RoLo

but with less memory and better knot strength. That is true, and those attributes are inherited from the nylon component (pure fluoro is like wire). On the downside, copolymer has greater line stretch than fluorocarbon and is not as abrasion-resistant. Roger

As the word implies, "copolymer" refers to a combination of polymers (plastics). With few exceptions, copolymer line is a blend of "nylon" and "fluorocarbon". By blending both line materials, you capture some of the best features of each material while moderating some of their worst material features. Never forget, no copolymer line can possibly offer nylon attributes superior to pure nylon and no copolymer line can possibly offer fluorocarbon attributes superior to pure fluorocarbon. It is always a compromise, and the copolymer line you choose should be determined by the line attributes you want to enhance. Most copolymer lines are "monofilament" just like pure nylon mono and just like pure fluorocarbon (Yes, fluoro is mono). However, some copolymer lines are cofilament, which have a core within a shell. Roger

Exactly

x3 Spinning tackle and braided line go together like.....well, spinning tackle and braided line : Roger

I carry SIX pre-rigged outfits at all times (I do not tournament fish). In all honesty, three of those setups are chosen by my wife. I find that three pre-rigged outfits is just not enough, and often ask my wife if I can change one of her lures. Though she never refuses, I sense a feeling of possession and try my best to get by with just three outfits. Roger

That's a very intuitive question Cart...you are actually asking two questions in one A. Which piece of equipment is most important B. Which piece of equipment has evolved the most. Mulling over that whole scenario is very sobering. You may reprimand me for breaking form, but I'm giving the nod to modern hooks" and braided line". Unlike hooks of yore, today's hooks are ALL fully sharpened right out of the package and hold edge keenness much longer. With respect to fishing line, I've lost countless bass to the stretch in nylon monofilament, which is history with today's braided polyethylene. With braid line, hook-sets are a flip of the wrist and a $100 rod suddenly becomes a $300 rod That would strap me down to my old portable Lowrance depth sounder and several pounds of Culprit 7.5" plastic worms. With my vintage equipment, braided line and today's hooks, I know I could cut a good living 8-) Roger

The problem with options (Puts or Calls) is a little thing called "Time Value". Even if the price falls while you're holding an outright Put, it may still expire worthless. The price must "decline", it must also decline "soon", and it must also decline "significantly" If any one of those three are missing, you stand to lose money on the Put. To be profitable, the Put must be deep enough "in-the-money" (beyond the strike) to override Time Value erosion, Slippage and specialist Arbitrage. Roger

The whole idea is to factor out as much luck as possible. The better you become at that, the more luck you will have Roger

I've practically phased swivels completely out of my angling arsenal. They're only needed to prevent line-twist and nothing I use causes line-twist (Johnson spoons do not rotate). Even with saltwater slip-sinker rigs (called C-rigs in freshwater), I never used a swivel. Instead, I would join two snaps back-to-back using a split-ring. In this manner I was able to change the leader or the slip-sinker without cutting and retying. I do occasionally use a plain snap though, and like Avid, I also prefer the Berkley Cross-Lok, but I like a black No.1 (30 lbs), and never noticed any perceptible loss in bass response Roger

Good read RW, I like that analogy You got Heidi's number? What you described is a "hedge", which is actually a strategy rather than a derivative, but indeed hedges typically employ derivatives. "Derive" is the root-word and has only one meaning, but the derivative per se will vary according to the application. For instance, "aluminum" is a derivative of bauxite, while "options" are a derivative of stocks. To keep it simple, most of us started out with a weekly allowance from our parents (mine was 50-cents per week). This provided me with enough "spot cash" to buy a few packs of baseball cards and a couple of fudgsicles. When the spot cash was gone, my buying stopped. As we grow older we realize that if we so choose, we can continue to spend even after the spot cash is gone. The only way to generate capital leverage is to use OPM (other people's money), but leverage is a double-edged sword. Buying or selling a derivative is little different than placing a bet. With a derivative, you're not holding secure equity, but have a contract that wastes away with time. Roger

Michael Jackson was a truly unique talent, and the 80s decade was dominated by Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston & Madonna. Eccentricities may be expected in performers that raise the bar to extraordinary heights. All our lives were positively affected by Michael Jackson, and any negatives in his life only did harm to Michael himself. (It's said that troubles come in threes: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson) Roger

When living in Jersey, my wife and I frequently visited Manhattan, New York (most fascinating city on earth). In 1988, the Farrah Fawcett poster that Bass-Mike posted was displayed all over New York City...I mean everywhere! It's difficult for me to digest the transition from a Charlie's Angel to a real angel in a relatively short period of time. This poor gal endured a long and losing battle with cancer...may she rest in peace. Roger

I agree with dman, the first step always is to select the best available bass waters in your area. Some waters just plain stink where even "pro" anglers would be sucking wind, but those waters are avoided by tourney directors. Get your hands on everything your DNR publishes and fish only the waters that your state ranks "Abundant" for largemouth bass. Beyond that, there is no Silver Bullet. This thread alone offers plenty of good advice, just pick the approach that appeals to you most. Roger

I personally would not become involved in selling live bait where the history was not promising. If two businesses have failed to flourish in your area, you'd probably be investing in a downtrend. If you're just interested in obtaining live bait, the Internet has several sources of redworms, nightcrawlers, mealworms, et al. Roger

