Armtx77

I fish from the waters edge. I may miss a couple here and there by not making the "spook" cast from 10ft away, but Im usually in thick cover myself and cant cast from ten feet away.

Hard to beat this advice. I took Francho's advice last year on 15# braid on M/F 7ft spinning set up for Senkos and it changed my world. I went through a couple of braids, before settling on Sufix832 and am using Seagur this year, with good results.

Im with you. I use the same brand and line of rods and the same spinning and baitcasting reels, just in different sizes. I want the muscle memory and feel, to be about the same. Plus, it looks like you are organized, when you jump into someones boat for the first time.

Spare reel spools. First thing I do, is call up Diawa and order a couple of spare spools.

I have 2 BG 1500's and a 2500...love em. One 1500 is attached to a Fenwick HMG ML/F and the other to a Fenwick HMG travel rod, that I carry in the truck. The 2500 is attached to a Fenwick HMG M/F. Im clearly a creature of habit.

I do a lot of banging around with 8lbs NanoFil and it works well for me, including a couple of great fights with 3 1/2-4lbs, spotted river bass. I fish with 15lbs Sufix832 on another spinning reel that I throw Senkos with. 40lbs Sufix 832 on a BC setup, when it is time to go into their backyard. A lot of fish, have been caught on 15lbs Big Game...A LOT.

That is glorious!

Holy NecroThread(2005)... Nice fish!

I Co'd in two last year and I took 2 rods. I run pretty thin on gear, because I only throw a handful of lures in the classic muddy/stained water colors. My tackle box is about the size of a loaf of bread. I just dont own a bunch of gear, but what I got, I feel confident in and the boat owner was happy I brought so little gear. My GoreTex rain suit and soft side lunch box take up more space.

UP or LP? Sounds like it may still be some ice out conditions, but as A-Jay said: more input on what and where you are fishing. I have not fished in your AO, but I grew up in Northern IL and this time of year, was hit or miss on the best of days. Fish were still roaming, looking for beds. It was not until the week after Mothers Day(why you keep records) that the bite would start to turn on.

Been doing pretty well down here in SE Louisiana. Cant complain to be honest. Those of you, dealing with flood waters, keep safe.

My first bait caster was a AbuGarcia BlackMax, lefty, because my spinning rod was lefty. There were few options in the early 90's. Im glad I can get just about any baitcaster in lefty.

Best explanation we will see in this thread. Someone will geek out and get super technical(please do. I love it). They help me catch good fish, in highly pressured waters...Im hooked, man.

Im opposed to making people take a test, in order to get a fishing license. What is next, making people register their firearms...wait, they want to do that too. Im not saying we dont need to protect our natural resources, but you will find that corporations, do far more damage than outdoorsman do. You want see some scary stuff up close? Come down to Louisiana and spend some time South of I90. Lousiana loses coast line every minute, because the Corps of Engineers blocks off the MS river with a few dozen lock and d**n's on the upper MS. We are literally being strangled to death, so the BigAgra...Cargill,ADM,Bungy...etc can move product. Not to mention the 1000's of miles of leaky petrochemical pipes that are all over the place.

Like you, I mostly bank fish and I run a 7' ML Fast tip (Fenwick) rod with 8lb Nanofil. I throw small stuff with it, 1/4oz and under. It also doubles as a great perch/bluegill/crappie rod, but its main purpose, is wading small rivers, throwing 1/16oz rooster tails and Keitech swimbaits, going after hybrid/Kentucky bass. I find it to be one of the more enjoyable set ups I own.

Fish at night, slow down and increase lure size...all have been said. I fish several, highly pressured, lakes/lagoons. Here in the NOLA Metro. The guys who regularly catch big fish 6-8lbs, are constantly moving from spot to spot. They are pitching Senko's on MH gear, into pockets of grass and putting lures into ugly looking spots. Personally, I have been having real good luck with 5" black w/blue flake Senko's. With a 5/0 offset and 3/8 bullet weight...Texas Rigged, attached to 15lbs Sufix832. Slow down...big bass in heavily pressured waters, are educated beasts.

I have a dedicated hat, long sleeve shirt and gloves and buff, that I use that stuff on. I still apply 30% DEET, before hand and I have not seen a tick in several years.

A 5 gallon bucket, out to about 25, maybe 30 ft. I see some here saying a coffee cup...that is 3 1/2" and if you are hitting that, man you are really good IMO.

9I use the real deal Senko's. I fish some local, in town lakes, that get a ton of pressure. A 5" black w/blue flake Senko, flat out kills LMB in these "lagoons". The Original Senkos, have out fished the Yum style in the same colors, by about 3 to 1. They dont last as long, cost more and catch more fish for me. The catching fish part, being the reason I go fishing and keep using Senko's. That fish and 4 like it were cuaght tonight on a 45 acre lagoon that had about 6 guys fishing it when I showed up at 715.

Senkos man, everyone throws Senkos. 15 years ago, I threw a lot of tubes whrn I lived in Illinois amd fished the mighty MS and the rivers that fed it. I have not tossed a tube in a long time, but there is only so much room in my kayak.

I have some old Cabelas winter camo, probably from the mid 90's. Some of the most durable stuff(polar fleece) I have ever owned...made in the USA. BOTH Cabelas and PBS, sold out to profits long ago. I stopped recommending both, probably 10 years ago.

We have some odd ball water laws amd who owns said watet down here. There are waterways, that have been fenced off by their owners. I have bared witness to landowners, running people off of waterways, that they claimed to own and moat times, did in fact own. Im talking about stuff, that requires a boat to get to. Crazy

It is hard and it is frustrating, to fish metro lakes. Between people keeping every single legal fish and who knows how many illegal fish. Toss in the outright pressure that comes along with dozens of lures being tossed at small water fish...I FEEL YOUR PAIN! I expanded outward last fall. I started fishing small rivers that I could wade and that opened it up for me. The metro lakes are typically easy to fish. The one 2 blocks from my house, I can fish as far as I can throw a lure, from every inch of the bank. You go look at how many people are wade fishing small rivers...it is work man and people dont want to mess with it. I drive an hour and fourty five minutes...one way. To hit my favorite wading rivers. Get on google maps. Look for the smaller rivers. Than google fishing on those rivers. Grab your gear, jump in your ride and go fish one of these rivers...research, research, research. I tell the big water bass guy down here in SE Louisiana about my wade trips and they just shake their heads and tell me to buy a boat. Wade fishing small rivers, is a simple pleasure, that is lost on many fisherman.

The fishing we talk about on this forum, can be a grind. How many here, have spent 8+ hours a day. Throwing artificial lures and been skunked or caught 2-3 fish? Most days fishing, with artificial bait, is a grind, but that is what makes catching them, all that more special. I dont golf, because it is frustrating and the holes with water on them, I know there is a state record LM lurking in there. People seem to want to check out, as form of relaxing. They jump on the google machine and get lost for hours. Me, I check out of my life and check into the great outdoors. I spent 5 days on the Buffalo River AR over Memorial day weekend. I, nor my wife, wanted to check back into our day to day life.

I only have a kayak and a canoe.Outside of a depth finder, I dont use any electronics. Unless we are counting the google machine to check the weather conditions