burleytog

I would start with the gold/black Rapala minnow. Throw it around weed lines, laydowns, other cover and experiment with your retrieve. It is a floating minnow. Reel it down, pause for a few seconds, then jerk it a couple of times. Try the Torpedo in the same areas. Jerk it a couple of times, pause, twitch it, reel a bit.

SPRO Dawg 100

Special order from Gamakatsu. $250 each. I use them for bull bluegill.

Sigh...as if I need any more line. 2000 yards of 12 lb. heading my way. Thanks for nothing Natural...

I actually like the Flash better than the Senko. They are both quite soft and virtually identical.

I bought a few of them in 5 and 7/16 oz. I like the look and the design.

Is the lure you're referring to a 1/4-3/8" thick pencil type bait with two trebles? If so, I've got a 3600 box full of them from my saltwater days. They were killer on bluefish and specks when vertically jigged in current. I've never thought about trying them in freshwater.

Sure...

Well, for the 6 foot worm, I would recommend a 25/0 Gamakatsu. For the 10 foot worm, something around 30/0 or 35/0 should work. ;D

Anyone use these? I've only been able to find them at Cabelas. My fishing buddy swears by them. I believe they are all wood and have props front and rear with a somewhat cigar shaped body. One thing I find interesting about the lure is that the eyes are painted on the top and bottom of the lure rather than the sides.

That 'play' usually goes away once you get some line on it. I've noticed it on my Shimano casting reels as well as the Curados and Chronarchs that I've fingered in the last couple of months.

I dialed on speaker, pressed two for the order, then got blasted by it. Came close to hanging up because of it. Meant to say something to the girl taking the order, but the annoying tone of her voice made me forget all about the wild sounds.

Don't bother, you'll just go insane. Hell, a small order for me anymore is $100. :-?

Sitting here waiting for someone to pick up at BPS so I can place an order. This hold 'music' is horrid. Chirping birds, the sounds of what I assume to be a reel clicker, water sounds, etc. Driving me nuts!

One of the best in the business.

I've heard good things about the Okuma reels and quite a few of the guys in my club fish them. But I have been leery of them. Why go with anything other than a proven product like Shimano or Daiwa?

The Hybrid has more flourocarbon than the Ultra Soft. Hence it will be a bit stiffer. Is that price in-store only or internet too? I would check but I've been having a hard time getting the BPS site to come up all weekend.

Heddon is notorious for bad hooks. I haven't changed any of the hooks on my (newer) Heddon baits, but I have been meaning to. Just a matter of getting the hooks. Don't let their hooks scare you away from them. The Baby and Tiny Torpedo are two of the best topwater baits made. I just wish they would put some better hooks on the baits, even if it did mean paying an extra 50 cents for the bait. Heck, look at the SPRO baits. They all feature Gamakatsu hooks and I've yet to see any of them (other than the big swimbait) cost more than $6 or 7.

One man's loss is another man's gain. Perhaps someone fishing that tournament left that lure there so he could cast to the fish and tie the lure on with telekinesis.

For one thing, how tight is your spool tension knob? How many centrifugal pins do you have pulled out? Tighten the knob until the bait barely falls when you press the spool release. Ideally you want it to start dropping when you release the spool and stop completely when the bait hits the ground. Since you're just starting out I would recommend that you overtighten just a bit. As for the spool braking, start off with 3 or 4 pins extended and see if that helps any.

I've lamented Daiwa's unwillingness to join the 21st century in spinning reel design for a long time. Hopefully the Steez is their first step in that new direction.

I guess it really is different strokes for different folks. I tried Red Cast on two spinning reels and one casting reel. Found it to be one of the worst lines I have ever tried (was the worst until I made the mistake of trying Yo-Zuri X-Tex Cobra). The Red Cast 8 and 12 lb. had the memory of 25 lb. discount line.

I couldn't agree more avid. While I find Roland's overt plugging of his sponsors products a trifle overbearing (at least to the extent that he does it), would most of the complainers rather not have a show to watch at all? Roland pretty much set the standard when it comes to fishing shows. I know his was the first fishing show I ever watched and I grew up idolizing Roland and his ability. That hasn't changed after almost 20 years. More often than not, if Roland recommends a product, I'm going to try it. Someone has to pay the bills.

My 'home' lake is C&R only on bass. It is a 65 acre municipal water supply. My club has done some stocking there to get the population up. There are some hawgs in there, but the average size is around 12-13". Now I like being able to go there and catch a ton of fish, but I would also like to see better quality. It isn't a very fertile body of water either. That is why I plan on keeping a few of those smaller fish this summer. Be it by mama nature or man, some fish just have to be taken out of the system. Otherwise you would just end up tourney bags full of 12" fish. It is a lot like deer (or any other animal). Once you exeed the carrying capacity of a piece of land (or water), you're going to have large populations of stunted fish.

Just one Pointer? Then this ain't the place for you. Tell me more about these 'long romantic walks'... :-?