RB 77

What ever they are, they are ruthlessly sharp. Very sharp, stout hooks for a stock lure.

Yes and no. It is completely situational. Some of the things you mentioned like working on reels and rods, reversing braid and top shotting isn't to be frugal, its because rod and reel repair (along with custom builds and super tuning) is something I WANT to know how to do, not need to. Using and reversing braid is just a no brainier. There is no reason not to do it even with money not being an object. So the frugality comes as a by product. With that being said, I have been plenty guilty in the past of buying stuff I don't need, I just want it. I have been curbing that back substantially more recently.

The fact that I'm fishing and not at work! Thank God!

The Cardiff is a fine reel. I have owned one and it performed just fine. I know own all Calcutta's and they are outstanding reels for the money if you would like to move up in price a bit, otherwise the Cardiff should service your needs for years just fine.

Oh you better believe it's a selling point, just not for me. Quality over quantity.

IMHO, these are an extremely underrated reel. I fish a 400 for big baits and it is one of my go-to rigs. The non removable side plate is a non issue for me. Set it and forget it.

That is a work of art. Very nice indeed.

Not sure about last year , but this year is $17. I work the Del Mar show every year and have been to the Long Beach show as a spectator in the past. My best advice, is unless you need something specific that you think will sell out immediately, hang back an hour after the show opens. I went two years ago with a big group before the show opened and we were what seemed like a 100+ deep in line. Haha

When you wake your old lady up setting the hook in your sleep!

Reminds me of when I first started fishing and the very first time I threw a hollow body frog. The fishing was quite exceptional that day for many different presentations. We pull up to an area of the lake filled with grass mats. I thought to my self "what a perfect place to throw a hollow body frog from every thing I had learned about the bait up to this point". Well, as you can guess I fished that thing in every possible "conventional" way and nothing. Then out of frustration, I start burning my bait back to pick up a different set up and low and behold "wham" a blow up and hook up. I repeated the process for several more fish. This taught me a couple of things; first of all, sometimes a certain pattern will defy all convention and to a certain extent almost nothing is a given. Secondly, in this situation a bait like a buzz toad might have been to optimal offering as opposed to a hollow body. However one thing is certain though, at any given moment, expect the unexpected.

That win was nothing short of amazing and I feel is a testament to why he is one of the best to ever do it. Seeing were both worm draggers at heart, he would be my choice as well, no doubt about it!

Dedicated. Much respect.

Very nice boat.

This is pretty spot on for me. I have come to the conclusion that yak fishing will be a compromise for me. I will limit myself on the yak knowing that I will have any number I may need at my disposal on the boat. It helps ease my apprehensiveness about being so limited on the yak. It boils down to ROI for me, having the added combos isn't worth the hassle of dealing with them on such a limited vessel and to be quite honest, I enjoy the simplicity of it from time to time. Just K.I.S.S. and enjoy the ride.

In my kayak, the cutoff isn't much. I'm not sure the actual knots, but if I cant fish the "drift" very effectively, that will about do it. On occasion I will still launch just to get to a desirable shore spot if it is only attainable by water craft, beach the yak and then blaze the bank. In a proper bass boat with a bow mounted trolling motor and the ability to double anchor, the wind is much more tolerable.

E This is pretty spot on. Maybe 65 for the frog.

For Bass fishing I use 5-25 lb test mono/ flouro or braid equivalent. However, the majority of the techniques will get 10-12 lb test. Super "light" for finesse presentations like drop shotting gin clear water. Super "heavy" presentations for throwing A-rigs and such.

Yup. I have tried quite a few and now currently prefer Sunline Sniper.

Solid advice.

When kayak fishing I love the control of the shorter rods, but also love the longer rods for getting them around the bow more easily. For me its a catch 22 for sure. Boat fishing is a whole other story.

I use YZH for quite a few techniques. I like the line quite a bit. Unless you are specifically looking to save money, not much of a reason to switch unless you are looking for a tad bit more "stretch" for treble hook reaction baits. Even that might be negligible at best.

My sweet spot is 7'. I only use shorter or longer rods for technique specific stuff when it is advantageous for me to do so (Top Water Walkers, A-rigs, Swimbaits, etc). Everything else gets 7' (Worms, Jigs, Cranks, Spinnerbaits, etc).

Yup

Usually a paddle tail style, but will also employ a grub or fluke style as well from to time. Usually of the 3" to 4" variety. 1/4 or 3/8ths oz get the call the bulk of the time.

Yup!