Darth-Baiter

thanks..I needed that. I get a bit much I think. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get newbs to succeed.

I took a coworker/friend fishing. he bought a Hobie like mine used, with his goals set on the ocean. admirable goal for sure. three things I want to discuss: 1. general fishing skills 2. bargain rod/reels 3. the BENEFITS of having a fishing partner. 1. showing a person how to bass fish is so difficult. the main reason, skills yet developed. the dude couldnt cast. it has been decades since witnessing the "Rainbow cast" over a tree. yet there we were. he had one cast. the one you use from shore. two hands, body English, trebuchet style. the rest of the skills, mostly verbal. "let it soak", "let it sink" ,etc. 2. okay. the guy had one GREAT combo which ironically he couldnt get bit on. (see #1). he also had a $29 spinning that came spooled. he was throwing my best suggestion to get him bit. the Ned. I think the reel had mono of mystery poundage, and a noodle of a rod. he would cast out, and immediately start reeling. I suggested he just let it sink and watch the line go slack indicating the bait is on the bottom. never occurred to me, he couldnt. he also had a $69 bait casting combo, he couldnt cast. we found an awesome spot, unreachable by boat. 3. it is wonderful to have a "partner" in fishing. we went fully prepared to lift our kayaks over a fence to reach the new waters. instead we lucked out and thanks to a high lake, found a goat trail we could walk our boats down. we had to tag team a few rough spots. I found a cove inside of a cove. I saw a very shallow band of water between trees and it looked deep on the other side. it was!! it was a flooded lagoon. trees everywhere. and they were hungry. so fun. I gave my bud all the first casts..."I am guaranteeing there is a bass in there". by the time I was done, I was actually skipping a Deps CoverScat under trees and smashing them. it was nuts. boaters would yell to us.."how did you get in there?" I could see the tops of their heads over a berm, if I stood up. hahah I am super stoked my bud didnt skunk. he got five I believe. (Ned Power). he was fairly stubborn and would insist on throwing baits the dude at the fishing store told him was a sure thing. he wants to go halibut fishing next week, but I might try this cove again. just go there first thing. the lake goes down, I may have to portage my rig, but I got that. oh, I got my PB smallie which is a very humble 2lbs. hahahha..I was happy.

yea. my 96 years old neighbor. she just bought a smart TV. she wanted me to explain it to her. it was like I was speaking to a Martian...I put it on her favorite news channel and bailed on her.

cylindrical. and tungsten because they are physically smaller for the same weight.

Basic reel maintenance means something else to me. i wipe with damp towel, small brush the greck out of the line roller, and put drops of oil in key spots. anything that requires disassembly is elevated to moderate/heavy maintenance

I like cylindrical shaped sinkers. I started w lead. Now I use tungsten. You don’t snag often. 3/16th gets it done for me.

^^sorry to laugh.

my therapist told me, "Action before motivation.." took me a bit to understand, but our brains need training to remember how to have fun. on a bladed jig is no joke...awesome!!!

nothing that i know of. i think a pike minnow broke it. maybe when it was bashing around in the kayak.

Bill Lewis MR-6. in Rayburn red Craw. i actually didnt remember what it was. i showed it to the store clerk and he laughed at my bait and took me to where they had them hung up. it is the most "coming thru grass" crankbait i have ever tossed. i just cast it into grass on the Delta. and rip it out.

I’m not great at crank baits. I’m getting much better and more confident tho. my favorite crank bait got the attention of huge pikeminnow (and many bass) and didn’t survive the encounter. Tore a hook off, which I replaced and then the final smash took out the plastic bill. Haha. I just picked up two more. My friend and I nicknamed it lovingly.

i hesitate to even type this out..but ...gah..let me think about it. opps missed this last sentence.

i think that looks spooled up correctly capacity-wise. it is muscle memory now for me: but when i cast out, i flip the bail closed by hand and in a continuation of that motion, i will grab the line and pull away from the reel so it sits in tight on the line roller and then i start to retrieve. it looks like you had slack in the line and you just started to reel?

reed AND brass?!! sick. i was a trombone nerd and i never got close to 1st chair.

hahahah...some would argue that means you are the bad cook. but yea..LMB is so mushy to me.

yeesh...i hope you catch a whopper!!

tough one. on one hand i feel the way 90% of the previous responses feel. nobody likes a one way relationship. on the other hand, i try to think my friendship to others shouldn't have strings attached. it is equally difficult to like someone including all their flaws. i am nowhere near perfect. i know this. my main thing here: @gim i hope your recent troubles are in the rear view.

you in the tax business?

not going to reply to this thread in the fear of angering our local weather.

this is a sheephead? or redfish? either way, that looks cool as all get out!!!

if i tip, i would probably need to be put on suicide watch if i lose all my rods. and my rods are poor compared to the OP's list. having said that, i think the Dark Sleeper rod is my next one. i'll buy it in Osaka and ship it to myself. i have the FMJ, and it is maybe too burly. i think i can throw frogs with braid with that rod.

i kinda feel the best knot for anyone is the knot you tie the best. i am not even going to google the Kreh. i got a few locked in with muscle memory and i will go with those.

i might eat a few (this year). my wife loves a Cantonese dish where the fish is steamed and covered with scallions and ginger. i dont think a LMB is particularly yummy. how about the other two common around me? smallmouth bass, or the Spotted bass. this one giant lake near me, could use a few bass taken out, and the water is relatively clean. i'm not eating anything out of Clearlake. i like having only two nipples. i imagine WHEN i take a fish plays a role in deliciousness?

dang. i stayed on dry land until i could get myself a PFD. that's how i ended up with the red version (which has grown on me colorwise). i had to get one FAST.

my wife bought me one for Christmas. i am starting to gel with the rod. and happily, i am catching fish, even!! not much talk about the relatively new X10 rods. figured i would start the conversation. Currently, it is paired with a JDM Zillion, loaded with 12lb Sunline Sniper. The rod is a fantastic rod at casting baits. i am using it for my Moving baits. Squarebill Crankbaits, Chatterbaits, and even smaller Spinner baits. i can fling a 1/4 crankbait super far. pretty accurate as well. here is the thing. it replaced a Dobyns Fury 733c; and what a difference. i never had trouble detecting a fish strike. not on a moving bait connected with taut line. what was missing was the lure inputs. i couldn't really feel a tiny chatter bait, chattering..or a crankbait shimmy. now i can. i know when the treble hooks of a crank dipped into the moss and is no longer moving correctly. if the crank hits grass, i can feel it and yank the bait thru. the Bandersnatch is not good for jerkbaits. the tip is to moderate. feels weird. the rod is overloaded yanking a LV500 thru grass. fighting a fish, is awesome. i had very large pike minnow slamming me and it was cool feeling the big wide parabola of the rod doing its thing. pinning a fish to the hook was very real. i gave my wife the report yesterday, and i thanked her for an awesome gift. it was nice to save some money off a MB P5 offering. i think the rod is very attractive aesthetically. YMMV.