you

Thanks for the additional tips, folks. @casts_by_fly that's a heck of a crankbait eat. I almost feel bad for the fish.

Relatively new here, too. Welcome! I also fish bass and inshore gulf waters. Don't have much of an opinion on baitcasting rigs, but your plan for a spinning setup (7' medium rod) sounds good to me. I have a couple Nascis, and they perform very well. For that rod length and action, I'd recommend a larger reel (maybe 4000), but 3000 would be adequate, too. My favorite spinning rod for mixed salt-/freshwater use is an ugly stik elite (7' medium, 1pc). It's cheap, nearly indestructible, has a good combination of soft tip action and a strong backbone, and can cast anything from weightless trick worms to popping corks effectively. The downsides are weight and quality control; you may have to look at a few in store before you find one with a straight blank and guide alignment.

@J Francho Haha, I'll switch to flies then. My tying technique is so bad that I can never tie the same pattern twice--each one is irreplaceable.

For context, this thread seems like a great place to bring up Snell's window (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell's_window). Cool optical phenomenon. The bait's appearance will change depending on the angle fish see it from. If they are looking straight up, it's against the sky, and transparency will determine its appearance. At a low angle, it's against a reflection, and colors will be more visible. That said, I don't have a go-to topwater color (don't fish on top very often). Just consider the fish's perspective.

Thanks for the tips, y'all. Interesting to see the perspectives from up north. I figured as much about the leaders. My most frequent experience with pickerel is an aggressive bite followed by and excited hookset followed by my line coming back with no resistance and no lure. It's like setting the hook on a razor blade.

If I wasn't using braid, I'd probably pick trilene xl or invisx for a mono mainline. I'll second @looking45 on the maxima, too, but I have much less experience with it. I've used a spool in 5# for panfish and lighter bass leaders. It seems to knot and handle well.

I occasionally catch chain pickerel while bass fishing. Always enjoy the jumpy, frenetic fights and their beautiful markings and coloration. I don’t really know how to target them, though—haven’t noticed an overall pattern to the specific baits, times, or seasons when I catch them aside from proximity to vegetation. Has anyone here spent time targeting pickerel specifically? Any pointers on good presentations or techniques? I mainly fish natural lakes in Florida, but I’m curious about what works anywhere.

Don't mind a skunk as long as they are rare. They often come with good lessons. I love catching that first fish while exploring a new body of water, especially one you haven't heard anything about. It's like, "Awesome, there actually are fish here!"

Great idea, I'll have to try this. Seems like this would be a great way to achieve a very slow sink rate for floating plastics like elaztechs without having to compromize on hook size or wire diameter.

Haha, sorry about the mind games @ol'crickety and @IcatchDinks! Just thought it was a funny username when I picked it.

Given the temps lately, I decided to head to my local swamp on Sunday and fish in the shade. Slow day. Just a few bass on trick worms. Can't complain about the scenery, though.

Nines and Eye Surrender have frames in this price range, too. Both have worked well for me.

Looks good to me. Hopefully the breaks are a thing of the past! I've also had most of my leader knot issues after repeated, very hard casts, usually hucking swimbaits and popping cork rigs for distance on saltwater flats. For these apps, I now avoid FC and just use nylon. Seems to have helped.

Thanks for the info, y'all. I'll look into the Smiths next time I'm in the market for a new pair. Bolle lists these under their "water sports" sports category. Figured that would include fishing and prioritize polarization. It's not just the lenses--when you do the trick of lining them up with another pair of polarized glasses and rotating them, they don't get as dark, even accounting for lens coloration. It's quite noticable during high light conditions on the water, too Totally agree, and that is the one application where these are fantastic. I like to wear glasses at all times while fishing to protect against splashes, jigheads that the snag decides to return, etc. I was just hoping they would be a great all-in-one pair for higher light, too.

I recently bought a pair of Bolle Falco sunglasses on deep discount. They are polarized and photochromic, so they get darker in brighter conditions (product info claims a range of 13-31% light transmission, same tech as ‘transition’ glasses). I figured these would be perfect for fishing because they let more light through during morning or evening hours. Unfortunately, the polarization is not nearly as complete as my other sunglasses. They do reduce glare, but maybe 2/3 as well as the pair I usually use. Has anyone else tried photochromic, polarized sunglasses for fishing? Does the photochromic technology necessarily interfere with polarization? I love the concept, and everything else about the Falcos (fit, design, tint), but it’s hard to use them for fishing without good polarization. I'd love to know if there are better options.

A couple things could be causing problems with the last guide (besides guide damage). 1) How long are your tags? Using an albright knot for braid-FC, I've noticed leaving the tag even 0.5mm too long can cause more guide interaction and knot damage when casting. 2) How long are your knots? Longer knots will get hung up on or bend around smaller guides. With an FG knot, there's a trade-off with knot diameter, but too many wraps on other knots can cause this issue.

I used to be a color junky when it came to worms. Took about a year to realize I was the one on the hook, and the fish didn't give a d**n. I still make the occasional impulse buy, but I'm much better at limiting my purchases to replacing what I actually use.

Kayaks are amazing for portability, exercise, stealth, and the ability to access water that others can't. Many sit-on-top kayaks with pedal drives are stable enough to stand on (at least in calm water). Skipping is doable, even in a sit-in, though you lose the leverage needed for punching. It depends on your local hydrology, too. A kayak may be better for areas with many smaller, natural lakes or where ramps and access are limited. Then there's the thought of outboard maintenance...

Bike handlebar tape comes to mind. Some types are made of a thick foam material for shock absorption. Might be a little awkward to apply around the reel seat, though. And I agree with @Scott F. See a doc soon.

Sounds like a good profile for vertical jigging, especially with heavier baits. Any good opportunities for offshore fishing in your area?

Five Guys. It's not terrible, but, compared to other folks I know, I feel like it's...

Looks great, have fun!

Depends on the worm. If it's a 5" senko, I'd use a medium weight, fast action spinning rod. if its something smaller like a finesse worm, probably a medium-light, especially if there's not much cover around.

It's easy to fish in that kind of heat if you just leave the boat at home. Hard to cast while swimming, though.

Nose hooking small, weightless soft-plastics (e.g. finesse worms) has worked well for me. Gives the bait a different action on the fall than an offset or EWG hook, in addition to reducing gut-hooked fish.