Luke Barnes

I wish i could be like that. But ive got many years of working ahead of me and never had the motivation to start my own business. Or the know how, or experience, or knowledge. So I will work for the man until either I die or I win the lottery, which i dont play so.....

I have a Black Max and a SLX. Its night and day. Yes the black max is a great start reel, arguably the best for beginners, but the first time you have to pull a fish out of heavy cover and that frame flexes you will wish you had that SLX. Its solid and smooth. Shimano does more with four bearings than alot of companies do with nine.

I went ahead and order a set from Amazon that has a buff and fingerless sun gloves. Should be here tomorrow and I'll try them out and if I like them but want nicer ones I'll get nicer ones individually and not a set made in china for cheap off Amazon. I figured this way if I dont like wearing them im not out much money, but if i do but feel better quality would be more comfortable, I dont mind keeping these as backup.

I like the look of these. I might look into a pair. I figure i ought to atleast give it a try before i dismiss it. Seems like the benefits out weigh the added clothing.

Yeah I definitely think I'm going to look into them. I hate sunblock and I can't tell you why. I just hate it. I have some nice columbia short sleeves but need a fee long sleeves. Whats some good light weight options for buffs and gloves. I have never once looked into them.

The last pic it looks black. Did you paint over the perch pattern? Is it originally translucent? I have a very similar looking squarebill in color and build but that lip threw me.

Yeah it was still hot as literal hell, but I think having a boonie hat and the DCU long sleeve to keep the sun directly off the skin helped. ACUs can kiss my butt. I was in Taji and Balad area and we had full IBAs and I wish we had just plate carriers. Then the army decided to introduce the new body armor, I forget what it was called, I hated it. But it went over your head and not like an actual vest so you couldn't open it up to get a little air. I digress, the older I get the more I am starting to think about my health more and i never even wear sunblock. At most a long sleeve and ball cap. I have a Columbia boonie hat but its really hot and makes my head sweat worse. I got burned every year and always complained. So thinking about changing that, but if the buff and gloves make you sweat worse, maybe I'll step up to sunblock, hence why I'm asking. I was issued a neck gaiter in the army we used in the winter but also in the summer in sand storms and being outside for a long period with my kevlar on and not my hat. Kept the sun off but was made of polypropylene so was kind of hot. Thats my only experience with any face coverings.

Do they just protect your skin from the sun or do they keep you cooler? I know light, loose clothing is good in hot weather, I learned this my first summer I spent in Iraq. Having a baggy and light uniform on kept the sun off and kept me cooler than a short sleeve t shirt. Wondering if its the same principal or more for Sun protection.

As far as memory coils go, KVD Line conditioner is worth its weight in gold. Its just great stuff no matter whose name is on it. If its line twist you're referring to, I have no help there. I'm sure I get it but I dont really notice much. On spinning I run braid to fluoro leader on everything except my UL and 9 ft crappie rod. Braid to leader to me, is about the best idea for line on spinning, again my opinion. I was a skeptic for years until i tried it and will never go back.

So mind you I've never surf fished but..... I watch alot of you tube haha. Multiple people on different channels all had luck using Gulp Salt Worms. I like Gulp for freshwater so i thought it was interesting. No idea how they rigged it, just know they used it haha.

Ive wondered the same because I have almost the exact same setup except a heavier leader. I have two M spinning that I use for everything else finesse and pretty much stay with a drop shot on one and wacky/Neko on the other. So if I were to want to use the Ned combo for something else i dont really know what I would use it for.

I like this idea alot and is the main reason i dont throw lipless more. Im bank bound and cant see the weeds most of the time and get gunked up so fast. But if I could slither through the weeds and not get hung I bet it would increase bites.

That's how ive been with the previous rod i had for chatterbaits. Used a spinnerbait one day then toed a chatterbait back on and the only reason it somes off is to change colors of them.

I like it because I throw an A Rig and a Pad Crasher frog on it and only change the spool tension and SVS and never crack the side cover open. Zero and I mean zero backlashes too. But ugh I still love my Lews! The mag brakes really fit me and my style of casting and I like the feel in my hand over the SLX slightly. I wish i would have known that five days ago

I see everyones point. But its the exact length, power, and action I have been looking for a didnt know they made one in a rod I already have and like. So maybe I was just a little over excited when I made the thread haha

Which is true. I have the SLX XT so it has four brake pins and then the SVS brake system where the regular SLX has six brake pins and no svs. So they are a different animal too, but i like that I can get the brakes dialed and adjust the SVS system externally on a dial. Which when I took the side plate off its like a brass collar that goes around the spool shaft it looks like. But I still like Lews brakes because I have them dialed to the point I dont need to feather the spool with my thumb and can just fling it.

