.ghoti.

I'll recommend three reels suitable for light baits, because these are ones I have and use. Any of the Alphas variations, PX-R and SS SV; all Daiwas. There are Shimano reels capable in this range as well, but I do not have any.

I'm in the middle of Illinois. Saltwater is a danged long cast for me. Great pics. Awesome fish. I'm jealous.

I see your rod is rated for 6-12lb line, 1/8 - 3/8oz baits. With a fast action, I'd call that a danged good finesse plastics rod. Tubes, flukes, trick worms, ned rig etc,,, As long as you have a casting reel that will handle the lighter weight baits, that is.

Do you truly want to know which knot is the strongest? Then experiment. There's a very good reason there are some many different answers to this one simple question. Tie each knot and test it. Get a scale and record at what force it breaks. Do each knot five times.Throw out the high and the low, and average the rest. Do this for each knot. You will get your answer. And I'll tell you which knot it will be. It will be the one YOU tie best. It probably won't be the one I tie the best. Or the one Catt ties the best. Or the one Aaron Van Grigsmartin ties the best. YOU.

You are braver man than I, doing white on white. That is a stellar first build. I did not post pictures of my first few builds. I used cheap blanks and cheap components, and stripped em down and rewrapped more than once before giving them away.

That took some experimentation. Here's what I learned by screwing it up several times. Don't try to put feathers on a bare rod blank. Coat the thread with two coats of CP, and let dry completely Layout the pattern on a piece of painters tape, sticky side up. Saturate feather in CP mixed 50/50 with DNA. Place one feather at a time, allowing the previous feather to dry. Carefully coated the dried feather pattern with full strength CP. When dry, apply epoxy. That's what I've come up with. There are probably better ways to do this. The pic above show the thing almost finished. I have one more feather piece trimmed out to make a body. I'll put up a pic of the finished product when I get back on this project. It's on hold right now.

Don't know about the best state, but the worse state to fish in is inebriated.

Looking at all the reports and statistics quoted in this discussion reminds of something my all time favorite author said. "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."-Mark Twain

You ever see an old cartoon of a guy catching a boot? I did that. Caught a boot; the old style buckle up rain boot with a crankbait. Was looking around for Wiley E Coyote. Also caught a cheap aluminum folder ladder, on a senko.

Light blue variegated thread wrap with feather spider on a rod for my brother

Do a little research. Didn't take me long to find out these are sometimes used in big money saltwater tourneys, where the fish are mostly dead when weighed in. Keeps the anglers from weighing in fish caught before the tournament. Doesnt apply to bass fishing tournaments.

The only real question is simple. Is it legal? If so, it's a personal choice for each to make. I fish to relax, unwind, de-stress, "get away from it all", whatever you want to call it. I find that fishing for bedding fish does none of that for me. Sitting on one fish for for three hours, throwing everything in the box at it, does not relax me in any way. So I don't do it. It's my personal choice.

You think the way to determine the winner of a tournament should be based on how fresh the fish is? Interesting concept????????

Very nice Lee. I knew you were one of the good guys.

This is completely backwards, but I've seen it posted a lot. A longer rod does NOT give you more leverage. It gives the fish more leverage against you.

Waxing the guides helps a lot when fishing in freezing conditions. Ice will still form in the guides, but a tap on the top of the blank right in from of the seat will knock it all loose. I also use a little Pledge, sprayed on a soft rag.

Power Bait trout eggs and dough. Much easier to deal with than real eggs.

Torzites!!!

I'm quite sure we all have things in our past we would like to able to change. I have quite a list myself, and all I will say about it is, anything related to fishing would not be on the list.

I hate to admit, as much as I've tried otherwise, I'm pretty much "that guy". I've accumulated more rods and reels than I actually use, and more tackle than will fit in the back of my Jeep Commander. There are rods and reels that haven't been out of the house in three or four years; maybe longer for some. And baits that have never been wet. I seem to have a problem. I've been trying to cut back, but except for the last 18 moths or so, the collection has been growing. In the last year and a half, since I made the decision to stop growing the collection, I've spent almost no money on tackle. No new rods, no new reels, and only restocking baits and terminal tackle. I am determined to stop being "that guy". Wish me luck. It's gonna be a struggle.

i don't know what i would ever do with that many rods and reels.

We had some freezing rain this morning. Now have 3-4 inches of snow on top of that. Fun driving, if you're into that sort of thing, and don't really have to get somewhere.

I kept expecting to see Johnnie Knoxville show up.

This!

Nice work!!