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Previous to getting Gaston, I had kept herding dogs, mostly German Shepard Dogs. I had to retrain myself to training Weims, they don't just listen like herding breeds. Once I taught myself to use food incentives as my primary training tool, I found that the sky is the limit with these dogs. You can really train them to do anything, and I do mean ANYTHING. There are some ground rules to living with a Weimeraner. 1. Unattended food is fair game. 2. It isn't a fence, it is a puzzle. 3. The word "indestructible" on the label of a dog toy is a lie. 4. Excitement will not be contained physically. 5. That leash is there so YOU can keep up.

Would you disable thre anti-lock brakes on your truck to show how good a driver you are without them? Of course not. The feartures of the reel you choose to fish are there to make fishing more productive and enjoyable. You paid for them so use them. It says nothing about how good of an angler you are or aren't.

I have a spinner bait my friend calls "Bullwinkle"...I always pull a big fish out of my a** with that one he says. Not really but whenever we fish against each other or for fun, it just seems to always work out that way.

It would be nice if you open the box and saw a Shimano inside....

hmmm.... somewhere in this thread there may actually be a discussion comparing 6lb Sufix 832 to 10lb Sufix 832. oe

For enthusiasts, technique specific gear is fun to collect. However, three rigs cover all the basics: #1 6 1/2' or 7' MH baitcaster for jigs, some soft plastics and spinnerbaits #2 6 1/2' or 7' MM baitcaster for treble hook lures #3 7' MF spinning rod for lighter lures and a variety of techniques

For a spinnerbait there is many ways to retrieve it. you can slow roll it and get it down deeper or you can fish it the way i like to do it and use it in the upper 5 ft. of the water column with a pretty fast retrieve. My 3 most important tips for fishing a spinnerbait is: 1. don't be afraid to get it in the trees or whatever you may be fishing. get it as close to cover as possible. 2. most of my bites come when i have a change in my retrieve. for example, keep a steady retrieve then slow it down and speed it up again to make the blades jump. 3. use a trailer hook. my trailer hook has caught me so many fish that the regular hook would have missed. For a jig, most the time i fish a football head in rocks and i just pull it slowly with the rod tip a few feet at a time across the bottom keeping contact with the bottom the entire time. when you feel it get stuck on a rock or log, lift up the rod tip very lightly to pull the jig over whatever it is. most of the time if you try to jerk it over fast you will get it snagged. but thats all there is to it is keeping the jig on the bottom, maybe the occasional hop will also help cause the bass will bite it on the fall. I always use rage tail craw as trailers on my jigs but i suppose that is a personal preference. A jig bite can be hard to detect a lot of the times, so watch for your line to jump or start going to the side, reel up the slack and slam into a big bucket mouth. ...back to spinnerbait tips...in muddy/stained water i like to use bigger blades with more vibration such as a (Colorado) blade. In clear water I like to use a double willow-leaf to keep it high in the water column.

I have always found that as you get later into the day and the sun comes up high in the sky, the bass relate closer and closer to structure. It may be as simple as flipping that jig closer to the stump or into the prime area of that weedbed that your partner is doing but you are not.

Abita Amber

English Bulldog and Boston Terrier.

We have a rescue pit/dane? mix. His name is Winston. He is a little over 2 yrs old and spoiled rotten! Only way to have em! And this Pic is for NORCAL: Jeff

ha, this is funny. I thought i was the only one. I had several names for my swimbaits: Mrs's Huddleston, MaryweatherFeatherbottoms, and Mr. Gigglesworth (caught several good ones with him before i broke him off on rocks on a cast). Had a jig named Jeffrey that caught several 6 pound bass before being stolen by a northern pike.

Here is one more, this one is 22" just spawned out. Those 2 above were both just under 21. Have caught these pigs on the exact same bait for the last 5 years!