the reel ess

No, my balance, or lack thereof, would preclude me from using this to fish. I have a hard time putting on socks while standing.

They generally don't have half of what I want, or they don't have the color I want, or they're out of it and don't know when they'll get it in. I went there looking for a boat plug, which they carry. I drove 20 miles and they had an empty box on the shelf and no idea when it would get refilled. I was fishing the next day, so i rigged one up myself with washers, a bolt and a nut. Point is, I can't count on them for anything.If they want to put one in your neighborhood, it would behoove you to fight it. You couldn't have a worse neighbor, to revise the Paul Harvey quote. Of course, we'll make our own judgments, but some things are worth paying a few extra dollars for. Grocery stores are shackled with the cost of Teamster rates, but Wally World has their own trucks and drivers. They force mfg's to make inferior products if they want to sell in their stores. Lots of the name brand Rebel and other lures that you see in their "bargain" bins are these inferior products that don't run true and never seem to catch anything and end up in the bottom of the box or at a yard sale. I have rid myself of all of these now that I'm able to afford decent tackle. I normally buy what I want from Academy or Amazon Prime.

I went yesterday to my buddy's pond and caught 15. The fish are stunted so they're smaller than average and he wants me to take all smallish fish. Well, they were fat and full of eggs. They've been feeding up, but there are no beds yet. I don't ahve a temp gauge, but I think it was so warm, I wouldn't worry about hypothermia if I fell in. Yes, I wore my PFD! If the warming continues, they may spawn a month early. Generally, April is the month when most of the spawning occurs here, with the biggest females going first. March might end up being the month of stable spring temps or they might split into march/april. The bass were deeper yesterday, but the wind was out of the northeast. I wondered if they'd even bite before I went, but I feel confident of getting 10 bass every time I go there.

I kinda hope it doesn't go through. I despise WalMart and these two would probably merge to become the WalMart of the outdoors biz. They will force companies to make cheaper than average products if they want to sell there and call them store exclusives when they're really cheap knockoffs. As mentioned several times in this thread, competition benefits the consumer and the lack of it benefits the corporation that comes out of this with more control over the market.

A crooked guide will want you to pay up front and won't show up.

I use a M 6-6 Lightning Rod for cranks and trebles. It's a $40 rod because sensitivity isn't important with trebles. I mostly use it for Rat L Traps, but it's a catch all for treble lures, including topwaters. I'd probably take your M rod for this purpose and get a MH for the single hook applications and the frog if you're not going to get a dedicated frog combo. I have a Cabela's 7-3 Hvy frog model rod for that purpose.

If I could have only three combos they'd be: 7' MH Casting...your 7-3 will cover that base and will give you some help with jigs and frogs as well. I like 30# braid on it, but that's a personal choice. 6'6" M casting...a good all-around casting rod for trebles, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. I like 15# mono. Again, a personal thing, but it floats for topwaters and allows some stretch for the trebles. 7' MH spinning...spinning rods are usually a little "whippier" than casting rods of the same rating. you can do a little of everything with lighter lures. I love 20# braid for spinning because it doesn't twist nearly as much. In fact, I have those combos and a couple more. I like fast casting reels because I'm getting old and lazy. If you're compromising, a 6.2:1 will cover more techniques. For spinning, that Trion is alll anyone needs. I have one and I'll have another or a President when I need to replace a reel. I guess that's 4 combos, but then I usually take 7 in the truck and possibly 6 on the kayak. I can't decide.

I don't like leaders for that very reason. I still catch bass, and big ones with straight braid. I think bedding bass can see you so the line is not of major concern. Who knows about the jig. But bass are pretty crafty when it comes to backing hooks out. Hopefully it works the jig against something until it's loose and falls out.

Thanks. I already am subscribed to all those you mentioned. When you get your channel going, let me know the name. I've learned a lot of my bass yakking knowledge off YT.

