ironbjorn

The 703 is a ML or a ML+ by most standards. The Ned Rig is a "no feel" bait as it is.

I will never wrap my head around people who claim line shyness is a fact but ignore the wires, hooks, blades, weights, etc of a bait. If line shyness was true bass would only bite weightless soft plastics with small buried hooks.

Spinnerbait.

I feel bad when it happens too. But since I don't eat fish, know nobody who would want the bass to eat, and don't carry anything with me to transport a dead fish, I cut it up and throw it to the other animals to eat. And then that's that. It's life, it happens. Whether you take it or leave it, it isn't wasted.

Literally nobody cares, Karen. Go to your vegan restaurant and pink hat marches and just shut it.

A Dobyns Sierra 704C or 734C paired with a Daiwa Tatula in a 7 gear ratio will do basically anything you want, within reason (no Ned rigs or 2oz swimbaits obviously). Dobyns rods are one power lighter than listed. Their version of a Heavy is most other companies version of a Medium Heavy. The 4 power Dobyns is the most versatile rod they make. With the Sierra line in particular, they're somewhere between a Medium Fast and a Fast, although it's listed as Fast. So ignore what's written and get this rod knowing that it's actually a MH/MF-F, great for moving baits and bottom contact baits. The 7 speed Daiwa Tatula tends to be a little slower than other companies 7 speed but faster than a 6 speed, putting it in a really universal category.

I cast to my target and let it flutter down. It's all about the flutter. Once it's to the bottom I'll slightly lift up and let it flutter back down again. Once it's a couple yards from my initial target I reel in quickly and cast again, either to the same target/target area or a new one. 99% of your wacky bites come on the initial fall and slowly fishing it all the way back to you is, at the end of the day, a waste of time. Yes, sometimes you'll randomly pick up a fish in a random area slowly fishing it all the way back from your initial target, but not often enough to waste so much time.

You can set up just about any casting reel to not have to use your thumb, but you won't be winning any casting competitions, hitting your targets, or pitching worth a crap. I get that it can be intimidating for some new people to use a casting reel, but I promise that it's not as hard as it looks or as some others claim, and is more than worth the effort.

Mine is the same way. How do these women think we afford what really matters to us? It's not the shirt that really matters.

You don't do half and half. Are you thinking of when people put backing on their reel to prevent braid from slipping or to save some money on more expensive line? This technique involves putting like a couple dozen yards of cheap line on the reel first and then tying your mainline to it and filling the rest of the spool (75-100 yards of the "good" stuff).

First, congrats. Two, the bass didn't hook itself in the throat; you hooked the bass in the throat by failing to feel the bite and/or see the line and set the hook appropriately and accordingly. We all do it on occasion, but it's a lot more common with new bass anglers, ESPECIALLY when using Senko style baits.

The logic appears to be that the reels are already bought and owned. Like a parent insisting that a child drinks their cereal milk so it isn't "wasted" doesn't make any sense because it's already used and whether it's drank or in the sink it's all the same, neither does it make sense to tell someone not to upgrade parts of their cheap reel to make it better because the money is already spent. The fact doesn't change that at the end of the day 25-50 bucks in upgraded parts is still significantly cheaper than buying a whole new more expensive reel when the cheap reels work perfectly fine.

You don't need that much line for bass.

I hated my Tournament MP and sold it, but the KVD reels (I have 2) are amazing.

If you're going sub $80, always just go with the Aird-X and call it a day knowing you got a rod by one of the leaders in the industry that, at $55, fishes like a $100 rod. It simply can't be beat in the budget rod category.

It's bad enough that this country has privatized most of the water, making it difficult to fish unless you have a boat on a public lake, but for cities to shut fishing down completely is an atrocity. It won't be long until we're really fighting for the right to fish with the aforementioned problems and states going after lure products citing hazards.

Any new angler reading this, save yourself the trouble and look at the Daiwa Aird-X, Shimano SLX, Dobyns Fury, and Daiwa Tatula, wherever your budget is. Pretend the rest don't exist.

That's why you don't do things like gather for Easter until we get the all clear from health experts and not governors. It's out there, it's dangerous, and you never know where you will pick it up or who you will give it to. I had it too. It's horrible. It's exactly like the cold if the cold is exactly opposite of the cold.

The only problem I've ever had F/P with copolymer/YZH is looking at the fish I caught and knowing I did it wrong according to the books and internet

And that's an equally good way for you to go to prison for murder or attempted murder. You don't get to shoot people who are on your property (and not in your home posing a threat). But that'll sure teach 'em not to fish yer darn pond *spits tobacco*. The next owner after you're imprisoned will enjoy that water, I'm sure. (I can condemn both senseless murder and illegally fishing and trespassing all at the same time.)

Most millennials are in their mid 30s to early 40s. Millennial isn't just the name you give to all young people. It's not us who is doing this. The people you're referring to are Gen Z, not millennials.

Everything in life costs money. Fishing gear isn't an exception.

Only the top 5% could afford to buy all American made everything, which is why we make so much overseas. It's a mixture of American Greed and so much regulation, licensing, and taxation.

My opinion is that 7' rods are just as accurate as 6'6" rods, and if you're good with a rod, you can get around and under the low hanging stuff just as easy as well. I also don't notice much of a distance difference. So really it's all personal preference. One big difference I actually do notice is that it's easier to pitch with shorter rods while fishing from the bank.

Don't oil/grease your drag. That's a good way to have no drag.