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I fish for bass mostly but I like catching crappie and bream, too. I like catching! Going for hours with no bite isn't so fun. Has anyone gone to lighter tackle for bass and found that they catch more fish? Has anyone gone lighter just so you catch more any species? Or gone lighter to target crappie or panfish? Would like to hear some takes on this. I guess I should go watch some ned rig videos, lol. Been awhile. I'm thinking if one can catch 2-3 bass/hour, that's good fishing. But if you go much lighter, you might catch more than that, but they'd be multi-species. Of course, you might have to go ultralight to do that. Did you go ultralight or just a little lighter than normal bass fishing? Let's hear from you! EDIT: What baits/techniques do you use? How has it upped your catch?

Darren, do you know if you can shorten the butt of most bass rods? Sometimes, the butt end on some rods catches on my shirt a lot and bugs me. Hmmm... might change the overall balance, might not be good and I don't know how you'd know until you did it, lol. Bass rods ain't cheap.

I know many in that family but not your friend. As for gators this far north, oh yeah, even into southern Arkansas now, I see them all the time there now on the river. BTW, I fished today and had one about ten feet following my boat as I fished. Sometimes it seems they are actually kinda smart and that he was waiting for me to catch a fish and he would then steal it.

I saw a Roland Martin youtube recently where the gators were def interested in the lure he was casting. I was surprised. As for gators, I have been catfishing several times where gators were a nuisance. This is hanging limb lines from overhanging tree limbs and a weight with a hook and bait. We kept losing entire lines. Finally figured out it was gators and over time, it became apparent that they would watch us bait the line and lie in wait. When a fish got on the line, they'd go eat the whole thing and snap the line. When I was young, we never had gators here and over time, they have moved north and we have bunches now.

Do you go with one insurer for your various policies each year? You change each year? Interesting. Is that right? What about medical and liability coverage, surely you can get that on a 20+ year old boat?

Do you insure your boat? If so, why? (If you're financed, I suppose you have to have it, so, that answers the question.) The first boat I ever owned was in the early 1970s. I do not recall if I actually had boat insurance or if this was covered by my auto or homeowners but I kind of sunk the boat, lol. A freak storm came up on Table Rock lake and this boat was a stick steer Kingfisher with a 70hp Evinrude and I recall it as being a 15 ft boat. Whatever it was, those giant waves were too much and rather than lose it in the open sea, I headed for the nearest land. Problem was, the land was full or giant rocks. Which beat my Kingfisher up real bad. Rainwater and water splashing over the transom sunk the stern. It's mind-blowing I cannot remember exactly how this went down but, obviously, we must have flagged someone down after the storm because this was before cell phones. Got to the marina and I recall the owner as being able to pull it out of the water somehow or knew someone who could. And I guess he knew someone who could fix it. Had to fix all the fiberglass that was bashed up and also overhaul the motor, since it got wet. Insurance covered it, I do recall that, and that boat went on to live many years after. Point being, thank goodness for insurance! Also, accidents happen on the water just like land and if other insurance does not cover, ugh, if you have an accident and hurt your boat, yourself or somebody. What do you guys do, insure or not? I wonder what percentage of boat owners insure.

Your avatar is hilarious.

My former addiction was t-rig black worm. Then years ago, a weightless fluke. Now it's a Senko. I'm kinda slow to catch on.

Somebody mentioned in another thread seeing a bass hit a live dragonfly flying above the water. Made me think of crazy things I have seen. What have you encountered? Natural or not, lol. We were fishing schooling bass on Toledo Bend decades ago. When they would bite (sometimes they would not!), that was fun! I fished out of a 12 ft jon boat, believe it or not! With a 10hp Merc and the smallest troll motor ever. Amazing to me that we fished out of that boat on that giant lake. Of course, in those days, there was still a lot of timber above water and the wind wasn't as bad. But we'd fish in the dog days of summer, brutally hot, and not much wind. Anyway, they had these big boat roads cut and you could boogie around full speed in that little boat and we would chase the schools when they'd bust water. I had a rod I wasn't using laying in the boat and the end of it was sticking over the gunwale. A school surfaced and we went to catching them and a bass jumped out of the water and bit that Redfin lure with the treble hooks that was sticking outside the boat! Mad scrambling to save the Ambassadeur reel on the Fenwick pistol-grip rod! Now, that's some easy fishing.

I have not! You have? That is cool.

I have a friend who is the best I have ever seen for putting a lure to cover with pinpoint accuracy and almost no splash. It's truly amazing to watch. He does it with flipping, pitching and casting underhanded and sidearmed. LOL! All of the above. As I have been pondering taking on flipping and pitching (have never learned it all these years), I was just sitting here thinking of how he does what he does regarding no splash. I asked him one time how he does that; he mentioned stopping the bait right before it hits the water with his thumb. Uses a baitcaster. Yep, I get it. I saw a pro describe that recently and he elaborated on it, saying that if you do this right, the bait goes from traveling horizontally to becoming suddenly halted (when the bait is at the target), with end result being it enters the water vertically, head first. Which is less surface area of the bait striking the water, which means less splash. As I sat here thinking about it, I am thinking that there is another component. And that is that his bait is low altitude the entire way to the target. Not much off the water, be it flipping, pitching or doing one of his underhanded or sidearmed casts. So, with less height above water, it has less distance to fall, which translates to less vertical energy, meaning less splash. Hmmm... Most all of this pertains to soft plastics but he even does this with a crankbait! He actually loves a crankbait around trees. He often reels the bait to bump the tree. I know one thing from watching him. Day in, day out, on the same lake with cover targets, he will win if you don't master this. But I am not in competition, just making a point that to increase odds of catching fish, this is the ticket.

