Big Hands

Check out post #9 in this thread:

Gapen - Flub Dub - shallow diver

Agreed. I love my SLX 70 MGL, and it does great for 1/4 oz to even up to 3/4 oz baits. For what the OP is wanting, I would also go with Curado BFS (of which I own two) those baits I would characterize as 'BFS-ish' (1/16 to 1/2 ounce covers that range). Even 1/16 ounce total bait weight is not a total slam dunk if you need distance (and I say that not knowing if anything will actually do that). If you're using a 1/16 weight with additional materials attached, then the Curado BFS will be solid. As for rods, it's much like any other niche. I have two Curado BFS rigs. 7'1" L/F and ML/F Phenix Feather rods. If I'm going to throw something in the 3/8 or 1/2 oz range, definitely the ML/F. Small buzzbaits and spinnerbaits would fall in this category, especially with a trailer. If those are definitely part of your routine, I'd go with the ML/F. If you're mostly going with baits at the lighter range of the spectrum, then maybe the L/F will serve you better. I am generally more of a fan of rods longer than 6'8" (more like 7' for me), but you may have your reasons and they may have their place with some of these new BFS reels with lighter baits. I have been at this since 5'6" rods with pistol grips were the norm and have been happier with the evolution of longer rods. I used to wonder why they weren't the norm. I do notice that many BFS enthusiasts prefer shorter rods for true BFS combos. I may still pull out one of my shorter rods and try them with one of my Curado BFS reels just to see what happens. I can't say with any certainty that a longer rod is always better from personal experience in this BFS-ish situation because I have not yet tried it with these particular reels. A rod, a reel, a bait/lure, and the line are all part of a system. If you change one, it might significantly affect how the other parts of that system work. Phenix doesn't offer a M/F Feather casting rod. I also have a MH/F in that line and I would say it's a little underpowered compared to my MH/F Tatula casting rod. Maybe they split the difference with the ML/F and MH/F. I don't have any other ML/F casting rods to compare it to.

That sword cuts both ways.

Since it appears that you've made this assertion to try to stir up some fecal matter. . . . The Ugly Stik is definitely legendary at certain times and in certain places. An unoccupied Andy Gump at Woodstock would be legendary too because sometimes you only need it to be minimally functional (or super durable in the case of the Ugly Stik) and you just need to get in there and take care of business. But I wouldn't want it to be the only option I ever have. YMMV.

Randy, Randy, Randy! A very good message from a questionable messenger. I have watched many of his videos. I also listened to his interview with Dave Mercer, which will give you an insight into why Randy does what Randy does. He freely admits that he employs clickbait titles and content to get views because it pays some of his bills. I find at least some of his opinions to be whiny, hypocritical, condescending, and morally conflicted, on top of subscribing to Luddite doctrine. He captures all of his content with a smart phone because he admittedly can't hang with the technology needed to use more capable gear and software. He's being left behind in the world of top tier professional bass fishing and hasn't figured out why he is becoming irrelevant to the part of the key demographic that advertisers covet. You notice that he is not sponsored by Lowrance, Humminbird or Garmin. But he's happy to cash a tournament check paid in some significant part by the companies that sell the products that he despises so much. He's at least astute enough not to bash them while he's on stage at a weigh in. Is there anyone here that would be shocked if Randy had a sudden change of heart about FFS, and then find one of them is now sponsoring him? For example, he said a few days ago (in response to the 'Liver King' incident in the comments from his 'Cocky Angler' video): I guess Randy believes that it's OK to defraud people by claiming that if you eat liver and other organs (including testicles) and consume the supplements he sells, that you too can achieve a body similar to his, especially if you include a "positive message" and visit indigenous tribes. If Liver King truly "took responsibility" as Randy claims he did, he would refund the money he took from those he defrauded. All he did was to admit to it after he was caught (after previously denying it). Taking responsibility would be apologizing and returning their money. What does that tell us about the products that Randy sells through his videos? It's OK to do as the Liver King does and act like a product will do something it won't, and profit from it, as long as you also have a positive message? I guess you could say he sells a positive message, and includes some other products that don't do what he claims they do to go along with it. . . but he doesn't pitch it like that. Randy makes a living by exploiting a public resource and leaving behind a much bigger than average carbon footprint, but somehow we are supposed to believe that he is concerned about global warming and the environment? And, one of his biggest sponsors peddles what is often considered to be far from healthy food products, while preaching about health, fitness and eating healthy. He was even wearing their hat while talking about about anglers being out of shape, not eating right and not caring. . . . in more than one of his videos. And, in between being like that he gives up some decent bass fishing tips and what he believes to be 'positive messaging'. The only way to have a truly informed opinion about Randy is to watch him, so I have done that. If I chose not to watch him at all, it wouldn't give me much of a basis to disagree or have an informed opinion. If I do watch, some will suggest that I don't have to and that is true, but then they could also say that if I don't watch, it's not fair to have much of a credible opinion about him. Call me what you will, but sometimes I am willing to sift through a bucket of poop to extract something usable. So, I would think his humility video might fall into that category. He's entitled to make a living doing all of the things he does. He just shouldn't expect to have widespread credibility after doing and saying some of the things he does and says.

