RoLo

I've always had a high opinion of Berkley's soft-plastics, but frankly was disenchanted by their Havoc line. I've fished virtually every bait in the Havoc line, but the only one I truly like is Larry Nixon's "Bottom Hopper". It's one of the only worms you'll find made of floating plastic, and it's been a solid performer. Roger

By any name, the free-end will always be facing downwind If the winds aren't variable, there'll be little or no pivoting.

Gamakatsu 3/16oz Round Jighead <> Kalin 5" Lunker Grub - smoke hologram Roger

Uni-knot (Palomar knot for a dropper line e.g. Dropshot rig)

Storm Rattling Square Bill (3-ft & 5-ft), here you go: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-STORMBAITS.html?from=basres

When a bass 'misses' your bait, getting right back to him is the best thing you can do (strike while the iron is hot) On the other hand, once you 'stick' a bass solidly, the odds of a comeback strike are mighty slim! Of course, we all follow-up with a cast or two, but whenever I catch a bass after losing a bent-rod fish, I'll always assume that it's another bass that was attracted by the commotion (they often hang in pods) Needless to say, bed-fishing is a whole other ballgame. Roger

True craftsman

I'm afraid he'd be my X friend I could overlook the quick release, but not false representation (dishonesty) Roger

Well, now that Pradco gave the axe to the Xcalibur XCS and the Bandit Squarebill, I'm throwing the Storm Rattling Square Bill. The #3 dives 3 ft and the #5 dives 5 ft. Roger

Gomer's 7/16oz Electric Donkey in diaper yellow

Say Goodnight Gracie

Bluegills are 'suckers' for poppers In the summertime, move up on the shoreline and cast into every patch of shade. The little buggers wise up quickly though, but if you keep moving slowly along the shoreline, you'll likely get a strike on every cast. Roger

The St Johns River is a historic trophy water, in fact two bass over 18 lbs were taken from Green Cove Springs. Although both bass were officially weighed, neither fish was certified by our lovely state of Florida. In years gone by, the stretch between Georgetown and Palatka was strewn with fish camps, but nearly all of them have since been shuttered. I've fished the St Johns River from Lake Washington in the south to Green Cove Springs in the north. I'd personally concentrate on Lake George, a vast wide spot in the St Johns River south of Georgetown. Roger

Without a crystal ball, I might've done what you boys done. Rick Clunn coined the phrase: "Never leave fish, to find fish", but there's a few holes in that premise. It's a known fact, when fish are active on one holding site, the odds are high they're active at many sites. Sometimes I'll regret leaving a productive spot, but other times I'm real happy I did. In your particular case, it seems that a wind event threw a curve ball. Roger

Before backing down, be sure that your trailer and tow car are in parallel alignment (that'll reduce overcompensation) Using 'only' your mirrors, strive to keep the same amount of trailer fender visible in each mirror. When either fender swings out of sight, turn your wheel slowly and wait patiently for the fender to reappear. Impatience is the cause of overcompensation, when we over-crank to hurry up and see the fender again. Roger

NO, not is you're using polyethylene line, commonly called 'braid'.

Bass burn a lot of calories during the rigors of reproduction, and making matters worse, they lose their interest in food during the actual spawn. For those reasons, the post-spawn is a time of replenishment and building back up, when the big girls are back on the feed (2nd only to the pre-spawn) Although bass may be feeding heavily during the post-spawn, it's also a transitional period when bass are widely scattered, a time when location and depth can be sticking points. In our experience at least, the post-spawn season offers the best topwater bite of the year, with the possible exception of early fall. When you combine a 'topwater bite' with 'scattered bass', it's pretty tough to beat a topwater lure that offers wide area coverage. While everyone else is throwing hollow frogs and buzzbaits, my go-to topwater lure is a soft swimbait (e.g. Gambler Big EZ). Toss that sucker smack in the heart of spatterdock pads and surface clutter that would bog-down a Buzzbait. Unlike the stop-&-go retrieve of a hollow frog, the soft swimbait is retrieved nonstop which provides faster area coverage. I rig the Big EZ on a 3/16 oz keel-weighted hook, but only to prevent the swimbait from rolling over, and maybe add a few feet to the cast length. Roger

