Felix77

Everything has to answer to the almighty dollar unfortunately. Tradition doesn't seem to mean as much as it used to.

I know there is no substitute for being on the water but I was wondering if there are other ways you build/gain confidence during those times when you cannot fish.

Trust me ... there were days when any advice on this thread would be totally unnecessary. LOL

Believe it or not our league is each person for themselves. That means I compete with all others in the league including the boater I am with. With that being said he is responsible for his fish and his culling methods. I am responsible for my own. This brings me to why I even posted this in the first place. Most of the boaters I fished with even bothered to tag their fish at all. They seem to cull by eye only. That's what made me wonder if I was being too technical with my approach and losing valuable fishing time in the process.

This is making me feel better about my method. I should mention that I am a co-angler and also have a fear of mixing up fish with my boater. One tournament my boater was culling and pulled the divider right out with the fish. Luckily I was anal about tagging and weighing each fish so we could tell my fish from his. Otherwise we would have had to clear the livewells.

This is exactly what I do now. In retrospect it seems to take too long compared to what I have seen others do.

Just bought 2 pairs of the new Strike King S11's (one amber and one smoke) for $60 and got a free hat at an Expo this past weekend. They are also showing up at WalMart now for $30. Cheaper than TW. They work really well.

I would never avoid fishing due to a cold front having passed through. Set your expectations low. Maybe try a new finesse technique. Anything to keep you fishing. Quick story: My family went on a trip to a lake in mid October. We had a cold front come through. I was upset but made myself practice the drop shot. Caught some real big fish. Not many. About 5 for over 2 days at the camp but each were good sized keepers. Go!

Looking for ideas for culling more efficiently. Last year I tagged and weighed each fish as I caught them. It's effective but not very efficient. How do you guys manage your culling?

Another rightey using all lefty reels. I also golf, and throw lefty. Go figure!

Great show even with the storm scaring off some vendors. Came home with a ton of stuff to try this spring. Fun talking to you Shane!

I'm partial to Abu.

It's like a good marriage ... They must work together. It doesn't matter if you spend more or less on either part as long as they work together. I have reels that are more expensive than the rod and visa versa. The challenge is matching them up to suit your needs.

Depends on what you have. If I had a choice I would split it 50/50 between power and finesse. Power - Spinnerbaits, Crankbaits, Jerkbaits Finesse - Bullet weights, drop shot weights, good quality (Seaguar Invizx) FC line, Drop shot lures (Dream Shot, Z Drop, Roboworm)

I just discovered the neko rig yesterdat ... Learned two new rigs today. Thank you! Now to carve out enough time to try them all!

Abu Orra Series. Have 3.

Just picked it up. That and their new popper frog. Looking forward to trying them out.

The only time I know I would avoid this knot is with weightless presentations. Otherwise I honestly don't see why not. It's one of those try it and see for yourself moments in fishing. It may give you the action you need on certain days. I know I am going to tinker with it.

Just got back from the show. It was well worth the trip although some of vendors didn't make. It seemed like all the fishing vendors made it because I still found a way to spend a TON of money there on good stuff. Great deals, great time. Glad I went.

I become more and more of a fan every season. I avoided Trokar because of the price and fished Gamakatsu's esclusively. I saw a sale for VMC's so decided to try them and now they are my go-to. Awesome hooks. Never had a problem with them.

Great video ... the easiest snell I have seen thus far. One question. It looked like the wraps happened above the keeper but the knot ended up below the keeper. Did I see that wrong? I thought you were supposed to move the knot above the keeper and then tighten.

It's all about the news making things interesting. That's it. NBC/The Weather Channel started this crap. They should at least be more useful and start naming cold fronts and blue bird skies. Then we would pay more attention to it.

Casts great, frays like hell, doesn't hold a knot as well as regular braid or FC.

Nothing like that here. They are restocking with new items which means we are getting closer to spring. Of course we just got slammed with about 8 inches of snow but we are getting closer ... HA!

Welcome