CrankFate

I’d recommend an energy star i7 or i5 prebuilt system, with 32gb Ram and a GTX1650 Super. The reason for this recommendation is that we have 3 in the house. They play all modern games. All three running all day use less power than one similarly powered system using a different processor and GPU.

Yes, sometimes. I fish straight braid in stained and darker water. I use a mono or fluoro leader in clear water. Do not ask me how I decide whether to use mono or fluoro. I’m not sure.

I’d say it all depends on whether you’re using braid, mono or fluoro.

Fluoro definitely catches me more fish. I’m not going to comment on why, but it definitely does. I am no trout fisherman, but I would say they see the line better than other fish. However, they were problematically biting the fly line/leader connection, the leader/tippet knot and even the tippet itself last week. Goes back to probably the only thing my father ever had right—if you put extra things on your rig, the fish might bite it instead of your hook. This was the first time I’ve seen it in action several times throughout whole days. I’ll never understand fish, because I also saw the trout quickly dart away from my fly the second it made a little wake in the water.

T-Rigs or C-Rigs. All kinds until something works.

Sometimes.

Fishing. The only thing that makes waiting for nothing fun.

I got out about 20 times since the spring, according to Fishbrain, maybe 25 or so, because I went this season before logging things. But sometimes, I can’t. Too many other things to do. When I can, I go.

I do in saltwater. Either on a boat or when casting heavy weights. I don’t know why, but I cast very heavy baits, like bunker chunks, better on a big, old, round Abu.

It was something that never appealed to me before, but since that’s the way they do it for trout, we tried. Since we have the gear now, we’re going to try a few more times closer than home. It’s one of those things, where you want to do it more because you can’t do it right.

That’s funny or not ? because we literally lost close to a buck fifty worth of flies. There are a few places to fly fish not too far away. We’ll try them this fall.

Just back from the Yellowstone park area. Fished the Lower Madison and Gallatin Rivers in Montana. It was difficult, since we never fly fished before. Special thanks to a guy named CJ who got us started on how to use a fly rod and even gave us the ant fly he was catching on. Another guy we ran into at the Axtell Bridge also helped us out. I managed a decent catch of decent rainbows on the gallatin just north of Big Sky in the last 2 hours of the trip. My kids were able to pick a few rainbow and cut throats at the Damselfly FAS, which was heartbreaking because the fish were gulping all over the place, but the 50+ MPH winds made fishing impossible, even with spinning gear. In the first two hours fishing, my older son got swept away in the Gallatin, my wife thought he was going to drown. But it was only 100’ to 10” water so I wasn’t worried. He did a few years of swimming school going back a few years. The people were great. One of my sons left his rod on the ground at a relatively well known spot that other people passed through about every 20-30 minutes when we were there. We went back two days later, with a guy fishing there, and the rod/reel was right where he left it. A $110 setup would last about 15 minutes here in NY before someone took it. It was like we were in a different country. I should also mention the fly shop Montana Troutfitters was very helpful with getting us started on which flies to use and where to fish. They also had a nice selection of flies at Fins and Feathers. We stopped there quickly after losing all of our dry flies. Unfortunately because I am used to happy Gilmore style casting, I snapped the line several times hard enough to sound like a firecracker. I assume the flies just vaporized by how loud the noise was. These are my PB Rainbows. This is one crossed off my bucket list.

I’m using the Char Griller Texas Trio. Works good in smaller spaces. Gives me a gas grill for steaks, burgers and skewers. Charcoal when I need it. And a side box smoker. I cook a lot. Indoors and outdoors. The smoker is awesome for chicken, ribs, chili meat and pork belly. I recently also learned that if you smoke your favorite sausage for about 2 hours, it’s an entirely different and even better experience. I actually just smoked up some sausages and did some Chinese style black pepper sauce (Chinese black pepper sauce mixed with pickapeppa sauce, plus a teaspoon of Chinese chili paste) chicken skewers grilled directly over a wood fire on the side box grill. With some Kewpie Sesame Sauce from Costco drizzled on them before eating. I make my own brand of BBQ rub that works for most things. It’s the base of everything I BBQ, then I adjust for heat or sweet or garlic or vinegar. I always do a wet rub and sauce the ribs at the end. I know a lot of purists say dry rub, but without a molasses and alcohol base, the ribs are just missing something to me. If there’s one BBQ tip I can give, it is try making skewers. You don’t even need a smoker. Just take your favorite meat, slice it thinly (not too thin) against the grain, marinade for one hour to 24 hours in your favorite marinade (I recommend ribeye in Korean bbq sauce to start). Thread it on wooden skewers. Throw it on the grill on a high heat, flip a few times to get it caramelized and that’s it, you’re done. Best quick and easy after work meal for the summer.

4 is pretty young. And indoor arenas are extremely loud. Fun show, but I’d say 6-7 is more appropriate in a smaller indoor arena. Outdoors is no problem.

The least memory fluoro is braid. Then add fluoro leader.

Nearly all fish swim backwards. I don’t think sharks or tunas do. But I have seen more types of fish than I could count swimming backwards.

If the el cheap o spinning reels I have work fine over the years without issue, obviously the quality reels have much better bearings. I just dusted off an old spinner for my wife to use that’s been in the garage a good 6-7 years. Worked fine. Has been fished very heavily for a good 10 years before that. So I’d say there’s no need, except maybe with the bail ball bearing if you want extreme performance.

I use it without issues. I regularly fish old code red on my inshore setup. Good stuff. Must’ve discontinued it because the red fades.

Suck it up buttercups…..

Don’t get me started on rant mode. IMO, this doesn’t just apply to bass, but all fish. No one need 10, 20 or 30 of any fish. The catch limits on almost everything should be 5 fish or less depending on size. Catch and release should become a way of life in most fishing. Yes, it’s nice to eat fish, but no one really needs more than one or two fillets for a meal. With easily overfished species like bass, just release them. There’s better fish to eat. Bass should be limited to 1 fish per day, per fisherman, at 15” if I set the regs.

I only have one rod with winns and I fished the hell out of it. No problems at all.

I tend to prefer mechanical brakes. Mags are more difficult to cast with. I always think that the main reason a lot of people complain about casting reels is that they are starting out with only mags. I think it’s best to start with mechanical brakes and 1-2oz weights on a 7’ or longer rod and then work your way down. Then as you go down, get into the mag only reels.

I prefer a 7 speed. But like @bulldog1935 said, they are better with longer handles.

No idea, but the Red fishing line is now my go to leader material. Great stuff.

I’m sorry. I have to….. If the jig wears you down. It means the jig is up.