drew4779

X2 Can't go wrong with the president. I've had issues with my saharas.

2x

So sorry...prayers.

My story is weirdly similar to Darren. Started when I was in 6th grade. Took lessons for a couple months, just long enough to learn to read music and the basic chords, and went by myself from there. Cut my middle finger with electric hedge trimmers about 10 years ago and the scar tissue made it very difficult to play. I pick it up every now and then but get frustrated very quickly when I start playing a song I could play in my sleep and can't remember the progression. I tried learn every genre I could and the last time I played seriously I was playing in a reggae band in college. I thought about digging it out of the closet the other day after watching Andy Griffith pick away on his front porch while watching daytime tv over the holidays. Maybe this post is a sign.

Venom tubes - watermelon, pumpkin, roadkill. I also like ISG.

Sassy shads and grubs on small jig heads, rooster tails, rebel craws, crickhoppers, and beetle spins.

Guess it too late to say that st.croix premiers are made in the U.S. Looks like a good combo to me.

6# mono and make sure to set the drag accordingly.

Awesome fish...I'm jealous.

My dad has one of those...makes a great paper weight.

As long as you can train your hand to slow down when needed, I'd say you'd be fine. I did it for years with great success.

I always have a crazy leg chigger crawl tied on and packs scattered throughout my boat. Flat out catches fish. I just ordered a bunch of flat dawgs too but can't testify as how these work yet. That t-rig/jig hybrid rig A-Jay posted a few years back with the powerbait beast trailer slays bass on the small creeks I fish where the broken bedrock makes jig fishing impossible. But heck...different styles for different folks. I can't fathom not being able to catch bass on a chigger crawl but then again, in 20+ plus years I still have never caught a bass on a rat-L trap so go figure?

Who was the guide?

Popper

Those strike backs road warrior attached look sweet. Gonna have to get a few of those. I've always liked venom lures hidden heads.

Number of bearings the better? Not always. I've used certain reels with 5 bearings I'd take over certain reels with 12 bearings any day.

I have more confidence in natural colors, therefore use them more often, and seem to catch better quality fish on them. Is it probably a coincidence?...yes. I turn to hot colors when what I usually do isn't working or the water clarity is poor. However I reach for black in those situations first...just seems to work for me. I used to know a guy who would fish nothing but small fire tiger cranks with great success so maybe color is more about catching fishermen than fish?

Tubes, grubs, jerks, and spinners.

Spring was great. Tied a PB to the ounce which was both awesome and frustrating at the same time. Summer and fall weren't the best compared to last season. However, every out of town trip this year was highly successful, which is always a blessing. After looking through the number of fish I deemed photo worthy this year...I guess I'd have to say 2015 had some high points but was overall a down year.

I'm heading back down there in a couple weeks. I saw some posts mentioning golf courses. Is that an option? That wouldn't fly in my neck of the woods.

Daiwa sv105 does a nice job. Under $300 at TW.

X2 It almost feels like the internal brakes are more consistent than the mag brakes (just my opinion). On my reels with mag brakes I will adjust more often like you describe. On my reels with internal brakes, they've had one brake on for years with no problems and tend to be the first I reach for.

Bandits, xcals, rapala, lucky craft, yozuri, and sebile cranksters all produce well for me. My vote goes to the DT series rapalas for your moderate cranks. Also, I'd look to include a couple balsa lures to your box. They rise quicker which can sometimes be the trigger needed on a particular day. Some rapalas are made of wood, as are some BPS cranks (not my favorites). I'm sure there's plenty of others.

Pumpkin, watermelon, roadkill...pretty much any greens or oranges.

I fish a lot of cranks in rocky streams and will break a couple every year (careless casting - over shooting my targets and busting them off boulders or bridge pilings). I've always thought of it as just a hazard of fishing rocks. I can't recall if any were koppers or not, just that it does happen from time to time.