BossHoss

I am a pretty young guy myself (21) and I agree with a lot of what is said here. I like nice fishing stuff as much as the next guy, and I would agree that people that don't love fishing would have a hard time understanding having several combos. With that being said, I speak from experience when I say that there a lot more value in having a decent little john boat and extra money for gas and tackle then having a 300$ combo with no boat and no tackle. You will learn 10x more about fishing from that little boat with a serviceable combo than to have a steez on the bank or at home because you didn't have any gas money. As you turn 16 I think a job is a must unless your have some other means of income. I would strongly suggest putting some of this money away for college and whatnot Whatever money you don't save, spend on insurance, or blow taking the girlfriend to prom, I would suggest spending on whatever makes you happy. If that is a 300$ combo then so be it. The only other word of advice I would have would be that if your going to spend money, spend it on stuff that retains value or will last you a long time. My dad still has some Daiwa's he bought when I was a youngster that still work great. Another example would be the nice shotgun I purchased recently. I know that 5 or 10 years from now I can prob get close to, if not more than, what I paid for the gun if I am in a pinch to pay the electric bill or heaven forbid buy diapers. In that sense I am able to justify the nice gun as a recreationally friendly savings account. The only catch to all of this is the last word of advice. Stuff only retains value if you take care of it, so take care of your gear the absolute best that you can and it will take care of you when you use it and when you get ready to sell it. P.S. Stay away from those energy drinks...they will take the lead right out of your pencil

Mine were not too bad... Worst one was Human Anatomy... There are a lot of bones and muscles in the human body... and we learned almost all of them ... Not to mention a lot of the stuff that goes wrong with them... had to know that too!

Mine were not too bad... Worst one was Human Anatomy... There are a lot of bones and muscles in the human body... and we learned almost all of them ... Not to mention a lot of the stuff that goes wrong with them... had to know that too!

I bought the wide spool version off a forum member... It is one of the smoothest reels I own... puts my Fuego to shame. If I find another one for the same great price I got this one at I won't hesitate to ****** it up.

Is it even legal to use baits that look that good?...You probably have guys mortgaging their homes to pay for those baits and I would venture to say they are worth every penny!

That makes sense... and congrats on the expansion. Keep up the good work and great baits.

The bass around here are kinda partial to the green with red flake ones... Keep up the great work.

Bobby, Why are the bugs cheaper on TW than they are on the Megastrike website? I was just curious...Thanks

That is an EPIC bass fishing picture...One day I too hope to have a lunker hole outside my back door.

X2 on the Cielo for sure... I have their jig/worm in baitcasting and love it. As soon as I get the coin I am going to pick up the DSS spinning...Did I mention they use the steez blank for them? Here is a site where you can get the 6'6 version for 75$ http://www.ohya.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TDCielo

Stay away from mono because it floats... I fish floro in 12# for mine. If I wanna get them "reel" deep I will got as light as 8#.

Yea that makes sense. I was just popping it pretty gentle with long pauses in between. During a hot topwater bite when it is warmer I really like to work it pretty fast with maybe 2sec pauses tops... Both the fish I caught on the Pop-R hit it after it had been sitting for a few seconds...The nice one hit it while I was talking to my stepbrother in the back of the boat ;D I have had turkey's come down to the waters edge for a drink while I was fishing one summer, but never any deer...I have seen a deer swimming out in the middle of the lake before. That was wild.

I have been pounding out the hours in a deer stand the last few days to no avail. However, I did take a break for a few hours to "mess around" in a little pond we built behind our hunting cabin. It was supposed to be about a 12 acre pond, but it ended up only being about 8. We stocked it with catfish bluegill and bass spaced out like the book says. Along the way though we somehow managed to mess up and our bluegill numbers got doubled. We have trapped some out but I feared our bass were stunted for sure. I have not fished it a lot but it has been almost all bug eyed melon head dinks to this point. We got out there the other day and my much to my surprise my stepbrother hooked up with a nice 3lb'er off a hula popper of all things on the second cast. Hula popers don't make it onto the end of my line much any time of year, but especially in 40 degree temps. I guess I have always thought of top-water as a technique for aggressively feeding bass. A few cast later I was pleasantly surprised to hook into a nice healthy 5.5 pounder on my own baby bass Pop-R. We didn't catch many more but with the pond only being about 2.5 years old I was happy with that size fish. Guess I will have to rethink not only my top water fishing habits, but my pond management beliefs as well.

Winter Temperatures will kill off a lot of marine grass species. Some of what you are probably seeing is the decay matter from the actual dying grasses. The other factor is that the grass actually serves to filter out the water some. Without them the water will get dirtier. That answer would fit , but I used InvizX in late spring, early summer, when the grass was growing. Well then it was probably one of the other million things that effect water clarity

Winter Temperatures will kill off a lot of marine grass species. Some of what you are probably seeing is the decay matter from the actual dying grasses. The other factor is that the grass actually serves to filter out the water some. Without them the water will get dirtier.

I'm going to recommend the Dobyns Champion 765 FLIP or the 766 Flip ... now before you say it's too expensive (retail for $240), here's a little deal for you. Right now at The Hook Up Tackle, they're offering 20% off with the coupon code "blacknovember". But 20% off is not getting you down to $150. However, go buy a gift card (probably one for $100 and another for $50) ... They will give you the 20% off the card. Then immediately use the GC for the rod; yes, they allow that. Now you can get an additional 20% off the rod. So ... basically about 40% off the rod if you do this. That will get you to your $150 mark!! ;D Better yet, call them and work this through on the phone. They're great people and will help you out!! BTW, I'm not related to those folks. Just a customer! Just when I thought I was out... They pull me back in!!

You just can't be giving away my secret pre-spawn/spawn so casually . The momma bass around some of the ponds I fish are particularly protective of their beds from lizards... For fun one day I got one to pick one up and move it off the bed 9 times in a row... The streak was only broken because she had to go and hook herself.

x2million... I love my Cielo... of course having the custom painted fuego to match the reel seat only ups the awesomeness

I like them all... It looks like they are getting madder from top to bottom on the first picture

I just got my cranks in the mail today that Marc painted up for me in the bluegill pattern. They look even better in person and I can't wait to get them in the water... I will let ya know how they do.

Roboworm = good stuff I drop shot with roboworms almost exclusively and love their action. However, they are not the most durable worms I have ever fished with. I could be wrong, but I think they are designed to be biodegradable....Anyway, I have not laid hands on any of these yet, but I would interested to hear about their durability for flipping and pitching. Other than that tough they look great. They sweet beaver style bait called the "Sourpuss" looks good too.

Yea that bar is awesome indeed... oh the rod and reel is nice too

First one and last two are in a league of their own... Keep up the awesome work.

As far as micro vs traditional... That is a decision you have to make for yourself. Both have plenty of +'s and -'s that have already been discussed at length on here. If your gonna go micro the K-series from Fuji has to be the best set going right now. If you wanna go the other traditional route then I like REC Recoil guides. I tend to have the worst luck and pretty clumsy feet, so the recoil guides have saved me a lot of trips to the tackle store to replace guides. They are noisy with braid, but if you think that will be an issue then just go with SiC. I have them on a lot of my rods and have never had one go bad. If money was no issue I would make every rod I ever owned with Fuji's Gold Cermet guides. IMO they are the best traditional guides out there right now, but they are HIGH.

Talon Custom Lures makes one too called their swamp spider jig. Here is a link: http://www.***.com/Talon_Custom_Lures_Swamp_Spider_Jigs/descpage-TCLSSPJ.html I would like them for finesse jigging, but I want my swim jigs and stuff to be more streamlined