Mobasser

It seems like the issue here is that there's no real accurate way to measure all this? What may work well for one guy might not work well for someone else. Quality has improved immensely over the years, and the mid priced rods are way better than they were years ago. And KVD is good- period. There's a lot more going on in his fishing than any rod brand. To borrow a phrase from A-J, " Fish Hard"! And, have fun with your fishing.

I'm sure many will disagree with me here, but you'll land more fish when fishing moving baits by using a rod with some tip flex. Tip flex is a broad term, and can mean different things to different anglers. My own favourite rods for moving baits, have a slight tip flex in the top one third of the blank, and taper to a stout butt section near the handle. You can feel these rods load up on the cast, and they usually get good casting distance. With modern graphite rods, you may not notice much flex by holding the rod and shaking it around in a sporting goods store. Where you'll notice it is when you hook a fish on a spinnerbait, lipless bait, or a moving topwater lure. Rods with this action kind of move with the movements of a hooked bass, and when using lighter line, add a cushion to help protect the light line. There's a reason that many crankbait fisherman have gone to fiberglass rods for crankbait fishing. I believe Rick Clun helped to start this trend years ago, winning a Classic with crankbaits and a fiberglass rod. If your a novice, and just starting out in bass fishing, use your xf, stiff rods for soft plastics or jig fishing. But, for your moving baits, you'll land more fish on a rod with a tip flex. Your casting accuracy may improve also. Just an observation from my own fishing, and losing fish on moving baits with an xf action rod through the years. Anyone agree or disagree on this? What's your opinion here?

I fish a smaller lake where bluegill are the main forage. I've caught almost all my fish there on a 4" purple plastic worm. Does this match a bluegill perfectly? No. But it's outfished everything else I've tried. As has been said, we can't know how the fish see our lures, or what they actually think they are.

This all reminds me of when I started years ago. Back then, all I could afford were Berkley Lightning rods. I thought I was moving way up when I bought a Fenwick HMG. But, I really couldn't feel a big difference between them. Eventually, I bought a Shimano Crucial, and then I could really feel a difference. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that rod sensitivity is largely a matter of who's actually holding the rod, and fishing it. I bought that Crucial 10yrs ago, and I'm still using it.

With any buzzbait, make sure your hooks are super sharp.

I've given quite a few to my grandson and his friends who fish. Also have given an older buddy who fishes with me some too.

I'm still hung up on purple.

Yes. I made a post at one time about bailess spinning reels. Team9nine and A-Jay knew about this also. I believe A-Jay used bailess reels for saltwater fishing. I have an old Cardinal 4 that's bailess, but I've retired it now. Im not sure where this got started, but it was popular with Tennessee fisherman. Both Charlie Brewer and Billy Westmoreland were known to cut the bails off of Mitchell 308s, ABU Cardinal 3, and 4s. These older reels didn't have the ability to close the bail by hand. This was a way to alleviate line twist issues with light mono line. Now, with newer reels, we can close the bail by hand after the cast. With a little practice, it's pretty easy to fish a bailess reel. Forgot to mention, J Francho knew about these bailess reels, and I believe he's used them also. One of those things that's kind of lost with younger anglers nowdays.

.For these younger men here,in they're thirties, trust me on this. I was there too. It was work, work, work, trying to keep my head above water, and take care of my family. The days seem long, and the stress is hard sometimes. But, when you do retire, you'll ask yourself, " where have all the years gone"? When your young, you'll hear older guys say, " time goes so fast". When you retire and get older, you realize this is true. The years have flown by.

Bgoing.Becoming a grandpa is one of the greatest things in life.

A-Jay, very well said. I've known a couple of guys who retired from auto plants, Ford and GM. Sadly neither lived a long time to enjoy they're retirement. There's something about that assembly line work. The worst thing you can do is go home, and sit in front of the TV all day. I would recommend two things. First off, as you say, try to keep yourself in decent shape, as best you can. Secondly, if you don't have a hobby, find one. It can be anything that holds your interest. Hobbies of any kind can help to keep your mind sharp, and keep you thinking, and get your mind away from all the day to day nonsense that goes on. For all of us here, it's fishing. It's been the single thing that's driven me since I was a young kid. I've never lost my enthusiasm for it, and still learning about fishing all the time. When we retire, we still need something to do, both mentally and to whatever extent, physically also. It's what keeps us going.

