CrankFate

Well, if you go to the store and look at the rods, once you hit $300-350, you will notice the greatest diminishing returns in anything you’ll ever buy. 99% of what the difference at that point are just marketing terms. Just because a guide or rod handle is made from something that costs more as a raw material or is manufactured in a process that cost more to do, does not mean it will make the rod better. Usually, that is the only difference between rods once you get to that price point. What add ins were attached to it. You’ll always see the most gear disappointment with rods once you get past $350. All you have to do is scour the BST’s and auction sites. The worst place to spend your money fishing is going for the most expensive rods, unless your goal is status. The guys winning tournaments are not usually doing it on the most expensive rods out there.

The only way your beat is to quit the game.

No, it’s the waters of Walt Disney World in Florida, 20 years ago, on a guided bass fishing trip, in a river between what used to be the Disney Institute and what was just being built as the Disney Springs area.

Yes, but it’s not that high and there’s a 45 degree concrete slope. It’s easy with smaller and average sized fish. But it’s not easy with anything big.

In my opinion, I get the most consistent satisfaction by going with the ribeye.

Grackle. They viciously hunt small crabs in the rocks near the ocean and in saltwater rivers near the ocean. They grab them and quickly flip them over onto their belly and peck through them with their beaks. They even rip claws off sometimes. One of the strangest things I’ve seen fishing. You really have to see it to believe it. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347201917403 Im serious when I say this, it is more shocking than giant sharks right at my feet or lightning strikes less than 100’ away. I would never believe it, except that I’ve seen them do it, there are even reports of them learning how to catch razor clams.

I do a uni uni knot on thin lines. Overhand FC knot to braid uni knot on thick lines. I never had a fish break me off and it’s hard enough to break the line when I get hung up. There’s no way I’m tying these fancier more complicated knots in 6lb braid and 8 to 12lb FC in more than 5mph winds with my contacts on, unless I’m bringing my reading glasses fishing with me.

The fact that this is even a thing is one of the many reasons I rarely use spinning gear anymore. If I am using a spinner I expect the handle to properly close the bail without extra effort or noise.

There’s a place like that around here. I still fish there, because there was a study done a few years back, where they electrocuted the water to catch fish and study they types and sizes. The study landed six LMB, but they were much bigger than what is average in the state. I, personally, have not caught or seen one caught there for about 23 years, but just seeing that official study, which was in the past five years, makes it impossible to not at least try to fish there every season.

Yes, the smaller bullet sized profile will slip through their mouth easier when they are holding it closed. That is the first thing I heard about tungsten that would make me consider using it.

I am a fisherman, not a collector. Yes, I do buy a fair amount of gear, but I really use it. I have different setups to maximize my catches and fun by species and technique. I usually go by weigh thrown and size of fish. But, begrudgingly, over time, I realized that certain applications require different gear. As a kid, we had one setup for saltwater and one setup for freshwater. That was it. There was no money for anything else and no money for fancy lures. I live in a city surrounded by saltwater, where no one bass fishes. But I was sent away to stay with a military family in the Midwest every summer from first grade until I started high school. If it wasn’t for that, I would never have fished for bass and would never get into tackle. The salt water shops where I liver were 100% utilitarian. No one wanted more than the most basic gear and no one wanted to spend a penny extra. I still see guys fighting with the bait shop owners over the price of everything. Out in the Midwest and upper south, it was a completely different scene. The people were actually more careful with spending money on gear, and things in general, but were also more into enjoying better gear that was earned from some doing some kind of work. You’d see fancy flies, expensive fly rods, hunting rifles, bows and arrows. Snow mobiles. This was what people were working for. I was forced against my will to have to work for these things, too. Or otherwise, I don’t think I’d ever care for bass fishing or the gear that goes with it. As a kid, every kid, fishing all day for sunnies, perch, channel catfish and carp, only wanted one thing—to catch largemouth bass, which basically don’t exist where I live. Since most fishing happens in the summer, when I was away, I basically started fishing for every fish like it was a largemouth bass, since that was the way people were fishing every summer when I was away. Nostalgia. Alright, that’s enough on that...

Abu Garcia engineers all of their reels to retain the historic gear tooth feel in every reel. The more you fish it the faster it goes away.

Hmmm....interesting. By size, it should make for quicker hooksets. Never thought of that.

I searched far and wide to get spiderwire code red for my MGXtreme2, because it’s red red. Works fine for me, but it’s nothing special. The red faded pretty fast, too.

If you already got them, use them. You will notice a big difference.

Around here, there are no fish bigger than LMB or Carp. Cats 2lbs and over are very rare. I caught a few carp over the years on the dead stick (bait rod) that made a lot of long runs.

The only other guy I know that ever even wants to go fishing is a retired cop.

I never heard that, but it makes a lot more sense to me.

Did both last night. Only a bullhead on the worms. To get a certain picture, I felt like I totally mishandled a fish. Plus I didn’t have a needle nose and couldn’t get the 2/0 gami worm hook out. The I realized I could use the mini scissors and finally got it out.

Spinning will always be easier for lighter baits. No moving parts, just the fishing line and the resistance of the lip of the spool and the guides.

People say loosen the drag when you rinse your reels, so water doesn’t get trapped in the drag and cause salt or mineral build up. I tried it, but do not recommend it, because backing the drag completely off causes the drag stack to get unseated. It happened to me. So I don’t do it anymore. Instead, I just grease everything with Cals grease. And leave it as is. I have never seen any buildup inside of any reel that has Cals in it, which is all of them, now. Even after heavy saltwater use. If you’re using spinners or lever drags, that’s another story, because there’s no drag stack or gear shaft to get dislodged.

This is a tough one. Because overall I caught more fish with a fluorocarbon leader. Even in water where they shouldn’t be able to tell the difference. An old timer, who is a great fisherman, told me it’s not that they see it, it’s that it creates a vibration that they hear or feel that they don’t always like. He claimed it didn’t matter if you use nylon, mono or fluoro, because when they can’t see it it’s only the vibration that’s the problem. I probably didn’t listen and still use a fluoro leader. His son said it was not true for LMB because he still caught them and he only used straight braid that was 65lbs or more, because he didn’t want to risk losing a lure that cost $25-$35 each.

The fish felt like they were swimming in water that should be yellow it was so hot. Here’s me with a two pounder. Since some have questioned the size of my avatar fish. I’m used to it, in the right hoodie, people underestimate my weight by 60+ pounds. But who cares. We caught fish and my Kistler BFS rig performed perfectly with soft plastic swim baits.

Specifically designed for tungsten weights.

Not a fan of thinner knobs, but seriously, the one thing I think reel makers do best is the knobs. I never see any reason to change them.