Dr. Watson

Hello all, I have returned to the forum after quite a hiatus. Just been really busy with work and life. I have a full time job as a deputy sheriff here in Polk County, FL, that I have been working at for going on 5 years now. I also had a kid with my wife of 10 years, so that's taken up a bit of time as well. Re-introductions aside, I am looking to get back into fishing regularly on my days off. If anyone has any good little ponds or parks to fish here in Polk County, I'd love to hear about them or meet up and fish for a bit. I've gone to some of the regular places like Saddle Creek and Tenoroc here in Lakeland. However, I hate having to pay all the time at Tenoroc, and Saddle Creek gets molested by the cast net thowers. Along with many of the other parks around here. I mainly fish from the bank, I don't have a boat. I only practice catch and release as well. So, with that said, let's see what y'all have to contribute.

Army, going into my 10th year. Started in the National Guard, deployed overseas 2011-2012 and stateside in 2015-2016 timeframe, now serving in the Army Reserve. Also, a full time Deputy Sheriff.

I don't know why you have such trouble, the walmart up here in Sarasota has Falcon, Daiwa, Castaway, and I've even seen some of the higher end Abu Garcia rods there. PM me if you want to know which one. That being said, my Bucoo spinning rod is wonderful, very sensitive and has just the proper amount of power for the application I use it for....

Yea, your more likely too find a custom builder using NFC at a cheaper price using better components than what you're going to get from the factory and they will usually tailor to your wants and needs, so you get exactly what you want.

What they said...I've been wanting to try the Edge rods, but can't really justify dropping $500 after I got the NRX....the wife would make me disappear for sure.

I caught it, lol... Army National Guardsman, Military Police and hopefully soon to be Deputy Sheriff.

X2 on Rage Lizards, I like a 1/8, 3/16, or 1/4 weight. I usually keep mine free sliding, unless fishing heavier cover; cover is always a factor in making this decision. Also, a slow swimming retrieve works well too

T. Rigs and Jigs are hands down what I fish the most and enjoy the most....

Oh yea, forgot to mention I have several of their frogs. They are the only frog I have ever caught anything on, wonderful detail....

I have a couple of them, they are quality lures in my opinion. My favorite is my Live target Bluegill squarebill, I think I've caught at least something on it every time I've used it, but I'm not a big crankbait user, so I could probably get better at using it if I tried. I would recommend you try at least one of them and create your own impression off of using it. By the way, I did swap the hooks out for Mustads and kept the originals for back ups.

On top of what others have said about research, varying retrieve speed, color and so on; it will also depend on how heavy your area is fished with spinnerbaits, if enough people are catching fish with them, there is eventually going to be a period of time where they won't want to bite on a particular color or type of spinnerbait cause those fish associate that profile of bait with the stress of being caught. Now, this is of course not going to particularly pertain to every place you fish, but has been known to happen from time to time.

A "country mile" is found to be greater than or equal to the ego of the fisherman casting said "country mile"

5 Different colored Rage Tail worms 3 Different colored jigs 1 Bluegill spinnerbait 1 green pumpkin red flake senko

I keep all mine organized and such, I love my Falcon FT 0700 Jig and Spinnerbait box..... I can put two 1/2 oz jigs on top of each other or three 1/4 in each slot.

X2, this is a good strong knot and is even the recommended knot to use on power pro's website. http://www.powerpro.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/power_pro_v2/info/using_powerpro/knots/uni_to_uni_splice.html

SPRO Arku shad in "Old Glory," I say this is my favorite lipless crankbait, but then again it is my only lipless crank bait. lol

I'm going to be different from all these Costa guys.......I LOVE MY OAKLEY HALF JACKET 2.0 polarized sunglasses. I will swear by Oakley's they cut down on glare like a boss and will protect your eyes from anything. Mine protected my eyes from certain blindness overseas as well as sand and the blinding sun. Plus they are way cheaper than Costa and just as good a quality. Just my .02 worth.

I believe red hooks were to make a bleeding bait presentation, but since soft baits are offered with red flake in them anyway, I just see it as overkill. I have heard some people swear by red hooks, but I've never seen any hard evidence to prove they work better than regular hooks.

I really like the Koppers Livetarget stuff, I got mine in a sale, so not $13, lol. Mine is a matte finish Bluegill, in the next size up from the smallest, has a great look and presentation; also quality components and casts very far. Seems to work its best for me around the outside of grassy areas or in between lilly pads, just be careful it can get snagged. Haven't caught any double digits on it, but have gotten a few very nice sized pigs.

I wouldn't suggest that higher end tackle would make you catch more fish, it might make you feel more confident, but overall it will be your skill and technique as a fisherman that makes you catch more fish. That being said, I do like nice stuff, not just because of the confidence, but because of the quality, lol. All of my spinnerbaits are either War Eagles, KVD's, or handmades; I was looking at the Talon and Revenge baits too though.

You basically said it yourself, one has split grips and more of a modern appearance/components, the other is more traditional in appearance and components. The biggest difference is that the Premier is made here in the US while the Mojo is made in Mexico. Hope this helps.

Koppers Live target Bluegill squarebill and KVD 2.5

"Premium Micro Guides with proprietary 316 Stainless Steel frames and industrial-grade hard chrome inserts span each blank as well, eliminating the problem of ring loss and increasing sensitivity." -this was taken from a description of the guides on the Ghost rods, so they aren't exactly insertless like RECOIL guides, they do look similar though. I like my rods that have RECOIL guides, never had any problems with them, even with fluorocarbon.

X2 on the Sienna, but I have mine on a Falcon Bucoo 6'6" MF, this is my only spinning setup and I like it a lot.

A-Jay you gotta do it right: