blckshirt98

Cabelas has 660yard 25# spools of FC Sniper in Clear for $24.99. I got the last In Stock spool but it says the item is Backorderable - might be worth a shot!

St. Croix should be able to replace that rod for free, give them a call!

Regarding that tree, bring an extendable pruning saw and saw that branch off!

Grats Austin, glad you've been on the fish and it's been a successful trip so far, some chunky smallies there! I remember you creating a few posts here looking for advice, I hope some of the responses were able to help you out! Keep it up and let us know how the rest of the trip goes!

Nice job! Solid looking fish with really deep color!

Depending on how big the pond is, maybe introduce a couple of pieces of structure, conveniently within casting distance from shore, into the pond to give the bass some cover.

My dad introduced me and my siblings to fishing from when we could first hold a pole. Being an Asian family, fishing is kind of a cultural thing, and other sports not so much. A little bit of freshwater fishing, but mostly pier fishing for perch/mackerel. As for bass fishing specifically that's not a species my dad targeted, and one I dabbled with a little bit back in junior high with limited success. About 4.5 years ago, after about a 20 year break, I started fishing again, but only from the pier/surf. 3.5 years ago I started focusing on bass. A lot of my learning was trial and error based on time on the water. I did try to read up on posts in a couple of online forums, and bought and read bass magazines whenever I could. The availability of information on the internet has really sped up my learning curve, something that wouldn't have been possible 20 years ago when I was doing everything wrong and could only learn through word of mouth from friends or by watching "The Fishin' Hole" on ESPN. I now try to go fishing with my nephews, and even my niece has said she wants to go fishing so I'll probably take her out next Spring when the pre-spawn/spawn bite in on fire.

My mantra is that as long as you have your phone/wallet/keys, you can buy anything you need, or, get back home if it all falls apart.

Nice, this post made it to Jay Kumar's Bassblaster newsletter!

Just don't forget your plugs.

I went to a stocked trout lake and the only fish I caught that day was a bass on a Panther Martin Holographic Rainbow Trout spinner!

(Chartreuse) Sexy Shad and Natural Shad have been my go-to colors that always seem to get bit.

Yeah buddy, nice job!

I went back to the local tackle shop this past weekend and got a R2S Popper to compare to the Walker I already have. They both have "vented gills" to spit water when walked or popped. The Walker will be more like the Sammy than the Popper. The Walker is made to walk like the Sammy, but spit extra water through the vented gills. The Popper will be more your traditional popper like a LuckyCraft G-Splash, but with extra water being spit out through the vented gills. The Popper you "could" make walk, but is not the best tool for the job, so to speak. tl;dr - If you have 2 Sammys and had to choose between an R2S Walker or Popper, get the Popper.

Whoops! I got a used Citica E off the 'Bay and the freespool/retrieve wasn't super smooth. Instead of getting it serviced I took some Ardent Reel Butter Oil and squirted it on pretty much every moving part. I took out the spool and squirted some where the handle/gears are as well. I haven't used it yet but when I put it back together everything felt like it was sprayed with WD40 and the freespool would spin forever. Did I make a mistake here?

30lb PowerPro should be like steel cable - if all of the checks people suggested above turn up nothing, that might be a bad batch of line.

Check out the Jackall Gantarel Jr or River2Sea S-Wavers. One thing to keep in mind is that In another post you mentioned you only had a M power spinning rod - a lot of hard swimbaits have some weight to them and may not cast well on that setup. One hard swimbait that I've thrown on spinning gear without issues is a Jackall Giron (glidebait), and at 3/4 of an ounce is just at the edge of where I'd make the weight cutoff.

It doesn't sound like you're bringing the tag end back down through the eye after tying your palomar. And like other's have mentioned there are some specialty hooks made to keep the hook centered and upright (VMC Spinshot, Gamakatsu G-Finesse Swivel Shot, Blakemore Standout).

10lb mono is actually probably too stiff for a spinning reel - it will spring off like a slinky and you'll get frustrated. 8lb is about the heaviest I would go for a spinning reel. I had the same problem with cutting off braid to tie palomar knots but what I do now instead is use a swivel for my dedicated drop shot combs, or, use a speed clip (Normal Speed Clip, Tactical Angler Power Clip, etc) and attach my hardbaits directly to the clip or will attach a pre-rigged dropshot rig with a Spro Power Swivel. Just hook up the speed clip to the Power Swivel and you're good to go. Rarely have to retie the braid except after some use and there's fraying where you know the braid has been compromised.

As a shore guy myself when it's too windy I go home. Not only does bad wind make casting tough, it makes feeling the bait tough, it makes placing and holding your baits where you want it tough, and it makes tying knots a nightmare. Just way too much frustration and aggravation when I fish to relax and decompress.

Is the *** a spinning or casting setup? You should be able to fish a dropshot with that whichever setup you have. Senko O-Rings are pretty much one-size for the a standard 5" senko. I have one of those wacky rigging tools that slide the O-ring onto the senko as well, otherwise you really have to stretch and compromise the integrity of the senko when you slide on an O-ring (like on a Yamamoto a lot of the sand/salt will rub out). Always use a weight when dropshotting, otherwise you're basically just fly-lining a plastic You can dropshot flukes but my preference is something more supple so you really can get the tail to move with the current or with a slight twitch.

Trout have got to be the wussiest fish around. Those things die if you just breathe on them funny.

I've lost a few fish as well after unhooking them, it's just a part of the deal. I felt bad after seeing the guys floating belly up but I didn't feel bad enough where I'll stop fishing. Just take solace in the fact that a bird will probably swoop down and eat it, or, it'll sink to the bottom and some crawdads or other creatures will feed off of it, so it's not really going to waste, just going back into the food chain.

One way to use O-rings and get the same presentation as if not using an O-ring is to use two of them and "cross" them and place the hook under where they cross, it'll keep the hook facing the right direction so the action stays symmetrical - Also, dropshot x100, I'm going to wait for your next report and if you get skunked again I'm going to send you a pack of my secret weapon. Just make sure you have a couple of ML/M-F/XF spinning rods with 8-20lb braid set up (15 lb braid would be ideal).

Dang! I've been waiting for your post on how you did, and I'm totally bummed. Sorry you only had access by the dam, that place looks like it's at max capacity with the water going all the way up to the trees! I'm not sure what other advice I could give. Everything you listed that you used looks like power/reaction techniques. Did you or your brother try any slower/finesse presentations? PM me your address and I'll send over a couple of dropshot rigs with plastics...I'm kind of angry you didn't catch anything and if you don't catch anything on a dropshot I give up!