snake95

Good information. When it comes to clearance or discounted fishing tackle at Walmart, I have also found that it never hurts to ask if a manager can improve on the price; also, it's always smart to check the price before you get to the register, and again as they ring up the items. Plenty of discounted items are labeled one way, but ring up another.

Heavyduty that's great news. What sizes do they carry? What sizes do you use? The ones I like the best are maybe 4.5 inches long, but the ones on Lurenet are only 3.75 inches. I also found packs of smaller ones in the bargain bins but haven't tried those yet.

Recently tried Yum Mighty Bugs Texas rigged with good success: buzzed along surface (more like plopped to create a wake) then let fall; swam mid-water column, and cast and let fall on targets. The claws and extra legs do a great job of flapping for this type of fishing. Any other baits you like to fish this way? Anyone else fish this bait and then find a substitute? Seem like they are not a very popular bait, only some strays in old bargain boxes at Walmarts, and some mid-size baits on Lurenet.

Thanks Buzz. You and others encouraged me to focus on plastics in another thread and had some good tips. Since then I've caught bass on senkos, trickworms, and paddletails -- and just recently creatures and now craws in our neighborhood pond. I tried topwaters yesterday and I only got one strike on a skitter walk, and I couldn't connect. Buzzbaits - no interest. But that craw was the ticket. I'm now a believer.

Great fishing and good use of "free" time. I was also at a pond N. of ATL yesterday afternoon for an hour and the bite was by far the best I've experienced this year. I am learning plastics and tried a green pumpkin YUM mighty bug rigged texas with a 3/16 bullet. Swam it so the arms paddled the surface to create a V-wake, then let it flutter down. They hammered it on the fall.

I take both approaches: both the KISS principle, and the "be prepared" approach. For me, both have their merits - neither one is wrong. For some people, obviously it is one or the other. On "simple" days, I have one rod, one hook remover, and either a plastics binder or a plano 3600 or 3700 box. On the not-as simple days, I use an over-the-shoulder tackle bag and two rods. Honestly, some days I get by with only a single 3600 box but still feel the need for two rods - say a shorter one with mono for topwater hardbaits and another longer heavier one with braid for frogs. My shoulder bag always has a basic stock of various hooks, weights, and jigs. I also have a scale and tape. I add or subtract 3600 boxes and/or plastics bags in a ziplock in the main compartment based on the day. I might throw in a floro spool for leaders if needed. The baitbinder has a subset of the shoulder bag hooks and weights. I am a bit of an organization freak and the key to staying flexible for me is to have everything modular and ready to go. So, I have an assortment of "go" boxes, usually stocked with a variety of baits based on the season rather than by lure type. With 2-3 go boxes plus a few bags of soft plastics, I have never ever felt like I ran out of options or missed a key bait. At home I have clear boxes with "on deck" lures and plastics, to try out or put back into rotation in the 3600 boxes (based on a suggestion from another BR reader). I use old style tackle boxes only for storage at home, unless I'm going on a serious road trip. I go with "simple" if I am going for a quick trip, want to dedicate my time to a particular type of lure or method, or just want to travel light. I go with the bag if I have a longer time to fish, and especially if I want to try some lures I haven't used in a while. For me, half the fun is experimenting with a variety of lures when I have several hours to do that. Alright, I'll admit it, on really long trips, I sometimes I'll toss in a bunch of spare 3600 boxes and yet another rod in the car. I love to try different things, when I have the time to justify changing around.

Many great tips already about preventing backlashes, which are the root cause of your line breakage. I am only about a year into baitcasting myself. From the perspective of a relative newbie, I would say that once I've gotten "pretty good" at casting, the primary cause of backlashes is not adjusting the brakes and/or tension knob to suit the lure I just tied on. It sounds like a dumb mistake since changing settings is the first thing you learn. But for me, this has become more of an issue as I get better at casting, because I start to get confident that I will intuitively adjust arm motion, thumbing, etc as appropriate for the lure weight. The problem comes when I cross that line into overconfidence, and the settings aren't right. My understanding is that some guys can cast heavy baits with zero braking or tension just by thumb control alone, but for most mortals, brakes help! After snapping off a couple of prized lures, I have tried to get in the habit of pausing for just a second, check the brake or tension settings, then make the cast, after every lure change. Might not apply to you, but something you might want to consider.

Watching bluegills and green sunfish lately, their tails and fin extremities appear as bright yellow or chartreuse. As they go by quickly you see a bright flash behind a darker fish. Seems to support the use of plastic baits with chartreuse tips.

