fadetoblack21

Alright, so I'm looking to get my first baitcaster. Ok, actually my second, the first one I bought was a cheap pos that totally turned me off to the idea of baitcasters. This time, I have set aside a budget of around $100-$150 for the reel. I plan on picking up an abu garcia veritas or vendetta in mh 7' to put my new toy on. I have been looking primarily at the BPS Pro Qualifier, as it seems to be a good starting point with a good braking system and is quality made. I guess my concern is that maybe in my focus on the BPS PQ, I have overlooked another exceptional reel in that price range that would be good for a beginner. I am primarily looking for something with a decent braking system to help against the inevitable overruns that will occur with a novice behind the rod. Anyone care to guide me, or have I already made a good choice in reels?

A while back I got a pack of 1/0 worm hooks and a decal. Today I received a pack of 5/0 magworm hooks and a different decal. I did both the quiz and survey.

Nurse assistant and school.

Didn't realize they actually used instruments in there music. I tend to steer clear of whatever genre there music is classified as. . . Forgot to add Trans Siberian Orchestra to the list . . .

My list is going to sound kinda funny because it covers most genres of music. Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, AC/DC, Boston, Bon Jovi, Disturbed, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, SRV, Zeppelin. . . heck you get the idea. . . I like just about anything with a real instrument in it.

I fished a crank bait for the first time today and had some pretty good luck. Was throwing an Xcalibur square bill and was getting bit on almost every cast. My problem was hook ups. I lost about 70% of the fish that had the bait, most of them about 10 feet from the boat. I tried just sweeping the rod tip up to set the hook and I also tried griping and ripping it to set the hook, neither seemed to help much. I was using a medium action rod. Should I have been using a MH rod or am I doing something wrong with my hookset?

This is part of the reason I try to find the problem myself first, then take it to a mechanic if I cannot find out whats wrong. I have been taken by an auto mechanic once and I guess that bad experience has carried over to the boating world for me.

How far out of surgery are you? I work in a hospital on a cardiac floor and take care of many post op patients with the same type of surgery you have had. I have had patients who have broken the wires closing the sternum as far out as 4-6 months post op. I would really consult the cardiothoracic surgeon who performed your surgery as before going out just to be safe.

I fish all spinning gear right now and this is exactly how I hold my rods. I grip just in front of the reel with my pinky against the reel seat. I find that the rod is balanced better and I have more leverage when fighting fish. I switched from having the reel between any fingers to holding in front of the reel mostly because the reel was starting to hurt my fingers on long days of fishing.

1. Every spinner and buzzbait I own has a trailer hook. I have hooked more fish on the trailer hook than on the main hook by a wide margin. 2. I'm also using 15lb fluoro, though maybe some of the more experienced guys here will have a better suggestion. 3. For me it depends on the spinner bait what rod I use. I have some smaller ones I throw on a 6'6" medium. My 3/8oz and up baits get thrown on a 6'6" medium heavy rod.

I've had blisters, but never pitting edema from a sunburn. That had to hurt something fierce.

You just reminded me of a painful memory from last year. Ripping a 3/4oz jig from a snag and having it hit me in the, um, twig and berry's. . . Now every time I do that I flinch and turn sideways.

The only real bad thing that has happened to me while fishing was having a Pop-R imbedded into the side of my neck by a very bad cast by a friend. He stood there laughing while I stood there thinking I was going to die with a d**n pop-r stuck in my jugular. Luckily the hooks only hit muscle, and my buddy paid the ER bill. I have also fallen out of the boat after hitting the trolling motor, not realizing that it was pointed to the right. No harm to me but my phone didn't take the swim too well. . .

I was casting towards the bank and overshot my target with my bait. Had a bird hop down from a bush and pick up the bait and try to fly away! Luckily the bird was not hooked and dropped the bait! One evening me and a buddy went out to the river to do some catfishing from the bank. As the night got later we noticed alot of water patrol boats passing buy us and shining there spotlights towards the other bank about 50 yards down river from us. This went on for about an hour before we hear one of the guys yell at some unseen person. A few seconds later we hear the unmistakable sound of a tazer being used on what I hope was the person they were looking for. I have not laughed that hard on a fishing trip since. . .

Make sure you boat is wide enough for this project. There is a topic on tinboats.net about this that can be found here: http://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9074 If you boat is not wide enough you could be creating a platform that can really increase your chances of rolling the boat.

The only time I've ever been hooked was right in the side of the neck. Needless to say I went to the ER to get that one removed. If I ever was in a situation where I could possible do this I still don't think I would. That looks like it had to hurt coming out. . .

Wow, if you don't like catch and release you don't have to practice it. I tend to keep some for the table every once in a while, but I don't get all bat sh** crazy over the catch and release topics on here. Also, no one is forcing you to buy ANYTHING that you don't want to buy. I have found quite a bit of good gear that I never knew existed just by reading on these forums. I have also gotten some great deals from the advertisers on this forum. You don't have to read the advertising and catch and release topics if you don't want to. This site has been a fantastic resource for me, and I'm sure many others, to learn and grow as a bass fisherman. Great info about rods and reels and boats and much more. If you can't see that then you have no need to be here and I'm sure will not be missed by anyone.

Got the same.

Guess I should throw away this Bush beer sitting in front of me since I am wearing a Budweiser hat. . .

Seems the Delaware record was broken as well at 10lbs 10oz http://www.fieldands...largemouth-bass

I fish mostly spinning gear and I hold the rod with my hand in front of the reel. For some reason split grip spinning rod have no grip or very little grip in front of the reel. For this reason alone I stick with full cork grips.

I built a rack on the ceiling of my garage. Used some scrap wood to make 2 long hangers about 5 feet apart and just hang them up when I'm done. I usually only carry 4 rods so it's not too much for me to move them. Also, my rod storage on my boat leaks water so it's not an option to leave them in since I don't always cover the boat.

A boat on plane means the boat is riding on top of the water instead of plowing through the water. A boat on plane will move with less resistance and burn much less gas. With your scenario of 2 people minimum I would guess that even the 15hp will not be enough to get you on plane, and if it does it will take a very long time. I tend to agree with what freebie said about the used market. You may have better choices if you look into the used market.

I had this problem a few years ago. All I would fish was soft plastics and top water baits. I broke the habit by leaving all my gear behind and just bringing a spinnerbait box, or just bringing my jigs, etc. This year it's hard baits for me, jerks and cranks, so that's what I have been bringing with me to force myself to use them. Leave the go-to bait at home and make yourself use other techniques and baits.

I run a 2002 Tracker Pro Angler V16 with a 50hp 4 stroke. The boat I own is a couple hundred pounds heavier unloaded than what you are looking at (my boat is somewhere around 1000lbs with motor to the 650 listed for the boat your looking at). I run about 30 mph on plane and struggle to get on plane with 2 people in the boat. Actually, with 2 people in the boat I had to have my passenger move to the front of the boat to get on plane in a reasonable amount of time. I ended up installing one of those hydrofoil fins on my motor and it planes like a dream now. Now saying all of that, I really have to wonder how long it will take to get that boat on plane with a 9.9hp motor.