmly responds ... "No, but my wife did."

Yeah, me too. I only have about a thousand of "em. These look so good, I'm gonna have to get a few more. Thanks a lot Blaine, I really need to get rid of some of that excess cash I have. ;D ;D ;D

Cool looking baits. Who sells them?

Around here topwater time is whenever the surface temp is above the low to mid 60's. I've caught fish on the top water in cooler temps, but it's a low percentage bet. If it's 60 or under, I've got a jerkbait tied on. The jerkbait bite, for me, is spring and fall thing. Jerkbaits just don't seem to work in warm water. I don't know why. It seems to me that they should. I keep trying them through the summer, but with little success. I don't understand this. A fast moving X-Rap, on an erratic stop and go retrieve, with that erratic "who knows which way it's going to go" action, should be just the ticket for active fish. But it hasn't worked out that way for me. Maybe somebody can give me a clue. Cheers, GK

Scents do make a difference, most of the time. Whatever scent you use will mask any odors or tastes you may have left on the bait from handling. And, it will give you a bit more time to detect the hit and set the hook. What they are not is attractants. Your bait is the attractant. That business about leaving a scent trail in the water that the bass will follow to your bait is a load of high grade fertilizer. My vote now goes to Megastrike. I've used them all, at one time or another, and several work just fine. Megastrike is the most user friendly. Read that as, the least messy. Power Bait liquid has been in my bag for years, but it is a bit messy. What I use now are Berkley Power Nibbles. These are made for panfish, but are excellent for any bass bait that has a cavity, like tubes. Insert a couple of Nibbles before you put the hook through, and you good to go for as long as the tube lasts. More time fishing, less time applying scent, equals more fish. Cheers, GK