MassYak85

Luckily that is photo-shopped but I still didn't need to see it lol.

Which knot have you been using that was failing you? I'd personally recommend the alberto. Good mix of strength, thin profile, and ease of tying.

Does this include ANY lures that contain lead. And also how do they define that, pretty much every lure I have ever bought says "may contain lead, a chemical known to the state of California to...". Even ones that I know for a fact do not have lead in them. The MA 1oz law is rarely enforced but they do draw a line and most lures are not part of the ban. A blanket ban though. What are they going to do, saw your crankbait in half to check whether the rattles are lead? "Oh sorry, guess they weren't, hoping you weren't expecting to be reimbursed for that". This law seems unenforceable.

The MA lead law was instituted primarily to try and mitigate the death of Loons who accidentally were swallowing things like lead split shot weights. (There's a minuscule to non-existent native population of Loons in most parts of the state to begin with so the actual cost/benefit of the law still has many scratching their heads). Bismuth is considerably more expensive than lead is the issue. Still not as much as tungsten but if we're looking for a material to mass produce affordable fishing lures and tackle, probably going to have to look elsewhere.

Next week looks good for ice so hopefully I'll be able to get out before the superbowl that weekend. If not I'll be getting my 68 wet the first opportunity.

Yea Mike what's up? Were you fishing with bananas?

I'll defend a brand if I've had good experience with it but I don't ONLY buy one brand of anything.

I got all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed in December right before Christmas. A few days after I kind of wanted to go ice fishing, about 3 1/2" inches of good ice on the local lake I fish. Was very close to going, decided I'd rather not risk it still not feeling 100%. Sad part is that was the only possible time I could have gone ice fishing the entire season so far....oh well. First day was extremely annoying because the Novocaine didn't wear off for a long time, that combined with pretty constant bleeding. For about a week after that it was just general soreness, probably didn't even need the painkillers they gave me. Issue was, 12 hours after the surgery I was thinking to myself "man, the Novocaine should have worn off by now...". When I woke up and the right side of my mouth was still completely numb I knew it wasn't the Novocaine. Turns out one of my teeth was impacted and more difficult to remove than the others, one of the nerves got either pinched or nicked during the removal. As a side affect, a month later...I still have to question any time I eat meat whether I am chewing on the food or my tongue because I still don't have complete feeling in the right side of it. It is slowly getting better but I imagine it will still be a couple months before it's completely normal again. I've heard horror stories of people losing ALL feeling in their mouth due to the same but more serious occurrence, so it could be much worse.

It never seizes to amaze me how Belichick brings in some "scrub" from a team that didn't even want them and seamlessly makes them a crucial cog in the offense. Also, I heard a crazy statistic earlier. Counting his pre-Patriots roles, Belichick will have coached in 17% of ALL Superbowls EVER played come February 5th....

Definitely. He knows he's still elite and unless he breaks his neck in the game, he'll be here next year even if they blow out the Falcons.

hahahaha

I'm trying to think of all the stupid places they would even put that many bearings in a reel.... Probably has like 6 in the handle or something redundant like that.

Graphite in it's purest form is what ghoti posted above me, a very brittle mineral. However I am not sure what rod manufacturers are referring to as "graphite". They obviously aren't making rods out of extremely brittle raw graphite (pencil lead), they have some manufacturing process behind them. I believe Carbon fiber is a blend of different polymers that contain carbon, layered and heated in such a way to achieve the high strength and flexibility it is known for.

If it was me I'd do the following (I'm assuming you don't have your drag locked down to begin with, if so that is probably the cause as braid has poor shock absorption). Tie the braid directly to something with a palomar knot, if you don't have any more issues, it was probably the connection knot failing. If you do, I'd cut off maybe 10-20 feet of line and repeat, if that fixes it I assume your line was nicked by the cover you were fishing (how long are the leaders you're using?). If it still continues I'd check the guides on your rod to make sure they don't have a crack (the Q-tip method works well as someone above me mentioned). If all that doesn't work I'd be tossing the line too. It's funny I actually switched from 15lb PP super slick to 832 this year on my spinning rod but that was for different reasons than breakage.

