RoLo

I never leave my chartplotter on the boat. It takes a minute to unscrew the ball-joint and disconnect both cables. When your trailering, your boat takes a much harder pounding than your tow car, not to mention the odds of theft while you're in a restaurant. Roger

Line-burrowing is rarely a problem with braided line unless you're retrieving a lightweight lure that spools the line loosely, followed by heavy pressure such as pumping your boat over to a snagged stump. In a case like that 20-lb braid might burrow, but even under those circumstances, it's highly unlikely with 30-lb braid. Roger

That reel is toast, I'd toss it in the dumpster!

Tenoroc FMA, Saddle Creek Park & Lake Parker are the most popular destinations in the Lakeland area. Roger

Actually, if your Avid was a M/F instead of M/XF, it might feel just right to you without reducing the power...just a thought Roger

Complications from Surgery! Hear that a lot, don't we?

I think you summed it up very well, and very honestly Roger

Gamakatsu #1 Drop/Split Shot Hook Roger

I use a performance application called "Perform App". It maintains a daily tally of all bass bites, missed fish and landed fish. Based on the Perform App database, the older I get, the better I was Roger

When I bought my Humminbird Onix, I also picked up a SmartStrike card, but I'm sorry I did. Having coded computer programs of my own, I was expecting proprietary artificial intelligence, not a program based on user input. Anyway, I lost interest in SmartStrike and never gave it a fair shake. Roger

Only one lure comes to mind that must be sharpened right out of the box, and that's the Johnson Silver Minnow. It's a shame too, because few lures are better suited to navigating through floating vegetation. Unhappily, it's not a hook that can be replaced so it must be sharpened. Roger

The original Carrot Stix was launched with rave reviews about the new super fiber, but it never made the grade. Then there was a 2nd Carrot Stix rollout, but it too lacked escape velocity, so this would be the '3rd' Carrot Stix! The Carrot Stix in 2013 ------- How soon they forget:

I think you've got it. The main thing is to follow the original angle of the point (~5-deg per side - 10-deg included angle). Increasing the angle makes the point more obtuse and destroys the sticky-sharp point. If the point angle is too low, too much metal will have to be removed and the job will never get done. Roger

A 10-lb bass is a rare fish even in Florida. To give you some idea, a good friend of mine who is also a pro guide in Florida & New York, 'never' boated a 10-lb bass in his life! It's hard to wrap your head around a 10-lb bass coming out of New England Bass have a longer growing season and a faster growth rate in southerly climes, but on the other hand, they live significantly longer in the north where there's no thermal stress (e.g. Pushing a plant with grow lights). But even a 6-lb bass coming from New Hampshire has got to be one very old lady! Roger

Move over Ned, the Paul Rig is about 'toads'

In short, with Digital Maximizer the drain on the battery is proportionate to your throttle setting. I too have been pleased with Motorguides I've owned, but have also been burned by Motorguide, but not by Minn Kota (once bitten, twice shy),

The great thing about fishing is that it's a flexible sport that puts the angler in charge. There's no fixed matrix and no rigid rules; the angler is always free to alter the rig, the bait and break the rules. For this reason, we will always see new ideas, new rigs and new techniques, followed by a hundred fishermen who claim to be the founder of the new methodology Roger

30-lb braid

When fishing a bladed jig, I use braided line without a leader. As far as rocks and zebra mussels are concerned, they're non-existent in our eutrophic waters. Roger

The so-called "dropshot rig" is a modified version of the old "dropper rig" used in saltwater. By tying the hook directly to the main line, the 'dropshot rig' eliminates the "dropper line" That said, for presenting a clunky lure like a 5" senko (3/8oz w/o hook), don't overlook the option to use a dropper rig with a short dropper line. That would eliminate bait-droop and behave more like a C-rig. Roger

They have a lot in common, but they're also quite different. The shaky head is a "lightweight" lure usually around 1/8 oz, that tends to be fished on bottom. The Ned Rig is an "ultralight" lure usually around 1/16 oz that demonstrates more mobility. Roger

704

When bass are in an aggressive disposition, the creature you have tied-on is the best one. Roger

It seems that Lucky Craft Pointer heads the list. Offering no help for the opposition, my favorite hard jerkbait is the 'LC Pointer 78' Roger

Good question, but tough to answer because different members are dealing with different seasonal periods. In our location, bass are currently in the 'pre-spawn' season. During the pre-spawn (anywhere USA), I've found that it's unnecessary to set the alarm clock. On the contrary, I've found the best 'time-of-day' to be Late Afternoon and Evening when solar gain has taken hold and water temperatures are highest. Roger