Choporoz

I fish from a kayak in a lot of man made impoundments that are veritable forests in places. I'm not uprooting any trees so far.

I am not concerned about fish being line-shy. There are other reasons to use a leader. Abrasion resistance, as @Scott Fmentioned. Being able to break off is another. Saving braid on te-ties, and when changing lures is also a good reason.

I love them. In fact just got two more on order. That will make, I think, numbers 7 and 8. Every reel I have casts as far as I ever needed it to. I honestly couldn't tell you which of my reels casts farther than any other...(Daiwa, Abu, Quantum, Lews, Pinnacle....from 99-199MSRP)

I haven't used that model. I do use a bunch of Smokes, which is a model or two 'up' from that and usually can be found around that price on the Bay

You MIGHT want to reconsider whether you're superstitious

SpruCans!

LOL...was a time not so long ago when I thought the same thing. Crazy thing was that I had a hard time paring it down to 8.....but I did use every one of them. Tough summer times fishing shallow wood and grass, rocky bluffs, deep sandy points, med depth flats....

I got a LiveTarget Bluegill lipless a number of years ago from somewhere (B.A.S.S., or LTB, or MTB probably.) I've made fun of LiveTarget lures on here before, especially the baitball things. (I have praised the LiveTarget Smelt jerkbaits, though.) So, I wanted to give credit where credit is due -- I fished the lipless Bluegill for the first time last weekend and this past weekend and over the three days out, it was the best producer of anything I threw. Casts like a dream, swims with a great natural looking (to me) wiggle....wobbles on the drop and flat out catches bass (and crappie.) I never fished lipless much in deep forested water before for fear of losing them. This one deflects extremely well. Hooks were crap, but Ill fix that. Looks like they aren't cheap, but I'll be getting a back up or three.

So....perhaps a better question than "does rod length matter?"....would have been: "What are the odds that a clerk at BPS knew what he was talking about?"

Yesterday I went out on the kayak and was 'restricted' to eight rods -- I had two Fenwick, two St. Croix, one Dobyns, one Okuma and two Kistler. Left in the truck were at least two other brands. I wouldn't want to restrict myself to one manufacturer.

When I first started fishing 50 some years ago, I cut tags real short, but at some point learned that the clinch not I used slipped just a little and the short tag could speed up knot failure. For decades after that I hadn't paid a lot of attention to tag ends, but left them probably around 1/4". The last two years, I've really been trying to refine my work in grass. That led me to using longer tags, over an inch sometimes. I feel that having enough tag to allow the line to bend back toward the hook gives me less to catch on grass, even if just a tiny bit less....no data, but I think it helps. And I'm certain that it hasn't affected the fish any.

I'm not superstitious, but I'll bet that there is someone (or a few?) here that: -Don't fill the livewell before they've caught a fish -Don't get the scale and/or measuring board out before they've caught a fish -Don't make a meaningful first cast -I've talked to a number of guys that claim not to be superstitious, but wouldn't have a banana in the boat -More than a couple talk to or kiss one of the early catches of the day

I avoid people, too....but not just at the launch...I just don't like people. However, I'm generally the opposite of @BadContrakt I never lie when someone asks me how the fishing was....there was a time I might have exaggerated a tiny bit I never lie when someone asks me what lure or presentation I was using. I always assume that if I asked them the same question, they'd do the same to me. I just like to talk about fishing....I will sheepishly admit that I get a perverse little bit of satisfaction at the end of the day when others have had as tough a day as I had....misery and company and all that -- I'm a cynical old fart, but I rarely assume that someone's lying to me about their day on the lake....maybe I need to consider a little more closely how they reply

We are the exact opposite. We use a points Visa for nearly everything. I haven't carried cash in years, except for keeping a few singles in the console for the odd kayak launch charge. I used a debit card once or twice in the last 12 months...to get cash back to put in the console. We buy everything but food online. And our card numbers are saved on a half dozen devices and probably another dozen sites and apps.

Sounds like AmEx has your back...and maybe you should be less scared....not more?

At least Zach has a good excuse. I see similar 'spellings' from Art Conway, Charlie Taylor and even on Steve Chaconas' reports...which he may not write personally BTW, whatever happened to the DGIF reports? I didn't realize they'd stopped until you posted this

My wife enjoys fishing quite a bit. In fact, we left for a long fishing weekend hours after our wedding, and has gone along on fly-in outpost fishing trips. Her first passion is photography and that hobby has melded well with my fishing....both when she's along and when we go our separate ways for a day....like when she's out on a shoot.

I may be in the minority, but nothing you have written above says 'MH' to me. Shorter might be 'easier' if all else is identical...which it probably isn't.

I saw Rib Tail Worms somewhere and they screamed 'buy me'. They look good in the package. They look good in the water. For no reason that I can explain they haven't had so much as a nibble. When I switch to a different worm, I get bit. Probably just a weird couple coincidences, but my confidence is low and I probably won't rig them again for a couple years.

Couple thoughts.... -Most of the time I fish jerkbaits in pretty open water and don't lose many....at least compared to cranks and other baits -What's 'cheap'? I got three Lucky Craft Pointer 110SP yesterday for under $29 shipped. To me, that's plenty cheap. Cheaper options in Rapala and Smithwick will also fish well -What's 'deep'? Most of my jerkbaits suspend between 3 and 10 feet, though I do have a few deeper ones.

Yes

Hard to recommend without knowing what you are going to throw, but I am happy with my 7'11" TCS Mat Daddy for deep cranks, c-rigs, swimbaits and punching. Pretty sure it wasn't much more than $100

Reins Swamp Mover. Mostly neutrally buoyant...they fall, but pretty slowly....and wriggle nicely on the way down.

No cull tabs, but the KastKing scale/grip combo is a solid (and cheaper) alternative.