GetFishorDieTryin

Gore Tex doesn't do well long term when its wadded up or even folded. Ive got some really good gore tex parka and wading jacket shells but when it gets warmer I wear the light frogg toggs. They breath well, very light dry, out fast, pack great and if I put a hook through its no big deal.

I rarely peg my sinkers unless I'm throwing a Mojo, but the right size "Peg It" with the right weight is the best way IMO. To keep real heavy weights pegged you may have to add an additional bobber stop and that will keep it from moving at all.

Quietly

The Okashiras are good, but I think the hook is a little big for the 2.8 in clear water. I like the screw heads are nice, just be aware that the 1/16 causes line twists.

Yeah the whole "flex" issue for LMB/SMB is mostly imagination. Your more likely to see Bigfoot then have a reel flex bass fishing. It was a non issue 20 years ago when reels were made of materials that were as rigid.

You dont need super heavy gear to surf fish. Bring a 7ft M-MH spinning rod with 10-15lb line of your choice as well as the new set up you bought. Between the saltwater and sand surf fishing is extremely hard on gear even when your really careful, so bring a reel you don't mind putting through the ringer. Saltwater is bad while sand is the worst, make sure to keep your reel out of the sand. After your done fishing rinse the reel with a gentle mist of cool water to flush out sand an break up salt deposits. Water under hogher pressure will drive sand and debris deeper into the reel. Stripers, Fluke, Weakies and Blues will eat a lot of the same baits a bass will. Superflukes, ribbontail worms, boot tailed swimbaits all work great. If you have the chance grab a pack or 2 of saltwater gulp, I like the 4" grubs and the sand eels. Gulp is kind of like soft plastic that is heavily scented, at times it can make all the difference. Colors are fairly simple, white/pearl, chartreuse, pink/bubblegum are the base colors with white being the failsafe. Your Arkansas Shiner, Tenn Shad, Silver Mud, Smelt baitfish colors work as well. Get a pack of 1/4oz jigheads and pack 1/2 jigheads with a 2/0 or 3/0 hook and maybe a 1/2oz-3/4oz bucktail if you like fishing jigs. Those 2 weights will cover most situations. If you do use gulp do not leave it on the jighead after you are done. If they dry out on the jighead they are nearly impossible to get off. The other must haves are tins or metals, ie spoons. If you run into a school of bluefish you can go through a bag of plastics in a dozen casts. If you start out with soft plastics and run into to blues tie some metal on and have some fun. Kastmasters and Hopkins are great, but you can get away with the cheap Hurricane spoons from wong-mart for half the price. You can bomb a spoon, they're great for covering water. 1/2oz and 1oz should cover most situations. Blues aren't fun to deal with, single hook spoons let you get more casts in while the school is going by and causes way less damage to the fish. If you have some good casting poppers you wouldnt mind beating up take them along. Top water blues is something everyone should experience. Wet wading in the surf is IMHO the funnest way to fish, theres nothing like it. As long as you dont go too far above your waist and keep your eye on the waves you will have a blast. Good Luck

Well I'll be able to feel it now

Like I said, this knot is essentially a dropper loop minus passing the bend through the middle of the twists.

This is my favorite ned rod. The XF DS rods are good, but I land more fish with the softer tipped Tatula. Ye Olde Bronzeback Ned

Ever since I found out Daiwa was using plastic parts I noticed I could feel the components in my Taty SV flexing if I was using anything heavier then 1/4 oz.

Well for sure the SC Mojo can do it. It throws 1/16 and small grub pretty good, you can get away with a 1/32 and 2" grub but any lower and your casting less then 35ft. Whats nice about the ML XF is they cast better then softer light rods in wind, which comes in handy especially if you fish a lot of bridges.

Generally a "dropper" is a dropper loop or some kind of variation of it. The guy who showed me how tie this knot referred to it as "teaser" knot, because we were using them to put clousers about 2' in front of our Bomber As and Sluggos.

Dobyns makes good rods, but the absence of a fore grip is a deal breaker for me. The 6'10 Mojo can do just about anything you would want to do on a spinning rod. Its good with JBs, small swimbaits/little ktechs, lighter shakey heads, lighter nekos, wacky rigs, shad raps, floating worms, neds, DS and more. Its rated 1/8-1/2, but I would say it fishes a little lighter, feels more like 1/16-3/8 or 7/16. If you can get your hands on a Tatula, take a look at it. The actions are a little slower compared to the SCs but its the overall feel and way the Tatulas fish that makes them special. Both rods are roughly the same sensitivity, it just comes down to personal preference.

Yes you want the hook to be pointing up. The Uni is an awesome knot, I think its more efficient then a Palomar with DS rigs and most people seem to favor the Palomar. I started using a different knot a few years ago. I dont know what its called, its tied just like a dropper loop just minus the loop lol. The knot locks the hook in place so its perfectly straight at all times and since there is no tag there is 0 wasted line. This is how to tie it

The Eagles are on the lighter side when it comes to power, a L might struggle to get a good hook set

I like #1s for ES and the swings, but usually I prefer a 1/0 with the 2.8 swing fats. If you have to have eyes the 1/8 VMC Mooneye and the DJ Guppy head are at the top of the list in terms of versatility and both fit the 2.8 great. The Damiki Rig obviously is great for the Damiki rig, but its great for dragging and tightlining as well.

There are quite a few good heads, what shape/style and weight head you looking for?

6 or 8lb InvizX is awesome. what leader material do you use?

I bought a 7' ModF Fenwick Eagle for crappie fishing and it was a big disappointment. Its really fun to catch fish with but its a noodle. Try using some really sharp trebles Hayabusa makes an excellent treble that in the same ballpark as far as sharpness goes as the AM G finesse trebles but they are considerably cheaper.

great business

It depends what you want to do with it.

Just tie something heavy on and bomb it a few times they next time you go out. It usually will straighten it out.

They can, but it depends on the reel. If you want a reel to throw lures without worrying about backlash look at Daiwas SVs. The SVs are made for versatility/castability but they aren't the longest casting reels. The DCs generally cast farther, but they don't handle lighter baits as easy. MGL spools are great lighter baits and as long as the spool holds enough line they are good for heavier baits.

The Iovino looks kind of like a lighter disco shad color, but I havent seen them in person so IDK. I can tell you that Prism Shad is a color that's worked for me in far more situations then I thought it would especially with the Alive Shad. Baby Bluegill is really good too, its kind of like Prizm Shad except its a little darker and the translucent color is more of a greenish blue then clear.

My stingrays are almost double the weight of my Brines and all the weight is in the lenses that's why MJs are notorious for being heavy. Mine are 43.5 or 44.5 and with most of the weight in front it makes them a little uncomfortable after 7 or 8 hours. The thin glass is nice, but it only comes in gray and has it drawbacks. The thin glass isn't new either, Ive had my MJs for a while and at the time i bought them they're newest lens was plastic and it was the same price as the glass but they were supposes to be almost as clear and they were far lighter. All they had them in was like a pink color that I didnt like at all so I went with the glass. Ill see if I cant find the name of the lenses.