Daniel Lin

I got the chance to try a left handed baitcaster that a fellow bank fisherman was using last time I was out. As much sense it would make in your head to cast with your right hand, and then bring the left hand to the handle to retrieve, I discovered that shifting my hand position from casting (pointer finger on the trigger, thumb on the spool) to retrieve (pinky finger on the trigger, pointer finger above the grip, riding the line when using plastics or jigs or ring finger on the trigger, deathgrip on the reel for moving baits) was extremely awkward. I find it much easier to cast naturally (and thus more accurately) with my right hand, and transfer the reel fluidly into my left hand to start the retrieve. I don't know how it hasn't been pointed out in this thread yet that strong hand position for casting and retrieving a spinning reel is the same, I just move my pointer finger to hold and release the line, whereas I haven't met anyone that regularly holds a casting reel in the same position for both cast and retrieve. That being said, despite being right handed, I bat left-handed (thanks, left-handed dad!), so I've been experimenting with leaving my left hand on the reel in retrieve position and doing a sort of left-handed swing with my right hand under the left when I'm trying to get more casts out in a hurry, particularly when throwing spinnerbaits and crankbaits. So far, it's mostly resulted in some epic dive-bombs and even more epic backlashes, but I'm slowly getting better at it.

Makes a lot of sense for more heavyweight presentations. My 3/8oz tungsten sinkers are the size of my 1/8oz lead sinkers. I assume this ratio should apply fairly well to larger sizes. I don't get to use them as much as I would like, especially being shorebound, but I think the advantages of being able to replace a comparatively gargantuan 3/8oz lead sinker with tungsten for say, deep water t-rigging would be fairly obvious. I think tungsten's really found a home in punching setups, but I haven't really played with punching weed mats so I can't personally comment on it. It appears that the much smaller size of tungsten for the same weight allows you to punch better through weed mats?

Sale is apparently still going. Got the deal of the century today, Lucky Craft Pointer 100SP marked down on clearance to $10.50ish, buy one get one free on clearance items. NOT BAD. Also had Xcaliburs marked down to maybe less than $3? Also had buy one get one free there. I'm not well versed on Xcalibur so I'm not sure if I missed out on the deal of the millennium there, as DSG is an hour and a half away.

To me, the greatest thing about bass fishing (without a personally owned boat) is how cheap everything is compared to other "outdoors" hobbies. Let's say I wanted to build an AR-15 for about $1200 (which realistically is probably on the lower end of full builds with solid optics). For that money, I could have bought all 4 of my bass rods, a pretty solid chunk of my tackle shop and even a nice little john boat w/trailer found used locally. Only reason I haven't bought a little boat yet is that I don't have any towing capabilities and I'm not comfortable with strapping a kayak to the roof of my car. A good range day's worth of ammo is almost certainly less than a full day of fishing's worth of gas for boat and truck. An $1100 finesse bank fishing setup doesn't seem so bad to me when my dream rifle at the moment, a Springfield M21 Tactical with the Douglas barrel is about $2800 MSRP without optics and I'd maybe get to shoot a box of ammo at most once a week. I should also pretty reliably be able to buy my dream car at the moment, a late-model NA Miata for just a little bit more. But a fishing rod, I can use pretty much every day for an hour or two or more. Insane compared to even a $300 "high end" setup, yes, but I think one would definitely feel much more rewarded for the money spent compared to many other hobbies. Now, buying a bass boat (and an accompanying truck), especially with my current income? That's kinda out of the question at the moment.

Been having a lot of luck lately in a primarily bluegill forage tiny lake/large pond with a Arkansas Shiner Super Fluke Jr. It's not dark, it's not light, it's.... pretty perfectly in between.

Throwing crankbaits isn't always an option with the shallow depths and algae bottoms we tend to have here, but it doesn't stop me from trying. What other applications would mono be ideal for on a 7' MH F rod with a 6.3 ratio?

