gulfcaptain

Normally use an Albright/Alberto knot, but trying out the F & G Knot out to see how it holds up before commiting completely to it.

I'm a Pats fan, there isn't any whining going on. Both teams played great games. Scored the same amount of field goals and touchdowns, but came down to a missed extra point that came back to bite them at the end of the game. Stop trying to stir the pot because of your personal views and issues. New England played a great game but didn't come out ahead and I gave props to Denver's D, they played a hell of a game and brought it against Brady. I hope they play that good against Carolina so it's not a onesided game as lastnights blowout was against Arizona. And to your issue with Brady and Belicheck, they have next year to set themselves up for a 5th Superbowl win and be the first ones to win 5. So New England fans will still continue to respect their team and appriciate how hard they played, compliment the team that beat them when they played a great game and wait until next year to see if we make it back to the Championship game and another shot. You can go back to disagreeing and name calling. "drops mic and walks off as I has nothing left to say on this topic"

Welcome, and I'm another that uses braid for cranking, normally 20 or 30lb. But use leaders. As for pound test on a leader that all depends on the conditions you're fishing. If I'm fishing a shallow bait over scattered grass then I'll go with 12lb mono, if I'm cranking rock and reeds with a squarebill or lipless bait then I'll bump up to 15-17lb FC. Deep cranking, then I'll go with 12lb FC. Leaders are normally about 3-4ft long. So as you can see it's all personal preference to what you want to use.

Yes, I was hoping for New England, but Denver played a hell of a game. Both teams left everything on the field. Denver's defense will have their hands full with Carolina. Let us hope the Denver from 2 years ago isn't the team that shows up in 2 weeks otherwise Denver will look like Arizona did last night. Now Carolina never let up and kept their foot on the gas the whole game. Big difference then how they played last week. Think that last night was a "we are legit" show to hush the many who believed they were all hipe and weren't as good as their record showed. There's a lot of humble pie for those who doubted Carolina's power. So as much as Maning may want to win a second ring, I'm going with the Panthers. But I do hope Denver's defense figures out how to shut down Cam so at least it will be a fun and close game to watch.

New England over Denver by 10 with 2 picks coming from Maning trying to force the ball so he doesn't get knocked down. I don't think Denver can beat New England the way they played last week. They struggled against a banged up Pittsburg team , Carolina by 7. I like both teams, but last week I think they let off the gas against Seattle and played defensively and use the clock. They didn't try to force or make throws that would lead to turnovers that would assist Seattle in overcoming that 31 point butt kicking they took the first half. Going to be New England and Carolina in the Superbowl.

I use braid for everything. Like FC, but way too costly to put a 100yrds on and change it out every few weeks. So I use leaders. Crank on 20lb braid with 10-15lb FC leaders. Haven't had any problems pulling hooks, but then I also fish lighter drags. Also when using squarebills and lipless baits, it's easer to clear the bait of grass with braid since there isn't any stretch. Softer rods also lend themselves to braid and the sensitivity of braid I can tell what my baits doing and don't have to worry about getting bit at the end of the cast and not getting a good hookset. Is this setup for everyone......probably not. I think the thinner 20lb braid lets me keep a fuller spool which results in a more consistant retrieve and the smaller dia also lets me get the bait down to depth and if needed be able to fish a little heavier leader such as 15-17lb fc in some areas. Just my preference. But if you're a "snap" caster and aren't used to fishing braid you probably aren't going to be succesful as you will end up shockng the braid resulting in breakoffs and frusration. Then blaming the braid since it's not as forgiving as the other two.

Waiting to see how it handles the large 8.0 squarebill as well. But it does have a geat action and it a nice lenght at 7'4". Lends itself to either shallow or deep.

I've gotten a few of those "the IRS is going to sue you and please call us as soon as you recieve this message." Um, the IRS doesn't robocall, they send official letters and then just garnish you paycheck if you keep ignoring them. Shoot I ignored them for 6 years in my early 20's. I would have paid my taxes soon if I had the money.

Is being a co-angler worth it......simple answer is yes. You learn a lot from watching someone in the front of the boat, see different patterns and styles of fishing, and learn to adapt and become a better all around fisherman. Not to mention you get to ride around for 2 days fishing out of the back of someone elses fully equipped boat. And you never know, you may meet someone fishing one day that turns out to be a great partner down the road to travel with as well as fish team events.

I'd have to agree with the H20 Ethos. I do have a Bionic Blade (older believe 2012 model) and the guides are larger. The Ethos quality guides, and also have a 6'10"MH that is micos. The 7'MH rod mentioned above is a great rod with great feel. I've had one since 2011 and still fish it. And yes, for $60 you will not find a better rod not to mention if you happen to break it you take it into Academy and they give you a new one no questions asked.

Fished/fish co-angler in the Rayovac's.

Honestly never caught a bass on a Salmon egg or a crappie for that matter. Have had them eat small powerbait worms and gulp baits I was using to try and catch a trout though.

Colors of frogs is all person opinion.....other then you need a black one and at least a white one. The rest are personal preferences. One of my best colors is a clear silver glitter color from Snag Proof. And then the baitfish color or two in the Spro Bronzeye Shads. Other then that it's a black frog, and a white frog(or white belly).

