farmpond1

If you have that kind of money for a combo, why scrimp on either? You can surely find a quality reel and rod for $125 a piece. But, if you had to choose, I think a better quality reel will give your friend more pleasure and less grief than would a high end rod. It's more important IMO that you choose for him a rod that's suitable for a broad range of fishing methods than getting a super expensive one.

I agree, but he's talking about lures that inherently twist the line. The only good way to manage that is a swivel. You want to see twist? Side-spin casting a centrepin will wreck a spool in minutes, without swivels. I use two in my terminal rig - one to mange the twist from the cast, and another to manage the leader twisting in current. This is why I prefer Panther Martin in-line spinners. The blade turn very freely minimizing twist. Roostertails are the worst and Mepps are in the middle IMO. Yes, I like Panther Martin's the best. I disdain Roostertails for both line twist and because half the time I can't get them to even spin at all-especially at lower retrieve speeds. I'm no lure designer but why don't more spinners employ a weighted keel to keep their bodies from turning?

Very very nice! I'm generally a bass fisherman but if/when I can find 'em, I'll put down my baitcaster and pursue crappie! They're wonderful treasures! Looks like those restrictions are working. Wish more crappie fishermen would exercise restraint.

Old enough to know better. :

Stop beating banks

Ive seen two dead calves kayaking down the river..pretty disturbing lol praying to god i dont some how flip while over one of those How did they hold the paddles with their hooves? Perhaps they could grip them by the husk. ;D (Authors note: If you haven't seen Monty Python's holy grail, this won't make any sense whatsoever).

I'd say you win this thread. that's one big gator. Too bad you didn't video it, make a great commercial for Suffix. ;D Yup...I would have alot of good footage for a Suffix commercial. One time while fish Lake Fork I had a herron eat my chug bug and I didn't want to reel her in, so I let him take some drag and he flew into her nest in the top of a tree in the middle of Dale Creek. Apparently she was feeding her babies cuz when I finally jerked, the whole 20 ft. tree came down, along with the nest and I reeled in a baby herron. And that was with 12 lb Seige!! :-? Sorry I couln't resist... Perhaps "he" was the chug bug and "she" was the heron. Or vice versa.

Jimmy Hoffa's body. Or was it D.B. Coopers? Seriously though, I hope to never discover a dead body while on one of my forays down to the river.

Bass don't read magazines on what's hot and what's not but they do experience the effects. Eventually, they will get conditioned to avoid baits they've had unpleasant experiences with and see on a regular basis. I can do well on the same bait (pick one) on my favorite pond for about 2 weeks and then I have to change things. Otherwise, my catch begins to go down drastically. But while this conditioning occurs, it isn't necessarily wise to go against the grain simply to be different. If something isn't broken, don't try to fix it.

X 2 X3 Try a lipless crankbait.

Last fall, following a rather cold spell, the day had warmed up and the wind was blowing all the warmer water into a shallow bay. I caught 6 decent bass shaking a creature bait in 3 feet of water. Might've caught more but the chilly wind drove me away.

How does a 23 year old know that expression? Last time I heard that was from my mother & I'm 62 yrs old. Did you hear from your grandparents? Yeah, I haven't heard that expression since about forever. I always assumed it had something to do with the Carter administration-though it never made sense in that context. Just now looked it up and, assuming my source is correct, the expression originated from a Mr. Samuel Carter of Erie, PA who sold a laxative whose slogan claimed the pills would "wake up your liver bile." I have a buddy who fishes less than a tenth of what I do and yet he still has 3 times more tackle than me. Go figure.

I'm with you there. If I make the deliberate effort to go to a spot, I expect to be there long enough to work it thoroughly. It doesn't mean I will sit in one spot indefinately but one cast to a sunken tree isn't going to cut it. I'm not afraid to turn off the trolling motor and lowering the anchor if I feel it's merited.

We can score big 10 trips in a row and that 11th trip when we get skunked is the one we'll remember. Ah, c'est la vie. Nice photo. What species of waterfowl are those? I don't think we ever see these in Central Illinois. Or do we?