Swung by the pawn shop to see if they had gotten anything new worth a d**n (which until now, has never really happened). Got to the fishing rods and found a BPS Prolite Special combo in MH for $40. It was surprisingly clean compared to most of the other setups they had, I would say it's sat in truck beds for a little bit but not forever. It felt just a little bit rough but the levelwind track was pretty gritty and I took the gamble that it was the only issue with it. Everything else checked out, and I felt like it was a deal I couldn't pass up, especially in the context of how generally horrible the market for used fishing equipment around here is. Once I got it home, I took it apart and got everything nice and happy again. Feels factory smooth now. The question remains though, what line should I spool onto it? I already have the 10-bearing Prolite Special on a 6'10" MH Shimano Sellus running 50lb PowerPro Slick, a 6'6" M Abu Garcia Blackmax combo running 40lb Suffix 832, and a Pflueger President 6935 on a 6'0" M Berkley Lightning Rod Shock running 15lb Power Pro Slick. If it isn't already obvious, I've totally fallen in love with braid. That beind said, I'm still open to suggestions. I have a spool of 15lb flouro that I originally bought for leader material that I've been thinking about putting on this, but water clarity is hardly ever an issue where I fish, so I don't see why I shouldn't keep going with straight braid. I honestly don't know how I want to use this new rod yet, I was already pretty happy with the spinnerbait, topwater and soft plastic triple threat I could present with my existing arsenal. Maybe use it to step up my creature bait flipping/pitching game? I should probably mention that I'm shorebound except for maybe one boating trip a month, and I generally fish 3-4 days a week as work permits.

I guess the newer M3s don't have a trunk passthrough of any kind then. I guess it adds weight and complexity, but you'd think that BMW would realize that perhaps a large number of their M3 customers have the means and time to pursue activities that involve long things..... like skiing and fishing, etc.

I've always had good results with the Strike King Tri-Wing. I always feel like I'm struggling to keep traditional buzzbaits on plane without overworking it. The Tri-Wing lets me slow things down. I'm interested in trying a quad wing buzzbait in the future for the ultimate in "slow rolling" on the surface.

Honestly, I would rather have left it and stayed unassociated with it. If someone else picks it up down the line, it's not my problem. If it turns out someone just forgot it and returned later and it was still there, the person who left it isn't going to be left wondering what happened to it.

Tell that to the couple that stole my phone, wallet, keys, fire pager and e-cigarette off the shore literally right behind my back while I was wading a section of the Bogue Chitto river. I'd even seen them before quite a few times, but neither I or local law enforcement has been able to find them again yet. We've been trying to nail them to the wall since that fire pager is government property.

.....Yes. Do I know you? Blacksburg Class of 08, VT Class of (Fall) 2012, History. I noticed earlier that your favorite river was the New River as well, I just now saw your interests include Tech too. Edit: I just sent you a friend request on Facebook. It's a small world, man.

Was fishing the pond in the middle of the local community college. Needless to say, it's really not well kept up, it's stocked once in a blue moon. People tell me that there's no bass left to catch, but I'm thoroughly convinced that the vast majority of fishermen here really don't have a clue as to what they're doing. Now, I'm all about supporting fishing as a hobby over say, crack cocaine, but I think you can only glean so much from people who throw rigs like a nose-hooked bright orange tube with said baitholder hook attached directly to a snap swivel that's also holding a bank sinker, all of this under a float (I have photographic evidence of this sorcery). The guy next to him was throwing what I'm pretty sure is an 8-10' Bomber or Bandit crankbait in no more than 4' of water. Anyway, I spent some time away from where the crowds usually are, and set my eyes on what i'm 95% sure was a fairly decent sized LMB. I guess the adage that big bass didn't get big by being stupid. It must have been in about 2.5' of water tops. Not wanting to scare it off, I avoided initially throwing reaction baits at it, and used it as an opportunity to practice my flippin' and pitchin'. Well, I got the practice I was looking for. Threw a Berkley Havoc Pit Boss in black/blue fleck, a Strike King KVD Rodent in California Craw, a Netbait Paca Craw in Alabama Craw, tried all of those three as jig trailers as well as a jig with a Zoom Super Chunk, a GYCB DT Hula Grub in purple/something on a jighead, shakey-head Zoom Trick Worms in Junebug, Green Pumpkin and Bubblegum, a weightless Watermelon/Black flake Senko, a weightless pumpkin/chartreuse tail Yum Dinger, and Texas-rigged watermelon red flake Zoom U-Tale. Giving up after all that rigging, I put on a War Eagle 5/8oz finesse spinnerbait (it's a downsized Oklahoma/Colorado tandem), cast it out and ran it past her nose a couple of times.... she just kinda spun in place and watched it go by. So, in a last ditch attempt, I did the same with a Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (the one with the clacker). She watched that one go by too, and retreated deep into cover. I guess some days, you just can't force a fish to bite. At least I got some good practice in flippin' and pitchin', and I think I may have leveled up in knot tying and soft plastic rigging.

