Chris at Tech

I've never fished an Expride so I cannot offer real-world experience. I would assume the high-end offerings by Megabass, Loomis, St Croix, Shimano, Daiwa etc would offer "more" sensitivity. The point I was trying to make was better said by DVT.

Do we have any bait painting folks on here? I'm thinking about getting paintjobs on a Sebile Magic Swimmer and a Yozuri inshore popper.

Considering your starting point is a pretty-darn-good Expride, I think you may find yourself disappointed. If you were starting with a $50 Bass Pro rod and trying to step up, then ok -- you'd be blown away by the night and day sensitivity difference. In this instance however, the increase in sensitivity is not likely to keep pace with the increase in $$$ spent. If it's me, I'm getting two middle of the road rods.

I don't friggin' get it anymore. The SEC should just become the NFL's minor league and move on with their lives. I can't see how any objective fan can see this as a good thing for college football.

I can neither confirm nor deny that Lanier spotted bass really like the large saltwater Chug Bug

Hooks are one area of bass fishing where I've come to the conclusion that any of the reputable brands will do the job quite nicely. Gammy, Mustad, Owner, VMC... Just replace with hooks of similar size/weight to not disturb the bait's action or buoyancy.

I'm more experienced in this area than a man my age typically is... Agree with the above -- get it done when it's time! It's a little unpleasant but in general it's not a big deal at all. Now I'm gonna go post over on my other favorite website -- colonoscopyresource.com

Manuel is holding the upper right corner of the banner

Learn to fish the salt too?

Me too -- my problem is that it pi$$es me off when my results don't match the TV show!

We were fortunate enough to get away for a few vacations in quick succession, but the fishing did NOT cooperate as I had hoped! First, my wife and I got away to the iconic Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada for our 15th wedding anniversary. The accommodations certainly did not disappoint! I highly recommend this place if you find yourself in or around the Middle Keys. I know you'll all be shocked to hear that I took the opportunity to get some fishing time in, but things didn't work out as I wanted them to. It was hard not to get amped up when I saw this at every stinkin' marina we were at. We took a drive down towards Marathon and ended up in Curry Hammock State Park, and that's where I put the travel combos to work. I managed to fool a few barracuda, and they are always fun. If you look in the background here, that land is owned by Mr. Johnny Morris himself. While I was there, a gentleman who looked an awful lot like Mr. Morris drove by on a golf cart and waved to me...so I got that going for me, which is nice... Needless to say, it seems ole' Johnny is doing just fine for himself. The next day was the day I had been waiting for -- backcountry charter day! We left out of legendary Bud n' Mary's Marina, and things got off to an odd start. The plan was to chase tarpon and snook, so we had to wait around for the bait guy to deliver the day's shrimp. Apparently that was the day that the bait guy decided he just didn't feel like making his rounds. Captain Ted grabbed a few pinfish out of his dockside bait pen, and we set off to top the livewell off with fresh pinfish from his trap. Only we couldn't find the trap -- it seems it was stolen. Great... Nonetheless, we proceed on. After a long, winding way across Florida Bay, we finally arrived at our spot where we set out a few pinfish to drift across a channel hoping for the silver king. Those punks where nowhere to be found after 3-4 spots. At that point we had nothing to show for our efforts besides a few sharks and catfish. At that point, we turned out attention to snook, and we finally started getting some desired results. Up until that point, I snook had eluded me so I was happy to get a new species added to the list. We were on a good run of snook and medium-sized jack crevalle and then the sharks showed up to make things interesting. And I'm not talking the little guys, either. A few times while trying to get hooked fish in the boat, we were treated to some National Geographi- level footage of the food chain in action. Really neat stuff to see! The next bite was a truly an unexpected one -- an endangered sawfish! Certainly not a monster specimen, but an awesome site! At that point, it was time to call it a day. I was pretty bummed out to not even get a shot at a tarpon, but the captain did everything he could. It just wasn't meant to be. The next day we wrapped up our trip by driving back to Miami to fly out. We drove up and down Miami Beach for a few hours, passing right by the Surfside Condo a few times. We woke up the next day to hear the news that it had collapsed. Eerie feeling to have been there just the day before! After a week and a half back at work, it was time for the annual July 4th pilgrimage to Hilton Head Island. From start to finish, this was THE toughest I have ever seen the fishing. Saltwater, freshwater -- it didn't matter, they all had lockjaw. Multiple sessions fishing the golf course ponds yielded TWO bass total for the week. No bueno! I even fished right before the arrival of TS Elsa -- you know, the time the fishing text books tell you that the fish strap on the ole feed bag. I even fished the saltwater ponds with only one dink trout and one dink flounder to show for it. This run of poor luck even extended out to the guided trip we took. The day set up perfectly to chase tarpon and big jacks -- calm seas, a light breeze, and ACRES of bait on the beach. We filled the baitwell and moved onto our fishing spot, which was also chock full of bait and birds. Usually that's a great sign, but there were no gamefish to be found. We tried a few really fishy looking spots with the same results - no target species to be found. The two highlights of the day were a ~5lb spanish mackeral caught on a telephone pole of a tarpon rod, and a very fiesty ~60lb spinner shark that made it boatside. Man -- what a frustrating run of fishing in really good destinations! I guess I'll have to get them next time!

Check out the stuff Scottsboro Tackle offers. I think you’ll find some good options

Anyone have any first-hand experiences with with Garmin Striker Vivid 9sv? I've got an old HB 898 now and I always had it in my head that I'd get another Humminbird but I must admit this Garmin has me intrigued. I exclusively fish small, electric motor only reservoirs which are rarely mapped, so paying extra for built-in mapping capabilities serves no purpose for me. The 9 inch screen, the ability to create my own lake maps, and the sonar/DI/SI capabilities are pretty much exactly what I both want and need. Now I just wanna hear some more real-world experiences. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Salt strong has a video or two on this exact subject, and how to choose correct hook size

spoons, bucktails, swimbaits, jerkbaits, surface plugs Better yet, stop in a local tackle shop once you get there and ask for their advice. They've got better intel than anyone on here.

Dirty Jigs Guppy Head for me

Save the bass for home and target redfish instead.

Yup, totally aware of that but I guess I could have mentioned it. My intent was just to share a cool, related video ?

Have you seen this one?

I’ve had some amazing days catching spots on Lanier with chug bugs, full-size spooks and wake baits. Colors are typically something chrome, something clear and solid bone.

I think of "Sunshine" from "Remember the Titans"

I usually buy the 3k size for two reasons. I prefer the T-handle over the knob My Stradics take on double duty targeting inshore saltwater fish as well so find comfort in having a little extra line capacity just in case

Whichever you have confidence in tying. I don’t think you’ll have any guide issues with lines that small in diameter

It’ll do just fine for those techniques. I have 2 Tat SVs that I use for those same techniques.