mtaag3

I recently bought a rod from someone and one of the guides is busted. Is there anyone in the Birmingham area that does rod repair that is reputable and someone has had experience with? Thanks

I'll ask the dumb question, why can't they make braid clear or close to clear? In looking I've seen yellow, orange, red, two shades of green, brown but not clear. Wouldn't that solve all the issues?

Excellent, another Alabama angler. Welcome aboard

Being a new guy I've been trying to "commit" to a particular bait(s) but I find Senile1 makes a valid point. In committing to trying to learn a bait I may inevitably have a wrong bait and do not catch a thing. (my frustration meter is pegged) Case in point yesterday I was sight fishing and found a nice little 14-15" bass. I only had jigs with me and he didn't want a part of any of them. Any color or any trailer. If I had something else with me I could have given it a try. (although in all honesty it could have just been my technique) My point is as a new guy I'm finding that a small bit of variety seems to be more prudent as long as one doesn't use certain lures as a crutch. And since I'm new and don't have any established habits/preferences that may be a little easier for me.

I'm a new guy so take this for what you paid for it. But I am having fun with the C rig. I take a 3/4 oz worm weight due to it's bullet shape and then put a bead or two along with one of those brass rings behind it. I then use a Carolina Keeper and then tie the hook on. The nice thing about it is the Carolina Keeper allows you to change the length of the leader any time and the worm weight doesn't get hung up (or at least it hasn't for me yet knock on wood). Just my opinion

I use a 3/4 oz worm weight. It's pointed nose allows it to come through stuff better and it would probably eliminate sinker strikes.

It's the owners decision and they already said they're staying with the Redskins. No one is going to boycott the NFL and make a difference financially and to be honest, not enough people are "offended" by it. The cost of changing everything would be prohibitive. I wouldn't sell the Redskins paraphernalia yet.

Sheesh, I'd be happy catching any. I voted big due to the criterion of 1 fish of 5-7lbs each hour sounds exciting. 50 fish in 5 hours seems like it might get mundane? Although I'd love to find out either way

Why not go to a school where you can fish year around? Even if they don't have an official "club", there is A TON of fishing to be had. Basically anywhere in the SEC.

***Update*** So I took my rod back to BPS and they exchanged in no problem. Where the problem lies is that the second rod started to develop a cracking sound. Being a little gun shy I took it back for a credit (and a different brand of rod) and I was telling the story to the customer service person behind the counter and he said that is the #1 brand of rod he sees returned. I'm not knocking the brand, just relaying my personal experience.

Raider, when you get back to Birmingham you let me know. I have a 40X he can put as many rounds through as he wants. (with your ammo if you can find any)

My first lure caught fish was a trout on a rooster tail. I can still remember all the details. Welcome aboard!!

But if you weren't fishing with braid would you feel the same?

I just bought a couple and can't wait to try them

As a new fisherman am I really going to be able to tell the differences in the rods with microguides and the ones without all things being equal? Almost all the rods I've got so far have the microguides and to be honest, I don't really care for them. It may be because I'm not used to them or know the difference in the feel but one of the rods I have has "standard" Fuji type guides and I seem to be more accurate casting with it and I like the feel of the rod better. What are your thoughts?

Being new I don't know anyone's personality or demeanor other than the guys I've seen a couple of times on MLF. Since I'm in Alabama I'd like to follow a local guy. I know Aaron Martens is from Leeds which is about 20-30 minutes away from me. Perhaps as I follow more and more I can develop favorite.

Doesn't come in LH so no bueno for me

Has anyone played with the new Penn Battles yet?

Get EMT scissors. You can usually pic them up fairly inexpensively and they're EXTREMELY versatile.

Expect an order in the next day or two.

Our entire family has AT&T and are happy with it, I'm sure it's a different AT&T than you had in the past. Friends of mine have had problems with Sprint. If it was me I wouldn't look at sprint

Looks like I'll be heading to Academy. Thanks for posting this.

I had a similar discussion years ago with some golfing buddies that were scratch at our club. The deciding factor had a lot to do with the "intimidation" aspect meaning would you still play scratch on your home course with Tiger or Phil bombing it next to you. That may not be directly comparable but I wonder how some locals would react with 80k painted rigs doing 74mph all over the lake?

I don't have a bag and the one I settled on is the H20 Express bag from Academy. I was looking at it in the store and it's real nice. Might take a quick peek at that one. The price isn't bad either.

I'm hoping someone would be willing to let me weigh down the back of their boat for a day (or a few hours). I've been pounding the bank at Lake Purdy and I think it's pretty pressured and the places to fish are limited. One member here has offered and I've taken him up on it however he wont be available until the mid/end of May. I'd be more than happy to help with gas, sodas, sandwiches whatever. I'm also available during the week. Thanks for your consideration. Mike