SudburyBasser

Facebook activism is always easier than actually doing something.

Goodness. Did the bucket fisherman deprive them of life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness?

I have no hate for flouro -- I fished it near exclusively today for several hours -- but I have no great love for it either. If at all possible I'll use braid but if the application calls for it I do use flouro. I do love it for the abrasion resistance though. Braid is cotton candy compared to flouro.

I must be the only angler on the planet never to have broken a rod! Oh d**n...by writing that I'm now guaranteed to break one next time I'm out.

If I ever felt like I had a problem that picture made me feel normal :-)

I think what I love about Lunkerville so much is its an antidote to the professionalization of our hobby -- whether it's online fora or TV shows which have convinced us to replace our one year old $280 reels with the brand new $300 reels....because yo getting serious about fishing means you have to drop $700 on a combo. I cast no stones, I'm as guilty as anyone else. Fishing is like that Lunkerville Classic set of episodes that aired a few weeks back with the guys in New York state that were sitting in shacks on a frozen lake and busting each other's cojones, having a good time and drinking a few beers. Reminds me of the old days before fishing got so serious.

I'm actually taking up a new (old) hobby this year: hunting. Won't impact me at all during the summer but in the fall I plan to devote some days to grouse hunting so fishing -- for the first time in memory -- will be taking a backseat for a bit later this year.

Wasn't Cliff Pace working at roofing until relatively recently? And as others have pointed out, more than a few FLW and BASS pros guide during the off-season/free time.

My every day carry rod in the back of the Jeep is a Shimano Convergence and Pflueger President. I tend to put 30# Sufix 832 on it.. Good enough to get the job done, cheap enough that if someone breaks into Eileen it's not a huge loss. I use it for bass and pike and works excellent for both of them. Leader optional, though I paid the price a few times with those pike.

I own a Shimano Compre 6-6. Additionally I have a Quantum Smoke and a St. Croix Mojo Bass in that length. I would argue there are still plenty of good shorter rods.

I used to buy stupidly expensive spinnerbaits. Now I buy generic ones that are 3 for $10. What have I found? I catch just as many as I did throwing $10-15 spinnerbaits...perhaps more since I'm not afraid to throw a cheap one into any kind of mess.

I hear you. We still have a few feet of ice on our lakes up north. I feel like I'm suffering an endless Seasonal Affective Disorder. What's particularly galling is the Province of Ontario is allowing bass fishing year round in my Zone Management Unit (it usually opens third week of June every year) and I can't even take advantage. It's like being in a cat house with thick wallet but all the ladies are gone.

Zero. We still have a few feet of ice up here in the Great White North.

Wealthy people don't pay $900 for fishing rods. That's why they're wealthy.

I know your pain.

I don't listen to anything while I'm fishing but usually on the way to fishing I'll be blasting old school hip hop (preferably Wu Tang) or heavy metal.

From the bank at most two. Fun fishing from the boat, probably two to three. Co-angler in tournaments, six max.

Coffee, cigarettes and bug repellent. And happiest with no cellphone signal.

Improved clinch knot for me.

I generally stick with one rod company (Shimano) because they're a known quantity for me (and one I obviously I like) but I don't mind occasionally stepping off the reservation to buy another company's rod if it serves my purpose better.

I use The Rod Glove from VRX Fishing -- good Canadian company -- and the neoprene reel covers from Shimano (though I have a few Reel Gloves from VRX, not as much of a fan). You could not pay me enough to use the rod socks from BPS. Awful stuff.

Flipping and pitching are at the top.

I used braid almost exclusively for everything but this year I've moved to fluorocarbon for jerkbaits and monofilament for spinnerbaits. I'll be using fluorocarbon leaders in other applications like cranks and finesse fishing. I don't think I'm suffering much of a penalty with braid but as I'm doing more tournament fishing I want to remove as many potential issues that I can.

Preaching to the choir, brother.

Lucky people... my local outfitter had a sale on Curado Gs as well -- picked up a 201G6 today -- but they sure as heck weren't $99! Oh to live close to a BPS.