I still work about two days per week, helping a friend with a small contracting business, but I basically retired not long ago. Now, I still get up early, but instead of jumping out of bed, calling guys, loading tools or racing to the lumber yard to get materials, my morning routine has changed. Since I've retired, I get up, brew some fresh coffee, and log on to BR, and take my time reading through all the great info here. It's been an adjustment, and feels weird at first, but Im liking it, and liking it a lot. For you guys that are out there hitting it every day, hopefully, you'll reach your retirement and enjoy it. Maybe you'll have some more time for fishing, and catching up on things you couldn't do when you were busy working. Fresh coffee and BR. It's become my new thing, and it's a great way to start the day.

We've had many threads on light biting fish in the past. Almost any type of jig lure can be sucked in with no tell tale signs. The fish are there when you lift the rod or begin to reel in.

Charlie Brewers, " Slider Fishin". The book is dated now, but has a lot of good reading on light line fishing, that still applies today. You can order it from the Slider Company for 6.95.

Motivation is important in everything we do. Anymore, I'm like Catt. I like seeing my grandkids take an interest in fishing, and helping them however I can.

I fished quite a few club tournaments years ago. These were small events, on local lakes near home. I placed in the top three a few times, and thought I was getting pretty good. Our club got invited to a bigger event with 61 boats on Missouri's Table rock lake. Ten guys from our club went down there, and payed our own entry fees and everything else. We were fired up and ready. We studied maps, and, thought we could do well. It was a humbling experience. We came in second to last place. The guy that won the event was from Nebraska, and had never fished Table Rock before. This proved to me that the local angler advantage we all hear about, doesn't always hold true. It was a learning experience, and made me realize how many good sticks are out there. I think what makes a top pro stay on top is being able to adapt and change up if need be. A pattern can fall apart pretty quickly, and you'd have to be ready for this. Be the best in town until the best comes to town. As far as average Joe's dominating the sport? I think it's possible. Every dog has his day. But, are they cut out for it? I think it can be a stressful lifestyle.

Catt, this exact bait is a big favourite with guys in the Missouri Ozark lakes. Many prefer clear over any other color.

This is how it was and is for most guys. I raised four kids on carpenters wages. My wife worked most of the time too. Had I tried to turn pro in fishing, we could have easily gone broke in 1 month. I would have never done it. When you bomb, what do you tell the family? I've heard of guys who slept in they're trucks, ate gas station food, and really had a hard time trying to fish for a living. As much as I love fishing, a steady job always paid the bills, and brought home the bacon.

Nice. Thanks for letting everyone know.

I know I could never make it. I'm too used to fishing for fun, and not competing with anyone. Plus the whole lifestyle is not always glamorous. Racing from lake to lake, trying to figure it all out, grabbing fast food along the way, and being away from home. If your really good, you stay in better hotels, eat at better restraunts etc. But it seems like only a hand full live this lifestyle. It all sounds good, but there's a lot that never make it too. I think most would say it's not easy.

I'm a monofilament fisherman. I respool my t rig rods three or more times over the season. Big Game is inexpensive, and it's a confidence booster having good fresh mono on my rods.

I've used ABU 4600C reels on various rods over the years. They've worked well

I picked up a girl from a nearby town for a date. An Italian girl. Her dad answered the door smoking a huge cigar, staring at me. Looked like a mob guy. He said" what time you gonna have her home"? I was going to say midnight, but, knew this was the wrong answer. So I said " ten thirty sir". He said" come in". I've been married to that girl for 39 yrs now.

My second car a 64 Ford Falcon. A four door, looked like a grandma car. But, it had a 289 small block. My brother helped me soup it up with Holley 4barrel, Hurst 4 sped shifter, 411 rear end, and traction bars, which cost 30 dollars each. What a sleeper. My dad didn't approve...

Craw, I remember all of these things. Born in 1957, my grandkids can't believe how it was in the 1960s. We too had one blk/ wht TV, with rabbit ears, and tin foil to get a better reception. First vehicle was a 67 Chevy truck, colomn 3 speed, straight 6cyl engine. My older brother worked at a Griffs burger place. No joke hamburger 50 cents, fries, 25 cents, soda, 25 cents. And they only had one size of soda, not like now. It was a great time to be a kid.