Bluebasser86

Haven't bent them yet.

Haven't caught anything on mine yet but they're a pretty cool bait. They do seem to be really resistant to snags as advertised.

I'll never forget sitting in my second class of the day, ironically enough it was American History. Our teacher got a phone call and we could tell it was serious. He turned the TV on to the news without saying anything and we all just watched. It didn't seem real to me at first, but once it hit me what was going on, the wave of emotions ran over me. I've never been so fighting mad, scared, confused, and sad at the same time. 17 years later and I still feel a lot of the same feelings when I think back to it.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Well I'm an uncle X3 as of 12:48 this morning. My brother-in-law welcomed his first, a baby girl. Uncle to 3 nieces now.

Thanks, just the info I needed. I fish during the week and can't go until Friday, but no rain in the forecast so it shouldn't muddy up between now and then unless something drastically changes.

I bet that is just a blast in any kind of wind. I got my 16' johnboat with a trailer for $300. It needed some work to repair some small leaks, as well as paint, and I built the makeshift front and back decks on it. Trailer got new paint, lights, jack, coupler, and wheels/tires. Added a new foot control trolling motor, then the hand control and depth finder that I already had (but to buy would have been around $250 combined). All told, I've got about $1,000 wrapped up in a boat that built how I wanted it and has really been a great find for me. Once I get my 15hp gas motor fixed up, it will really be ready to rock. I pull it with my car a lot of the time too, so a Jeep would pull it no problem. Kayaks are nice for simplicity. No gas, not batteries, no trailer if you don't want to. Plus you can fish places with or without boat ramps. I like my kayak, but if I had to pick one or the other, I'd keep the johnboat.

I'm not sure what to think of that handle? I'd like to try one though. Not being able to keep up with shakyhead fish is a problem I'm really tired of having.

I've broke 3 this year, all of them my fault. I caught one of my back cast with another rod and the next cast I tried to make with it I had a 2 piece rod, wasn't surprised because it got smacked hard and squarely by 3/4oz of lead right where it broke on the next cast. The other 2 were guide rods that I didn't notice were sticking out at a funny angle when I backed out of the dock slip and snapped them both off on a dock post at the same time, obviously not the rods fault. I've only had a couple break that I thought might be defects, this was the last one.

I don't change anything due to the season, maybe the daily situation, but that applies to every day on the water.

Ordered mine on Ebay for cheaper than they're going to be in stores plus free shipping.

I've never seen one with rattles and never felt the need to add them to mine. There's so much vibration, it shouldn't be needed, might even be a sensory overload for the fish.

No way to tell other than to go. September usually sucks here regardless of weather, but I'll still be out there trying.

That will break any rod, damaged or not. They're just not meant to bend like that, but it's a common mistake so don't beat yourself up about it. You can grab the line and lift or drag the fish. Use the fish's momentum while fighting them to lift and swing at the same time to bring them onto shore using the whole rod (given that the fish is of the right size to execute this move). Lipping the fish, grabbing it behind the head, grabbing with grippers, or belly landing if you can reach the fish. 40lb braid is just fine on a MH rod. Those are just line recommendations, not limitations.

I flip them in trees a lot and they do well. It depends on the trees really. If there's lots of splits and cracks in the woods they will hang, otherwise they do well for me. I pour my own so I can be a little more brazen with mine.

So did you grab the rod a foot or two from the tip and try to lift/drag the fish like that? That's a big no-no and one of the easiest ways to break a rod if you did.

My wife's pets didn't seem to give a rip about the fact that it was pouring outside, they were hungry.

Anyone go to Melvern this weekend? Wondering if they got hammered by the rain. Was thinking of going Friday but don't want to make the drive if the water got muddy.

It's the opposite actually. The head gets snagged less in rocks and it's easier to detect bites because the weight is directly connected to the hook.

I hope the 90 doesn't go anywhere, the 75 doesn't replace it at all imo. The 75 is much louder and a bigger profile, even though it's shorter. Everyone can send me their 90's and I'll dispose of them so they'll have room in their boxes for the 75's ?

I do it all the time.

I love Duo baits, kind of a sleeper company imo. They make many fine baits but it doesn't seem like you hear about them often. Glad they took care of you.