Bankc

Fluoro is denser and a single line. Braid is less dense, less rigid, and well, braided. So the vibrations that travel through a braided line will travel on 4 or 8 or however many strands. And those vibrating strands will interfere with each other. And because it's less dense, the vibration transmissions are more subjected to other vibrations, like from the air and water, so the "signal" isn't as pure. And since braid is more supple than fluoro, it looses more vibrations to the surrounding media. Kind of like how sound travels faster underwater and through steel than through air. Tight line sensitivity is different. That's why those telephones kids used to make out of two cans and a straight line of kite string need to be kept tight for them to work. If you replaced the kite string with a heavy gauged metal wire, it would likely work a lot better on a slack line.

Ditto. And I use mono, not only to help keep the fish pinned, but also to help keep the line from getting tangled up in those treble hooks. Braid is really limp and can loop around them a lot easier on a cast, especially in the wind.

I don't believe in luck. If I did, I couldn't take credit for most of the best things I've accomplished in life!

I'll often throw a single rod in the trunk with just one lure tied on and hit up a nearby lake on my lunch break. Even when I'm fully loaded with gear, I'm generally just taking about 5 3600 trays (in a small tackle bag) and 5 rods. There are only a handful of lures that I own more than two colors in, and no lures that I own two identical versions of (outside of what comes in a bag of plastics). I try not to own multiple options for the same task. So I mostly just buy new lures to replace the old ones when they get lost (though that's often a good time for me to switch brands and try something new unless I really loved the one I lost). I tend to focus more on being at the right place at the right time, rather than using the right bait or gear. It's my belief, that I'll catch more fish if I spend more time with my lines in the water than I would if I'm constantly switching stuff out.

Rod length matters for me in presentations where I'm working the bait with a downward snapping motion, like on a walking or popping topwater lure, or flipping and pitching. And here your height matters less than how high your boat sits off the water. Sure, you can get away with a longer rod, but it's less comfortable for me. So if I'm buying a rod specifically for those techniques, I'll make sure it's not too long.

Mono is less likely to foul up the treble hooks, so I go with 10lb mono for Zara Spooks and other, similar topwaters. But either braid should work okay for you. I doubt you'd notice a difference on the water either way. The difference between 20# and 30# braid isn't much. I pretty much stick to 10#, 30# and 60# braid. Unlike mono, copoly, and fluoro, the difference between pound tests and line diameters in braid isn't all that much until you get out to the extremes.

There are a bunch of dogwoods lined up on the road on my way to work. They're hard to miss. So far, nada. Also, I was outside working in my garden a few days ago and noticed everything seemed about a month behind usual. We just had a severe cold snap a few weeks ago, and that might have played an effect on everything. Plus it's been really dry all winter. So it's possible the fish react to spring faster than the plants around here.

Or worm. Specifically red earthworms or nightcrawlers.

I always fish a trailer on my jigs and bladed baits, but I'll vary the size and shape a good bit. I usually fish a trailer on my spinnerbaits. My favorite spinnerbait trailer is a curly tailed grub. The only trailers on my buzzbaits are the trailer hooks, which are mandatory.

Everything can effect it. For instance, dirty lakes will have a much more shallow thermocline than clear lakes in most circumstances. My local lake usually has about 1-2 feet of visibility, so it's a fairly dirty lake. And yet, in the summer, I've seen the thermocline as deep as 40 feet. The lake itself is about 100 feet deep and there's no natural current (manmade reservoir with water pumped in and out), but plenty of wind. So the wind chops up the top and helps to mix that water up a good bit, but the water at the bottom just lays motionless. So the thermocline on this lake doesn't set in as fast as on other, similar lakes, but when it finally does, it tends to go a lot deeper. And it gets deep fairly quickly. So I wouldn't worry too much about theory, and pay more attention to what you actually observe. The theory is better at explaining what has happened than predicting what will happen.

Save your money. I've only had to put mono backing on casting reels. All of the spinning reels I use with braid seem to do fine without it. And besides, if the mono backing is working for you, then you don't really gain anything by switching out reels, other than not having to take to time to put mono backing on in the future. No sense in throwing money at a problem that you don't have.

I'm right handed and use right handed reels for casting and left handed reels for spinning. So I'm always casting and retrieving with my right hand, which means I switch hands with both setups. The only time I don't switch hands is when I'm flipping or pitching, where I pitch left handed. And usually when I do switch hands, I'm doing it while the lure is still in the air, which is why I don't switch for pitching and flipping. I can also cast and retrieve left handed, but I feel more comfortable the other way because that's how I started. I'm not very coordinated, but most fishing activities don't require much speed or dexterity. Typing is probably more demanding.

Temperature shock can kill bait fish, but so can a lack of oxygen. So if you're not using highly oxygenated water to begin with, a bunch of them will suffocate pretty quickly in a small bucket. And even with oxygenated water, they'll still suffocate after a while. You got a lot of fish in a little bit of water. So look for one of those dual buckets so you can keep them in the lake or river water, so they stay out of the heat of the sun, and get plenty of fresh water and oxygen. These are especially good for baitfish that you caught yourself, as you can keep them in the same temperature of water that they came from. Just be sure to replace the water in your big bucket right before you decide to change locations. Or get one of those insulated bait buckets with an aerator attached. ThOse are best for store bought minnows and stuff, though you still risk shocking them when you cast them out.

