MonsterZero

For JDM specifically, Digitaka has a big sale going on right now, and competitive prices at other times. Tackle Bros and The Hook Up Tackle also have very good selections of JDM baits with frequent bundles and giveaways, as well as exclusive colors and patterns.

I cannot comment on their experiences, but from my own and talking to others, glow-in-the-dark accents are more effective than a fully glowing bait. Think glowing eyes, stripes, spots, etc.

On the contrary, I have provided you with evidence that mishandling fish increases fish mortality. Which is, frankly, common knowledge and did not really need to be proven, but I accommodated you anyway. If you would like to ignore it because you do not like it, that is on you. But the proof is there if you would like to change your mind.

I do not think anyone here has made that claim, but I can provide some articles and studies about mishandling fish and post release mortality, sure. Here is an article and video about the dangers of removing the slime layer. This specifically deals with my point about glove use and mishandling fish. The slime layer can be removed by basically anything outside of the water; gloves, hands, laying in the grass, laying in the dirt, laying in the sand...carpeting on a boat deck...: https://flylordsmag.com/why-you-should-never-use-tailing-gloves/#:~:text=As the video above illustrates,like an external immune system. Here is a study from Monmouth University from 2012 about the mortality rate in striped bass that were caught and released along the east coast of the United States. It details that while some percentage of bass caught and released will absolutely die, this number can be mitigated with proper catch and release techniques: https://www.monmouth.edu/uci/documents/2018/10/best-practices-striped-bass-catch-and-release-report.pdf/ Here is an article detailing a more recent study detailing a study, again on striped bass in the Atlantic, showing that catch and release fishing accounts for a large majority of fish mortality. Again, mostly associated with improper fish handling: https://onthewater.com/citizen-science-and-striped-bass-release-mortality There have been relatively few of these studies on largemouth bass, and even fewer of those in a natural setting. But please let me know if I can provide anything else.

With all due respect, there are respectful, humane, and sustainable ways to practice this hobby. You can debate the ethics of fishing until you are blue in the face and still not reach a resolution that is satisfactory for everyone. But at the end of the day, proper, ethical catch and release fishing does little to no damage to the fish. Improper handling, the wrong gear, etc can harm or kill them. If you want to look at it from a purely expedient, 'What do I get out of it?' point of view as you seem to, keeping the fish's safety in mind ensures future fishing opportunities. You fish, and participate here, because you like fishing. If you abuse and/or kill the fish you catch, you are going to ruin your own fun, let alone the ecosystem you exploit and the other people participating. The same goes for keeping trophy fish. There is a reason big fish of any species are more and more rare in our waters. Our forebears killed them with reckless abandon for generations, and now we are paying the price. From a personal perspective, if a person cannot respect the environment and the things living in it, whether it be a dog, cat, or 'just a fish,' they have no business utilizing it.

I am not sure you can ever narrow it down to any one thing across the board. The fish want what they want in the moment, without caring what we think they should be targeting. I recall a story from a friend. He and another guy were surf fishing for striped bass using black Bombers in the middle of the night. Identical lures. My friend was not catching anything but a sore shoulder while his friend was hammering fish. So they switched plugs, and my friend started catching and the other guy was missing out. They compared lures, and the only difference was eye color; the bass wanted the red eyes and not the yellow. Sometimes it is not even the lure that matters. Two guys fishing the exact same lure in the exact same location can have very different results based solely on presentation and retrieve. Whoever has the most appetizing cadence on retrieval is going to get the fish, regardless of what the actual bait looks like. Many, many, many variables involved.

To add to this, handling fish with gloves on. Especially those latex coated extra grippy ones. Drives me insane and does serious damage to the fish. Drives me nuts. On topic, unless something goes sideways, my fish never touch anything but my hands, and as others have said, for as short a time as possible. It is rare that I even take photos anymore; I fish solo 99.9999% of the time, so if I want a picture, I either have to set my phone up beforehand or lay the fish down. Neither of which is something I really want to do. Conservation of the resource is always at the top of my list of priorities, right after actually catching the fish.

The next two weeks or so look even better, at least by me in Burlington County. This wind has been insane, hopefully it lets up for a few hours at least.

Buzzbaits and 'plopper' style lures require zero technique and definitely get the fish's attention.

I know some guys are catching already, so I am going to try to get out next week. I cleaned the reels and rigged everything up a little while ago. I have one with a Texas rigged Pit Boss, one with a spinnerbait, and one set up for a weightless fluke to start. We will see what conditions look like when I actually hit the water.

