RoLo

832 braid is heavier than water due to the addition of Gore fiber (proprietary to Sufix)

Wow, that's huge, and it's also a shame. Now the naysayers are going to call our next 7-pounder a 'ladyboy' Roger

Where has he been lately? I had a dinner appointment with JG, but he was a no-show!

Distinguishing a male bass from a female bass is extremely difficult, even for an ichthyologist. There are several suggestive features like body shape, color and vent shape, but all are highly prone to error. Naturally, if white milt is present it's a male, and if roe is present its a female, but those are no-brainers. For the angler, the ultimate weight of the bass is the best indication. If the bass weighs 4 or more pounds, the likelihood of it being a female is extremely high. If the bass weighs 6 or more pounds, you can bet the ranch it's a female. If I'm not mistaken, the heaviest buck on record weighed just 6 pounds. Roger

You've done your homework, both are tremendous blanks. In fact, I'd hesitate to recommend one over the other. Roger

If the Pad Crasher sold for 50% more, it would still be worth the price. The soft, crushable body gives you the best hookup ratio you can expect from a frog. Bass miss about 25% of the topwaters they attack, so hooking 3 out of 4 would be batting 1000. My wife fashions all her own jigs using Gary Klein's Boss jigs. It doesn't matter how much I pay for a jig, she still outfishes me Roger

The visibility of any color hinges on the ambient lighting, which is ever-changing. 'Yellow' falls in the center of the light spectrum (next to green) and makes an excellent all-purpose color. Think "chartreuse", which is the combination of yellow and green. Red has the longest wave-length so it's the easiest color to be dispersed and thus the first color to lose its identity in deep water. 'Violet' has the shortest, most penetrating wavelength, so in theory it's the last hue to disappear. Roger

One of my first lures, the Jitterbug has always caught bass, day & night. Its better to fish the lure rather than the color, lots of colorblind fish out there Roger

'ANY' brand of braid scissors will do (Culprit, Calcutta, Cuda, Rapala, Boomerang, Owner ~ ~) Normally I just run the braid over the blade without closing the scissors (how lazy can you get?). Roger

You hit the nail on the head, their obsession is even worse than ours! When one of my wife's machines needs repair, I place the machine in the car and she drives it to Maitland, FL. Meanwhile, I'm at home concocting our next Tackle Warehouse order Roger

I've always admired Peter T, he's one cool angler. As it happens Lonnie, my wife is on the cusp of launching an online quilt shop. Although I'm a career tool-&-die maker, I marvel at the machinery these girls need to operate (embroidery, quilting, serger, cover stitch ~ ~). I showed Lois your wife's quilts and she was highly impressed, she said your wife's quilting is Absolutely Gorgeous! Lois added that quilting is a skill that requires thought, precision & patience, just like bass fishing. Hey Lonnie, maybe you & I should get into quilting, because Lois outfishes me on a regular basis, and I'd bet the ranch that your wife has the same admirable trait Roger

Lonnie, your wife and my wife need to be introduced. Roger

How do you cause lures to snap-off braided line? Are you winding them through shell-beds and sharp rocks?? Roger

Living in central Florida, we're dealing mainly with shallow, weedy lakes (eutrophic dishpans). For several years I spooled up with 65-lb Trilene braid, but eventually found it to be overkill. Today I flip, weed-probe and punch all day long with Sufix 50-lb braid. Rest assured, the instant I find 50-lb braid to be inadequate, I'll immediately switch back to 65-lb braid, but I don't expect that to happen Roger

Is this a trick question? (Lures snapping off?)

Back-reeling comes pretty naturally, I've never thought of it as a skill. On the other hand, fine-tuning your drag tension doesn't come naturally, it takes more than a little experience As I've mentioned in the past, when I tie into a true horse, I'll back-off on my drag just as soon as she's out of heavy cover. With today's drag systems I feel like I'm cheating, because it's extremely difficult for even for a lightly-hooked fish to tear free. I may be old school, but I'm not old-fashioned Roger

Ever since the Sizmic Poppin Toad, I've taken a real shine to "popping" frogs (that one was discontinued) Popping gives slow coverage, so to extemd coverage I also use the front-face to plow about 18", sort of a "plow-&-pause" retrieve. Strikes normally occur about 1/2 sec into the start of a new plow. Today my 2 favorite frogs are the 'Booyah Popping Pad Crasher' & 'Spro Bronzeye Popping Frog' I've always said jokingly that froggers prove that lure color isn't that important, they either choose 'black' or 'white' but not much in between. I go down the middle and pick a frog with a yellowish or greenish underside and never give color another thought. All my Popping Pad Crashers are 'bullfrog' and all my Bronzeye Popping Frogs are 'green tree' On days when I do exceptionally good or exceptionally bad, I need a better reason than color. Roger

I can't help you because I only use straight braid for spinnerbaits. You're going to lose the occasional bass no matter which line material you use. You might try adding a trailer hook and I'm pretty sure you'll find that bass virtually hook themselves on non-stretch braid I ain't changin nuttin Roger

I throw a few different spinnerbaits, but my favorite all-purpose combo is a War Eagle 1/2 oz Indiana/Colorado w/gold blades. Except in very shallow water, after the cast I always wait until the spinnerbait makes bottom contact. The 'drop' is a very important part of spinnerbait delivery. Roger

Every topic has been aired before, so don't give that a second thought Back-reeling was very popular in the 60s and 70s, inspired largely by Fishing Facts & In-Fisherman Magazines. The drags back then often released line in fits-and-starts, where back-reeling helped cushion the shock of sudden lunges. The drags today however are velvety smooth, and angler demand for an anti-reverse lever has fallen off the cliff. Manufacturing decisions are always based on the almighty dollar, so it now appears that anti-reverse levers will ultimately be phased out of all upper-end reel models. Roger

A tad fatalistic wouldn't ya say? It takes two to Tango.

I'm glad you asked, which allows me to be more specific. It was 'not' a casting reel it was a Steez spinning reel, but quality control issues leave a bad taste in the mouth. The bail didn't fully return every time (I had to close it manually), and the reel handle began to fall apart. Stuff like that I wouldn't accept from a budget reel, what's more a reel marketed as state-of-the-art. Roger

I don't place a great deal of emphasis on lure color, so I sure don't care about line color. Too many important factors to be concerned about. Roger

I've been disappointed by a Steez reel, so for me it would be between a Metanium and Calcutta. I prefer a low-profile reel, so I'd opt for the Shimano Metanium. Roger

Their net worth will slowly waste away over the first 50 years, but over the next 50 years when they're deemed antiques, their net worth will begin inching back up. I would hold for the long haul Roger