Alpster

How important is catching fish? Ronnie

They just work better! Ronnie

Clear Lake in Northern California. Since you ruled out other countries, I think this is the place for the bass of a lifetime in the US. Ronnie

In the summer time, I take a kid from church and his dad at least once a week for 3 or 4 hours, usually on a weekday afternoon. I started this two years ago and am amazed at how the kids call me or corner me at church and ask "when are we fishing?" I try to get in a whole day once a month with one of my hard core partners who can go 8-10 hours. Work gets in the way of fishing way to much! JMHO Ronnie

I also think RW was trying hard to help newbies get a fish on and boost their confidence. The advice was very good and will work under the conditions he describes. If you are an experienced fisherman and are good at identifying structure, cover and determining the best baits/techniques for the conditions, then you are ahead of the game. I think RW's post was intended for those who are having a tough time coming up with a winning pattern. JMHO PS: I have had some success with LBH's "answer the phone" technique. Ronnie

YEP, I like em too! Ronnie (Official deputy of the Shimano Posse)

Oh man, I wish I could change all my cork handles to one of these. My flippin stick has eva handles and I also built a split grip SJR722 IMX spinning rod with eva. I will use it more & more on my builds. Ronnie

That's about the size of it. Ronnie

Welcome Sir! Ronnie

Awesome Russ!! Can't wait to check out the interview. Congratulations! Ronnie

Deb, It becomes apparent after awhile that some of us old guys have a hard time entertaining ourselves. Muddy_man and I have developed a little history and are friends. We both have a tendency to act a little silly. It's all in fun and we love BassResource.com as much as anyone. I just forget sometimes when we are joking among ourselves that this is a internet message board, and everyone who has a computer can read it, DOOHHH? Sorry if I made light of anyone who participates here. That was not the intention. BTW-I always enjoy your posts and stories. THANKS! Ronnie

Good Job! ENJOY! Ronnie

Sorry Russ, :-[ Didn't mean to be a discouragement. I will behave myself. Ronnie

Wouldn't it be refreshing to see some new posts about - braided Line, expensive equipment, frog baits, worm hooks, best rods, best reels, "Ugly Sticks", Senko imitations, or everyone's favorite, spinning vs. baitcasting??? Sorry! I couldn't resist and besides, Muddy started it! ;D Ronnie

If these guys are inexperienced they are probably throwing a lot of fast moving lures. Try the drop shot like Avid suggested or dead sticking a shakey head jig or plastic worm. Show the bass something the other guys aren't presenting. JMHO Ronnie

Feel a bump or see the line move, set the hook. If you snooze you lose. JMHO Ronnie

Except for crankbaits & buzzbaits, I pitch everything sometimes. Every reel I've got is a pitching reel from time to time. JMHE Ronnie

It will also help to troll the line behind the boat or drag it through the grass (without a lure) to remove the twists. Ronnie

Culprit 7-1/2" and 10" worms (black shad, red shad, moccasin ) *** trick sticks 4" and 5" (green pumpkin,watermelon) Zoom finesse and Trick worms (black, junebug, green) GCYB 5" Senkos (red laminated, green/white laminated) Yum Crawbugs (red and green) Ronnie

Me too! Mostly dark colors - black, junebug, green pumpkin, watermelon & red. JMHO Ronnie

Yep, calling for rain here tomorrow. I got a PM from fishinphil and we are on the water in the morning. It's a BR kind of Friday night. What do the unfortunate ones look forward to. LOL ;D Ronnie

At least a 7' heavy rod with a stout reel 50lb braid. Like gatrboy said, horse em out of the thick stuff quickly or they will wrap you up. JMHO Ronnie

I would go a little heavier power if you will be fishing in any thick cover. MBR784 if you like a 6 1/2' rod. I use a MBR844 (same rod in a 7') for most of my non-finesse soft plastics. You can't go wrong either way, it's your call. JMHO Ronnie

I think more times than not, it's just plain ignorance. Newbies who just got their first boat or their first few fishing trips. A couple of times I have just verrrry politely said "you must be new to fishing around here and I just want to let you know that most fishermen won't take kindly to your boat coming so close and will likely make trouble for you." I have always gotten a sincere apology and thanks for the heads up. It's also regional, here in my world (NJ) on the little stocked trout streams a dozen guys will literaly stand shoulder to shoulder and fish, I'm talking lines tangled together and they don't seem to mind. Where I grew up in South Louisiana you could get shot for getting much closer than eyeshot. Ronnie

It's not Power Pro's mistake. I have a reel spooler with a line counter and have spooled dozens of reels with dozens of line types and sizes. many reels - ABUs, many Shimanos, Diawas, Quantums and Floogers. Many lines-Trilene XL, Big Game, Super braid, Ande, Power Pro, Gorilla Braid, Vanish, P-line, Yo-Zuri and others. I have yet to see a reel hold as much line as it says it should and still cast properly. They all seem to exagerate line capacity. Maybe its marketing or maybe a bad conversion from metric units, but it seems to be consistent. I would worry more with my typical casting distance and how the line fills my spool to the proper casting diameter of the reel spool. I hope this makes sense. The good news is, as modern lines get better and more expensive, with a little quality backing you can get two spools out of one spool pacakge. JMHO Ronnie