Florida Cracker2

6lb berkley mono. It's either line vibrations or the elderly neighbor (long since deceased) who gave it to my Father, who passed it on to me, put some kind of magical joo joo on it.

Needle nose pliers and a lot of grunting. Tried to take it out while out in the boat but couldn't, so I cut the line, drove the boat back home, washed it real good, got the pliers and held the treble hook while I pushed my finger off. First...and hopefully last time I have to do that. Lot easier unhooking fish... and less painful.

I use 4lb. with larger lures without issues. I prefer 6lb. because bass and catfish often hit where I fish for crappie (called specks here). I once tried 2lb. but the line would break if you casted too hard. I'ts been years since I seen 2lb. test in the stores. But then again...I haven't looked hard. Caught this with 4lb. test with speck jig. Never know what will hit.

Got this grouper 3 weeks ago. But the only fish I like to keep to eat are snapper and mullet. Have to use castnet for mullet though.

Didn't quite get that cold here. Iv'e always wanted to take a boat down the St. Johns.

I live on the east side of the Franklin Locks on the Caloosahatchee. I am fortunate enough to catch bass and snook at the same spot. I often trailer the boat to Pine Island and saltwater fish. Going back as soon as the wind calms a bit. Bass are fun to catch, but pound for pound these fight much harder.

Should have taken a pic when the small bass was still on other treble hook.

I have a pond in a large cow pasture near me full of bass and bluegill. They were used to cows walking into the water and would come right up to you waiting for something to get stirred up to eat. I could only catch two, maybe three on a particular lure and they would learn from seeing their buddies getting caught and no longer hit. Come back later with a different type of lure and they would hit again until they learned about that lure. Wasn't long before you couldn't catch any of them. They would race up to it and then stop and swim away. They do learn and remember. (I always catch and release and pond is fed by an ortesian well and is clear enough to see they are still there)

I have an assortment of vintage setups. One in particular is an old Orvis spinning reel. This reel can be heard 20 feet away when reeling. Strangely, (well beyond coincidence or blind luck) bluegill, oscar, and bass will readily hit it. I can have the same lure and line on a quiet reel at the same time (before and after using the noisy reel) and nothing will hit. I can only attribute this to vibrations carried through the line to the lure. Any one else experienced this? Also, the location is the same and so are the fish. (small creek next to me) I have had the same results time and time again.

Three years ago, my son sent me a giftcard for Fathers Day and since my Ambassador and Bantam setups were 'long in the tooth', I purchased a up-to-date setup. I still shake my head in amazement when I pick it up due to how light weight it is and how smooth and quiet it casts. Hard to imagine further improvements... but I'm sure there will be.

I just purchased a spool of 6# about a month ago and put it on one reel. Caught a nice oscar and a couple bluegill on it so far and had one nice size bass break off in some tree limbs which was expected with that light of a line. The other 2 reels that have 8# spiderwire are from some I purchased in the 90s (years ago) and still casts well with no problems. I have never had line hold up that long without getting stiff. I will see how this new spool holds up.

Does anyone use spiderwire anymore? I find it to be supple, thin, and very castable. Better than xl which was my mainstay for years. I first started using it about 25 years ago when it first came out. I love it. Braid, although great for weeds and trees, is awful for getting hung on hard bottom.

This is funny. Two days ago one about 4-5 pounds (at least) swam by while I was casting off a large rock at the corner of my yard. I tried to snag it with the Yo-zuri I was using, but missed. White with orange and black splotches. It had plain fins, so it probably wasn't worth much.

I haven't used any spoons of that size...only Johnson Sprites about half that weight (or less). The only recommendation I have is a high-grade bearing swivel because of the twisting.

I just looked at Toho (tohopekaliga) on GoogleEarth. Looks like it connects to other large lakes south of it through lockage canals (even Lake O). I wouldn't mind checking that area out someday. I could probably run a boat all the way there from my house. Only about 160 miles. It would be an interesting houseboat/trawler vacation trip.

OP if you're still interested I have a hundred bearing reel for sale as well, WICKED cheap. YES!!!...I'll take two of them!!!

Go see Mickey...The girlfriend will love it. Trying to take in Disney and fishing will leave both of you loosing an experience. Do one or the other. And get fast-passes beforehand. Then come back and fish on another trip. Maybe to Lake O with a guide.

It would turn into a brawl...

hmmm. I would use 30# braid on caster to cut through the lillies with cranks and poppers, and 12 # mono on the spinning for the plastics I would use bumping along the bottom.

There's a trick I use to get lures under low hanging mangroves. I use a spinning setup and hold the lure with my left hand and with the line held by my finger (bail flipped) I bend the rod and slingshot the lure under the mangroves. Sometimes it skips...lol. Does that count???

WOW!!! Tone down the testosterone guys. Cain't we just get along? hahaha Earlier today after reading the posts in this thread I decided to try some old-school techniques. So I grabbed a beetle-spin and walked out to the creek and right away hooked a nice bass. He got hung up in the peppertree branches and broke off. I was using a single ball bearing spinning reel. If it had 50 bearings, I would have landed him. NOT! I do like hi speed when your sneaking up to the bank and casting about 10 feet away and want to reel the lure fast with a rod lift and get the lure clear of the bank. And also after you loose a strike and want to reel in super fast and fire it back to the spot. Other than that, hi speed is just annoying after years of slow speed reel usage. Like I said earlier, slowing down is hard after so much time reeling a certain way. I have developed a reel once, jerk, reel method that just seems to really work with jerkbaits like mirror lures. Anyways...thats just my worthless .02.

Hahaha...funny thread. I'm still struggling to learn to slow down my retreave. I got a hi-speed baitcaster and should have got the low-speed. It is soooo hard to learn to slooooow down. The lure just about skies across the water when I fish...LOL. I am a semi-old timer...not too old...but old enough to remember old stuff. And bass do love a minnow on a cane pole and a bobber. And as for the resistance theory...take out the slow ones and the faster, smarter ones will be left to reproduce. Then you have super-bass able to leap tall building with a single bound.

I may be an old-school guy because I don't like any knot going through my eyes. Only leaders I use are short enough where I don't go past my tip eye to cast. And on the hand tied knots...I use a double clinch knot because they hold. If I am bass fishing with braid...I don't use any leader at all. But that is just me.

I have a spinfisher V 4500 and love it. Line lay is perfect and so is the casting distance. They provide you with extra washers to adjust any line lay problems you may have. Very simple to fix if you need to. Little heavy being an all-metal reel...but that's what I wanted. I use mine for snook and reds, not so much for bass.

I bought a tourney special and rod 3 years ago and it still impresses me. Very light and casts like a dream with 30# braid. I would buy again without hesitation.