Just picked up a couple of LC Gunfish 117 without reading about what makes a 117 different from the 75, 95, and 115. Did a little reading on the LC website after the fact. Took it for a walk as soon as I got it home, but no topwater bites on this or anything else. Two questions: Why does it retail for about 30% less than the other models? If you've used both the 117 and the other gunfish, what is the difference in performance and applications?

Hi guys, I've been on the forum for a few months. I'm originally from the very northern limit of the largemouth range, but have lived in the south a long time now. Was an avid fisherman as a teenager, fishing every week (or day) I could, scouting new spots, making lures, etc. Fished sporadically in decades that followed; have been fishing hard for the last two years now that I have kids old enough to join me. I don't find big chunks of time to fish, but make the most of what I do have - by fishing wherever and whenever I can. I'm a multispecies angler but love that largemouth bass are found in nearly all of our local ponds and rivers. Caught my first topwater bass last year and now fanatical about all types of topwaters; I like to fish fast and I am most at home cranking away along a shoreline. Working hard at learning to slow down and use plastics, and the forum has helped a lot with that so far. Really appreciate all the input and glad to be on board!

I enjoyed fishing vicariously through your great recap. Even washed a couple ibuprofen down with a pale ale after I got to the bottom.

Wondering if anyone has encountered wear from storing hardbaits in close contact in a tackle box or storage boxes, and if so, how do you deal with them? Specifically, I am thinking about all the baits crammed together in tight compartments, and the potential effects of hooks and other hardware causing damage to each other. I can accept the obvious consequence that there is going to be some scratching of plastic and paint. But I've been wondering if all that banging around of metal against metal in close quarters (e.g. from hooks and hardware) causes hooks to dull? Tangling can be a pain, so I sometimes get obsessive and use small elastics to help prevent tangles, as shown by Alex Keszler in a video on storing ice fishing cranks. But I can never imagine using those little hook cover things. Maybe this is a complete non-issue?

Definitely don't call it quits!!! Just to reinforce what OK Mike said so well, keep it simple, keep it cheap. In fact, you can even look at working with some basics as part of the challenge and fun of fishing. I started fishing hard only about a year ago, after a decades-long lull. I can't think of a better way to reset your mind from negative to positive as to spend even a short time out fishing. I'm sure there are physical benefits to getting out too. For me, everything about fishing has been positive: getting outdoors, spending time with others (or alone!), plus enjoying the learning process, including getting on this board. The other day I was out with my little girl: her Barbie combo, a hook, and gulp bait was less than 10% of the cost of my baitcasting setup and lure (maybe 2% if you included my tackle box in the equation). She caught a nice crappie and a keeper bass (if we kept fish). Me: zilch. (Barbie combo is optional). Spend what you can, when you can. For about $10 you can walk out with a pack of 20 trickworms, 3/0 worm or WG hooks and maybe some weights. When you save up or get another $10, grab a pack of paddletails and jigheads, and maybe $2 more for a pack of stickbaits. Flip near cover, or if you are impatient like me, swim them with weights on, or take them off to fish near surface as the water warms in MD. I didn't use plastics until I learned from this board, but they are versatile, and the cheap ones work too. If you get snagged and have to break off, you don't feel so disappointed. I'm pretty frugal, and I've tried several approaches to find affordable tackle, from auction sites to checking out every store I could. I would say the most successful cost-wise has been to check out the clearance section and occasional specials at big-box stores, and to track the fliers from the big-box sporting stores. For example, there are weekly ads for DSG and others that show what the loss-leader tackle are for that week to entice fishermen and women into the store. That said, I'm 100% all for supporting your local tackle guys, and if you have any you can go to, stop in there and ask for recommendations to suit your budget and the conditions. Good luck and stick with it!

Wound up with a broken baitcasting rod - an Abu, inexpensive one - due to a shipment problem. Snapped apart around the 3rd guide down. I assume it is trash, but wondering if I am missing something and there is anything of value to salvage from the remaining rod? Unless its something significant that I am just not thinking of, planning to trash the two parts.

0119, all great information. Many thanks. I understand what you mean about the Gulf now, and your comment put it in perspective for me. Started an annual routine of fishing some New England surf and piers a few days last year, and I see the difference now.

Skitter walk, skitter prop (*&$@), and in a minor heartbreaker, an old Rebel jumpin' minnow with unique colors. At the blistering pace of 1 beloved topwater bait every ten minutes. Aren't topwaters meant to be tossed into heavy cover? (I know better). I got bit once and couldn't stop tossing them into this one pocket. Like a gambler at the slots that just couldn't stop pulling that lever.

