Rucksack

Fascinating. I've heard for years you should be throwing the lightest jighead possible, but y'all have me questioning that now. I'm going to play around. I'll probably have to stay lighter because Southeastern reservoirs are just mud bottoms and old trees.

That's a monster bass! Congratulations! Did you catch that from the bank?

I run a Leland TCB ultralight rod, 4 lbs mono, and a Piscusfun viper 500. I also have a St. Croix light rod that I run a viper on. PS I'll brag a bit and share yesterday I brought in a 3.5 lbs bass on my light gear throwing a trout magnet. Felt like Moby Dick.

I'm just on the edge of 40. I feel like I've got a lot of years ahead and plan to keep improving. Heck, one day I might even get a motorized boat. So I'll say I'm pre-prime, because this is a hobby where experience matters. I've fished off and on my whole life, but only been serious a few years. I'm the bass expert in my buddy group, but I've got nothing on a lot of you all. And to the folks on here that feel you're past prime, I'll give you the opposite perspective. You might take longer to recover and more effort to get out there than me, but I feel that your fishing wisdom is light years ahead of me. I say you're in your primes.

Not from around there, but welcome to the site! I bet you'll get hooked up with somebody on this intro thread, but if not, try one of the regional forums on here

@Fishing_Rod you've got a great way with words and are really inspiring me to keep with it! What a fantastic sounding day.

Bummer, but hey, you are doing your part to get rid of some invasives. Also, those are some darn impressively big fish

I feel like the advent of FFS sonar introduced high quality spinning reels to more bass fishing people.

I want to hear way more about fly-fishing for bluefish. Love catching blues on the surf and in-shore. That sounds wild. Where and how are you doing that? Wading flats?

I used Mustad circle hooks exclusively in the salt surf fishing last year. Lived on the beach 12 months and fished with them almost every day. Caught big, hard fighting fish on them, and brought them in during hard surf. Didn't have problems with them staying hooked once they were on. I'd be pressed to say they were any less sharp than more premium hooks. I'm of the opinion of your buddy, don't think upgrading is worth the money for me.

Oh that's super interesting. What kind of micro plastics and hooks are you using?

Hey there, I've not posted in a while. This year has been rough. I'm going to try to get back to post regularly. In my time away one of my buddies turned me onto ultralight fishing. He'd come into work claiming to have caught 40 fish that morning and I always assumed he was telling a fish tale. I finally go out one morning with him and saw him catch 40 fish out of an office park pond. A humbling and exciting moment to be sure. Long story short he put me on his juice. Ultralight tackle and throwing tiny little "trout magnet" jigs. I've started throwing these and my fish numbers are likewise double digits just bank fishing. Now, it's not all bass, but it's enough good size bass (3-4 lbs) that I'm super happy with it. You all ever go down this rabbit hole? I'm talking ultralight rod, 4 lbs test, and swimming 1/64 oz jigheads. It's a lot of fun and works well!

I only knew Tom through our interactions on this forum, but he was without a doubt the most knowledgeable individual I've encountered when it comes to bass fishing. He was always a gentleman and eager to teach those of us without his font of fishing wisdom.

I'd go back to North Carolina pre-human habitation. I want to fish totally undisturbed waters and generally just soak up what nature was like back then. In this magical scenario I've got a motarized boat, some means of portaging the boat between water, unlimited fuel and supplies, and don't run the risk of getting devoured by some hungry mega-fauna roaming around. I'd throw in some hunting gear as well, because why not? I'd run the waterways of the state from the coast to the mountains. I'd still probably find some way to skunk out a few times though 🤣

If that includes an anchor trolly, that'll be a huge quality of life improvement. Had one recommended on here by some folks. Installed it and it was a vastly more pleasant fishing experience.

Finally get serious about kayak fishing. This means I'm going to have to figure a solution to moving my yak that isn't just wheeling it over with a kayak cart to water that is in walking distance. I'm planning on getting a truck this year, so that should help. That's a great goal!

