Taliesin

A lower speed reel will be easier to crank, but you won't be cranking as fast either. You are correct that a lower gear ratio means more power. All reels have a trade-off between speed and power. If you had more hookups with the slower reel, you might have done just as well reeling slower with the faster reel. Either the fish liked the slower speed, or weren't quite as deep. A larger crank handle makes it easier to turn also, but you move your hand farther for each turn. Again, a trade of speed vs. power. All of this is important to catfishermen. For them it is simpler, but if you are fishing in heavy cover, you want more power (and heavier line) to force them out. Otherwise you want speed to shorten the fight (and it lessens the stress on the fish). I have amazed quite a few people skating a 5# fish across the top of the water, but with my catfishing gear it's fairly easy. It's even more important to lure fishermen. Every person has a comfortable retrieve speed that they tend to fall into. Unless you are good at changing your speed, changing reel speeds is the ticket.

Tell me about it. I fish ON an Air Force Base with the gun range about a 1/4 mile away and the flightline about a 1/2 mile away. M-16s, M-60s, M-9s, grenade launchers, B-2s, A-10s, helicopters, training jets, engine tests... It gets LOUD out there. The fish don't mind though.

My solution was a mechanical fish grabber. It holds the fish at the lip just like we do and mine weighs 5 oz. Use the grabber and stick the scale's hook through the wrist strap. Works for me.

I'll explain my reasons a bit more for the reel being more important than the rod (it's not much difference though): Drag is everything. Put a big fish on a great rod with a reel that has an iffy drag and you might just break your line, or even the rod. I would rather not know the fish is there than loose a really nice fish (or break the rod) due to a sticky drag. Or have the gears in the reel fail in the middle of a fight, etc. A good drag can be set properly so that nothing will break during a fight (once a fish gets you hung up the fight is over, then the line gets broken). Yes I will be upgrading my rods, but reels are first for a good reason. Every reel I have has proven itself in use. My rods are "good enough" with my financial situation, but do need improvement.

I'm going to scare some people here... I have 5 Shimano Baitrunners (3500 through 6500). It's the only spinning reel I have multiples of. However, those are catfish specific reels (one of them "can" be used for bass though). All but the 3500 are on rods 9' or longer. :-[ As far as bass fishing goes, I prefer the shimano reels, but haven't gone into the specific models yet.

X2 Those are my thoughts exactly.

When growing up my dad let me use his fly fishing stuff sometimes, and all he used was 3 to 4 feet of 10# mono for a leader. We usually used the panfish poppers about the size of a pencil eraser.

If you really want a grilling treat, cut that thing up and go catfishing with it. Leave it whole and live if you have flathead catfish around you. Flatheads actually taste better when they are bigger. Blue cats will eat them whole if they are big enough, but they tend to taste better at 10# or less (they still sold a couple of 300+# blues at the fish markets in Missouri during the civil war). Channels love them cut up, but eating one over 3# isn't advised by me.

There are MANY different cicada species out there. Some hatch every year, some every 4 years, some every 7 years, some every 10 or 11, and some every 17 years. In some parts of the States it seems like they have 2 year hatches, but it's really 2 different species with 4 year cycles. (Not sure about Mexico, you might have a 2-year cycle there). I love keeping track of cicada hatches, but right now I am stuck in western Missouri where all they have are 3 species with an annual hatch. Also, all of the longer cycles can change some. The 7 year cicadas might show up at 6 or 8 years, but 95% of the time it's going to be 7 years. The 10 or 11 year cicadas split some with them hatching at 10 years 60% of the time, 11 years 38% of the time, and 9 years 2% of the time. Fascinating insects. Texas is seeing a resurgence of the Giant Cicada also. It creates a noise similar to a train whistle and almost as loud at 100 decibles.

I fish from an '06 Nitro 898 with a 200 hp Merc Optimax. Easily goes 70 mph+, but I tend to keep it around 50 to 60. Many people might think of it as a speed boat, but it's a bass boat all the way. It's my first boat, and I LOVE it!!!

I definately agree with you that the fast lures don't need the sensitive rods. When I can afford to upgrade some tacke, the "finesse" gear will the the first replaced.

My only problem with Power Pro is that it looses it's color too quickly. Once it turns white, it's very visible. That being said, I still use it on almost all of my spinning reels. I tie it directly to my lures, but rarely use it on anything but "reaction bite" lures where the fish won't see it for long. For jigs, t-rigs, c-rigs, and other slow techniques, I fall back to mono. I really don't care for that solution, because those slow baits is where the increased sensitivity and lack of stretch can make a difference. I am thinking of using a flouro leader on the slow baits and using the braid as the main line there.

This from the guy whose 2 cents is worth about $50.

It runs the gamut of small fish to big fish, but my experience says it's either baitfish (bluegill or relative) or bass (of any size).