I do it the "normal way" ? and haven't felt any need to change BECAUSE I'M NOT A DEGENERATE FREAK! Just kidding. I am actually a degenerate (Definition: an immoral or corrupt person) freak, but I don't think it impacts the method I use to hold a rod or turn the crank on a reel enough for me to feel the need to experiment. I see it as a solution looking for a problem I'm not aware that I have. If someone else is doing it different, no skin on my undercarriage will require medical intervention. . . unless they try to marry into my family. Then we have a problem.

To say I'm not a big fan of trees and the leaves they shed would be an understatement of epic proportions. Whatever you do, I recommend not mentioning the leaves that fall from trees on or near buildings around me. I'm liable to go on a rant, LOL. I'd rather spend my time . . . I don't know. . . . fishing than doing yard work.

I only notice the noise at all when I have a fish on, so it doesn't irritate me that much. The noise is worse on some rods (guides) than others. Most of the time I don't notice it, but I think I notice the noise the most on a Zodias spinning rod of mine. I won't say the knot never catches because that would be a straight up lie. However, I don't recall losing a fish because of it. I have learned to ease up just enough for the knot to pass if I need to.

On most of my spinning gear, I am currently in the braid to mono/fluoro camp. I use spinning gear a LOT, especially in the warmer months and I can potentially lose a fair bit of line in a days fishing. With braid, I lose very little of it even if I lose several setups, or change setups throughout the course of a day's fishing. I usually start out by tying on a new leader of 10' to 15' of mono/fluoro before the day begins. Throughout the day, I may need to put two or three leaders on, or maybe the original lasts the whole time. But, I know that if I was straight mono/fluoro, my mainline would be getting down there much quicker and need to be replaced multiple times in a season. Also, as much as I use my spinning gear at at those times of the season, braid has little to no twist issues. Twist issues suck. They can be dealt with to some extent, but if I don't have to deal with them, I would prefer not to. I like the sensitivity of braid, and 10 lb braid is less wind-affected than 6 lb or 8 lb mono/fluoro. And, I can use 5, 6, 7, or 8 lb leader and switch that out as I see necessary throughout the course of a day. Braid is more easily compromised in rocky areas, but the leader mostly negates that. It also take a little extra time to attach a leader. I do occasionally get a wind knot from hell with braid and that can be a PITA to undo and is even worse if you can't undo it. I don't see me changing my mind on the braid-to-leader deal for most if not all of my finesse spinning fishing. TINSTAAFL, so you just have to pick your poison and live with it. I currently employ the Alberto knot for all of my braid to leader connection knots. I have not yet become proficient enough with the FG knot to use it in the field, so I will continue to mess with it in the lab (garage) until I am ready to actually fish with it. I know it is a little slimmer and my save me some of those breakoffs that occur when the Alberto knot hangs on a guide. It doesn't happen on my spinning setups, so I am mostly concerned with using the FG for casting gear. For knots that are not for connecting braid to leader, I use either a Palomar or San Diego Jam. As for casting gear, I am mostly using 40 lb to 65 lb braid with leaders ranging from 6 lb to as much as 20 lb mono/fluoro depending on what I am doing, so it's more of a mixed bag or results and I could see being OK with either braid or straight mono/fluoro. I often use heavier leader material, and this can start to be a problem with the connection knot occasionally getting hung up on the tip-top guide and then sending the whole setup off to Davey Jones' locker. That's enough to put the Good Humor man in a sour mood even the first time it happens in a day, and only gets worse. I do like the added sensitivity and less wind-resistance. I have had issues with thinner braid digging in to itself on the spool. I am currently considering removing the braid on at least one of my BFS casting rigs and trying some mono. I also traded braid-to-leader setups for straight mono on a couple of my crankbait rigs. We will see how that goes. There's little room to debate whether or not there is generally more complexity to using a braid to leader setup, and there are pros and cons. I would not say someone is wrong to use whatever they use, if it works for them.

Epoxy or any other 'glue' is not likely to even be as strong as the original piece IMHO. I would put the chances for long term survival at somewhere close to zero. But, you could put a zip tie over the repaired part to fortify it. I have had success in doing exactly that. Just remember to replace the zip tie if you switch reels. Don't ask how I know that part.

I have the Tatula 7'3" MH/F "All Around" casting rod and it is my favorite casting rod. If they are truly selling for $120, you won't regret owning and fishing with it.

I have a Tatula SV TW and used it quite a bit for Carolina rigs. I also have a Shimano SLX MGL 70 and once decided to try it for Carolina rigs and was surprised to find I could cast a 3/4 oz Carolina rig with the SLX MGL almost the same distance I was getting with a 1 oz Carolina rig on the . I have also found that I need to pay attention to the lubrication of the bearings more often than I think I should. I haven't tried a a Zillion, so I have no idea what they are capable of, but if I was getting another reel for Carolina rig fishing, I'd probably be looking at a Shimano MGL, and more specifically the Curado MGL's. For line, I have been using 40-50 lb braid and 7 lb Daiwa Samurai fluoro leader. As much as I love the sensitivity of braid for C-rig fishing, I may try some 15 lb Big Game mono for the main line just to cut down on the times braid gets damaged and lets go in the structure/cover that I fish which happens more than I'd like sometimes (especially with tungsten sinkers) purely for economical reasons. I have lost as many as four or five tungsten 1 oz sinkers in a day and that starts to add up. I have found that I can get two 3/4 oz tungsten sinkers for around the same as I pay (at the local tackle store) for a single 1 oz tungsten sinker, which brings me back to why I now favor using my SLX MGL for Carolina rig fishing over my Tatula SV TW. Bomb casts seem to get me more bites as I can back off quite a ways from the fish and not possibly spook them.