One can't be only a figment of one's own imagination. It defies logic. The students were either too baffled by double speak or too intimidated to challenge him/her. It happens all the time in academia. One can, however, be a legend only in one's own mind.

Some nerve she had-moving near a dairy farm and then complaining about mooing (I assume that's the noice being complained about) and the smell! Besides, a dairy farm smells like roses compaired to a hog farm. On that subject, however, if I had a house in the country and a hog confinement system was built just upwind of me, you bet I'd complain. All my neighbors are terrific. Couldn't ask for much better.

You meant to say "it ruined rap even more" didn't you? :

I couldn't have said it better myself. If I stuck with the same lake all the time, I could probably stick with a few old reliable baits too. But I try out many different bodies of water each year and, thus, need a pretty good selection of baits to cover all those lakes and the various seasons/conditions. It is probably true that I could downsize some but I've been out often enough with friends to know that it's the one bait I don't have that is catching all the fish.

WOW, are you kidding me! I can understand your point about entitlement and I think every one knows how I feel but you start talking about the JROTC Kids and that bugs me a little and here is why. I dont know about them but I was a 4 year letterman in NJROTC in High School, I was also a 3 year officer, and had multiple scholarships I turned down for college to do ROTC because my parents would not agree with that choice. However I know for a fact any thing they had they had to work there A## off to get and put in the time and effort to earn. (just as many young fisherman do) At least at my school you had to I was at school an hour early and did not leave until 2 or 3 hours late for all 4 years in high school to put in the work for NJROTC. SO basically I dont understand and maybe some one can explain why no one thinks that a person under 25 has the ability to work for what they want and be successful. It isn't that young people can't or don't work for what they achieve. There are many obvious exceptions and by your own account, you are one of them. The feeling persists, however, that young people too often believe they are entitled to success and prosperity-as if it's their God given right. It's as much or more the fault of the parents as it is with youth. They too often gave their children everything they wanted without stopping to think of the effect it might have on them as adults and to society in general. From a global perspective, it is killing us economically. I wouldn't let these generalizations bother you. Use them as a source of pride to know that you don't fall in this category. It may take people a little time but they will see you for who you are. You actually have a great advantage (though well earned and paid for) over many of your competitors.

Agreed. I'm much more "sociable" when ice fishing. When you're vertical jigging, you aren't getting in each other's way and, while you "own" a certain amount of space around a hole", you can share space more easily. Good fences make good neighbors. I also wanted to say to oteymc that the ice fishing trip looked like great fun-although the drive up there is brutal.

Is that what the young 'uns call it these days ? Now that's funny right there! I don't care who you are!

Mr. Winters-this nation owes you a huge debt of gratitude. I salute you. May you always be remembered.

First place would probably go to Chigger Craws. Those darn pincers get ripped off so quickly. Second place would have to be Brush Hogs-although with a little work, I can get them to last a little longer. I also go through a lot of stick baits too.

Me and a buddy (one I met on this forum) have a spot off the Illinois River that we dearly love going to. During the spring, when the bass are moving and hungry, it's nothing to catch 50+ bass in a day-largely in the cattails that run in a line about 50 yards from the lake's edge. Later on, in the summer and fall, we have to mostly concentrate on some flooded ditches and the timber that skirts the edges of the ditches. The evenings are great for fishing frogs and ghosts in the choked up weeds that accumulate throughout the growing season. My personal best, a 6 lb 3 oz largemouth came out of this lake. In the fall there are thousands of coots, ducks, and other waterfowl that stop there and white pelicans move along like a giant organized armada as they herd baitfish around. This place isn't technically, an annual fishing location because we go several times a year (still not often enough) but it's near and dear to my heart.

Nibbles, I went out to Matt's pond yesterday-thinking it would be thick. Unfortunately, it was only around 2 inches and I had to abandon my quest. It might've been thicker elsewhere but I didn't try-I don't care to venture out where it isn't uniformly 3 inches or more.