Very difficult poll here. First off, I only answered for my main bass destination: Truman Lake in missouri, 55,600 acres, so... After I put the boat in, I almost have to fire up the big engine (that and it's fun to boat around). I tend to stay put more than some people, but I move more than some people too. I have a tendency to stay in one spot too long though. I know this, but I keep thinking the fish is there and I WILL get it to bite. It faild too often though. I don't know the lake well enough to pick out the high % places (and they change very quickly here). My lack of knowledge also leads to a dependence on my electronics. If I'm not fishing a tourney, I often switch gears in the middle of a trip. Last Friday I headed out wanting to target black bass then switch to hybrids in the evening. I found a couple of smallies (non-keepers), but then found a school of white bass. Since I was out fishing for food, I stuck with those whites and brought home a limit (15) and a nice 11" crappie.

I just started using jigs, but I have to agree with you on this one. I use t-rigs a lot, but haven't had much luck with the c-rigs.

My favorite is live shad. Live because I wouldn't mind catching the flatheads (and hybrid bass) around here too. Most people around here use cut shad. If you have it around you, the asian carp (silver and bigheaded) that are causing problems in some of our rivers make good bait when cut up too (I heard really good reports last year in the Missouri River).

Bending the blades at the water? Not sure what You mean :-/ It's a case of "tuning" your lure after you get to the lake. If you are dealing with a tourney or something like that, you can do it ahead of time, but the idea is the same. It's a similar problem with many crankbaits. Before using them, you need to test them and make any changes needed before seriously using them.

I think the difference here between all the baby bass in your lake and the lure would be that the lure may seem injured. An injured baitfish will get gobbled posthaste. Until the bass in your lake get used to seeing those swimbaits though. Once that happens they will become another "stand-by" that doesn't pull in the bigguns anymore.

A little steam blowing is fine, but there is a limit. If it's the thread I am thinking of, it did break that limit.

I used to think they were undersized as well. I often use 1/8 oz for panfish, but never really saw much use for them for bass. Then I started catching bass while fishing with them. Then I saw (and bought) some 1 oz. It's a good 4" long and matches the shad around here wonderfully right now. As far as rattle-traps being under-rated, not around here. I hear about them all the time, as well as lizards. Just goes to show that lure ratings will vary by your location.

I have to be one of the "No" votes. I have improved my rods from $20 to $60 (not counting my catfishing rods that run to $120 due to pure size), but beyond that... But then again, I target cats more than bass usually. I'm not talking about those small channel cats either, but targetting 30+# blue cats. The rod needs to be somewhat sensitive, but being indestructible is more important. A GOOD drag on the reel becomes very important when targetting these big fish. It's not that I don't think improving the quality of your rods is a good thing, because it is. I just put the Rate of Return for your money lower than most. I might buy some bass rods in the next year or so, but they won't cost more than $120 or so. Beyond that... the extra quality isn't worth it to me. It may be worth it for others, but not for me. Another part of it is that when I started out bass fishing (oh so many years ago) it was with what most people now call "bubba gear" that was about as sensitive as a pool cue.

Eh, It's only on long outings, after 4hours or so is when my hand begins to bother me. It's not terrible pain, but it's a discomfort. I figured a lighter rod would just make things all around easier on me. I also think a doctor visit might be in order. But then my fishing trips usually go for 8 to 17 hours and my doctor visits are free (military). Something else that might help though. I used to have some problems fishing when I spent a LOT of time on the computer. I started using a gel pad in front of my mouse and it helped my fishing problems. You might look at the other things you do in life and see if anything else might be contributing to the problem. I'm 39 now, and have no problem fishing with my "heavy" gear for 12 hours (I'm also 5' 10" and 135#, so I'm not musclebound). My longer fishing trips are usually for catfish, so I'm not casting constantly. My dad started having some problems with his shoulder when he turned 65 with his "heavy" gear. A lot of people think my Ugly Stiks are too heavy, but I don't get tired using them unless I am out practice casting with my 15' and 6 oz of weight. I expect to be worn a bit after that.

My fishing partner is in a similar situation. We have been to 7 tourneys so far this year, and he hasn't caught a keeper yet. However, I have given him pointers, loaned him lures that copied what I was using, etc. I also let him know exactly what he was doing wrong and that his gear is part of his problem (all he has is cheap combos, mostly spincast). He is rather poor so the tackle situation won't change soon. I am hoping that eventually he will pick up on what I am doing right (as rare as that is). To be even more fair, the lake we fish is highly pressured, so it's not easy out there. Many of the others in the tourney have caught only 1 or 2 all year, while I am in 6th place with only 5 fish in the year.

Work has changed my fishing more than anything else, but if I wasn't working as much gas would be a factor. I normally tow 135 miles round trip, but will be going to a smaller lake (140 acres instead of 55,600) more often due to time limitations. When the gas prices were really high I went there a few times too.