MontanaBasser

It is also nice to put little ticks of black on high viz further up the line to show movement better.

Yes, I have a spreadsheet with pages for rods, reels, combos and soft plastics. The page I use the most is the soft plastics page as it keeps the bait monkey in check. "There's a sale!" the bait monkey says. "Check the spreadsheet" the rational mind replies. "Damnit" the bait monkey exclaims before admitting defeat and sulking off.

Helix at the bow. Solix at the console

I went to my network tab but it was not as straight forward as the Internet led me to believe.

I've stumbled upon gator hooks while browsing before. I think they were 28/0. When you're not gator fishing, you can climb castle walls.

I got tired of my hook being fouled after one fish so I started using the dropshot hooks on swivel like the VMC spinshot. Another bonus I hadn't considered was that I don't use up my leader as fast. I'll tie my dropper section on with a lighter weight line and tie my weight to the line. Then if it hangs up I can tug on it a bit without instantly losing a tungsten ds weight.

I will run long leaders on spinning gear for the reasons others have already said, but it's in situations where I'm not concerned with casting distance as much as line control. Full flouro on a spinning reel is a PITA with loops and line memory. Light line braid (≤8lb) is prone to wind knots. By tying a longer leader I get the best of both worlds. Less likely to wind knots because of the leader material and less likely to develop loops and twist. If the flouro does get gnarly, just tie a new leader on.

Litter is a textbook example of the "tragedy of the commons". The people producing the litter don't know or don't care that they're doing it. After it's on the ground it is both everyone's and no one's problem. I love picking up trash - especially dog poop. If I can get multiple piles in one bag, I'm genuinely happier for a while. That might me the dorkiest thing I've ever written, but I'm going to own it. I pickup trash because it's visually satisfying to 'fix' the scene. I also do it because I know I'm not perfect and it helps me absolve my mistakes. I know I miss the occasional dog poop or have a small piece of trash blow away. Picking up other trash is a way of atoning for those things. @gim My two questions are: What about accidental litter? And what about your litter debt? You probably litter occasionally and don't even realize it. Or, maybe you do realize it but you can't prevent it. That happens to all of us Do you feel like you should take responsibility for those? How? Second, do you feel you owe a debt for the littering you have done? Kids are mess machines, they can't help it. Finally, I apologize if my response comes off as overly paternalistic. I have 1st and 3rd grade boys so we spend A LOT of time talking about stuff like this.

Man I love giving lures to kids. There's not much better than handing a lure or small piece of kit to kids fishing the ponds. It's never anything big but the smiles I get in return sure are. This one time I came upon these two boys trying to unhook this little panfish. It wasn't gut hooked, but it's mouth was so small they couldn't get the hook out. I could tell both they and the fish were stressing. I used my hemostats to free the fish and then gave them to the boys. Those hemostats cost $2.50 and you would have thought I gave them diamonds. Try it sometime.

https://www.eurotackle.net/pages/caperlan/caperlan-owuzkt8w

Has anyone else tried Caperlan? They're a euro brand that Eurotackle is selling in the US. I bought a little 50mm hard trout plug this winter and finally got it on the water the other day. I'm really impressed. It's clearly on par with some of the JDM plugs I own. The stock hooks are amazingly sharp. It runs true straight out of the package and it's float/sink is perfectly calibrated to cold mountain run off. T hey have a whole line of bass lures that look interesting and my previous experience with their stuff has the bait monkey riding on my shoulder. Has anyone tried any of their other hard body lures? What about their soft plastics?

@Fishing_Rod Your observations mirror mine. Below 1/8th oz and I would prefer to be on spinning gear. But, the nature of a casting reel makes it possible to present baits differently. Have you tried pitching and flipping with BFS? I have had good luck pitching small soft plastics under overgrowth along small creeks and streams. With a short rod and practice, it's possible to sneak under the bushes and be nearly silent entering the water. Have you tried the Yo-zuri L minnow for trout? It's a great little trout plug/crank.

