RoLo

I've used monofilament line for over 40 years (nylon, copolymer & fluoro). Since I switched from mono to braid I've never given mono a second thought, and now use braided line for every task at hand. Roger

Good advice. Short-lived "braided kevlar" was what gave braid a bad name, because it eroded every guide material except titanium nitride and silicon carbide. However, aluminum oxide guides will last forever under braided polyethylene (PowerPro). Roger

A man named Brent has your solution. Click on the "***" banner and take a gander of the Hookerhead Shaky Jig Roger

Just like gasoline, no matter where the price goes it won't prevent me from purchasing them. Strike king's 3x finesse worm is the most bouyant worm I've found including the Gambler Big Stick and Roboworm Zipper. Use any jig you like, even a swim jig and the 3x worm will maintain a vertical posture. Because it stands on its head, the 3x worm makes a tremendous shaky worm that continues to wave in the slightest current. Unless it gets torn off your jig, it'll catch bass for hours on end without the need for replacement, but that doesn't impress me as much as its buoyancy and action. Roger

I think you mean "snap-swivel", because a swivel doesn't expedite lure change. There are times to use a swivel (C-rig) and there a times to use a snap, but in freshwater, there's rarely a time when you'll need both together (snap-swivel). Roger

You got it Raul, a starship with spiffy red sideplates : Roger

I haven't purchased a Quantum reel in nearly 20 years, but there's a good reason for that. Around 1990 I was looking at a new quantum reel at Efingers Sport Shop in Bound Brook, NJ. The salesman there, who was also a good friend of mine, told me in hush tones to stay away from Quantum because in his words, they had faulty gearing. As tool & die maker, that made no sense to me, so I went ahead and purchased two new Quantum casting reels for our upcoming trip to Canada. During my second day with the new reels, I was pumping a trophy-class pike to the boat. In mid-battle the thumb-bar suddenly lost communication with the reel handle, and the spool refused to engage. Long story short, I wound-up losing that pike. What's more, before the end of our week-long vacation, my wife's quantum casting reel also malfunctioned. Oh yeah, those reels were still under warranty, but I had no interest at all in maintaining ownership in reels with slapdash workmanship. Instead of a trip back to the manufacturer, both reels made a short trip to the dumpster (two strikes and your OUT). Quantum is the only reel to make my personal Blacklist. It's a lifetime list that follows the old Indian adage: "Fool me once, shame on you...Fool me twice, shame on me". So if anyone's surprised about Quantum's loss in popularity, it wouldn't be me. Roger

I'm right-handed as well, and if a casting reel isn't available in a left-hand version, I'll delete it from the list of candidates. A right arm is a terrible thing to waste, taking up slack line : Roger

In freshwater, about the only time I'll use a swivel is with a Carolina-Rig or when trolling spoons for pike/musky. Roger

That's right, 3x plastic is "highly" reactive with nearly every other type of plastic. To my knowledge, the only two safe storage places is their original bag and the compartments in a worm-proof tacklebox. Roger

Same here. RW, do you prefer the O'shaugnessey bend or the round-bend hook? I'm asking because I find myself migrating away from the line-of-pull hook over to the round-bend hook. Roger

Thanks for the heads-up, and they're available in my favorite color! (don't look now, but here comes banana breath) http://www.texasbasstackle.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=795 Roger

Three, if they're quality bearings and in the right places (ex-bushings). Roger

That reminds me of the jig-makers who are too cheap to bust the paint out of the eyelet. They just dip the jigs in paint, then package them after they're dry. They actually benefit from this shoddy practice by selling us "Eye Poppers" to finish THEIR job Roger

If I invite an angler out for the day, I'll always follow up with, "How much ya got?". If he say $20 bucks, I'll motion upward with my index finger, looking for a higher bid. If he comes back with $50, I'll say, "Hop in the truck, we're going fishing!" (just kidd'n)

I'll drink to that Roger

[quote author=6F4D58582C0 link=1208450 577/0#7 date=1208515132]I would forget targeting bedding bass & target bass that are still in the pre-spawn mode

The Strike King Zulu, Z-Too & Finesse Worm are all still available, what disappeared was the 3x "Floating" worm (but not really). This unique plastic was a long time in the making, I believe it's a 3M patent and from the looks of it, 3 patents: Cyberflexxx - 3x - Elaz-Tech The last couple times I've been fishing, the Strike King 3x Finesse worm was my top producer (sadly, dinks) http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchResults?searchOption=products&hvarSearchString=strike+king+finesse&storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&CMID=TOP_SEARCH_GO Roger

You beginning to see my point?

Holy Cow...you took the words right out of my mouth Right on the money Roger

This is a fishing site, maybe you should find a farm animal forum

A 17-foot increase in water level is very extreme, and impacts the lake in two ways: 1) It increases the lake's surface area, which generally makes fishing more difficult 2) It normally creates a wealth of sheltered bedding flats, which benefits the bass population. An important thing to remember is that bass in 4-ft of water before the change in pool level, will still be 4 ft deep after the lake had risen 17 feet. I may be wrong, but I doubt that dissolved oxygen is a real concern. Rainwater itself is oxygen-starved, but wave action and the increased water flow it causes in all the entering creeks help to re-oxygenate the lake. I wouldn't be overly concerned about water temperatures either. Although water temperature certainly affects the disposition of bass, I doubt that it will affect the location of bass (others would not agree). Very muddy water can be detrimental to bass when suspended sediment cumulates in their gills. That aside, bass are capable of spawning successfully in very murky water, but are forced to nest very shallow to get adequate sunlight to incubate their eggs (photosynthesis). I would personally focus on the shallow headwaters, but if you feel that the water is harmfully mud-laden, then you'd do well to head downstream toward the dam. Normally, as you approach the dam, water clarity will gradually improve due to more advanced sedimentation. Roger

Oddly enough, I can't say that I remember that happening to me. I would imagine that something else had to take place first, to allow the hook to pivot around and expose the wire-slot. Not for nothing, I've never had a uni-knot slip on me, but I've heard others with that complaint. I always suggest that they pre-tighten the uni-knot before the final tightening and it will NEVER slip. But now you've got me wondering; is it possible that their knot slipped through the wire-slot in the eyelet? Things that make you go, Hmmmm Roger

Actually, you've got to feel sorry for the distributors too. I went through a phase a few years back when nearly 50% of the rods I ordered came in damaged (4 out 9 separate deliveries)! Now I ask you, how is this possible? It was starting to look like a UPS / Fedex conspiracy against the tackle distributors :-/ Roger

The term "copolymer" is self-explanatory, it's any line comprising two or more polymers (plastics). For the most part, copolymer lines incorporate "nylon" for its suppleness and manageability, along with "fluorocarbon" for its lower elasticity and better abrasion-resistance. Despite manufacturer claims, the end product is "always" somewhere between the two. Several different processes are used to manufacture copolymer line. Some use a jacket of fluorocarbon over a nylon core, which is called "cofilament". Others may blend both materials to form a single-strand copolymer. Though it's rarely addressed, copolymer line that's fused into a single-strand is actually "monofilament" line, the same as pure nylon or pure fluorocarbon. Roger