NorthernBasser

Nice! That is one catch you don't wanna release!

Your lady didn't get you guys a cabin on a private lake so you could go bass fishing. Signed, your lady (JK obviously)

I love watching old videos. I used to have a collection of Babe Winkleman on VHS tapes I'd watch every year leading up to fishing season.

Daiwa Rebellion 7'1" med-light and a few baits from Omnia. Don't forget to use the 10% off codes when ordering. It worked on the Daiwa but I don't think it works on Shimano.

Yeah, I've never had that issue either.

Another vote for U-40 (not to be confused with UB40). Your cork will feel a little coarse the first few times you use it, but eventually it "smooths" out. If it's a brand new rod, when you take the plastic off the handles, a lot of times there's cork dust on them still. So take a can of air and blow it down well before sealing. If it's an old rod, like others have mentioned, get some Mr. Clean dry eraser, clean the handles, wipe it down/blow it off, then seal.

We also haven't gotten much snow this year. Like 17" under the norm. I wonder how that's gonna affect springtime lake levels.

I'll reply in roadwarrior fashion...

Same here. This place, fishing articles, Youtube videos, and buying/sorting tackle are what gets me thru winter. But I'm ready to wet some line, dammit. Hopefully mid-March I'll be able to get the boat out. Maybe sooner if I jump on the river.

Yeah, I suppose it'd be a nice conversation piece hanging over someone's fireplace. Like I said, maybe if I were rich.

Yeah, I don't care if I were a millionaire. I'd never pay that. Then again, for a millionaire that'd probably be the same as me buying a squarebill off of AliExpress. ?

I'll see your $1,000 swimbait and raise you an $1,148 swimbait! Made out of horse hide! I don't know how many times I was sitting in my boat thinking "if only I had a bait made out of horse". It's legit U.S dollars.

Mainstays for me are the VMC Dominator Marabou and the VMC Moon Tail.

Thanks. And I'm definitely more handsome with a buff on.

Good call. Last spring, shortly after ice-out, the exact jig in that link got me on some nice ones. I got a handful of smaller/average LM on jerkbaits and blade baits. Then I tied on that swim jig paired with a BioSpawn ExoSwim. I started catching some chunkier girls in the same spot I had been using the jerkbait. (I'll take pics of my bait a lot of times for documentation purposes).

I had been wanting to get another Orochi Diablo Spec R. They haven't be real easy to come by lately, so I kind of stopped looking. Then Megabass announced the $50 price hike on their rods. I decided to check out some sites to see if their prices reflected the new increase. Sure enough. Everywhere I looked had the Orochi's at $350 now. But then I come across Midway USA. Not only did they still have theirs listed at $300, but they had 2 Diablo Spec R's in stock! So I ordered one, and when it came via USPS, the tube and rod were snapped in half. I'm sure some may remember my post here about it. I called Midway, and they were great. They asked me what I wanted to do. Since they only had 1 rod left, I just placed an order over the phone, and decided to send the rod back the next day for the refund. Midway USA offers free shipping on orders over $49 (USPS). Or I could've spent $13 extra for UPS (which I didn't know until I called about my broken rod). The lady I talked to was nice enough to add UPS at no cost for the 2nd rod. So I got my email confirmation the next day. About 4-5 days go by and still no update on my UPS tracking, which is odd. It still only said "label created". So I called Midway and they said it was definitely shipped out and I should have had it by now. She said it likely got lost along the way and that a lot of times the product never shows up anywhere. As in, someone takes/steals it. Great. So now I just assume it wasn't meant to be. Anyways, out of the blue 3 days later it shows up to my doorstep. So after that long story, which I just realized wasn't really necessary (sorry), here it is along with a few Shad Rap-5's I grabbed while at Cabela's.

Hair thinning shears

Not answering for him, but the Palomar is just fine.

FTR, with the Sierra 735, it's split grip for both the regular guides and micro guides. The regular guide version does had full cork with some models, but not the 735. Micro or regular guides is up to you. Micro guide version will likely be a tad lighter, but not really that noticeable, if at all. Since you're using it for froggin', I'd maybe go with the regular guides. Less chance of slop building up in them. But I think either would work just fine. I have the Sierra 734 micro I throw straight braid on (for other applications).

I would hope he wouldn't try froggin' with that.

Heads-up on the Sierra's. There's 2 versions. One with micro-guides one with regular guides.

Like others have said, the Dredger is a good one. The 17.5. Also the Norman DD22. The 5XD won't as deep as the 6XD, but it is lighter.

How awesome is that? Congrats on your retirement!

Main set-up is a 6'11"medium+ Shimano Poison Adrena with a Shimano Chronarch MGL. If I have 2 jerkbaits tied on at the same time, my other set-up is the 6'11" Megabass Levante Jerkbait Special with a 13 Fishing Concept C. Line is 10# or 12# Sniper fluoro.

I just sent it back. I thought I'd maybe get a 'thank you' or maybe a one time 15% off offer or something (not that I expected it or think I deserved it...not at all). But nope.