RoLo

Yo-Zuri Hybrid is a line held in high esteem by many anglers. You didn't specify 'casting' or 'spinning', so I'd offer one caveat. Owing to its fluorocarbon content, Yo-Zuri Hybrid has a memory like an elephant, a line that I wouldn't recommend with spinning tackle. Roger

About 40 years ago, I caught a huge bass on a plastic worm that looked to be around 12 pounds, which may have been a personal best. I was in my rowboat, and though I didn't have a fish scale, I did have a camera loaded with Ansco film. This was during the transition period between catch-&-keep and catch-&-release. After a brief internal struggle, I ended up photographing the elephant then released her back to the Withlacoochee Backwaters. Back then, I stashed my camera in an old coffee can with a watertight plastic lid, which laid on the boat floor. That day, about 3/4" of water collected on the boat floor, but that was common, and par for the course. What I didn't know, was that during the melee I didn't properly seat the waterproof lid and the coffee can was lying on its side. Well...the film got saturated, you guessed it, I ended up with No fish & No photos. There's no marketplace for a fisherman with a fish tale. If you don't have pictures, it never happened. All that's left are the memories. (BTW: I ended up losing the camera as well, but that was much less painful). Roger

Any soft-plastic trailer can be hooked to a jig, and all will catch bass. When choosing a jig, I'll normally lean toward 'bulk', using other presentations for slender stuff. Roger

LAKE HURON, Ontario for Largemouth, smallouth, pike & musky (walleyes too, but we never target them) ST LAWRENCE RIVER, Gananoque, Ontario for Smallmouth, largemouth, pike & musky Roger

Roger

The buzzbait is a big bass lure. It has bulk, but more importantly it creates a commotion right in the veggies, where cows live. Only a Johnson Spoon produced larger bass for us, which keeps moving after a buzzbait bogs down I've never found a need to add a toad or action trailer to a buzzbait. First off, the clacker on a 1/2 oz Booyah Buzz creates significant audio without any help. Also, I try to keep a buzzbait in surface vegetation, where any added resistance is unwelcome. Roger

I've had good days & bad days dog-walking, so I hear what you're saying. I"ve also found that when the topwater bite is unenthusiastic, my hook-up ratio tends to suck. Roger

I have two Shimano Stellas, and if I didn't look down to see the reel, I couldn't tell the difference between a Stella and a Stradic. Roger

A surprisingly small amount of backing will prevent braid from rolling on the arbor. Even so, I'll continue to add cheap backing until there's only room for about 50 yds of braid. A 50-yard top-shot is enough to handle any freshwater species, and is inexpensive to replace. Roger

If you're budget-minded, I wouldn't place too much faith in side-imaging. I've used SI for a few years, but found that I wasted too much fishing time deciphering questionable objects. To each his own, but I prefer to maximize my actual fishing time. Roger

Berkley 10" Power Worm Culprit Original 7.5" Worm Roger

"Cost-effective" and "Best" make strange bedfellows. Are you looking for open suggestions, or a critique on your selections? Roger

The past few years I've been using a Lowrance Elite touchscreen chartplotter. Frankly, I'm not sure what you mean by 'fingerprints'. Roger

We didn't have Hi-speed ratios, because we didn't need them and didn't want them. I'm bewildered by modern man's sudden inability to quickly pickup slack line with a 6:1 gear ratio. On the bright side, I endorse all things that benefit the U.S. economy Roger

Roger

EXACTLY! A few years ago (age 75), my wife & I were on our favorite Floridian bass lake. The weather was spectacular (more spectacular than the fishing), a hot, bright sunny day with deep-blue skies. I felt like a wimp, when I asked my wife if she wanted to fish in the shoreline shade for a while. A half-hour under the cypress trees was enough, then we headed straight back into the blazing sun. It wasn't until we got home that day, when we learned that afternoon temperatures were 99 degrees! Roger

So...the ONE Best Lure Is: > Dead Ringer Worm > Mepps Anglia > Spinnerbait > Senko > Fat Ika > TRD Worm > Trick Worm Now there's a clear message Nothing mentioned above, I’d go with a Soft Swimbait Roger

That's an ideal ratio for cranking a Soft Swimbait thru lily pads, maidencane & matted hydrilla. Roger

Welcome to the forum John Line-burrowing occurs when 2 conditions come together: > Line that's loosely coiled on the spool > Heavy pressure applied to the reel spool Here's an example of line-burrowing waiting to happen: > You're casting and retrieving a light lure that coils the line loosely on your spool. > You get fouled on something, then apply heavy pressure to break free of the snag It becomes obvious, that locking down your drag only plays into the hands of line-burrowing. Roger

How did I miss that?

We lived in New Jersey, Georgia and Florida. It may fly in the face of convention, but Florida is considerably more pleasant than NJ or GA. As Bird said, when you get up in years, you may complain about the cold, but you become heat-tolerant. Roger

4 lb 14 oz

I have no recollection of being taught how to use a spinning reel, but I've never manually tripped my bail, and have no reason to start now. I’ve read articles claiming that manual tripping reduces twist....What twist? Roger

Home is the only place I use Loctite Super Glue. If you find Super Glue on my boat, I'll give you my trolling motor Roger

My post addresses the Not-So-Obvious element of thermal extremes with no bearing on mean temps. North Dakota is tangent to Canada, while Key West, Florida is close to the equator. Quite naturally, the mean air temperature between two locations 1,700 miles apart comes as no surprise. All the same, I intentionally provided a URL for those curious about off-topic metrics. Roger