I'll just keep telling myself that it did a barrel roll into a fish's mouth.

I hooked a fish the other day on a spinnerbait through its LOWER lip, almost immediately after coming through cover. The strike was like someone had dropped a piano on the other end of my line too. I actually briefly thought I had gotten hella snagged at first, since I knew I was coming through some heavy cover, but I realized in time it was a fish and not a branch and set the hook. Just a few minutes earlier, I had noticed it deflect into a sideways position off a fallen piece of timber, and instead of rolling back down, it slowly completed a full rollover, even running upside down briefly. Guess this motion must have elicited quite the reaction strike.

Upon further inspection, I think you may be right. Some internet searching reveals that the BPS and Academy walkers aren't built EXACTLY identical. I guess all the more reason to pick up a few of those for further inspection. This whole foray into fishing definitely is tickling my love of beating Chinese manufacturing at its own game. I sometimes wonder to myself how much of this actually has to do with being Chinese myself haha.

I honestly can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Don't you love the internet? If the action of the BPS lures is close enough to the Sammy's for a fifth of the price, I'd kinda rather take the extra versatility of buying five colors for the price of one. Also, I'm pretty sure the Academy and BPS ones come from the same factory. I'll pick up a couple next time I'm at Academy and I'll examine them more closely in-detail.

The whole fishing reel oil debate reminds me so much of my former lives as a bicycle mechanic and a downhill longboarder and the staggering selection of lubricants on the market. Obviously, there's some differences in applications, but I think all fundamentals of geartrain lubricants are similar. Heavy lubes will stick better to gears, etc, and generally are good for overall water repellency. The downside though, especially in a bike chain application, is that while it'll stay on, it'll also pick up enough grime and grit to make a street sweeper jealous, which overall will increase wear. I don't know applicable the dirt-->wear issue would be for fishing reels though. The increased viscosity also may have noticeable effects on bearing freespin. Not a huge issue in longboard wheels, despite the notion that insane freespin = insane performance (I always opted for thicker stuff in my bearings in an attempt to keep water and grime out), but might show up in something like spinning reels if you like to give the handle a kick and let it spin itself out. The way I look at it, in general, the more precise the operation, the finer the lubricant. On bikes with unsealed wheel hub bearings, we'd pack them with whatever can of grease was open in the back of the shop. Iron age technology = Iron age lubrication. I'll avoid using chain lube analogies as the applications are totally different. However, on "precision" gears, such as in shifters, etc, I liked to use light greases of unknown composition. For super-precision applications, such as cartridge bearings, cable housings, derailleur linkages, I liked to use the thinnest teflon-based, non-wax bearing lubricant I could get my hands on. Whatever you do, don't use 3-in-1, I'm still not sure what it is other than a huge gunky mess that has no place outside industrial-type operation. And for the love of God, don't use WD-40 on anything that you ever care about being remotely clean. The bike business taught me that WD-40 is like a hammer: it's a repair tool, not something you'd use in regular maintenance. A classic example would be a squeaky door hinge. The hinge, under ideal circumstances, shouldn't squeak, but WD-40 is decent for fixing it.

