blckshirt98

Guns and Roses "Patience" and that f'ing Verizon commercial "My prepaid brings all the geeks to the plan"

Patience and discipline. The hardest part for me is not getting frustrated if I don't get a bite or catch any fish. Towards the end of mornings like that I start cussing to myself and start thinking "what a f***ing waste of time that was" because I usually wake up at 4-430am to get to the lake by 5:15am, and will fish until about 10-11am, and won't get home until noon. I start thinking about all the other things I could have done with the 7-8 hours that morning.

Probably late but Outlet Bait is having a sale and they have Yamamoto 4" grubs $5.39 for 40 grubs (at 2 for 1), so you can stock up for next time. http://www.overstockbait.com/Gary-Yamamoto-4-Single-Tail-Grub-20-Pack-p/40-20.htm

The Curado E was the last Curado with the "Made in Japan" stamp and the last model before Shimano did that mindless "step every reel down one level".

The M1 is fantastic, I hope you get one and can give some feedback on the rod!

All depends on the reel, demand for the reel, and how rare the reel comes up for sale, how rare they're in new condition.

Also with every new crankbait on a existing or new setup, check to see how it looks in the water based on your cranking speed. Some crankbaits might look "normal" when cranking at a certain speed, but another crankbait when cranked at that same speed might look a little off (wobbles too spaz at same cadence, has more side to side wobble when retrieved a touch more slowly, etc) From there you can adjust how you want to work the lure and when you might want to throw one over another.

I do, the engineering and machining behind some of these reels are great to look at. I really like it when some of the manufacturers take into account color aesthetics and highlights when designing the reel.

You'll never throw a tube again!

Rubber bands rot and crack fairly quickly! I use them to keep my 2 piece rods together and they break down quickly. I actually usually use mono for backing, but was going to spool up a reel with 50lb PowerPro and was considering going straight braid with no mono on it because of capacity.

Also try calling a local marina or tackle shop about upcoming tournaments. They usually have that info ahead of time to prepare for the influx of people. Also many of these local tackle shops will have flyers or people on staff fishing in some of the local regional tournaments that could give you some more info.

You didn't mention if you were specifically talking about bass fishing, or if you could afford to live anywhere in California, but assuming you mean fishing opportunities in general and that you can afford anywhere, I'd go with - Saltwater Emphasis - Southern California - San Diego - access to Mission Bay and the surf, and the boats out of San Diego for offshore. Saltwater fishing in SoCal is light years above NorCal because of the warmer water and number of different species you can catch. San Diego has has a lot more freshwater options(water levels notwithstanding) for LMB than Los Angeles or the Central Coast, including the famed Barrett Reservoir. A close runner up would be Dana Point - walking distance to surf/jetty fishing, all the San Diego locations are a short drive away, access to some of the freshwater inland places (Elsinore, Diamond Valley), dingy rentals out of Newport Harbor, offshore charters from San Diego all the way up through Los Angeles, a couple of trout options in Irvine, and even Big Bear two hours way to get into the mountains and even better trout fishing. Freshwater Emphasis - Northern California - Discovery Bay - small man-made community where you tie up your boat in your own private dock at the back of the house and you can fish the CA Delta whenever you want, without needing to go through inspections or wait for a marina/ramp to open. Lake Berryessa, Folsom Lake, and many of the Mother Lode lakes in the Sierra Nevadas are less than two hours away. There's a lot of trout/freshwater options in Contra Costa County only an hour away (Los Vaqueros, Del Valle, San Pablo Reservoir, among many others),, and you have tons of shoreline access for saltwater 1-2 hours away in San Francisco Bay and up and down the coast from Santa Cruz up to Bodega Bay. But really, with Discovery Bay you're in a nice community on the freaking CA Delta, where you can fish every day for your entire life and never fish the same spot twice.

It would also depend on the discount. I think people get confused with the term "pro staff" in that I think many think it means "pro team" where they send you free stuff to use and you wear their gear and stick a decal on your boat and go fish. "Pro staff" is "promotional staff" where you get like a nominal discount on their stuff (I heard it can sometimes be only 20% off MSRP) where you can often find a cheaper price online if you're wanting to try out their baits.

That's the one! Thanks!

I'm looking for a simple reference chart someone made and posted here a few months ago that showed fishing technique and recommended rod/reel/line. I know I saved the chart but can't seem to find it anywhere, and can't find the post either!

So just a dumb question, but what are those tabs they include in PowerPro line used for? I've used them by sticking like 2-3 on the spool to prevent slipping before spooling the braid, but, they don't seem to fit any spool with any sense of proper sizing, so I'm assuming they weren't intended to be used for that.

The quick dry shirts keep you dry so your sweat doesn't weight you down. Also I've found that using a boonie style of hat makes a huge difference because it keeps the direct sun off your head and most of your neck (depending on the sun's position) and you can also "aim" the top of your head at the sun to keep your neck shaded. Keeping your head/neck area cool, and a dry shirt, works the best for me.

Dropshot a small 3.5" kut tail and let it sit there like bait!

I've only swapped stock hooks on Strike King squarebills and for those I use the Mustad Triple Grip 2xShort 1xStrong hooks. The shorter hook lets you upsize the hooks by one size without messing up the bait action or tangling up the hooks. I only do this because, well, it's what KVD does with his Strike King squarebills. So for the 1.0 I'll go up to a size 4, for the 1.5 I'll go up to a size 2. For 2.5 I've kept the stock hooks since they seem sturdy enough, but if they ever break or rust I'll upsize to a size 1. For other brands definitely see how the crankbait swims in the water after swapping out hooks before committing to swapping the hooks out on other similar crankbaits.

As a 100% bank guy the one rod I pretty much always take that has caught more than all my other rods combined is a Phenix M1 MXS72M. Paired up with at 2500 size Shimano reel with 15$# PowerPro, I'll use leader in the 7-10# range for pretty much all my finesse/soft plastic stuff, and will go straight braid for reaction baits up to 1/2 oz (squarebills and such, with the KVD 1.5 being the heaviest I'll go). I'll bring a baitcaster for reaction baits (larger squarebills, chatterbaits) usually either a Phenix X3 (Revo STX Gen 2 20# Sniper FC) or an Orochi SwingFire (Citica 201E 20# Sufix Braid). I'll bring the X3 if I want to go heavy on chatterbaits, the SwingFire if I want to throw more crankbaits. A lot of times I'll just bring the M1 and go finesse and smaller crankbaits (KVD 1.0/1.5).

Reeb's Bolt Throwers! http://www.reebslures.com/shop-all-lures/bolt-thrower

Dropshot a 4" plastic all day and you'll catch fish.

Check out the Gantarel Jr's as well - they're a hardbait so you don't have to worry about tearing plastic, and they're fairly affordable. Also the matte Black Impact Gill might be the sickest paint job I've seen in a mass produced bait.

I've bought a mix of brands as well but i've done so well with Strike King's cranks that i bought enough Strike King squarebills to fill up and dedicate an entire Plano crankbait box to them. As a shore guy I don't fish deep cranks much, but if I did I'd go Strike King there as well. I think they have the best color selection, are affordable where you can throw them into crud without having to worryif you lose it, and they're available everywhere where you can usually find them on sale a few times a year to stock up.

There's a dude from Indiana on eBay selling 100 packs of 3" grubs for like $6 plus shipping. Can't vouch for him but his feedback is good, and for that price you might want to take a chance on his grubs. http://stores.ebay.com/wallyfriedaburns?_trksid=p2047675.l2563