Glaucus

I've never had a KVD Squarebills hook break or bend outside of me snagging and pulling very hard to break it free or off. Really don't get the complaint or what people are doing to cause this. Sometimes I think it happened to some people and it eventually made its rounds across the culture and everyone assumes they must change them out.

Why are you discounting the world record Japanese bass?

The wives have thoroughly roasted Ike and I love this too much.

Casting: Usually always between $100-$200 for the rod, and usually always between $100-$200 for the reel. I feel like this is a really good price range for both components. Spinning: LOL @ spending more than $100 on the reel.

Smallmouth in streams love a Ned Rig. The smaller Whopper Ploppers are OK too. KVD 1.5s bashed ferociously off the bottom rocks is OK too.

Minnesota and Wisconsin if you can deal with the temps not being moderate and not being four season. Tennessee and Missouri for good bass fishing of both major species of bass and more moderate four season temps; just not sure about other species like pike, muskie, walleye, etc.

Cold, windy day today, again. Tomorrow's high is 37* with 1-3" of snow in the forecast. In Illinois. In April. Not unheard of, but not right either. But my partner and I got out there for 45 minutes this evening. Got one little fat guy to take the Z-Man spinnerbait. Yes, those glasses are upside down, and no, she wouldn't let me fix them. I also got lectured by her about my muddy shoes and how I'm going to get them on mommy's floor.

Lures such as spinnerbaits and jigs will always weigh more than listed because only the weight of the head is taken into consideration. Add the skirt, hook, blades, wires, guards, etc and the weight ends up nowhere close to what is listed. Also important to remember when adding a trailer. The lipless has me confused. Those hooks and split rings shouldnt have a 1/4oz registering at almost 1/2oz.

I have a H/F Fury. All makers considered, it's more of a MH+, somewhere in-between MH and H. I wouldn't put 65lb braid on mine, but that's just me.

In any case it says something that a lot of people consider it a universal copolymer line and is very popular.

Yo Zuri in 4# and 6# on spinning gear, and Yo Zuri in 10# and 12# on casting gear.

For $130 you can get a Daiwa Tatula CT (retail price). For $110 you can get a Daiwa Fuego CT (retail price). For $100 you can get a Shimano SLX (retail price). You can find sales or go to Amazon or eBay to get them all cheaper. I have Tatulas and Fuegos and my dad has the SLX. My choice would be finding Fuegos for $50-$75. Outstanding reel that isnt much different than the Tatula but is relatively cheaper.

But the most important factor here is winter means ice which means no casting a line, and that is just the worst.

Not a fan either but I'd still take that over the cold

Any paddle tail I can get at a good price. Split tails. Just started using Havoc Pit Boss because of good reviews on here. About paddle tails - gotta be honest, I don't care for them on chatterbaits. I'm looking into new options.

I wish it was 80 and humid all the time as opposed to ever having a winter

Because there is no reason, my friend. You can't not hook a fish on it, and they don't come off.

Braved the hurricane force winds (/s) and got out on the pond for an hour. Caught a 1.5 on a Z-Man spinnerbait. I'm OK with this. Better than nothing!

You have too many rods when you reach a point where you have rods you don't use regularly. I have too many. I'm going to try my hand at unloading some of them. Couple of sayings: The best translation of the Bible is the one you read, and the most expensive rod you own is the one you don't use.

Frogs, buzzbaits, punching, and weightless plastics in holes. You stuck on the bank? If so a kayak would be a good investment if possible to fish other than just that slop.

As usual, I'm backwards. On top of starting on a baitcaster, I started line watching whereas a lot of people start with feel. Thank you, social media age, for once. I think you should wear polarized sunglasses anyways for both eye protection and because it helps on the water, but my eyes are so light sensitive that I can't see the line unless the shades are on. Over stimulation issue but that's another topic. I haven't had the courage to use high visibility braid yet - definitely a (lack of) confidence thing. I think I rely much more on seeing than feeling because when it's really windy I tend to do a lot worse because of the bow in the line.

I never leave without them, from my first trip of the year to my last.

I leave them on. I've only had one rusting issue. It was a Z-Man Original Chatterbait with a Cabela's brand paddle tail trailer. I've even left Senkos on Gammy EWG hooks in-between seasons without issues, but those are good hooks, although the Senko is very salty.

A southern YouTuber kept calling them fairy wands and I commented that he can bring that mouth up north and fish against a northerner using a "fairy wand". All in good fun. He said we probably would stomp him.