Thanks for quick replies everyone. On a side note, I'd like to build a flipping stick in the future as well. Since I forgot to factor in the whole winching a fish up a pier part, would it be unreasonable to get say, an extra, older round reel Abu Garcia baitcaster off Ebay or something to put on said flipping stick to dedicate to pier usage?

Has anyone noticed that the Bass Pro XTS Pencil Plug, their cheapest walker, is nearly identical in design to a Sammy? FWIW, Academy also stocks the same thing for about a dollar more under their own house brand. I was thinking about splurging on a Sammy to complement my Spooks (or more realistically, look pretty sitting on my desk because I'm the master of losing lures to improbable situations), but after some research and my last trip to BPS, I discovered that the designs are nearly identical. Indistinguishable length, weight, front scoop, hook placements, and even the tail-down sit at rest (which has garnered a whole slew of negative reviews on BPS's website haha). I bought two, a light colored one and a dark colored one, switched out the GARBAGE hooks for some decent ones, but haven't caught anything on them yet. I will say, the workmanship is pretty awful on them, but they run pretty well and for $3 I can't complain. Besides, there's that whole catching the fish/fisherman thing too. Can anyone that has both the BPS and the Sammy comment on this striking similarity? As cool as it would be to have a Sammy, why get that when I could get five clones for the same price?

I got a small little tackle tray from the thrift store for $2 that had a selection of Lindy's No-Snagg slip sinkers in it and a few other random pieces of terminal tackle..... and a blue Rapala Jointed Countdown-9 (CDJ-9) that after some Google-fu and fleabay checks, leads me to believe it's actually fairly valuable. I haven't used it yet because of it's potential value, but let's be real, I'm most likely never going to sell it either. If anyone happens to know the value of it, it's apparently been used, and is marked with "Ireland" on the bill.

My current bass arsenal includes an Abu Garcia BlackMax 6'6" M combo, a BPS Prolite Special on a Shimano Sellus 6'10" MH "Spinnerbait" rod, and an el cheapo Shakespeare Wal-Mart Special spinning reel on some random el cheapo fiberglass 6'6" Daiwa rod, rated for "M" but is floppy as hell. I have a local supply of Pfleuger President 6935s for like $35, and I was thinking about building that into a finesse spinning setup since my current spinning rod is so awful that I don't even bring it half the time I go out. I originally was going to ask for suggestions as to just a rod, somewhere in the $60-80 range. However, given my newfound proximity to saltwater after moving to McComb, MS from Blacksburg, VA in January, I'm starting to think that maybe I should build a dedicated saltwater setup for trips to the beach, etc. In particular, I've got my eyes on a trip a colleague has invited me to this winter to Delacroix for redfish/speckled trout. Now, I don't know the first thing about saltwater fishing, but I know a thing or two about what saltwater is capable of doing to equipment in general. First, is the President capable of handling saltwater? I suppose any reel can if you fully strip it and flush it after a trip, but that seems excessive for something like putting a line out off a pier at the beach. Also, anyone have any suggestions for a saltwater friendly rod that still makes a decent bass finesse rod? I'm sure it's subject to change, but I'm probably going to be throwing 15lb PP Slick or some 6-8lb flouro (maybe both using a leader lol), haven't really settled on what exactly I want to do, but I do know I want it to be in that range. Probably a medium, but I'm open to the idea of medium light. Would a setup like this be too light for redfish/speckled trout and whatever people catch off beach piers? I don't really would like to avoid further investing money into a saltwater setup that would get used only very occasionally if the opportunity for a new bass rod to pull double duty is available. However, I understand completely if it's not very feasible to have a decent finesse setup that's also a decent inshore SW setup. Thanks for reading.

McComb reporting in. Wait, that's a familiar looking fish. I definitely replied to your thread on r/bassfishing. Hello again.