Joel W

My current favorite is The Bass Pros Season 2007. They cover a wide verity of presentations and topics.

Exactly. Why frustrate yourself trying to learn how to skip with baitcaster, when you're so comfortable skipping with a spinning reel.

The Pros and the majority of us just don't need 2 pc rods, as the rods are either transported in a rod locker or the back of a truck, SUV, or a hatchback (in my case). Two pieces of anything can't be as strong, nor as sensitive as one continuous piece. It's just simple physics. While you most likely feel 90+% of your bites, it's the very lite 10% then you don't even feel. Well made multiple rods shouldn't break or crack at the female joint, but the fact is that many over time do, due to careless and or rough handling. Given the option, everyone I know prefer a one piece rod. But the bottom line is that if you need a multiple piece rod to go fishing, then go for it.

As I posted, I was once guilty of that dirty deed. It was based on laziness and just being frustrated from being snagged in the weeds cast after cast.

Thanks for the correction. I really need to read the whole post before hitting the reply button.

Two piece rods offer the convience of breakdown for transporting. That's their only advantage over a standard 1 pc rod. One piece rods are more sensitive simply because there is no break in the graphite where there must be a transcending of the vibration from the rod tip. Also I believe it's called the bezel. I'm referring to the part of the of two piece rod that is the female end of one section. I've had a few many years ago that developed cracks from over tightening and then using too much twisting motion/force to separate the two pieces. Also, you're limiting your options and choices of rods when only looking at two piece rods.

A T-reg is a method to rig soft plastic lures in a weedless manner where the hoop point ends up just under the "skin" of the plastic. Hense being weedless.

For the time being I'll take a pass on buying them. I use a regular unpegged bullet weight and a red bead and that system works just fine.

I've been fishing Rapala DT crankbaits from 4's through 16's and have never, ever, had a bill break off due hitting any cover. I've broken my fair share of them by wacking them on the surface of the water to get the weeds off. Very quickly I figured out that it's a lot cheaper to spend 30 seconds manually removing the weeds, then replacing a broken crank, as it takes longer, and it just cost me more money to replace it. I've also never had to fine tune one. They just seem to run true right out of the box.

I fish a spoon exactly like a jig in saltwater. That's strictly vertical fishing for me. I prefer either Silver Buddy or 3/4 oz spoon. I just drop the spoon down and keep in touch with it by thumbing my spool. When it hits the bottom, I just leave it there for a few seconds. Then I lift the rod tip up and then let the spoon slowly fall to the bottom again. If the Bass are suspended higher up in the water column, I'll reel the spoon slowly up past that depth, then let it fall through that depth again.

It's a joke. Pretty funny if you ask me.

I wish I could fish at night during the summer, but my work schedule just doesn't allow it. So I've had to learn how to fish from sunrise till just before the heat of the day. Naturally, cloudly rainy days are days to be out on the water.

yep, it just makes it easier to spool the line using the same dia. for both backing and line.

Is that for tying knots? I was going to use 20/6 braid, but I was going to use heavier backing than 6#. That's probably fine, we rarely (never) get to the knot anyhow. Exactly. I always try to have the same diameter of line to backing, or as close to it as I can reasonably get. For leaders I try to go one size up.

So many fisherman including the pros opt for 50-65 lb Braid for fishing heavy vegetation. That just never made much sense to me. The braid one uses should be no greater then max test your rod can handle. What's the sense of snapping an expensive rod with 50 lb Braid when the rod was only rated for 20-30 lb test line? I've been using 30 lb Power Pro for years, and I've never, ever, been broken off in the real nasty stuff by snapping the line. I've ripped hooks out of the their mouths, had them throw the hook, and wrapped me around so much wood that I couldn't budge the Bass. The bottom line is that you just don't need more then 30 lb braid period.

As for knots. I've been using a Albright knot forever, and never had one fail. Like all knots they don't last forever, so you need to retie every so often. The black sharpie makes the line harder to see. I also use a leader with Braid when dragging lures over rocky structure that could fray or cut it.

