South FLA

So launching out of Henry Creek lock is not fun, right? LOL

That is a TOURNAMENT TRAIL combo right there! Nice looking boat and tow vehicle, that is a lifetime of fishing fun!

Glad you joined the club, lol. You can't go wrong with the Core, but as Jeff states you can super-tuning goes a long way. Get an 50e add Abec 7 ceramics, a Carbontex drag upgrade, and a Hawg Handle and you have a custom solution under the cost of a Core.

I enjoy hunting, saltwater fishing, spending time with family and friends, sporting events, etc. but if the BITE is on I am there.

I fished small waters almost exclusively as a kid and into college. In all the ponds, my best fish came fishing offshore not nearshore spots. Nevertheless, if you can talk to your local wildlife officer sometimes they will electroshock local park ponds and they can relay the results. What most of them find, at least from my experience, is lots of small fish with SOME HAWGS sprinkled in.

I have a few rods that feel like an extension of my arm, lol! If I had to choose one combo to fish for the rest of my entire life and for the majority of the fishing conditions it would be my Loomis GLX 844 with either my Chronarch D or new Metanium. It would even be good for inshore salt!

Daiwa Zillion Coastal with a Hawg Handle and blue hardware! Would look great with that particular rod's color scheme! (oops not a Shimano, but would look cool) http://www.basspro.com/Daiwa-TD-Zillion-Coastal-LowProfile-Baitcasting-Reel/product/10204499/ Or you can get this for it:

You should always leave open, you never know when a charger goes bad, a battery goes bad, etc. and when it does and you leave it in a enclosed compartment things can go BOOM!

I once cast all the line out of an Shimano Antares that was full to capacity with 40 or 50 lb braid, I am not sure how far it was, but I had a reputable witness that frequents this forum on occasion. I cheated a bit though, since mid cast I loosened the tension control knob a bit and had a little tail wind. Nevertheless, unless you need to cast far (e.g. clear water, shallow water, spooky fish, etc.) you are just getting a workout and stroking an ego. I would say on average and for your average angler the spinning cast farther. I think all the world records are set with bait-casters though.

Man, when I sold my VW years back I remember darting out of the bank so fast after getting the Bill of Sale notarized that the security guard thought I committed a crime.

I must be living an a parallel universe then, because I use EWG on just about everything other than regular plastic worms and flipping style baits, where I use straight shank since I don't need the extra wide gap to accommodate plastic thickness. My "luck" is outstanding with the EWG and miss very few fish, same with straight shank hooks in the correct lure. As far as the poster's question, I think that the bass are just lipping the lure as stated in the thread and an exposed hook will work wonders.

Make sure you put the heavier stuff towards back compartments and lighter equipment up front, helps with hole shot and fuel efficiency. I like see through shoe boxes for soft plastics and traditional Plano boxes for terminal tackle and lures.

For Baitcasters: Hmm, you are always going to have brand loyal fans as you stated, but I can assure you that the magic price point for a "good" reel IMO is about $130 at retail price. So, your looking at the Lew's Speed Tournament, Quantum Energy, Shimano Citica, Daiwa Lexa, Abu Garcia Revo S, etc. around that price point. After that it becomes a point of diminishing returns, I have very high end JDM reels and some lower tiered reels mentioned, but I can tell you that as long as you are above that magic price point or close to it if you can get one on sale below that price point then go for it . To me one of the best bang for the buck reels that you can sometimes pick up for a steal and I am impressed with smoothness and cast-ability, although a bit heavy is the Pfluegar Patriach.

Sorry to hear about his passing, he was a great resource to the bass fishing community. I use to read his books as a kid and also daydreamed about his fishing exploits.

I have a St. Croix Legend Tournament for it

Thanks, My first JDM was a Shimano Calcutta about 10-12 years ago, currently have an older generation Metanium, and some JDM Zillions. Regret selling my old Scorpion though :-(!

Going to try it out as is since Shimano was using their heads on this design and speced a full 100mm handle, they could have used carbon or some other EXOTIC metal......shhhhhh more to come!

So as many of you know Shimano cut corners on their last model release in the U.S. market, but I found the solution to my disappointment the new Metanium XG. It has a 8.5:1 ratio and is buttery smooth with the new mico gearing, can't wait to try it out and see how it performs in the field!

Plenty of Ammo for turkey's just about everywhere I looked on way to GA from Florida. You can get some pretty good deals on a box of good namebrand ammo for less than 20

Yeah wanted to bow hunt, but the guy I hunted with was run and gun so portable blinds are tough to do that with.

Is Dwight finishing anytime soon? LOL

Thanks! I am going to try the Italian dressing marinade, yeah I bought the breeder combo Avian X by Zinks, with the both the jake and breeding Hen and the turkeys seemed to like them!

I was able to get away to GA this week to do some Spring Turkey hunting and was rewarded with this young gobbler, next to him was a 9" mature gobbler, but I couldn't get the shot I wanted so I settled for this beauty! Does anyone have any turkey breast recipes for me?

Ordered mine a couple of weeks ago and I am awaiting arrival, not sure what outfit I will put it on though.

Nice boat! I have a 21 RDC Intracoastal and wish I would have gotten the single console version, but overall its a nice boat, great fuel efficiency, rough water handling, and speed of course!