As previous threads ive made imply, ive been itching for a new rod and reel. Considered BPS branded ones but went back with my ol trusty Lews Speed Spool LFS. The only reason i pulled the trigger is I found the exact rod I was looking for, for chatterbaits and spinner baits. With my other LFS I jave it paired with a 7' MH/F Lews Mach rod. I was cruising online and saw they make a 6'10 MH/MF Mach rod and my eyes lit up. That's the EXACT power and action I wanted!! I like the mach rods for the weight, feel, and Winn grips so I made the 7' my t rig setup and now have the 6'10 for chatters. I'm excited to try it out and see how the moderate fast feels compared to fast. I was originally looking at the lews TP1X chatterbait rod but didnt like that it was a M power so this is exactly what ive been wanting!

I'm right handed and use right hand cranks on everything but, I pitch better with my left hand and arm, so it works out for me. I still cast with my right hand and then switch the rod and reel to my left to reel with the right. Ive tried left side crank and I like the feel of the rod in my left hand. I feel i work it better and can detect bites better. I attribute this to being a guitar player and needing my left to be dexterous as well and my left feels comfortable for certain things. I am in no way ambidextrous but fishing and guitar playing my left is better for certain things.

I own two Lews Speed Spool LFS and one Shimano SLX XT. I like them both but the LFS gets my vote obviously, since I have two. But both are very nice. I use the SLX XT for frogging and its an 8.2-1 and loaded with 60lb braid so it's hard to compare side by side because of the braid being kinda rough, but its still smooth, strong, just cant tell if its quiet haha. Either is a great reel. Do you like mag break or centrifugal brakeS? Thats a big difference between them.

Im not that good so I dont honestly know. i dont pay attention a whole lot or remember what i did as long as I catch the fish. Moving baits obviously tight line but for everything else im not the best at detecting a bite so it's random.

I read the title and knew this was for me. Im in the same boat and think I snapped out of it mostly. First fish of the year came via drop shot and came off ten feet from the bank. I then missed so many bites I lost count. I consider myself good at detecting a drop shot bite. Switch to t rig and swinghead and knew I was missing bites and still no 2021 fish. I kept going and kept getting bit and freezing. Finally landed one on the swinghead and switched gears. Wacky and chatterbait have been going good since then with hookups and landing.

Oh I forgot. I got into painting crankbaits. I bought a 30 piece of six different styles of blanks and painted a few so far. At first it was a craft for my kids and their Poppy loved his hand painted lures from the grandkids at Christmas, but I tried my kids water based markers and got some really cool sexy shad looking paint jobs done! Then @WRB was gracious enough to send me a ton of trebles so ive put split rings and hooks on them and have tried a squarebill I painted once, but it was a weedy lake and I threw it a few times just to say I did.

Something I do that totally reignited my passion for bass fishing was to stop bass fishing for a while. I love fishing too much not to go but instead I would throw out a few catfish lines and the use my ultralight or fly fishing rod for Panfish. Caught some good cats, pretty sunfish, and decided after a few months I want to bass fish and nothing but. Got on a crappie kick for a while and same thing, back to bass I went with renewed interest and excitement. I dont get to fish as much as I want, not even half as much, so I go every chance i get. But in the flip side I could also see doing it 3-4 times a week for a long time might get tedious. Leave the kayak at home, get some rod holders and throw some lines for catfish. Fish for live bait, that was always interesting. When I fished for Panfish for fun I caught a ton, as soon as I said I'm fishing for live or cut bait I never caught any!!

Spraying them with Spike it Luma Pearl, dipping claws and tails in chart or methiolate, using a red spike it marker to make it look like its bleeding. But never any hardware or anything like that.

I have a BPS a mile from my house so I go there quite often. I dont always but something and there's been times it was stocked and times certain things were just gone. Never the whole fishing section but like one day all jig heads were bare. Like ned heads, crappie jigs, etc.... One time the soft plastic worms were almost non existent. They carry less and less rods that's for sure. Agreed its mainly BPS. ones too. And never any sales on anything!!!!