Are you suggesting that the Trunk Monkey could make short work of the Bait Monkey? Trunk Monkey vs Bait Monkey in the steel cage octagon. Let's make it a PPV!

Both of my 'kids' are in their mid-30's now, but they weren't always in their mid-30's, nor will they ever be again. And fishing definitely moved down a few pegs during the time they were being raised. Your kids won't always be young again either and they need you more than you can imagine, and will for the next several years. It can seem like it will never be any different, but one day they will need much less of your time and that will be as bitter as it is sweet. The best suggestion I can give to you is to live in these moments, and try to minimize things you'll regret when you get older so that when you do get to re-engage with fishing on a more regular basis (should you choose to) that you won't spend that time wishing you'd been a better father (probably the hardest job you'll ever love). One of their biggest needs will be time. There simply aren't that many shortcuts available to being a good father, especially when you have very young children. If you do a good job, they'll still require a lot of your time through their teen years. If you want to teach your kids to fish, and enjoy fishing, it will be hard in some ways and it will not be like fishing alone or with your friends. The first two priorities should be to be safe and have fun. Actual fishing stuff only comes after those two conditions have been met. If you do things that way, they'll probably be open to doing just about anything because they love spending time with their father. As much as I love being able to fish as much as I currently can, there's a big part of me that misses being a father to my young kids. In the mean time, there will be some time for staying connected to it and hopefully that will be able to scratch that itch during this time in your life.

I went to the Rapala website for clarification, and they had this: If only I was a linguist that knew what that is supposed to sound like, LOL. Clear as mud.

I made this a while back for the "Meme" thread: Even though I can fish all year, I have some ideas I'm stockpiling ;~)

The only issue I have with having two different brand units (Garmin and Humminbird) on my boat is that I have to (try) to remember how the two different interfaces work. I don't have them work together in any way. The lakes I normally fish are only 2,200 acres and 180 acres when plugged full. There are very few places at any given time that have much of any off-shore structure so waypoints are not of much use to me. The Humminbird (on the transom) has a detailed map downloaded in case a particular hump is getting shallow and I am running the outboard. Sometimes I don't even turn either of them on. I just fish where I'm going to fish and I already know what's going on so there's no sense in announcing "here's Johnny!" If my particular situation were different, I could see why one might want them to work together.

Is it me? My mother told me that her pastor once confided that sometimes he mispronounced words on purpose as a tool to get people to listen closer: "And, the tomb was 'emptay'." Sometimes I wonder if that is what is going on. I seem to hear many people (people that would seem to know, possibly better than me) pronounce what is spelled "Gamakatsu" as "Gamagatsu". I tried to look it up ('Googled it') and even saw some ads spelling it in print as "Gamagatsu" while clearly showing a picture of a bag of hooks with the name "Gamakatsu". I know that Daiwa actually has "Tatura" and "Tatula" reels that appear to be identical, which is a bit mystifying to me. Not totally mystifying as I know that "R" and "L". . . . Yea, you know what I'm getting at. . . . Is this a case of IFYKYK? Childish or not, it does torque my gourd a little when I hear it. I just figured I could ask my friends without being judged, LOL.

Sharing is caring. I was wondering if you'd care to share that 7'6" ML Feider? Just kidding around. That's a nice quiver you've got there.

I have redundant lights for my redundant lights, and I usually have a couple more light sources on board as a back up to my redundant lights. . . . just in case. At a minimum, I carry these while night fishing: 1 @ Bow light 1 @ Rear navigation light 3 @ Milwaukee M12 work lights (3 different styles) and Way more Milwaukee M12 batteries for the work lights than I could possibly use 2 @ headlamps (for me) 2 @ headlamps (for my passenger) 2 @ Cyalume glow sticks (required by our County overlords) 1 @ Q-Beam spot light 1 @ Submersible 'crappie light' (I had 2, but I recently gave one away) I don't want to be lit up like a Christmas tree, but I also don't want to need light and not have it be available.

Very loud coming through the water. You can hear the rattles when they are still quite a distance from the boat. A suggestion from the occasionally unwise (me): Make sure your bearings are adjusted before you wing that puppy out over a distant brush pile. Please, do not ask how I know this.

Those 2" Keitech Impact baits are hard to throw with a spinning rod (I've tried several), but they sure do get bit. I haven't even tried either of my BFS(ish) rigs (Phenix Feather L/F and ML/F) with them.

LOL, we do look more like each other than I do my own brothers. Sorry for your luck, Randy.