OkobojiEagle

Place a worthwhile bounty on it with some high school kids...

No inflatable for this old geezer. Regular padded PFD will afford a measure of padding if I hit the gunnel when I tumble over board (or even trip inside my boat). It also is somewhat insulating when fishing the shoulder seasons. oe

jerkbaits, swimbaits and walking top-water

... by the cigarette smoke rising from the water

If the bill of your crankbaits are too short to protect your hooks, remove the leading tine of the front hook with a side cutter.

<5"

Tonight I watched a national news source cover Attorney General Bondi's press briefing about the many child predators recently arrested. She repeated the need to monitor who your children are conversing with over the social media. She stressed that very, very frequently a child believes they are communicating with another child when in fact it is a predator stalking them. This news segment has me quite worried and I need to ask... who on this site is stalking ME! oe

Fenwick Techna... original models Fenwick Aetos Fenwick Elite Tech... smallmouth models Fenwick HMG... some of them 20 (ish) years old

I think you'll feel better fishing with Lucky Craft Pointers.

I don't remember winds being much of a deterrent in my younger days... since they've built the many windmill farms in my part of the country it's become crazy windy.

... or you could fish this combo a couple months to get a little more experience with it.

thanks for your reasoning

...continue. Why?

A more extreme down bill attitude will give you a more extreme side to side action. Fish them and see if they catch fish... mine do. oe

Oh Allen! At such a compulsion for collecting your tackle, I can only surmise you were withheld from your mother's teat at far too young of age.

Allen you surprise me, no plastics. I could survive with nothing but plastics... green pumpkin tubes various lengths and widths. 3 1/2" paddle tail grubs something light colored something dark colored. 4 1/2" caffeine shad, light color. 3" and 4" curly tail grubs green pumpkin. Black hair jig < 1/8 oz. Lipless crankbaits 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 oz. Of course, Pointer 78, 78dd and 95 silent, ghost minnow and perch patterns. Gunfish 95 would round out my "must have" selection for smallmouth fishing in natural mid-west lakes. oe

I'm still looking for that fluorocarbon line that isn't a monofilament...

Tell us more about the wenches you have at your boat ramp.

4" is a lot. I've shortened a fair number of rods, but always stayed < 2". Plan in advance how you'll balance the rod after you've chopped it.

Daiwa SS Tournament series... they may be discontinued.

My opinion... same labeled strength X-9 is not as abrasion resistant as X-5

Everyone should ingrain the Boy Scout motto, "Be Prepared".

I think they all taste a lot like greyhound... I prefer walleye, crappie or bluegill.

What's the Tom knot?

I don't see what makes one end of a spool of line better than the other...