What a story! All rods will eventually go to bassin' Valhalla. Don't feel too bad. At least it was lost in the line of duty. 🤣 Also, man, I'm with the rest. This Carolina bred dude would consider that pond a lake!

Best of luck. My father is going through intensive cancer treatment at the moment, as is a very close friend. I have some idea of the road map as a result. You've got the right attitude. Keep pushing. It's a tough path and your mental fortitude is what is going to see you through. Your life is going to change, like you said, but it is still living. It also doesn't mean it's going to be worse on the other end. My loved ones have benefited from finding ways to stay involved with their hobbies. Glad you've got the forum. You'll be able to get back on the water and on fish in the future. I've been reading a book on the history of cancer and treatments called the "Emperor of All Maladies". Getting context for cancer helped me and my loved ones. It might help you as well if you're much of a reader or audiobook person.

We can be happy spinning reel zealots together. I'm like you, I'm darn accurate with my spinning gear and pop lures into gnarly spots. I hope you don't feel pressured by the forum or the Internet to do anything. I also have some classic spinning reels I adore and work on. I think baitcaster essentialism is a deep cultural thing in bass world. Other parts of fishing have their "thing" too. Outer Banks surf fishing is mono essentialist. If you show up spooled with braid at a hot spot the locals will probably give you a hard time. I keep thinking about putting a thread up about how I use my thumb on the spinning reel to control it -- really not that unlike the baitcaster crowd. There was a really good video out of Australia that put me on that technique.

That's a good perspective to keep in mind. LMB and SMBs aren't all that powerful in the grand scheme of fish. They're not going to out fight you, unless you're a younger kid or have some mobility issues, but they might out maneuver you. In that case I think your answer is in your first post, and in a couple of the suggestions here. My original comment was "tip up", but it's not me keeping it vertically straight very often. It's mostly up and to the side. I'm not consciously making choices on rod direction, but instead feeling naturally where my rod needs to be to keep hook pressure. I feel like I'm steering the bass like a canoe or kayak a bit.

Fresh and salt, I live for a fighting fish. I love it when they break for cover. I love it when they take long runs. I love the sound of screaming drag. I however HATE the idea of leaving a fish to suffer with a hook in its mouth due to break off. The only real advice I have to offer is 1) keep constant hook pressure on the fish and 2) turn the fish's head instantly if they start to bomb towards cover. Keeping those two principals in mind is about 90% of the battle. The break offs I've had are almost entirely due to issues on my line, check for nicks if you structure fish constantly like me, or me failing to turn the fish. I've had fish throw hooks due to lack of hook pressure more than anything, so keep the rod tip up. I fish spinning reel exclusively even when targeting very large fish. Maybe I'm a heretic. I've hauled everything in from bass to drum to sharks on spinning tackle and think the idea they're somehow only for light use is pretty outdated. But fish what makes you happy. It's supposed to be a fun hobby afterall!

I'd have to say close to 85% in a given year. The remainder are things I've just not gotten to yet, left over stock from learning techniques that I stopped pursuing, or duplicates like extra soft plastics. I'm pretty cautious when buying tackle and really only get what I feel a real need for. Stuff that is gathering dust because I've moved away from enjoying them (right now spinner baits and dropshot supplies) will eventually get fished until I lose them, because I hate clutter of old tackle.

That's awesome! My wife likes to fish too, though does it a lots less than I do. She grew up on a lake so has a good fish sense. She's also A LOT more patient than me, so usually catches the biggest fish of the day when she's along.

I see lots of comments about spouses having opinions on fishing budgets. A thing my wife and I did early on was establish three bank accounts. A joint family one and then separate personal accounts. We have an agreed to set amount we each get to put into our personal account each month and don't get to have an opinion on how our personal money is spent. It's been hugely helpful to keep drama down. I didn't grow up with a lot, so I try to keep my fishing spending in check. But this year has been pricey because I've needed to get some new rods and reels. But even then, I'm probably spending less on an average month than many of my buddies probably spend on bar tabs.

Man, that's gorgeous work. Seriously, some of the best I've seen.