Appreciate all the experience and humor, guys. Clear plastic makes a lot of sense for "my" space so I can find my stuff. Pegboard also good idea too and like some other projects around the house... I'll get around to it... (once the topwater bite dies off a bit). As for the closet takeover idea, well, I've just got back into fishing in the last couple of years, and I don't have so many baits that I need THAT much space yet.

... Now my garage and desk at work are overflowing. I've given up on trying to hide them from my wife. There's no point anymore. Any tips on how to keep baits stored and above all, accessible, in a space like a garage?

I have had a lot of luck with Rapala Crankin Raps in the 3 and 5 and to some extent, 8 sizes. Have been on sale at several stores for months and well under $5, if they haven't been cleaned out yet. Firetiger has worked for me in surprisingly clear water. Also want to second the Bomber Square A's that are so inexpensive -- their hooks don't compare to the Rapala's, but still catch on them, and that can be fixed easily.

Probably some more highly qualified experts out there - but here's my 2c as a relative rookie: I have used both the current (v2) veritas2.0 bc at the higher end of this spectrum, and the Walmart-only discount-priced vigilante spinning from a few years ago. Both have both performed well for me as a guy who fishes weekly and more often if I can. I just picked up a few of the older vengeance and vendetta rods last week and they seem to handle and feel pretty similar to me. It could be that the main update is cosmetics, since the older paint jobs were getting long in the tooth. I stand to be corrected, but it doesn't seem like the technology for rods in that price range has changed much in the last 5 years or so. So on the basis of specs alone, if it was me, I would go with older vendetta. Something to consider: Walmarts all over the country are currently offering deep discounts on older rods (which is why I bought "a few") right now. In our area, I found that some stores have no rods on clearance, some have a few with moderate discounts, and others have rods that you didn't know Walmart would carry at deep discount (i.e. $15 each for $100 retail rods). If you can find the time, you might want to make some calls and see if any have better prices. You might wind up with one of each.

FryDog, I appreciated your comment. You got to the heart of my question. I believe that "handedness" is in part a product of how you are taught to handle things. As with your batting, I'm pretty sure I started out writing (in the 70's) with my left hand but was strongly encouraged to use my right. So as a fairly new baitcaster, I've been interested in giving "switch casting" a shot, and wanted to gauge if that's unusual. I shoot a hockey stick left-handed. An interesting related piece about this said: "...a majority of Canadian hockey players shoot left-handed, and a majority of American players shoot right-handed. No reason is known for this disparity, which cuts across all age groups and has persisted for decades. Most Canadians, like most Americans, are naturally right-handed, so the discrepancy has nothing to do with national brain-wiring. And how you hold a pencil, say, has little or no bearing on how you hold a stick. A left-handed shooter puts his right hand on top; a right-hander puts the left hand there." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sports/olympics/16lefty.html?_r=0

0119, No offense taken! I laughed when I saw your response, once my brain warmed up enough to figure out what you were referring to. I completely understood what you were saying. Its disappointing when a company you are loyal to puts out something like that. I have a couple of spinning reels in the same price range as the "S" that are just excellent, at least by my standards, so I thought, well maybe this thing will also be OK. BTW I had originally typed in "rube" and then replaced it with "ignorant" because I had a sudden thought that "rube" might have a more offensive meaning than I was aware of. I'm new on the forum and the last thing I want is to get kicked off for bad language (I'm originally from the very northern limit of the largemouth bass range - but I transplanted myself to the south a long time ago and love it all the more since I discovered that there are so many bass fishing spots here that I can actually get out and fish for bass every week).

0119, OK, thanks. That explains why nobody was buying them, except some ignorant guy strolling past and making an impulse buy. Thankfully it should be easy to take back.

Just went out to grab a spare spool of mono and wound up walking out with a new reel. Found an Ambassadeur S 6500 at less than half price off retail. Reviews seem to be mixed on various sites; on the negative side, the consensus seems to be that these are budget reels made in China that retail for about half the price of the "C" series reels and aren't as durable, so I am not expecting a lifetime of solid use. Hopefully it will work as a decent travel reel. I've never tried a round reel before and thought it might be worth it just to give one a try. Interested in knowing if anyone has any experience with it, and if so, what are the best applications for it? (hopefully, the answer isn't "doorstop")

I guess to be more specific about what I am wondering: 1. Is a medium or medium-heavy baitcaster long/powerful enough to make casts far enough to be in the strike zone for inshore species such as trout and snook? Or, would it be better to pick up an inexpensive surfcaster for fairly limited use? 2. In terms of the sand and salt, I assume careful handling and a good freshwater wash is sufficient to maintain a freshwater reel used for a few trips in saltwater? (That said, I won't be taking my best reel out there).