Alex from GA

If it's deep I get right over it and use a plug knocker.

The lake I live next to has a rowing venue and all summer there are people out in long narrow kayaks paddling in groups with a boat directing them. I've never timed them but they are fast.

My fishing partner uses moving baits all the time while I can't cast as much I'll drag/hop a worm. If he's catching fish on crankbaits I'll use one too.

I still live vicariously through you, thanks. We used to go dirt riding and camping to Kennedy Meadows every fathers day, but since moving to GA all I do is bass fish. To all the dads out there Happy Father's Day.

Has anyone noticed that the OP hasn't responded, maybe he/she got discouraged and quit.

Have your brother set the hook. Rehab is tough but we all get through it.

I have had and have a number of Okuma spinning reels with success.

I don't have to paddle or do anything just fish. If I get tired or sore the seats are comfortable. He takes good care of me. I do have to park the truck and back the trailer in to load. BTW they mostly didn't want a worm just a rock crawler crank bait.

My buddy invited me to go fishing with him yesterday. His first fish was a 3+ LM and mine was a 10" Alabama. He had another 3+ and a 2.93 Alabama along with several other over keeper size Alabamas. I ended up with 4 under keeper size Alabamas and 1 over 2. It was perfect weather, cloudy and mid 70s with sprinkles later. We fished from 2 til 7:30 which was plenty long enough for me.

The only thing I use 30lb braid for is spoon jigging deeper than 20' with a leader. 60lb for frogs and flipping, 12lb for worming with leader on spinning rods.

You're still my hero.

If you're in a kayak floating down a river it's rarely too hot. If it is I'll bail out.

I built a rod a couple of years ago just for what you're doing. It's a 6'6" ultra light moderate rod with an Okuma Ceymore 1000 size reel. With a soft 4 lb mono line I can cast a 1/32 oz Beetle spin far enough to catch bream. It's not high end but fishes like it. I also use a 3 weight flyrod with sponge spiders that works well.

If you decided on that one you could pick it up and fish all the way across the country.

I too have 30+ year old Shimano reels that sounded creaky but I know how to fix them. They can be as good as new except for the outsides. Most of the parts are available except for pinion gears for the old Bantams.

I have an 1/8 oz that catches white bass and a 1/4 oz that used to catch bass. Haven't used it in years.

You don't need no stinkin ranger.

Those are doozies, congrats.

My best weighed one is 8.3 on a spinnerbait. The trick to not destroying your spinnerbait is playing them gently not letting them spin,

When I lived in CA over 25 years ago I used freshwater tackle for bonita, mackerel and bass every weekend for a lot of years, even halibut and barracuda. I have a Shimano 300 size Bantam I filled with 300 yards of 8 lb line that I used for albacore. I use freshwater tackle for all the inshore fish in the gulf

how do I do this?

Better to bend a hook than to lose the lure. I use soft hooks on my jigging spoons that go in brush piles.

Had a set of tires left under my mailbox by Fedex. Can't see the house from the mailbox. Had a box of avocados stuffed in my mailbox by USPS that took me 5 minutes to finally get it out. Amazon is the most reliable for me.

That's what comes with "take a kid fishing" congrats.

My 2 cents. I built a 6'2" extra fast spinning rod and a 6'8" same rod and have used them both for several years and can't tell the difference in performance. They don't have the same reels but have the same line, sinker and worm. The longer rod casts a bit further.