Haha, I've caught frogs before but more so on purpose when bored and I see one. Lizards I don't even think I've ever seen while fishing. And I would echo the advice YearJay gave you. You've got a barrel swivel, a snap, and a split ring between your line and the lure, way too much terminal tackle. If you want to save time switching out cranks get a small snap like these. I've had the kind you have in the pic straighten out or break before I knew any better, not very reliable IMO. Plus the barrel swivel part is unnecessary. Just an example, many brands make decent snaps: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Decoy_Egg_Snap_7pk/descpage-DEGGS.html?from=basres

He's done for the season. Although the way Brady's been spreading the ball around I've kind of forgotten about him.

Should be an interesting game. Number 1 scoring defense vs number 1 scoring offense. Pressure is definitely on the Pats given what winning would mean. Falcons are a great team and have definitely earned their spot here, lots of respect. I'm calling it 33-30 Pats, in the first SuperBowl overtime in history.

Strange, both my 8" Savage Gear Line through and my huddleston 68 special stand upright.

I pay attention to them but it really depends on the rod. I have a BPS TourneyPro casting rod and it's a medium with the same rating as yours. I've used lures up to an ounce on it out of necessity before and while it definitely isn't optimal, it's can do it. I also have an Okuma Guide select rated 1-6 oz and I don't even get near the 6oz mark because the rod doesn't handle it well. Always air on the side of caution but the manufacturer's recommendations aren't always the be-all-end-all for what you should be fishing on the rod. There should be a point on either extreme where the rod stops loading up normally and your casting suffers because of it. So no there really isn't a rule of thumb. I probably wouldn't go above 3/4 on your rod unless you know it can handle more. And also take into consideration you may void your rod's warranty by doing so.

Seems to me like your top water arsenal is the most lacking. Maybe try a few wake baits.

Just tell your wife your Grandson bought himself a new boat and is going to store it in your driveway I remember when I was really young I wasn't really into fishing yet. I enjoyed it for small amounts of time fishing with worms and bobbers. What I really enjoyed was kayaking with my dad trying to catch frogs and turtles. I could spend hours doing that with him and that's kind of what got me hooked on being on the water. Honestly my addiction to bass fishing was mostly self-acquired, my dad enjoys and nurtures it too but I'm not sure how much he would do on his own if I wasn't into it myself. I think the important thing for young kids is to just expose them to the outdoors in as long a dose as they'll let you. Could be 20 minutes, could be 2 hours, could be 2 days (camping). If they learn to appreciate it then, they'll probably pick up at least one lifetime hobby they really enjoy from it whether it be hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, etc.

Most 40lb braid is going to be around .013 inches in diameter.

If I was to look at your tackle collection, what would I find? A collection of imitation colors like natural browns, greens, yellows, whites, silvers. Or do you guys often branch out and buy things in colors that some bass probably have never seen before. Do you try and pick your lures in colors that imitate the forage in your area or do you not care as much. If you looked at my collection you would mostly find bluegill colored, or bluegill imitating lures. Some perch and trout as well, and frog and crawfish imitations. Basically what I'm asking is how much do you factor in color when buying a lure? For me I try and keep it as natural as possible but I sometimes wonder if I am limiting myself too much by doing that. How about something like bubblegum worms, bright chartreuse crankbaits, a morning dawn spro rat (which I know has been popular but why use it over a natural brown, black or white rat imitation color?).

I fish the 40 size (1oz 7-1/2") on my jig rod with 40lb braid. I like fishing it right at the edge of lily pad edges and mono and 1/2" lily pad stems don't go well together. More open water or around wood I might go to 15lb mono.

40lb braid for swimbaits? You're a braver man that I