Yes but only for multi treble baits. One brand lure jacket to avoid is KVD. The inside is faux suede and a hook magnet. Another option for staying tangle free are treble hook covers. I like the Owner brand ones. They have the advantage of being small and pocketable. I like the bait wrappers for storage and transport in the car but I like the caps for bank fishing.

Moondog Bait Co -- Scratching a Niche https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/268400-moondog-bait-co-scratching-a-niche/

My favorite stuff comes from moondogbaitco.com. For hooks I use the #8 EWGs he sells or some #6&4 from Decoy. For weights I like Nako tungsten. Another good web company is creeklifelureco.com They have some baits that are really innovative. Finally, Z-man micro series. The TPE has advantages(float) and disadvantages (hook set can be a problem). Here are a bass and a trout I caught back to back earlier in the month. I was using a 1/8 tungsten bullet in front of GP/chart finesse leech from Moondog.

Relax, my friend. Spro.com has fat papa crankbaits 70% off($5).

Yes. I spend a lot of time in this particular arena. My ponds are all a mix of bass, panfish and stocker trout. Ideally, I want a bait that could appeal to all three. Do you have any 1/16 or 1/32nd bullet weights? A 1/32nd bullet with a Texas rigged micro plastic is stupid effective at catching fish.

Dumber question: how do handle upgrades work? Longer handle arms means more torque but more wrist and hand fatigue? I've realized I like round knobs. How do you replace knobs? Is there a primer on handles somewhere? Thanks!

Like a lot of things, it depends. It looks like its just wood - no metal, poking through. Is your boat Fiberglass or aluminum? New or old? Is your boat a tool or a prized possession? With an aluminum hull, even if it's your baby, your probably okay as long as there isn't a staple or screw head poking through. With fiberglass, you're probably still okay depending on your feelings. If it were my boat, I'd make a mental note to fix it but it wouldn't stop me from using the trailer.

Fish n fool

My new boat came with an advisory hang tag on the steering wheel and a sticker in the battery compartment warning against the use of wing nuts. At the time I figured it had to do with fire/arcing risk, but now I'm wondering if modern outboards are more sensitive to electrical disturbance. That wouldn't surprise me. Modern outboards are a completely different animal than one from 30 years ago.

Check out this sweet modification I figured out for my truck topper. I hope some of you can use this idea. If you have load bars on top of your topper, you can do this too. I found I could thread M6 lifting nuts onto the protruding ends of the mounting hardware for the bars. The result was a bunch of open eyes in a ladder on the underside of the topper. Then, I got some bulk bungee cord and some carabiners to make the zig zag. Unclipping a carabiner loosens a section of cord letting me secure and access longer and larger items. Shorter items can be stuffed/pulled from the web without unclipping. As rod storage it's a little short, but manageable. You can fit a few 7' rods in on the diagonal but any larger needs to be broken down. Here's a link to the nuts. Most manufacturers use M6 but a few use M5. Antrader M6 Metric Ring Shape... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQY4XG4D?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

The photo is too small and blurry to see. I had a Boston whaler that had the same thing happen. I got some marine epoxy putty, mixed it and jammed it as far into the screw hole as I could and smoothed it flat. After it had cured I tapped the hole and refastened. If you lost the screw, make sure you replace it with a stainless steel one.

Why BFS? It's a rabbit hole that can eat into fishing time and budget quickly. I got so frustrated with my BFS that they sat for a full season. If you just want to throw light baits far, a spinning reel will throw farther way cheaper than a BFS reel. For me, the floor for BFS is still around 3.5g. Less than that and I would prefer to be on spinning gear.

Could be. I had two cards compromised in the last 3 months and the only things I buy with them are fishing stuff and weed. I was blaming the dispensaries but online retailers could be the real culprit. Both times the bank flagged it ASAP. Both times they were just testing small amounts.