Mine was a Humminbird Onix SI 8 Chartplotter (close to 4 grand) I believe that clunker did more things wrong, than it did right Roger

Mike, you should've told him that you WERE sleeping on your other side. But then again, he'd probably say: "Okay, instead of 90 bucks, give me four 20s and a saw buck Roger

I'm never offended by disagreement, and provided the rebuttal has merit, that's what a healthy forum is all about. When you say: "Those stereotypes you list"; I'm not sure what stereotypes you're alluding to. If you're referring to Quantity versus Quality, that's a fishing fact that's been affirmed & reaffirmed repeatedly, before you and I were born. If you're hunting for a trophy fish of any species, it's important to select a waterbody that 'does not' have high population density. There's no shortage of reports of forty fish per day, but you'll never see a report of forty 6-lb+ bass per day. Do a limnological study of world-class waters for different species of fish, and it soon becomes obvious that world-class waters are typified by low population density of that species. I'm not aware of a single exception (i.e. Quantity vs Quality). If you're referring to 'counting fish', well, that's a lame endeavor that I stopped doing about 40 yrs ago. After you've boated over 100 Boston mackerel in one day, over 100 red hake, over 50 summer flounder (fluke) or over 50 bluefish, you begin to realize what an empty, meaningless endeavor counting fish really is. It's nothing to catch 100 snapper blues, but a day with 15 slammer blues (blues over 10lbs) is a red letter day. After I land a legal limit of bass, I lose tract of number, and someone else will have to count my fish, it won't be me. High numbers of fish in one day is an indication of high population density, favorable fishing conditions or both. If it was a measure of angling prowess, why can't you do it "every time"? Do I target big fish and get annoyed at snagging small fish? Yup, guilty as charged. Although I've caught more than my fair share of double-digit bass, I'm always working hard to land one more, and I have no interest in the numbers game. Go big, or go home Roger

I'm a top-down buyer, and Lews has never been on my wish-list.

I hope that rod was not for your wife, because she's going to demand a PINK shaft (or should I say pink blank) Roger

Until I exceeded the age of 65, I was totally unfamiliar with the litany of common trivial maladies. Since that time however, they've become a nearly daily experience to which I'm learning to adjust. The last thing I'd do is run to a doctor (will likely ignite a costly witch-hunt) If the feeling in your thumb doesn't return within a full minute (60 seconds), then the cause is most likely due to nerve damage and is not circulatory. No Big Deal, the body works constantly to repair nerve damage, and this time next year you'll probably have trouble remembering the incident. Roger

At the onset I should say, I am not into hero worship (be it line, rods, reels, lures or what have you). Power Pro braid is braided polyethylene, but it is nothing to write home about (who is Power Pro anyway?) My introduction to Power Pro braid took place in year 2005. Just my luck, my wife & I acquired a bad batch of 30-lb Power Pro on a bulk spool. In full defense of Power Pro, they not only admitted to producing a bad batch of 30-lb bulk spools, but offered to replace my bulk spool at no charge to me. By that time I already had my sights trained on another braided line, and summarily declined their generous offer (not at all what they expected). The braid I choose to replace Power Pro was "Berkley Fireline Braid". By the way, it was dubbed 'Fireline Braid' in 2006 but is now called 'Trilene Braid', because many confused it with fused Fireline. Although anglers tend to waltz around Berkley Trilene braid, I cannot say one bad thing about their braided line, we had nothing but a pleasant experience. Today I use "Sufix 832 braid" primarily because of its Gore fiber, otherwise I might still be throwing Trilene Braid. Roger

Dwight, maybe that's why you & I no longer count heads. Maybe our aging minds simply can't maintain the running tally. Then again, I have no real excuse, because most days I can rely on my 10 fingers, and there are only a few days when I need to call upon my toes Roger