Usually straight braid. I recently started using a fluoro leader, so I will see how that plays out this year. I have no brand loyalty, but I have always liked Spiderwire or JBraid the best and get them when they are available. My leader material is Yo-Zuri.

I have been putting the deep cleaning off for the whole season. I want to clean and relube the bearings in the baitcasters, so I have to pick the bearing oil up on Thursday.

I think the difference is that a good tackle shop is run by fishermen; a bad one, by our standards, is run by businessmen. There is absolutely a difference between people who have a passion for the sport and people who are looking to make a buck off of the weekend warriors. I have been fortunate in my time to have come across a lot of good ones, a few of which are still around.

My general policy is that if I am in a small, independent shop, I do not leave without buying SOMETHING. I am not going to throw money away, but who does not need more hooks, soft plastics, etc? Easy enough to throw a few dollars their way, especially if I am taking up their time with questions or chatter.

My mother worked various nursing jobs when I was growing up. Sometimes hospice, sometimes nursing homes, sometimes home visits, etc. At one point when I was about 9, maybe 10, she was working with an older couple who lived on a private lake whose real name I still do not know. But she worked it out with the couple that during the summer, my brother and I could fish from their dock, provided we did not make a nuisance of ourselves and did not leave hooks on the dock. We were meticulous about littering, so no worries there. One day in particular, we were getting ready to pack it in, and I was about to reel my line in. I was sitting cross legged on the dock with my rod straight up, nightcrawler on the other end, chatting with my brother. Out of nowhere, the rod bent once, then doubled over. I set the hook, started the fight, and eventually landed a (for the time) good sized bass. No idea how much it actually weighed, but to a 10 year old it was pretty big. I remember pulling the hook out of the roof of its mouth and it was hardly even hooked; it had bent the hook in the fight, and the barbs were not even in it anymore. I hope I never forget that one.

With all due respect, we are not talking about one or two high school kids high sticking, snapping their rods, and talking trash. We are talking about hundreds of people, across all skill and budget levels, experiencing the exact same problem with the exact same brand. That is far too much to be coincidence, and it is far more likely that you got lucky than that the rest were all unlucky in the same way.

^^^Facts. Your cell phone company, ISP, or web browser will sell you out for a shiny nickel.

I cannot tell you how many guys I have talked to that have had their reel seats straight up come off the rods with no recourse. I initially thought it was just a problem with the surf rods, because I was almost exclusively surf fishing for years, but when I came back to the bass world I discovered that it happens across the entire brand. Reminds me of Remington with their faulty trigger assemblies a few years back; they know there is a problem, they know what the problem is, but they actively refuse to acknowledge it or do anything about it.

Have to shout out TW's shipping team and customer service. They always come through when you need them. Every time. Even standard shipping is almost Amazon fast.

I will always support local shops, given the option. Unfortunately, the closest tackle shops to me are 45 minutes away, in no traffic. So I make occasional special trips, and supplement with Dick's and TW in between.

I do my best to avoid giving my money to companies that use, or are likely to use, slave or forced labor. So...no, I do not own anything from them.

I have not fished either rod, but there is no universe in which I take a St Croix over a Daiwa. Their quality control and customer service have slipped too far over the years for me to take them seriously anymore. Daiwa continues to deliver home runs at almost every turn.

A gun is only as useful as the person holding it. It is vitally important to practice, practice, practice with it, until hitting your target is almost automatic. It is just as important to understand that that firearm is capable of, and may be used for, defending yourself with lethal force. That is not something that everyone can come to terms with. I would also politely point out that under the bed is not a great choice of storage location. If possible, a drawer in your bedside table is best, a lockbox on top of that is not possible. Basically, you want access to it with the fewest number of steps and complications possible in an emergency.

John Skinner is the god of bucktails, and one of the all time greats of surf fishing, if not the GOAT. Not sure where you are located, but the coast here in Jersey is very fruitful for both species. And we have that sandy bottom you are looking for, unless you go out to the reefs and wrecks. My only experience with fluke is surfcasting, but here we usually use basically the same setup as John; white bucktail (usually about 3/4oz depending on conditions), with a baitholder hook a foot or two above on a dropper loop/Paternoster, each loaded with a white Gulp! Alive Swimming Mullet in 3-4".

I would definitely be making a call to the manager on duty; yes, the line was free, but spooling a reel is basic stuff that the attendant should be able to do in their sleep. In 20+ years I have never experienced this problem from a tackle shop.