I stopped reading fishing reports decades ago. It's important to understand that most fishing reports are NOT provided by disinterested third-parties, and we all need to eat. Years back, I happened to be in a sports shop when an angler weighed in a largemouth bass (very common back then). The bass tipped the scales over 4 pounds and every local publication raved about the excellent fishing on lake-X, where bass to 5 lbs were reportedly common (that same angler was named). More recently, I was buying live minnows one January from a local bait dealer, and asked the proprietor how the fishing has been on Lake Toho. He told me excitedly that fishermen were hammering big bass yesterday on Toho. Well, he failed the test because I happened to be on Lake Toho "yesterday". Not only was the fishing Dead Slow, but except for the same old crappie fleets and a couple of airboats, the lake was practically void of bass anglers. Roger

I certainly agree with Catt, whether you're fishing shallow or deep you must isolate the 'sweet spots'. Particularly on windy days, it's wise to leave the river anchor resting on the deck within easy reach, to prevent wasting precious time combing dead water. The distance that bass travel is well known on natural lakes, but not well known on artificial impoundments. Several decades ago, telemetry studies conducted by In-Fisherman in a natural lake, confirmed that the majority of bass moved only slightly or not at all. They also encountered a few rouge fish that crossed the entire lake for no explicble reason. One thing that all fish demonstrated however was "constant depth", where all travel tended to follow a contour line rather than run square to the depth lines. More recent studies on natural lakes have disclosed similar results. Roger

As WRB suggested, if inflowing water is both cold and muddy that usually makes for particularly tough fishing because it sharply reduces the bass's feeding window (vision + reaction time). On the other hand, if the inflowing water is not colder than the mean lake temperatures, you should be good to go. Areas of increased current are highly sought by tournament fisherman, who typically bunch together at entering creeks, below locks, at bottlenecks, at weirs and the like. All the same, take a good look at a largemouth bass and you see a broadsided fish with broad fins and tail. They're obviously not built for high flow rates such as trout. But even trout, which are designed to work in current, spend the bulk of their day "outside" the main current. Indeed, current can dramatically increase the feeding activity of bass, but look for them outside the main flow behind a land point, land pocket, stump, drop-off, back-eddy or any low-pressure pocket. Roger

Right You Are. But you'd make a terrible news reporter, because you're too down-to-earth 8-) Roger

I really like March, April, May and June, but I also like midsummer and fall. Winter is the best time for hawgs, did I mention March, April, May and June? Roger

I was actually thinking of moving to Florida, but after reading some of the negative posts, I think I'll just stay right here in central Montana Roger

OOHHH BABY!! Congratulations Dwight, you are one of the very fortunate few (I believe Al Lindner is still seeking his first 30 lb pike) I almost missed this post, you need to post this gator on "My Fishing Outing", that's a "World-Class" pike! I'm planning a trip to Lac Seul, Ontario this September (working on the passport now), but maybe I should switch my game plan to Lake Athabasca, SK Roger

I think you guys are complicating a very simple matter. If bass were 3.5 feet below the surface and on the bottom before the level went "Up" or "Down" (makes no difference), you'll still find bass 3.5 feet below the surface and on the bottom (what could be easier?). If the fish were suspended 8 ft below the surface before the pool level rose 5 ft or fell 5 ft, they'll still be found suspended 8 ft below the surface. There is no such thing as bank-beating, because bass do not relate to the shoreline, it's just a byproduct of their current depth and the bottom contour (it may be near the shore, it may be away from the shore). Bass relate to contour and cover at their currently preferred depth, the shoreline merely limits that depth to zero. The best thing to remember is that a change in pool level does not change the depth of fish, but changes the places where the angler must fish. To get the jump on this game, when you do your chart analysis, "always" select several sets of holding sites, based on several different pool levels. Roger

Thanks for bringing that to my attention, I didn't know that Anthelios "L" had been replaced by Anthelios "XL". Whenever I find a product that I really like, I'll normally load up on that product for just such an occasion. The ingredients I quoted came directly from an "Anthelios L" sunscreen tube (I probably have enough for life). It wouldn't be so bad if they replicated or improved the old formula, but after reading the ingredients, I cannot recommend "Anthelios XL", it appears to me like a cost-cutting measure. Unless I'm missing something, they've omitted Avobenzone altogether, and reduced Titanium Dioxide from 4 to 3.6%. The best thing to do is to compare the ingredients of many sunscreens and choose the one with the highest content of Avobenzone (Parsol 1789), Zinc Oxide and/or Titanium Dioxide. As for the Sun Protection Factor (SPF), that deals essentially with long sloppy UVB rays (320 to 400 nanometers) that elicit superficial, short-term damage (sunburn - tanning). Roger

Only ONCE! She was very pretty but responded with a French Kiss Roger

Tom, I didn't mention "Octinoxate" because based on what I've read it filters UVB rays but offers only marginal UVA protection (the bad ray). As for octisalate, I've read that it's easily degraded by sunlight and furthermore appears to reduce the effectiveness of zinc oxide when the two agents are combined. I surely do agree with "Zinc Oxide", that stuff has long been recognized as an excellent UVA filter, and protective against permanent photodamage. In fact, those white blobs we used to see on lifeguard noses were zinc oxide. Once again, I would strongly recommend "Anthelios L", it's the real deal. Tom, thanks for bringiing up this vital subject...though it may not be pleasant, it's in every angler's interest. BTW: My wife hates that hat I wear, but I told her to get used to it. It has a wide brim, a chinstrap for windy conditions and it's waterproof (what more could I ask?) Roger