gulfcaptain

Agree with backing and 20lb, although all mine are smaller then that and spooled with 10lb and leader/topshots of 8lb or less. As for brands, I like 832, but also like Spiderwire Stealth, but only have used it on my spinning rods. It seems to lay nicely on the spool and wasn't as stiff as Power Pro is when brand new. Also, make sure when you do spool it up, under fill it just a bit otherwise it may become a bit of a mess just because of how limp braid is and how it lays on the spool. Also get yourself some line conditioner and treat it before you fish it (KVD is pretty good).

Snag Proofs Ish's Phat and Poppin Frogs. They don't sink nor can you sink them, soft, durable, rattle already built in, oh and they catch fish. And then the Bronzeye Shad, and LT Field Mouse. Those would be my top three but throw the Ish's Phat frog more then the others. Easy to walk and gets bit.

I have quite a few, my baits are based on what the reaction of the fish is if I bed fish. I'll just say most of the time it's a jig, tube, hardbait, worm, fluke, A-rig, swimbait.

Both of these are great starting points to look into. Did you not take this thing for a test ride? Always test drive/ride on a boat especially used. Yep you know what this means now Bust Out Another Thousand. But hopefully not.

toss a silent wake or shallow crank and when you get to them stop it. Have had pretty good luck this way this spring with the bigger fish. They kinda just go up and nip and swipe at it but that's all I need to get a hook in them.

prop pitch my be too much. What prop and pitch are on it?

Bi=2 wheels. Tri=3...wheels....so it's a azzbackwards trike. But we can compromise and call it a roadmobile.

Tell her you ride BIKES, not Trikes. Welcome back from your break.

braid, and if you need FC, then attach 3ft of it to the end of the braid.

Almost looks like the Cotton Candy color of old.

^^^^All of the above should help with what you are trying to accomplish.

Cool, sounds like you found someone to fish with. Is he fishing the tour you signed up for?

Fished DVL, pretty low, but there are still areas of +150 feet of water. I have a feelng next year we will be on stormwatch, watching the mudsides from the fires and watching the remaining houses that didn't burn slide down the side of the mountain with all the mud.....just a hunch.

That thing is a piece of art......besides if I did have one and held on to it I can sell it on Ebay later for twice the price for someone willing to buy it, but not if it's scratched. That rod is as much as some people's house payment, or rent for a month. Just can't see spending that much money....maybe I could get it financed over a 2yr period...lol

Bass fising, don't really care. When I worked charterboats or fished on them I had custom wrapped rods with the same color scheme's on them to make them eaiser to identify especially if there are 200 rods on the boat. That little bit of color when you set it down makes it easer to spot as well as keeping an eye out if someone accidently trys to walk off with it at the end of the day.

Yeah, I believe so.

Even if I could afford to fish such a nice rod, I think I'd hang it on the wall. Almost a grand, I don't think I could fish with it incase it got scratched. But it is a nice looking rod.

From what I can see, all the reports have just trout, no mention of bass when I know that they used to report the bass fishing. So if it was me I'd probably save my $30 and go fish Irvine Loop Lake or walk the shore at Irvine Lake.

Like the Omens but Fast action will hurt you on some of the things you want to fish. I would suggest a 7'MH Moderate Fast Falcon Bucco. Have 2 of them and can fish pretty much everything I want on them. Have done light punching, topwater, spinnerbait, jig, crank/traps, worms....etc. May look into this one and although it's moderate fast it still has enough power to jig or worm fish, but gives enough to be able to fish treblehook and reaction baits.

I thought the algae bloom was at a different lake down that way...think it was Mission Viejo. Didn't know about Laguna Niguel.

I use both depending on the situation since I fish braid on everything I have. If I'm worried about fish seeing then I fish a topshot. If a topshot isn't an option, well then I use a marker to break up the uniformity of the braid by coloring dark sections of approx 6-12" on the first 4 ft of the braid I'm fishing. Bottom line is YOU have to have confidence in what you're doing otherwise you will feel it isn't going to work. But as far as reduced hookups, if I miss a bite it's my fault, I don't think I have a reduced hook up rate with either.

Niether did I until I saw it happen on accident. We used paintball guns as a seal deterent when I worked on a sportboat. Needless to say a deckhand decided to shoot a comarant, it didn't make it. So out of experience I can tell you yes they will if you hit them in the right place. Not to metion you could possibly injure them and break a wing (then you have enviormentalists to deal with) which could lead to putting fisherman in a not so pleasent spotlight.. Only other trick I have witnessed to get them to leave is run and spook them in a boat until they leave....this would only work on a small body of water say 5-10acres at most and that's if you can use a boat.

This is a special site for sure. Lots of great info, great people always willing to try and answer any questions asked. Great community. Found great advice and products from here as well. I keep trying to get my friends to check out this site so they can expand their knowledge. Think I have read almost every article on here before I started posting. All I can say is hats off to Glenn and every member on here that makes it such a great site and community.

all of those above, and this sleeper has been really good for me this year. Mann's Baby 1-minus.

I'd agree with you in most cases but as warm as our winter here has been, the water temps have been 70 at some places I fish since Feb. and the fish didn't move up to spawn until late March for the most part. And the big females were doing what he discribed. Then a week later they would sit on the bank individually early in the mornings and if you put a wake or topwater bait over the top of them they crushed it. So my post was off the latest observations I can relate to.