Alex from GA

No dikes but a Leatherman that will cut hooks always on my belt.

Location, location, location. If they aren't there you can't catch them.

Never been on a guided bass fishing trip but on a bunch of saltwater trips mostly in Mexico and Baja. I fish with people that are better fishermen than I am, a few were guides, and learn from them. Most of the Mexican guides I've had were top notch.

I can cast a bc backward but can't skip with it. I find it much harder to cast a spinner backward but can skip.

The guides are fine but don't use them for the tip top. See the rod building site.

Yes I meant to say "lose", thanks.

I've been using the same flipping hook for 2 years. How many hooks do you use with 65 lb line?

I've been going barbless for many years and don't think I lose any fish because of it. The only problem is having the hook point slip out of the worm.

I haven't been fishing since yesterday and I'm going again later today and tomorrow.

For years I used a Basspro 85 million modulus med rod with an old Shimano Bantam 100 reel and caught 1000s of bass. I fish at least 200 days a year and catch a minimum of 10 fish/day. I use a 1/8 oz weight, 8 lb fluorocarbon line and a finesse worm. I bought 2 and broke one and lost the other a couple of years ago. I replaced them with a Rainshadow walleye blank IMMWS62MXF I built and it's even better. It's a spinning blank but I built a casting rod. Good casting and very very sensitive. I've been using the same reel for the past 20 years.

I keep mine in the basement against a wall, stacked in a corner, in the boat, in my shop/shed stacked in another corner, in my vacation home stacked against a wall. All are rigged with lures/hooks I'll use without retying sometimes for a few months.

As Hammer 4 said I also learned how to play fish by catching bonito with light line on the west coast. I used a Mitchell 300 or 308 and the drags were very jerky so back reeling took the jerk out. I usually fished for small, 1 to 3 lb, fish with 4 or 6 lb line and could land most of the fish if they didn't tangle with the anchor. With the good drags today I never do it.

Many years ago people used clear nail polish on the spool of their Penn conventional reels when the line was smaller than the gap between the spool and the frame. It might be a left coast thing.

I have built several rods with mimima guides and tip tops. I use these rods at least a couple of times a week with mostly 6 lb mono. A couple of weeks ago my line on one of the rods felt rough so I checked the guides and found the minima tip tops had many grooves. I have a couple more rods I put ceramic tip tops on that are OK. I'd say the CRB LSR guides will do the same thing.

5/16" bolt and nut work good if you don't want to lock it.

You can soften the tip by adding heavier guides and tip top but not by much. Most of us want a crisper action which calls for installing lighter guides.

Is your "50/50" work like the 10/10 guarantee? 10 feet or 10 seconds whichever comes first? You'll find that your work lasts much longer than a season or two. I've been using rods that I built 30 years ago.

I know I'm a little late but couldn't help but comment. I've built 2 similar rods with a Rainshadow Immortal walleye 6'2" IMMWS62MXF. They're for 6-15 lb line and very sensitive. I used Pac Bay Mimima guides for their light weight and a spit cork reel seat. I made the rods for my kayak but find myself using them more and more in the boat. The new Mudhole SSR guides are about the same as the Minimas so there won't be a difference. 16-10-8-5555 are the guides. Weighs less than 3 oz and with a light reel the whole setup is less than 10 oz.

My last Merc, '74 85 HP, had no choke. I'd pump the bulb until hard and pump it a couple more times, increase the idle and crank. It started immediately and kept running. My present one, '88 45 HP, is completely different. Put the fast idle up some, crank it with the choke and it starts now. Put it in gear and go. I don't pump the bulb. Every 2 cycle Merc is different.

I've had a sensing pump for 15 or so years and It works great. Mine just hums when it turns on every 2 1/2 minutes.

Agree with all the rest here. All I fish, with my kayak, are small rivers and creeks. I usually park @ bridges and drag the kayak down to the river and when I'm done I drag it back up to the truck. The lower the river the better the fishing and running over rocks is an all day thing. It's a tool to get me/you to the fish.

I have an ice chest in the rear compartment and slip the board on top under bungees with the L facing forward. You can do the same thing with your crate.

You're right, there are tributaries of the Chattahoochee that go into AL. I'm suffering from CRS.

First WRB I'm under the impression Shoal Bass are only in GA and FL. The fish I'm holding is a Shoal Bass from the Chattahoochee River in GA. Some years ago the so called Redeye Bass were broken down into several different species; Shoal, Bartram, Redeye, Chattahoochee, Tallapoosa, etc and they all have their own territory. I have seen all these and LM, spots and smallmouth with red eyes.

I often use a pair of dykes to trim a jighead to a lighter one.