I use 30 lb Power Pro for pitching wt'd plastics. If the water is stained, I don't bother with a leader but just use a permanent black marker over the 1st 4 ft of line. If the water clarity is basically clear, then I usually use a 4 ft 8 or 10 lb test mono leader.

As for leaders, I use them with braid when pitching or casting jigs and wt'd plastics where there are rocks, wood, etc that could fray and or cut the braid. Leader length varies from 2 to 4 ft depending on the water clarity.

I've been using the 100 yd spools of 30 lb test Power Pro for the last several years. I have 4 baitcasters, 2 Daiwa TDA 153 HSTs and 2 Daiwa TDA 150 As. What I did was spool on the PP to one baitcaster, then fill the remainder of the spool with 8lb mono joining the lines with a Albright knot. Then I respooled the backing/Power Pro to the other reel. When I got to the point where the backing stopped and the PP started, I just made a line and measured it to the lip of the spool. I marked the other spools for the correct amount of backing. This year I'm going with 12 lb test PLine CXX Xtra on two of the baitcasters, so I'll just repeat the process once again to get the new mark and measurement. The backing in this case will be 10 lb Andes mono.

When you tie the Palomar knot leave an additional 18 inches of line on the tag end. After you tie the knot which should be made by threading the line from the front of the eye, take the tag end and again go through the front of the hook eye and out the back, then pull it tight. It will do two things, 1st the knot will be right up tight to the eye, and 2nd it will force the hook to stand out horizontally. Practice this and you'll get the hang of it. Also try a Google search for a visual presentation of the knot. Just add 18 inches more to the tag end.

I pitch 3/8 oz and heavier jigs & weighted plastics with baitcasters. 1/4 oz and down is finesse fishing for me, and I use spinning reels for that. Personally, I'm much more accurate pitching with a baitcaster then I am with a spinning reel. I still don't palm the spool on a spinning reel well enough to accurately pitch with it in tight cover. As for Shaky Head fishing, I consider that a finesse presentation and fish it with a spinning reel.

There are tons and tons of jigs out there for Shaky Head presentations. Most will work, and some, like the Strike King only let you bury the hook point but not TX rig it while keeping the worm straight. I've settled on a plan old ball jig and use a Hitch Hicker to attach the worm to the jig line eye. Works great every time.

The Drop Shot is my favorite presentation. It's just deadly fished around isolated brush, and cover. I keep it pretty simple, a spinning setup with a Med 6'6" rod with a fast tip. My line of choice is 8lb Sufix Elite with to a barrel swivel. I pre-tie up my rigs using a 1/0 Gami Drop Shot hook tied with a Palomar knot and the tag end goes through the hook eye front to back a 2nd time. This will make the hook stand out. I vary the length of the tag end from 6 inches to 3 ft with 18 inches being the norm. I usually use a 1/4 oz drop shot weight, but for deeper water or windy conditions I'll up the weight till I can feel the bottom. As some one already said, a DS rig is the king of line twist, and that's the other reason why I use a good barrel swivel. My standard go to lure is a 4 3/4 inch Zoom Finesse worm in Green Pumpkin or Green Watermelon with black flake.

Without knowing water temps, weather conditions, and most importantly what's on the bottom, it's a crap shoot at what should work best. If there is weeds, rocks, timber etc. I would throw a crankbait bouncing it off everything I could find. Generally the strikes would come on the pause after hitting something. If I was working sparse cover, I would opt for a weighted plastic lure like a Ugly Otter. If I've got laydowns or weed holes to work, I'm pitching a 1/2 oz Blue/black jig with a Paca Craw trailer.

You would be better off just going to either BPS or Cabela's and checking out their DVD Bass fishing sections. Pick the ones that interest you. I purchased "The Bass Pros 2007 Season" and was very pleased with the overall content.