I note that the Lews reel I have is 7.1:1 gear ratio; I do not have any reel faster than that. Do you guys think, that at the end of the day, using an 8:1 reel would make a difference? If so, can anyone recommend an 8:1 reel? I saw a Daiwa Fuego 8.1:1 reel that is $100. I have seen that reel mentioned as adequate. $100 is nice but I am also willing to spend more, because the majority of time, I am making short casts of soft plastic, and as I said, I hope to graduate to flipping/pitching to the same cover on lakes I fish. As for 'getting this right', I certainly need to get a good rig for short casts of soft plastics to cover targets. Could someone also comment about rod length? What would an 8ft rod get you vs. a 7.5ft rod? Yes, my 7.5ft rod will work, just seeking knowledge on this. EDIT: Hmmm... I see that @Shimano_1 commented in another thread that for this use... "I've settled on the 7 ratio with ipt around 30-31 inches being the sweet spot for me."

My input isn't worth much on this as I have not used many brands but I am amazed at how good Suffix 832 is, especially on a spinning reel. And I've got some several years old installed still working great.

What do you guys think about the higher speed reels, how do they help you or improve your fishing? I see a KastKing Speed Demon Elite baitcast reel for $120 and it touts 10.5:1 ratio. And I thought 8.5:1 was super fast! Is this KastKing reel any good, I don't know anything about this brand. That price puts it on the lower-mid range of baitcast reels. Also, are spinning reels slower, in general, or does the larger handle mean they can do about the same feet/sec retrieve vs. baitcast?

I just bought a Tatula Elite for $230. You can get a Zillion for that? Will Zillion cast as far, how do they compare, you say it's a huge step up. In what way? TIA

HEY, I have one of those Ridgid crates! (I am looking for what the OP is looking for, lol.) That Skeeter box thingy is great, very nice, but seems expensive. Thanks for those! I have the link #4, the Plano tackle box, and it's been awesome, have had it for several years and it has not failed in any way. I am intrigued by your link #6, as it appears to be close to the same thing for 75% less money!

FWIW, just another data point... the Pro Qualifier weighs 8 oz and I note that higher end baitcast reels I have weigh 6.8oz to 7oz. Out of curiosity, I think I will compare these rigs while fishing to see if it actually makes a difference.

I have brand new Pro Qualifier reels never used yet. How do you think these stack up against 2021 reel offerings? I would probably use for soft plastics as I have other more spendy reels for long distance casting if that is an issue. The box says... PQX10SHD 7 bearing system 1 pc aluminum frame dual braking system double anodized spool tiranium nitride coated line guide recurved handle and star drag design maxium drag power, 10 lb 7.1:1 gear ratio I think I have seen advertised Pro Qualifier 2, so maybe they have a new model? I don't even know if they still sell this one. I bought these on sale 2-4 years ago, I don't recall exactly. I have a couple of these that I have used for years and I have had no issues, I have thought these are good reels.

Boat covers are seriously expensive. Sheesh, it seems everything is expensive these days; I do not believe inflation numbers the gubment has been touting for the a number of years now! As for a cover, I bought a canvas cover from Cabelas a couple years ago for my 19ft bassboat. I recall that it was somewhere in the range of $300 to $450 normally, don't recall exactly, but I got it on year-end closeout at a bargain. I tell ya, this cover has been good. It's got a ratchet strap to cinch it up all around. It appears to still be in good shape and we have a lot of rain and brutal heat in the summer here, so, stuff outside is certainly subject to bad conditions. I figure it'll last a good while longer. Has anyone found a cover that you like? I guess a custom cover would be cool, one that precisely fits your boat. This one has a lot of slop and is a bit heavy and cumbersome but it does its job and that's what it's for! And you can tighten it up working with it. BTW, I don't think this is a travel cover but I haven't needed that anyway. As for other options to save money, I bought a used billboard vinyl online for a smaller boat and now I got it and need to try it out. You can get them various sizes; I think this one is 12' x 24'. I paid something like $65 for it. If it works, and I can't see why it won't, that's cheap! The hope is it's tougher and longer lasting than a tarp.

You say "PE#1"... what is that? And why is .007" the finest you'd want to use? TIA

Mike, you say you only use it as follow up, does that mean you cast it after you have used another bait at that target? What do you normally fish with? I use soft plastics more than anything, for sure.

Why the Berkley General, Mike? Always trying to learn!

What is your favorite Senko color? I haven't fished much with Senko until this year and I guess I go with what Roland Martin says is their biggest seller, green pumpkin black flake #297. It's been working. But yesterday, I tried Red Shad Laminate color #900 and I caught one first cast and then caught some more, so, it works! But, they were biting yesterday! The water had some color to it, it was not super clear, which isn't that common here! I am betting simple black color would work fine. Lastly, do you favor the Yamasenko or a different brand? It would be great to find one less expensive. Or a source to buy Yamasenko in bulk!

I like to let bass run, it's enjoyable to me. I try to steer them clear of logs, trees, grass, keep them in open water. It seems they will head for open water usually. I try to keep them from jumping but sometimes you can't. And if they get off, no big deal for me these days. I am going to put them back anyway except I keep some smaller ones sometimes to eat. I am amazed at how hard bass can pull. Ones I am catching lately on a certain lake, those suckers are incredibly strong. Fun! I caught 13 this afternoon in two hours. Several 3 to 4 lbs, super strong fish. I lost a real big one couple of days ago. When she headed up to jump I knew it was trouble because it was a chatterbait and I could just see that fish throwing that rather heavy lure and she sure did. It was between 6 and 8 lbs I'd say. Oh well, caught several good ones that day, too.

How do they help you launch, you mean anchor at dock after launch instead of tying rope? How does it help save lures?