kylek

Hey Clayton. Sounds like one heck of a good day. Do you ever fish on weekends and have an open seat? I would love to come fish with you for a day.

I am a big fan of the Abu Garcia Veritas rods. They are normally $99.00 but some places have sales on them to around $80.00. Also if you have an Academy Sports in your area, their Ethos brand rods are pretty decent.

My daughter didn't mind. I have a picture of myself kissing one from when I was younger, so she wanted to do it too.

I hate this lake!! I never seem to do good out there. Last time I went we fished some brush piles off one of the bridges and caught a few bass, but nothing worth taking pictures!

There is no "best" retrieve for this. You just need to keep trying different things until you can get a bite. Pay attention to what you were doing at the time and try to repeat it. Some days they will want it hopped along kind of fast and others they wait in painfully slow. You said fairly mossed over pond.. You might want to try a different type of bait instead of the ribbon tail worm. Maybe a beaver or even a straight tailed worm. It will go through the moss better.

These are what I have been using for myself and for my kids. We have had zero issues with them and I do like the fluorocarbon weed guard.

Fished at the in-laws last night with my 6 year old. She caught these all on her own on a top water popping bait. She uses a 5 ft ultra light spinning rod. You should have seen the bend in her rod!! Sorry for the 2 pics today.. had to show off both of her fish!

You shouldn't have any trouble at all. Maybe watch the guidelines to see if they get clogged up from reeling in grass, moss....

One of my best fishing buddies!

call their customer service and give them the order #. I am sure they can locate the package and put your mind at ease.

I use the Abu Garcias Veritas, good rod for under 100. I would use any of them really. I would get a 7' or 7'6" MH. I don't feel that you need a super sensitive rod as most of the action is up close. I would suggest getting a high speed reel to go with it. I did just pick up a rod at Academy that is pretty nice. it is there Ethos line. it is 6'10" and it is doing good so far. It is a 60.00 rod that i got on clearance for 15.00 :-) Just my opinion.

I imagine if you take it back to them and show them the problem they will get it taken care of. As far as saving the line, I would tell them to replace it with fresh line at no cost.

I would redo it if I were you. Just do it yourself. There are plenty of videos out there that show you how to do it.

https://www.bassmaster.com/gear/slideshow/199-new-products-icast-2017 this was on bassmaster.com

That is one of the best places for a frog. Bring a big pole with some braid on it.

I have 3 or 4 black on black Cavitrons. It is the only one I use.

My son Brecken driving his grandpa's boat (at idle speed) all by himself! We did get it up on plane but he had some help with that!

My 6 year old daughter Addie loves to fish with me at her Grandpa's pond.

Go buy a package of green pumpkin stick baits, I prefer the YUM brand. You can either wacky rig it with a smaller hook or texas rig it with a 4/0 hook. Cast it out, let it sink. lift it up and then let it fall. This will catch fish anywhere. If you can see the bass swimming in the shallow water, then they can see you too. Try casting from a little further back. Cast passed them and bring it to them.

https://www.bittersbaitandtackle.com/jitter-craw.html

While not ideal, I am sure it will work. I wouldn't use a mono leader for this. Straight braid!

My father in law and a couple of his friends went out one evening last week and caught over 100. They only ended up with 15 keepers though. I caught this one yesterday at his pond on a popping frog bait. It put up a really good fight.

Bring a crappie rig or 2. They are biting all over the place. Haven't heard much about the bass fishing. They say they are spawning and a little tough to catch.

here is the picture from facebook

I don't have a problem with this. Maybe it is just me, but there are far greater things to worry about. You would really tell a friend to take a hike because of a picture?