NCLifetimer

I started throwing a roboworm on a shakey head just a couple of weeks ago and have been slaying the fish out of small ponds. I'm very impressed with the action of the roboworm. The roboworms float just fine, the outer salt desolves immediately in water. I can't speak for the BassStrick, never used one. Pick up a pack of both and let us know what you decide.

DSG's to restock on single items, picked up some cranks 33% off their recently. TW when im placing larger orders.

Not to hijack, but are the internal brakes adjustable(ie turn some off/on if desired)? I was thinking about picking one up but from the pictures on the website the internal brakes don't look adjustable.

The suggestions above should get you some bites, main key is to slow down alot. Where are you located? winter in the south is alot different than winter in the north. If you're fishing a pond whos water temperature is low 40 or high 30's then you'll need to slow waayyyyy down. What do you normally catch bass on? how deep? Try fishing the deepest water you can find in the winter.

With two people that are relatively strong you shouldn't have a problem at those weights(no motor, gas tank or supplies in boat yet), solo, i doubt its happening. You could pull it out of the bed(would probably hit the ground hard thou on the end you're not holding) and maybe use a winch to get it back in, but few people can lift and stabilize(which is the main obstacle you'll face) something that weights 200+lbs and is 14 feet long. I fish out of a 36" bottom 12 foot boat when i go to a family farm pond. Its stable enough for me, but i do have a good sense of balance. FR made a good point thou, one misstep and it rocks a good amount(haven't flipped it yet thou) I’m 180 and decently built and there is no way I could lift my 1236 (120lbs if i was guessing) boat up and stabilize it enough to get it into the bed of a truck. I think a trailer is your best bet if you want a smaller boat to transfer to various locations.

it sounds like you do have a problem... as i can still see the corners of the desk. You're 19, as long as your life expenses are covered buy what you want. And buying high end usually saves you in the long run, atleast thats how i justify buying high end(aka $$$) stuff

+1, their is no substitute for the above. It will take longer compared to the artificial method, but once you stop taking the artificial stuff your body looses mass and eventually levels off to the point where you would be at with food anyways. In my opinion, you might as well start off natural, because thats the way you're going to end up anyways if you ever plan on stopping supplements. Sure supplements do have their place, if you want to gain mass fast their is no natural substitute. For your needs all you should need is a healthy diet(to drop those few that you want to) and some vitamins and a source of protein to keep you energy up. You need protein to build and substain muscles, if you cant get it on a army diet then some protein shakes should help.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give the above recommendations a go.

For the price its a good reel. If I wanted another 60 dollar reel I'd by that one. Been using it for about 3 years, it makes some noise on the cast but still works well. I would consider bumping your budget up to 100 and looking at a low level lews or a Basspro Pro Qualifier. The PQ is 100 bucks and for the price i can't image a better reel for the price.

What KVD says makes sense. If you were to drive the same car for a week, verse 7 different cars each for one day, at the end of the week you would have a better feel and handling for the one car, and a weaker "feel" for the 7 individual cars. I would think that reels follow this rule most closely. I have several different reels and all the adjustments are different, if they were all the same i probably would have a better understanding and "feel" for the reel. Most rods are different actions(unless they are the same exact rod, obviously) so i don't see this applying for rods. A crank bait rod from quantum for example is just as different as a flipping rod from quantum or another manufacture(regareding action and power). I guess you could get use to the handle style and rod lenght. Personally, I use what feels right. If a reel is about the same size and a rod about the same weight distribution as my others, then it doesn't bother me. If i switched out the small 6.7oz reel on my worm rod for a calcutta, that certainly wouldn't "feel" right.

I was looking around at reels and ran into US Reels. I've never seen them in stores. The level wind design is something i've never seen before, yet makes mechanical sense. Has anyone used a US Reel(baitcaster) and have a opinion on it?

I fish it on 15lb flouro at the moment, I like the added sensativity over 12. I use 12lb flouro for cranks and 15 for most single hook baits. 12 should work fine.

I use 3/16oz, i like to use a larger hook around 4 or 5.

Breaks still work just fine, the reel is alot smoother now. The added noise of the "pins" agains break drum is the only issue now. I tried the light coat of oil on the cotton swab first, didn't seem to do anything. Should i have noticed an affect with the light oil? Brake drum(thats the word) had a light coat of grease on it when i bought it. I completely disassembled the brake drum from the sideplate before polishing. Polished it using a q-tip on the end of a drill with a ultra fine polishing compound, using light pressure. I got that idea from a thread on this forum a little while back. I haven't got around to cleaning this reel yet, as its still fairly new. Functioned fine as new and works even better now, the added noise is the only issue now. It is available in another ratio, ill give quantum a call.

black buzz bait, more fish over 3lbs on that lure than any other individual lure.

I have a quantum that i recently "tuned" by polishing the centrifugal brake wall(inside of the metal area that the breaks contact, i don't know the correct terminology). The casting distance increased significantly, but I makes a good whining noise. I reapplied some grease to the walls and that helped some, but its still not as quite as it use to be. Should i apply more grease or is this normal? Also, is it possible to change the gear ratio on this reel? Thanks, Chris

spinnerbait, shallow crank, your favorite plastic texas rigged, or shaky head.

Baitcaster: 7' MH rod. Spinning: take whatever rod is cheapest, cut it down to 3 feet, and use it as a lure retriever. Joking aside, probably a medium to throw spinner/cranks. Sold all my spinning rods as soon as I learned to use a bait caster. Besides the one used for a lure retriever ofcourse.

Google JB Custom Rods and check out his website some. Great guy to deal with and he makes one heck of a rod. I have his "snake" rod and its scary sensative.

I've picked up a few packs when I was able to get them cheap. They are definitely sharp, not sharper enough in my opinion for me to use them exclusively considering the price. Owners cutter points have been just as effective.

agreed. I fish a pond on a cattle farm(which equals alot of ****) with regular geese and the fish seem to keep getting bigger and multiplying if anything.

It depends on the situation, how we are fishing and under what situation he caught the fish. The rule of 3 is what i also usually follow, one is just one, two doesn't mean much. But that third one, its monkey see monkey do usually.

+1 to the lightening, second baitcast rod combo i ever bought and i still use it for cranking. the amp seems to also be a good rod.

oh ya. i've bought baits before because i thought they way they looked would outfish other lures. and they usually do. I believe that if you have more confidence in a lure, your throw it more often and present it better, which will equal more fish usually, resulting in even higher confidence.

It is just about that black and white. You will have serious issues(compared to a 24 volt system) with the battery life. You'll notice a very quick degree in thrust when fishing for any amount of time. You'll also go through batteries quicker with a 12 volt, as the 12 volt system will discharge the one battery more completely per outing, thus decreasing its overall life. If you'll only using the trolling motor an hour or two when fishing and charge it before the next outing then you should be ok with a 12 volt, any time longer and the battery will be discharged to the point were it hardly moves the boat with much force anymore. I fished on a small tin boat one time which probably weighed less than 900 lbs fully loaded with gear and two guys and the 12 volt tolling motor was almost useless about 5 hours into the 8 hour tournament.