The wife bought me an action camera for V Day and I'm interested in making fishing videos, mostly on the kayak, and possibly posting to YouTube. Do any of you do that and do you have any beginner tips for me?

I fell out once in 60 degree water, but the kayak didn't flip. I set the hook on a fish that wasn't there and couldn't regain my balance. I guess I went with the flow and bailed out. But when I did, I got braid around my ankle about 7 times. I also had to hold the yak and side stroke it to shore. I was in a pond with a very semisolid bottom composition. My daughter thought it was very scary at first then very funny. This is the only time it's ever happened.

Their plastics and spinnerbaits have been fine for me. But I usually don't bother with them. I go to Academy and get the name brands or their store brand. I do own a Glide in bass pattern and haven't caught a thing on it. I'll bet the BPS brand can at least match that production.

Rat L Trap fished as slowly as possible.

Rat L Trap in gold/black. I bought an Academy H2O Xpress Rattlin' T. It worked well at my buddy's pond. But the next time out with a different fellow, he flat smoked me with a CC Super Spot in gold. I caught two dinks and he caught 6, two over 3 lbs and lost the best one of the day at the boat.

It's prespawn all the time right now where I usually fish. Fish are on the first points and dropoff edges and some are even in shallower water. Trap, Spinnerbait, T rigs, etc. But I fish mostly smaller waters. I imagine on larger lakes they're between deep winter haunts and first points to coves. While they know it's warm and will feed, they also instinctively know the amount of daylight per day and there are almost certainly cold days ahead.

Mad skills That song's named Yackety Sax.

I just packaged up some tackle that I won't use and dobated it to a local charity thrift shop, among other things. Among the lures were a few Traps that I've never gotten a bite on. They only want gold metallic/black or silver metallic around here. I had so many I couldn't fit any more cranks in that box.

Funny. My kayaking buddy, who only fishes when he's with me and only has one combo because i gave it to him uses the trick Worm on bubble gum exclusively-and catches fish. Bama rig, big swimbaits, huge crankbaits, monster worms. I'm sure these all work and have their place, but you can go days without a bite when you oversize. I fish where there are big bass and I find that they'll bite normal size baits. But I'm a sucker for the expensive topwaters like rats.

When I was a kid my dad really wanted a pontoon so he got one. I really wanted a fishing boat so I fished from the pontoon. We used a cinder block for an anchor exclusively because the pontoon was like a sail when the breeze picked up. We would use two blocks if it was "whitecapping in the commode." I still have two of these that I bought for striper fishing. I even had a sideplate with clicker put on them. They're like new because I never use them anymore.

http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/bass_basics.html T rigged Trick Worm in about any color would be my first bait if I had to start over from scratch. Rat L Trap, spinnerbait, weightless trick Worm, T rigged craw are all on my rods right now. In the spring-summer-fall, I swap some out with topwaters. Summer is a long season here. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing-techniques/

It's considered really bad form to outfish the boater Honestly, once he has gone past a spot, it's yours, no? Put enough good bass in the boat and I bet he'll break one out.

I'd rather catch one bass on a topwater than two on a subsurface lure. Maybe three. I love thiose YouTube videos of dramatic topwater explosions.

The whole leader vs no leader debate never ends and there are pro anglers on both sides of the argument. Lately, it seems more are in the leader camp. I'm with you. I don't fish gin clear lakes anyway, but fish will bite an umbrella rig. If we can see 5 wires on this contraption they surely can. They can certainly see that a crankbait has no tail and that a spinnerbait really doesn't look like fish. But they still react to them when they're hungry or active.

If you held it upside down, you win the entire message board. Rat L Trap and lately the H2O Xpress knockoff from Academy. It actually looks more like a Redeye shad. My buddy uses CC Super Spots. When you do you'll be "hooked" on them.

I don't own but a few jigs and rarely, if ever, use them. I use straight braid on three combos with no leaders and cheap Big Game mono on the others. I use old BPS spinnerbaits with cheap swivels. I caught my PB on one.