RB 77

No, I use two hands quite a bit. Long casts, heavy baits, etc get the call. Pitchin' close quarters or flickin' light baits gets one hand.

Yeah, it does. I dumped a brand new Calcutta/ Lowrider combo off my yak last year. I made maybe a dozen casts with that combo. It now resides at the bottom of the San Diego bay somewhere in the abyss. It still stings to this day because everytime we leave on a charter boat we drive right by the scene of the crime. Oh well, such is life.

Sounds like you got a good lizard and a good hook to start with. Use a bullet weight for a T-rig and a swivel and an egg weight for a C-rig and you're good to go! A jig head will work, but I prefer the aforementioned rigging techniques.

Combinations of black, brown, and green get the call for me. I do like a little purple (PB N' J/ Purp Green) in the mix as well.

From a boat, from a tube, from a yak, and you bet from shore!

Swimbait. Not hollow body or full size trout lures, but a lead/shad head with a 3" or 4" body. I know these have become very popular to use on A Rigs, but before that I never saw them used for Largemouth. When the bass are on a voracious shad bite, these can be deadly! I took a cue from salt water bass fishing and the rest is history. BTW, on the flip side don't think for one minute that salty bass don't eat Cranks, Blades, Lizards, etc. either...

The Trokars are very nice. Extremely sharp! I personally prefer Gammies for fresh water and Mustad for salt. Owner makes some very nice stuff as well. I like their needle point, the cutting point not so much. The Trokars are similar to the cutting point as in they "cut" in to instead if "puncture" into like the round point hooks.

I always have a little bottle of hand sanitizer in my tool bag/ tackle bag for scent/ sun screen removal and to clean up before lunch! This "primitive" method can work quite well in a pinch. BTW, I love the user name and avatar!

The actual physical state has it all. Surfing, sailing, boating, hiking, biking, hunting, and of course fishing. You can ski in the mountains, ride in the desert, and surf in the ocean all in one day. The fishing is truly world class. Almost half of the 25 biggest Largemouth have been caught in So Cal alone. Trophy salt water bass fishing. Tuna, Yellowtail, Dorado fishing is excellent. However... and this is a BIG however; California has to be the most liberal state in the entire country. The laws, rules, regulations are insane! A fishing license for both salt and fresh water will run you upwards of $52 bucks. Permit and launch fees everytime you hit the lake. The most expensive rent, gas, groceries, etc. It all adds up. It really is paradise out this way most of the time, but you pay the price. A heafty one at that. A true double edged sword...

The conversation usually boils down to explanation of the concept of recreational catch and release angling. Quite a few non-anglers seem to think most “fishermen” are either “meat hunters” or “beer drinkers with a fishing problem”. Most often both!

For baitcasting I use Curados and Calcuttas because I feel these reels maximize the ROI at their price point.

In have one and its such a "light" power rod that I use it only for drop shot. Open hook set up. Most stik baits are quite heavy and require a harder hook set so I use a more powerful rod. It will work, I just feel other rods would work much better.

I have actually filled a five gallon trash bag a few times at a little grove pond I used to fish quite a bit, only to come back time after time again to it being progressively worse each time. It can get a little disheartening, but that is the nature of the beast. I have picked up trash at the beach and local ponds and lakes for years. It’s important to me to take pride in sportsmanship and I look at it as a civic duty in a sense. With how many people litter I'm glad I can help out. Even if it’s just a little bit, every bit counts.

Like others have said the Shimano is to full and the Daiwa is under filled. I spool the majority of my reels myself, yet if someone else is doing it I have them fill it up and I peel off a little bit of line to my liking. It's better to be a little full than underspooled.

I rarely "feel" the bite with a C-Rig either. I most often "see" the bite. With any bottom dragging technique you have to watch the line wether you feel the bite or not. I fish C-rigs, T-rigs, and jigs with different degrees of slack/ bow in the line. When the line "jumps" or moves a different direction, I know i'm bit. You don't always feel the "tap". Heres how it breaks down for me: Jig - least amount of slack/ bow in the line. T-rig - right in the middle betweena jig and C-rig. C-rig - by fare the most amount of the three. Diffrent days skew the amount of slack/ bow respectively for each technique.

d**n! Dat Dar is funny. Haha... In all seriousness I agree with what RoLo said. It's all about that "sweet" spot on the bed. The ol' "spot" on the spot.

No they're not that bad. I have other rods that are lighter and more sensative, but they work just fine and I love the one I have. Go pull on one and decide for yourself.

This is classic! Those rods are beautiful though. Almost a grand? I'll just have to stick with my "budget" G Loomis rods. Haha.

I'm right there with you. That thud is intoxicating!

I'll give another vote for diseccant packets. They work great!

You answered your own questions perfectly, however there was also quite a bit of informative info from some of the other guys in this thread. Good job guys!

It's all about that thud!

This, always.

To true! I went fishing yesterday and broke my glasses (Costas BTW) before I had even made a single cast and that made for quite a long day on the water. 12 hours of glare off the water and no eye protection made for a long day. I would of killed even for a pair of Strike Kings. I have owned Costas, Kaenons, Oakleys, Spys, Etc and the Costas are the bees knees. Buy what you can afford. Anything is better than nothing. Even non-polarized glasses offer valuable eye proection.

The more translucent the better for me, but every color has its time and place. Every day is different and more opaque colors willl shine on certain days.