Kevin22

Before you try to insinuate that what I said was stupid, you should try talking to a chef, a food critique, or anyone else with a very good palate. If you know what you are doing you can absolutely taste the difference between a cow that has been grass fed vs one that has been grain fed. There is an Iowa farmer that feeds his pigs acorns and other nuts. The meat is extremely high priced and highly sought after because of the unique nutty flavor in the meat. But I guess if you have only eaten cheap fed beef, trough fed pigs, and boxed mac & cheese then you won't understand the differences in taste. Similarly I can taste the difference between a spring, summer, and fall bass. Spring they taste great, very mild and just fantastic. Summer they get the weedy taste at times, but out of open water they are still good, the texture can be a little soft if you don't bleed them and get them on ice immediately. Fall bass taste like shad (if you have ever eaten a sammich after taking a shad off your hook you know the taste!). I guess that's why people say there's no taste difference between a porterhouse and a sirloin and that they all taste like "steak". You have to be born with the ability to disearn different tastes in what you are eating or you will never understand and will never pick up on the "you are what you eat" saying.

Rocks are a lot heavier than weeds. I have cleaned many, many bass and I can assure you 9 times out of 10 the summer bass I clean have a stomach full of decaying weeds. Usually at the same time there is a couple hellgrammites in there or a crawfish or two. If you guys are cleaning bass out of weed patches and not seeing a stomach full of weeds then I guess you are lucky. My guess is that you are catching them out of open water which would make sense that you have never seen or tasted a bass full of weeds.

I use a 1000 series shimano for drop shot. If you plan to use mono/fluoro over 6# (.009") then I would up it to the 2500.

The best for me is the smokin shad. For the 5" I typically use a 4/0 worm hook (not ewg, you don't need ewg with the hook cavity). When I just want to catch a bunch of fish then its the super fluke jr in smokin shad on a 2/0 worm hook. That thing is a riot to fish and the smallies cannot resist it. I like to jerk the slack line so the bait walks side to side just under the surface. When it breaks the surface I give it a good hard pop and it will jump clean out of the water. That absolutely drives bass nuts!!! The key is to go all the way through the nose of the bait to the hook slot, then pull the hook eye back into the fluke so you have a huge nose. That will make the bait walk much easier.

Oh my, I forgot about Tuf-Line! I got on a promo they had, free 150 yard spool for the price of shipping (like $7). That stuff was by far the worst braid I have ever used. Stiff as wire, roughest braid I have ever used, loudest braid I have ever used, very poor sensitivity as compared to other braids, and broke very easily for being 50# compared to other braids. I should also say that it faded to white in about 20 casts (gave me nice moss green colored guides though). That stuff was TERRIBLE!

OP you never did tell us if it was a spinning reel or casting reel?? You said birdsnest so I assume casting. DO NOT put 20# braid on a casting reel. Go 30 at the very least. But if you are going to throw heavy baits then 30 is probably still too small.

I love me some square bills but they are an early morning late evening bait unless its cloudy out. If its calm I like to walk a topwater. But if its really hot and they are avoiding the sun, it will be a t-rigged craw or tube fished along the edges of the weed lines and flipped into shaded spots.

So how did it work out? If you ever grind a prop you need to make sure everything is exactly even or you will get huge vibrations and likely ruin your motor.

You have never cleaned one have you? Do you think that when a bass grabs a bluegill, a craw, a hellgrammite, a frog, or anything else in a patch of weeds that he reaches in with his fin and pulls the moss out of his mouth before he swallows? That seriously might be one of the dumbest things I've read on this forum. I eat at least 3 pounds of fish a month. That would be 6-8 bass a month.

2-25#. Lighter will cast farther.

There's a ton on the market! Pick up a couple and find "your scent". I prefer fishsticks scent. http://www.basspro.com/FishSticks-Lure-Enhancer-Natural-Fish-Attractant/product/10217609/

On an UL for panfish? Neither really. You don't need anything higher than a sedona. Bass is a totally different story, but not for panfish.

I used to love power pro until I got two bad spools this spring. One online and one locally. Both broke easily, wind knotted like crazy, and just plain sucked. Nothing like the old power pro I've been using for years. I would suggest 20 for spinning reel, 30-65 for casting

You should research small business loans in your area as well. See what it will take to qualify in a few years, maybe speak to a couple banks and seek their advice. The good thing about the tackle industry is that as long as you buy everything at a good wholesale cost, you should be able to sell it all off online if it goes belly up. One tip I can give you is to branch out to the other types of fishing in your area and get a good understanding there as well. One local store has a bad reputation because it is run by a bass fisherman, the walleye, catfish, and crappie guys can't get decent bait or tackle because its just walls and walls of bass stuff. Generally speaking, there's probably 3 times more people fishing other stuff than bass in most areas. Don't forget that!

Wow that is some serious dedication giving up your own fishing to help the locals! A good friend of my father tried that and he said it was the worst 2 years of his life. In those 2 years he could count the amount of times he got to fish on one hand. Open at 6:00am every day, close at 5pm. Owning a tackle store is one job I would not want!

Usually 2-3 hours. Sometimes 4.

Alright. Well, I've been doing that since I first started fishing about 20 years ago with my father. I've tried your rig many times and never had it work out. Works fantastic rigged the proper way with a 12" leader to the weight and an 18-24" leader to the bait though.

I've trolled for bass before. Usually when I'm trolling for walleye and happen into a school of smallies. I'll switch over to a c-rig with a craw and pump the rod as I wind drift over them or use the trolling motor to keep myself moving at around .08mph

By the way, with the way you have it you will not be able to cast it. It will tangle every time. You need the weighted section shorter than the hook, or the leader to the hook really short (5-6"). Unless you plan to vertical troll it, the rig will lay down in the water and the hook will wrap around the weight's leader every time you move it. Its just not going to work the way you have it rigged.

Its a 3-way rig, been used since the 40's and 50's for steelhead, catfish, and walleye. Exactly how you have it pictured.

Pull up the schematics online (mikes reel repair probably has it) and take it apart part by part following the schematics to make sure it was put together properly. If you don't find what's wrong.. put it back together following the schematics and I'm sure you will get it. NEVER EVER take apart a reel without the schematics on the computer screen in front of you. I just fixed a reel a little bit ago that I had put together wrong years ago. Been on the shelf because it was "broken", so I decided to see what was wrong. I had a part in backwards, only reason I found it was because of the schematic in front of me.

3/8. I only throw them shallow into riprap.

Then its in your gearing assembly most likely. Be very careful taking it apart! If you don't think you can do it then just send it in to daiwa. Its probably still under warranty.

Can't say I've ever seen a stainless steel hook. I would imagine they would be pretty darn expensive! I think you mean a chrome finished hook (silver colored). I don't use them so I have no idea if they scare fish or not. I use black chrome, bronze, or red. I have caught a lot of bass while crappie fishing with gold hooks, so I doubt a silver colored one would scare the fish too bad.

Does it happen on the cast as well or just when reeling? If its on the cast as well then its bearings, if not its probably gears. Pull up the parts schematic online and carefully take it apart until you get to the gear case. You should be able to tell if there was something not matching properly, there will be metal shards everywhere. Clean all the grease out with a Q-tip and then regrease it with some quantum hot sauce grease. If the gears are worn then you'll need to send it in to daiwa and get it fixed or replaced.