BrianMDTX

Agreed! That is a largemouth with a smallie body build for sure! Really great fish!

I have used spinning rods for 90% of my fishing, so I guess I never felt handicapped by holding the rod in my right hand and reeling with my left. Then again, using the one baitcaster I had, I also never felt “abnormal” casting with my right hand, then switching to my left for holding the rod and reeling with my right. Which always struck me as odd as anything else I do left-handed makes me look like I’m seriously challenged. I’m no switch hitter at the plate lol. I got a deal on a LH baitcaster, so I guess I will see if it makes a difference (to me) reeling with my left hand vs my right. Having reeled so many spinning reels left handed, I’m thinking it will not be an issue.

Well, I’ll agree with both of you- use what you want and is comfortable. But something tells me there must have been a reason lol.

So...every spinning reel I’ve used in my life (as a RH) has had the handle on the left side of the reel. Yet baitcasters for RH have the handle on the right side of the reel. Is there a true reason for that? Do 99.9% of all RH anglers use a baitcaster with the reel on the right side, vs the left on a spinning reel? I need to ponder this more over a Guinness. What’s your take?

Most of the other posters have given you some good advice. All I will say is that I drove through your neck of the woods last July when I moved from Maryland to Texas. Absolutely beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in the US. I would have loved to have driven there in the fall.

US Army and USAR. 1978-1988.

Thanks, all. I’ve always been a hardcore hunter but a casual angler. More for relaxation than for pursuing trophy fish. But I’ve caught more bass on a stick bait in 3 hours in Texas than I did my whole life in Maryland lol. Maybe my style is unorthodox and the bass aren’t used to it. All I know is I thought the 3 lb bass I caught many moons ago was a big bass. The one I caught two weeks ago blew that one out of the water!

By the way...I now have a digital scale lol. And a new Fenwick HMX casting rod and a Abu Garcia Black Max baitcaster due to arrive today lol. Going to try some 12 lb Yo-Zuri hybrid line. I tell ya, being out of the loop for so long, a lot of things are new to me. I never even heard of Senkos until I started doing some reading online. Glad I did. Already caught several bass on them.

Congrats on your PB. I swear, this almost sounds like my story from 05/10. I just started fishing this spring after a lo-o-o-ng hiatus. Like about 30 years lol. I relocated from MD to TX last summer and brought all my vintage tackle. Most of my rods and reels are late 60s to mid 70s in age. But I just wanted to check out the local community pond up the street about a 1/4 mile away. So, nothing fancy. Just spooled on some 8 lb test Stren on three spinning reels and one baitcaster, cleaned up my tackle box, got a dozen nightcrawlers from Walmart and hit the pond in early May. First time out I caught several 12”-14” bass and one that was likely about 3 lbs. Same results the second time out. Went back out on 05/10 with my Daiwa Millionaire 3H baitcaster on a Berkley Stinger rod, a Mitchell Garcia 300 on an Eagle Claw Denco Super II rod and a Shakespeare 2052 spinning reel on a Cabela's Black Lightning ultralight graphite rod. I was working Senko’s both weightless Texas rigged and wacky style on the Daiwa baitcaster and Mitchell spinning, and had 1/2 a nightcrawler on a #6 hook and a bobber for panfish. Caught some 12”-14” bass and a likely 3 lb’er again, along with some decent cats and really small bluegills. I put a new 1/2 a nightcrawler on the hook and cast it back out, but farther than I wanted. I closed the bail on that antique Shakespeare and cranked the handle twice and BAM! The bait got hit. Hard. That little UL rod bent into an inverted U and the drag started screaming. At first I thought it may have been a large softshelled turtle, but it was swimming to fast for that. I fought it for 6-7 minutes and finally got it near shore when it jumped. That’s when I started to get scared lol. I knew it was the biggest bass I’ve ever hooked, let alone caught. After another minute or so I was able to grab it and haul it ashore. Like you said, I also had no weight scale, but I did have a tape measure. It taped out to 22”. So it looks (according to the conversion charts I looked at) like it weighed over 6 lbs. I know it was chunky! I think I have a new hobby!

I am a lifelong Marylander (not counting time in the US Army) that relocated to Texas (N of Houston) last summer. I used to fish a lot up into my 20’s, then got married and seriously hooked by deer hunting (especially bow hunting). Other than teaching my daughters how to fish, I have not seriously pursued bass in probably 30 years. And even then, my catches were nothing to write home about (largest largemouth was about 3 lbs, and maybe a 1.5 lb smallie). Busy as heck after moving, so I didn’t get to fish until a few weeks ago. I bought some new line and respooled three spinning reels and one baitcaster and decided to try the local community pond. I casted some lures but also some nightcrawlers on a #6 hook and bobber for panfish. Caught a few 3+ lb’ers, but pulled in a 22” bass on a Cabela's Black Lightning ultralight rod (mid-70’s vintage) and a Shakespeare 2052 spinning reel (mfg. in 1970). Biggest bass of my life for sure. I still love hunting, but there is a lot more opportunity to fish lol. Just bought a Fenwick HMX 7’ MH casting rod and a Abu Garcia Black Max low-profile baitcaster (much newer than my Daiwa Millionaire 3H). I have a lot of catching up to do. Almost 60 years old and a lot of things have changed in bass fishing since 1990. But some of that vintage equipment will still catch fish!