Snap a few photos of it on your phone next time you're out. Get a wide shot of the whole plant and a close up of the leaves, or something like that. Then, when you're back home, you can look up the name of the plant and any important info surrounding it. There are a ton of websites with info and pictures of aquatic vegetation. Many are even region specific. The only plants I know the names of are the one's I've done this with, so I'm probably still a few credits short of an honorary PhD in aquatic botany. But I've found it does come in handy knowing the names when talking about fishing to other people who also know the names. So they might say that the bass were biting over by the water willows on T-rigged worms, and whereas before I'd probably be throwing at some bushy trees along the bank (thinking they were like weeping willows), now I know to look for something that looks more like bamboo.

A Lure of the Seas. Old Chum The Exwifer

Sometimes a hook that rusts easier will stay sharper longer. The alloys used to make steel stainless usually weaken it's ability to hold a fine point or edge. That's why most of the high end chef's knifes have to be hand washed and quickly dried, where as the cheap ones can often go in the dishwasher. So a hook that rusts easily isn't necessarily a sign that it's a cheap hook. But it's also not a sign that it's a high quality hook, because cheaper steel will rust easily and still not hold a fine point or edge. Rust is just a factor that manufacturers have to consider and balance, and some place more importance on it than others.

The crawfish around here are kind of a burnt umber. But the water is rust colored (literally, there's a ton of iron oxide in our water). So black and blue are the colors that catch bass, year round.

I didn't know you even could change them out.

I've gotten those to work from shore about 50% of the time. It's definitely a lot more difficult to use than from a boat. You have to be using stout line and a thick pole, so you can put enough tension on the line to keep it from sagging much. You would easily snap thin line or a delicate rod, so it's not always worth the effort. You have to hold the rod high above your head and work that retriever a lot. It might take you 15 minutes or more. It helps to pull it back a few feet on each bump to allow it more momentum than you would if you were in a boat. And it helps to occasionally drop the rod right as the retriever hits the lure to give it some slack to back off what it's hung up on. So I always pack one with me when bank fishing. But it's far from a miracle product, and I'll often just break my line off if it's not an important lure.

Deep diving crankbaits. I agree with the others that those fish are tough to catch, and you're probably wasting your time. But the only time I ever can get a bite in those situations, it's with a deep diving crankbait. Be prepared to cast all day and maybe you'll get one or two. Then again, crankbaits are my confidence bait, so maybe that advice says more about me than the fish.

I think we already passed the point of it not being "sporting" when they introduced live view. It's one thing to know fish are near you, but another to see them react to your lure and follow them around. It doesn't make fishing easy, but it certainly makes it a lot easier. That being said, in most lakes, the bass in there aren't a native species. And limits and regulations keep these atrificial populations healthy. Many, if not most, lakes aren't even natural. They're man made, or at least heavily altered by man. So it's not fair to compare them to something like deer in a natural habitat. No one wants to watch a tournament where only a few dinks are caught because the fishing is rough and no one can locate them. And no leagues want to miss out on the money electronics companies bring in. And the more pressure the fish experience, and the more acute that pressure, the more they'll evolve to survive it. So it's not like every new technology is purely additive. I would like to see more regulation in tournaments, especially when new tech is introduced. I think there should be an approval process before new tech is allowed that considers advantage. But it is what it is. And what it is, is like steroids in sports. You can hate it and say it's wrong, but if everyone else is doing it and you're not, you're gonna be at a significant disadvantage. And just like steroids, it alone won't make you good. But it can definitely make anyone better.

Depends on the braid. Suffix 832 with gortex is supposed to slowly sink. It'll sit on the top of the water due to surface tension if there isn't anything to pull it down though. But once under water, it doesn't float back up.

Honestly, I'd just pack a reel and gear and buy a Berkley Lightning rod when you get there. You could try to ship it back, or sell it to someone before you leave. Worst case scenario, you're not out a ton of money if you have to ditch it. I've had a lot more stuff destroyed by the airlines than the shipping companies, but at least the airlines actually compensate you for the damages and losses, instead of trying to weasel out of any responsibilities. If I ever travel with something expensive, it stays with me at all times.

I've only had the chance to get out three times this winter. It's not the cold, but the wind that's stopping me. I got so desperate waiting for a calm day, that I ventured out on my kayak with 40 degree temperatures and 25mph winds. I spent four hours on the water and probably got ten casts in. And on my lake, there's no protection from the wind. I was fighting the wind and waves the whole time and got soaked, head to toe. It was terrible. Last Saturday was the first nice day I could get out. 10mph winds, 60 degrees, and the water temperature was about 45-47. The bass were just starting to push up to around 30 feet deep, but nothing I threw at them worked. Maybe in a week or two they'll push further up and get a bit more aggressive, but it doesn't look like the wind is going to cooperate to let me find out. It looks like a solid week of 20-40mph winds, which is bad on a kayak in warm weather.

I fish it as it comes, straight out of the box. When it needs oil, or service of any kind, I do a complete teardown and clean and lubricate everything at that time. I don't like to mix two different kinds of oils together. I'll use two different oils in the same reel, but not in the same spot. And I don't know what kind of oil various manufacturers used, and sometimes two different types of oils can react with each other in negative ways. Plus, I use some seriously high end oils that don't really belong in a fishing reel, but I have them on hand for watches, clocks, and camera shutters, and it's actually cheaper for me to use these super expensive oils, which I have plenty of, rather than go out and buy more moderately priced oils made specifically for fishing reels. And it's less stuff for me to store and keep track of.