I went Talon simply because I wanted the extra 4ft of depth, (12ft Talon) and is still all contained in the same size unit (4ft high)as a Power Pole, but if I'd gone to 10ft poles it would be even taller, so that was a no go for me. Also has a manual raise if you loose power since it runs off batteries. So no need to try and manually have to lift them by getting in the water and tying them up as you will have to do if the blades fail. I do have the fold down bracket and with a $60 plug adapter I can pull the Talon off the boat and store it if needed without any problems in about 3minutes. The fold down I wanted especially for travelling and storing reasons. It may run a bit more but the positives outweighed the costs in the long run.

Boat, how old, look in the lockers, hardware, batteries, condition. Get in it, move around. Feel for soft spots in the deck that may be weak spots. Trailer, bunk boards, condition. Is it single or tandem....tags, are they lifetime tags on the trailer? Motor....size, prop, condition, how many hrs? Where was it serviced last, ask if you can see the service records. Test run the boat......Run it with a load, live wells full and a friend to go along with you as well as the owner. See what it does. When you have it on the water get up and move around and see how stable it is. What extras are on it? Is it going to be a project boat or is it ready to fish. Some dealers may have older boats for sale. ALL USED BOAT PRICES ARE NEGOTIABLE. They don't make money on them sitting there. I just bought mine (2000 Champion) and after the extras I added to it (2 7" chart/fish units, 12' Talon, Lowrance 1-point gps reciever...they gave me a 5" HDS Lowrance GPS unit as well for free) came out to almost the same price it was listed at without the extras. Also had them remount the motor bracket as I didn't like the sillycone they used on the thru-bolts and had them remount with 3M's 4200.

How about this one.......lol

You could have taken the Pats first half points away from them in that Indy game......Indy still lost. They got shut out the second half......with the balls fixed!!!! Sorry Bill, there isn't any validation for this. That Indy team got out played in the second half. Had it been really close then you might have a point.

Hi, and welcome to the forums. As for your question, since you're using a reaction style bait, I'd probably fish no more then 4-6ft of leader myself on those baits other then the buzzbait which I wouldn't use a leader on at all. I fish all braid on everything and the longest leader I use is about 8ft on my dropshot rig. Other then that everything is about 4-6ft.

As someone who used to run charter boats which is a bit different then bass fishing as there were 24-30 passengers (although I have guided some of my buddies in the harbors for our saltwater bass species), and a lot more water to try and find that needle in the haystack the main concern I always had was safety of the people I took out. Then you had to have a passion for the business because it wasn't always easy and you will have bad days, but then the next day is a whole new adventure. It was touched on in that first post about all the legal issues and permits you first must have to cover yourself, boat, and guests you take fishing. Must be a people person and be able to communicate and know how to make repairs or trouble shoot problems on the water to get you in if needed. Like mentioned, if you make enough to break even each year you're doing great, and if you make a profit even better, but there's a lot of work that goes into this job and it isn't just going fishing. It's not your trip, it's theirs and your goal is to make sure they have a great time and not for you to go out and just fish. Many days I never even picked up a rod.

Have the larger believe 50 size, but do like the looks of the 30 and 40. I think all 3 have their places and times. Good action and you don't need a swimbait rod to throw the 40 or 50, I use a 7'6"MH BPS Bionic Blade and it handles that bait fine. Did move down to a slower gear ratio (EXO 200 in 5:4.1) due to the amount of resistance the larger rat has when cranking it. But they have great action and next spring I see that 30 size just getting crushed and destroyed just before they hit the beds.

I don't fish any of those 3 rods listed. I fish a 7'4" MH Quantum Tour KVD Cranking rod. Believe I purchased it new off Ebay for around $75. Light, comfortable, nice action, and it's a composite with a moderate action. The 2 I have balance really well with both the EXO 100 and 200 size reels.

This is the exact reply I got back from Quantum. William, There is not an exact definition. The models we call PT are made with higher grade materials, have more expensive/specialized features, and have more labor involved in building them since they are more fine-tuned and require more quality checks than a standard reel. So what this statement tells me, if it isn't a PT series reel, they are sub-par in parts and materials as well as quality control. Hence why I wil never recomend a Quantum unless it is a PT reel. Sorry it took so long to reply back but had to wait for Quantums response to my question.

Rayovac series is $600 each tournament. (Went up from last year) as a co-angler. I know they look for co-anglers that are registered with a deposit (for all the tour dates and not just one) and give priority to those anglers over ones that just want to fish one event. Other option is if you already have a boater that can sign you up as their co.

Escalade isn't even listed on Quantums website nor is it in their "PT" line of reels.....I fish lots of Quantums, wouldn't fish this one nor would I recomend it to my worse enemy. The Accurist is the bottom of the PT (performance tuned) series Quantum offers. If it isn't labeled PT, then I would put it down and walk away. This is where those who don't fish Quantum get bad reels that are a Gimick. They don't hold up as they aren't made the same. This is coming from someone that loves Quantums, and fishes a lot of them.

Falcon makes the same 7'M moderate in spinning (Bucoo line). I have one I use for dropshot fishing and Ned Rigs. Might want to check that one out.