NYWayfarer

Backlashes and tangles that require cutting and retying are God's way of telling me fishing is over for the day. I pack it up and go home.

Is that a Meyers? Looks like what my father in law and I fish in. Great old boat, rock solid.

Ouch! that looks like a nasty wound. Your point is well made if you think about the hypocrisy of a fisherman ripping a Bass out of its natural environment then complaining about using a fish gripper. If we were that worried about damaging Bass it would be better not to fish for them at all.

Take that picture and photoshop in Rock Bass colors and you have an exact match of the Australian Bass.

Go with the RG. I don't know if the air bail makes any difference. Since I have purchased reels with thicker bail wire I can't go back to the old thin wire style. The air bail just looks and feels sturdier to me. Besides the air bail its a sharp looking reel.

Great workhorse reel. I use it to practice casting in my yard. Thousands of casts later it still going strong.

Umbrella rig... Sorry, had a corn-E muffin for breakfast.

Dang! You are gonna kill somebody with that hookset...namely you!

I have the floating plastic Rapala ones. I rarely use them for bass. When I do it's usually to avoid getting a handful of treble hooks. I have to admit there are days that I don't want my hands to stink like fish. We have some nasty biting flies up here that love that scent. The grips come in handy then.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Wearing your PFD lesson is a good one. A secondary smaller lesson would be to pack light for these types of trips. Less gear with you means less gear lost if an accident occurs.

I agree 3 is pretty young. To young to consider going with anything costly. If you have a Dick's near you they sell a Daiwa Samurai spincast combo. The ultralight model will be a cost effective upgrade to the Spider-Man rod

I am in detective mode again. He mentions they live together in his original post. We know she is still alive as she liked the "conclusive evidence" post you made before this one. Don't know about him though. It's a shame as he seemed like a pretty nice, respectful guy. Always thanked people for their advice even if it wasn't what he was looking for. Hopefully she don't give him too much hell as he was just trying to figure out how to make her happy.

Sounds like you have a good game plan. I love that you are contributing money for launch and gas. Don't love the 6 rods part though. I would bring 2.

I do pretty much the same using a napkin and KVD line and lure.

I'd call that dinner for two! That's a nice size sunfish.

Ditto!

Baby bass is NY Jets colors, green and white

You could be right when talking about Bass fishing. I notice the difference in bites when fishing for Trout though.

I will share information about spots, baits and techniques freely. I am a big believer in Karma and pay it foward. A few weeks ago I met a fellow who saw a caught a trout at the local pond. He was fly fishing but had a spinning set up with him. He asked how I caught the fish and I told him I was using a jig and float. He commented he didn't have a float so I gave him one. He thanked me and said he would give it back when I was leaving but I told him keep it and help out another angler if he ever got the chance.

Fluorokote sinks. I did treat mine with KVD line and lure and have no issues with line memory. Being part copolymer I would think even untreated the memory would be less than mono.

I have had great success with the pumpkin pepper/green flake. Other than that I like: Green Pumpkin Morning Dawn Watermelon seed I have a pack of Carolina Pumpkin/Chartruese and Tinfoil I am going to try out this summer.

Looks like a Kayak and a Jet-ski had a baby.

In no particular order: Senkos Yum Dingers Biospawn Exostick Pro Strike King Ocho

3" Yum dingers work great. Use the O ring and a small Wacky style hook. Downsizing the Dinger will catch more fish. You will get smaller fish but the law of averages has shown me that more fish means you will have more chances to hook a big one.

1) Bobber rig is perfect for young kids. It's like a real life video game. When the bobber goes under reel in a fish! Kids love it. 2) Berkley makes great bait to substitute for real worms. I like the Gulp 1" minnows, Pinched crawlers, Maggots and Crickets. They come in jars with stinky juice, don't let them spill or you will regret it. 3) Hook them anywhere. Try and hide the hook as much as you can. 4) Cast the worm out, leave it for a bit. If no action reel in a bit and leave it for a bit. Once you have reeled all the way back to you cast it out again and repeat process. 5) That hook is fine. The smaller the hook, the more likely a panfish will swallow it. Nothing ruins an outing more for kids than a fish that dies from a swallowed hook.