farmpond1

USUALLY when somebody prefaces a question with "I need your opinion" I respond with "You're ugly and your momma dresses you funny!" But I'll refrain this time. Your question is waay too open-ended. What will you be fishing for? I noticed that you are probably from Minnesota (MN). Will you fish for muskie and pike or bass or walleye, or perch? The demands are (or can be) quite different for each species and, of course, the kind of reel you plan to mate with it. Some rods will do a passable job for several species but it just depends. Insufficient data does not compute.

I've greased and oiled my reels before but never put any serious thought into which is appropriate and where. Obviously you put lubricants on moving parts where they meet but when is it more appropriate to put one instead of the other?

It has to be those bargain bin generic hard baits I got at Wally world. They had lovely finishes but they also possess the action of a wet piece of kleenex. I don't think flying lures are all that bad. I think they would work pretty well to provoke a strike from inactive or post-cold front bass. I do hate infomercials as much as the next guy, however.

Yup i said this a few months ago cept America wont last as long as rome did The only good that can come out of this is the rich will get poor and we wil all be equal ;D I missed the nuance of what you wrote earlier. my mistake. :-[

Yup i said this a few months ago cept America wont last as long as rome did The only good that can come out of this is the rich will get poor and we wil all be equal ;D How many times has that occurred in the history of humankind? There will always be the wealthy and the poor. IMHO.

I had not looked at things from a "Did they earn it?" perspective when I wrote my bit earlier. But after reading the various contributions, while my views have not changed about being beaten by a woman, I have to say that competition should be based on a level playing field. As to whether the woman bassers are being given preferential treatment, I haven't formed an opinion. I haven't done the research. But if, for the sake of argument, they are, than that isn't cool. Well, hopefully the cream will still rise to the top-regardless of gender.

I'm no economist but what is happening to our country at a macro- level is the same as what happens to individuals who get deep in debt (credit cards, loans, etc) and then fall on difficult times. It becomes a cascading or domino effect and it takes a long time to recover. Unfortunately, the irresponsibility and overly optimistic (almost bipolaresque behavior) drags a lot of "innocent" people down with it.

Raise your hand if you saw all of this coming.

I'd go with what he said, and what he said, and then what he said, until I found what the bass want. Then stick with that. ;D

I've heard cigarettes have asbestos in them too. This isn't true, I just made it up. But menthol or non-menthol, filtered or unfiltered, cigarettes kill!!!! This isn't being judgemental. Just a fact.

About every year I'll acquire a new favorite bait (or bait type) which "necessitates" the acquisition of more stuff. I'm sure I could somehow survive with what I have but as Roadwarrior writes, it's a collection as much as it is a fishing tool. Really, it's both for me. I don't drink or smoke so I have to find some way to spend my money.

My girlfriend laughed at me (not with me) when I had all my stuff spread out on the table (and floor) trying to figure out how to organize everything. It's all now put away but I'm not satisfied that I've distributed everything to it's optimum advantage. I've tried to make it so I can leave one or two boxes in my boat but still can carry everything else I need when I walk to a pond or to the river. All my smallmouth baits and flyfishing flies/poppers are in a backpack for easy carrying. Just for the record, I'm not really complaining. It's all part of the game. I remember a time when I had a couple beetle spins, a Lazy Ike passed down from a great uncle, and some rusty bait hooks and that was about it.

What's most ironic is that I have 10 bazillion lures (if you count soft plastics) and I reach for the same 10 or 12 time and again.

Ok, this is probably going to get me banned but imagine if fish had testicles on the outside of their bodies. Can you see them swimming over branches, coral, etc. and having them get snagged/caught on these obstructions? I can't get this image out of my head! I think I need psychological help!

Okay! Its happened! I've officially acquired more tackle than I know what to do with! Last weekend, a buddy and his dad had a "rummage sale" of baits they no longer need. I was like a kid in a candy store. Unfortunately (it could be worse), I now haven't enough room for it all. And I'm having a tough time dealing with the thought of purchasing more boxes/tacklebags/etc. just to accommodate more stuff. But I know, next year I'll suffer greatly when I have to leave something home. If I were on a safari, I could hire some native dude to carry it all for me. Maybe that's what I need to do-buy a pith helmet and go on safari! :

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D !!!!!!

"I resemble that remark!" or "I do what the voices in my head tell me to do."

Ditto! One more reason for me to move there!

;D ;D ;D I almost hurt myself refraining from writing what I really wanted to write. Actually, I wrote it and then deleted it. This is a family site, after all. ;D 8-)

Perhaps it's just this Yanks perspective but what difference does it make which gender a person is? If it stings to be beaten by a "girl" in a fishing tournament, it's because one has the mind set that a man is (or should be) somehow superior to women. But the ability to figure out where the fish are and how to catch them has little to do with having the XY chromosome. And if physical agility or endurance were the test, than the Australian open (or any other pro tennis tournament) should convince you that women are more than capable of enduring a few days out on a lake. In case one is afraid women will take over the sport, I doubt we'll see too many maxipad commercials on during our favorite fishing shows. I just can't see Penny Berryman promoting Covergirl or Maybelline on the side of her boat.

I went out twice. First day-caught 1 bass, lost a second (or I'm sure it was a bass anyway) and caught 6 bream. The second day I couldn't buy a strike. I went out to another pond and near the shore the ice was around 4 inches thick but then I went out to where I wanted to fish and the auger punched through after only an inch and a half of drilling. I got the heck out of there! There must be some underground springs feeding that pond. Nice trout. That'll be good table fare. Yum!

Sounds like you were punked!! Still a good story. Ditto. But good prank.

I don't know how fast scent travels through water (This could be a new thread in and of itself) but me thinks scent wouldn't be very helpful for the bass if it has to chase a bait. Of course it may be a different story for soft plastics and jigs.

Pretty funny-though I'm glad I wasn't the game warden (aka "THE MAN"). A friend of mine worked for a cities water/sewage department and they used the term "Brown Trout." Either is a pretty good description.

Oh...duh! Serves me right for not reading more closely. As Rosanna Rosannadanna from SNL would say: "........Nevermind." :