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Because you never know when you're going to catch that 50 pound bass.

Boy you need a sandwich and to sit down at 6'2 and 120

I have a 1955 "Whogivesaroyalcrapaboutwhatyoudrivesolongasyoucangettheboatinandoutofthewater."

By the way, guys and gals, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER POINT THE ROD TIP AT THE FISH YOU ARE BATTELING. If you do, it is bye-bye fishy.

Caught him in this, Caught him with a Booyah Pad Crasher Bullfrog on the third cast. Ain't a biggn', but somebody had to be first. Surprisingly he was the only one to bite. Nothing else hit after. I couldn't lip him because he had one hook going thru his lower and upper lip, so I had to grab him around the waist... oh so gently (as the the Everly Brothers were playing in the background) This is the same place I went to in the Spring, and the dude next to me caught a 5 lber on a Booyah Pad Crasher. That was one of the reasons I bought the Pad Crashers after I saw that. I did catch 2 pickeral on a Zoom Horney Toad that day.

I recently made a trip out to Pymatuning Lake in Ohio and the bass were on fire! Caught 7 bass and lost a few in a about an hour and a half of fishing. I put together this video while out there to help some new folks catch more fish. It really was a blast! What are some of your favorite techniques for shallow water?

Tragic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx0zfPsW6g8 Those were her favorite pants too

First off, I didn't say anything was "unethical" or "unjustifiable". I even opened stating that nobody says you shouldn't do it. I'll break this down very simply for you. Nobody is arguing your admirable loyalty to a company. I really don't understand the heaven reference...I mean I get it, but nobody said bob's not going to heaven because he shouldn't have warrantied a fishing rod.... Bob loves St. Croix and cannot see himself using a different rod. They make everything he wants in a rod so naturally he would want this company to thrive and be around for his grandkids. Bob buys rod in 1990 for 200$ Bob breaks rod in 2005 (this is after 15 years) Bob asks for rod to be warrantied to which St. Croix obliges to the sum or 70$ even those it was his fault. Bob then sends in a 15 year old broken rod that is promptly thrown away and receives a brand new one that has been updated X amount of times over the course of 15 years. Instead of just buying a new one and supporting a company he wants to be around for a long time, he costs to company more than the price of the rod. (your 15 year old broken rod holds 0$ valu-this figure can be attained by looking up your serial number /w the rod value system they provide via their website. you were given a free 200$ rod + the labor) Now I'm not saying what you, or anybody for that matter, did was "wrong" or "unethical". I mean you get a new rod for next to nothing...that's great. I'm simply saying as a WHOLE, when people do this, they are costing a company money after X amount of years that does play a part in price increases. Now what the set amount of years should be, I don't know. But I believe you can unarguably say that if you break a rod after 15 years of ownership, you should chalk that one up to a solid 15 years and not expect anything in return; even if they will replace it being 100% your fault and not their responsibility.

Classic case of the crabs.

I guess it's to late to ask for a finders fee from you all

I take used plastics off at the end of the day and if they are still hook-able I'll put them back in the bag to be used again. I guess I'm cheap like that.

I don't see how people would have the gall to return a rod after 10 or more years of use lol. Maybe it is just me, but I couldn't. I have only ever had to use a warranty because of my stupidity. If a rod doesn't break In a year of good use, then the manufacturer has done a good job. Yes I understand that the warranty has been built into the rod BUT I look at it like this. I have several $300 rods. If those rods last me 10 years and break, that's 30 bucks a year and that is more than adequate for me.

In January, 2013, after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, which included hormone therapy, my weight had ballooned to 254#. I made up my mind to get the weight off. Started a diet, and began walking two miles a day. By July, 2013, my weight was down to 184. Been a year now and I am still holding at 185. Just make up your mind to do it and stick to it. You can make it work, I promise. Best of luck to you. Hootie

I am a Pfleuger Phreak. I have owned Trions, Presidents, and Patriarchs. The Patriarch is very light weight and is a sweetheart of a reel. All of the aforementioned reels perform admirably, but I think the best bang for the buck is the President.

I've been skunked the past 5 fishing trips in a row... I blame summer or the lake so I feel better haha

Why a 15 year warranty isn't enough or is in question is beyond me. If after 15 years of fishing the rod breaks, that's on you. Obviously St. Croix has such amazing customer service that they are replacing it for next to nothing but show the company some respect and just buy a new one.

Whack them on the head, slit the gills, and put them on ice. Although killing a catfish isn't possible, you might as well release them after you filet them haha

Sorry Raul, I do remove the hook hangers. Into the holes go screw eyes to which the hooks are attached. I also unscrew every screw on the lure and put super glue in the hole before replacing the screws. I can tolerate losing any lure except the Jitterbug because it's time consuming and a pain in the butt to make the modifications.

When I use Senkos, depending how they are rigged, I usually don't lose them. I do however see a lot of guys toss them in the lake after they have worn out. It has always been a pet peeve of mine, that you should toss used soft plastic in the trash instead of the lake.

Bite their head off, thats what real men do.

For what I know bass haven´t developed recently some sort of helmet to protect their head against tcbass´ hard blows. It ain´t the wand but the magician, maybe you have lost some of your good aiming.

Watch your line, watch your line, watch our line.................did I mention watch your line. Especially if your letting a bait fall on slack line. I don't care if you have a $400 Loomis or a $15 Wal-mart rod, if your bait is falling on slack line they best way to detect a bite on the fall is by.......wait for it...........watching your line.

DO NOT UNSCREW THE HOOK HANGER ! Add a drop of super glue to the hanger where it joins the body CUT THE HOOK Add a split ring and place your new hook,

LOL.... HaHaHa, I thought it was going to be a all negative rant! Too funny!!

Today I got skunked, plain and simple. Getting skunked sucks regardless, and nobody ever goes home happy when it happens, but it does happen. It is something that all fishermen have to deal with. Anyway, while I was driving home contemplating about how awful of an angler I was and asking my self the common "what if?" scenarios I realized that it is the "dog days" of summer. I know that I should never have an escape goat for getting skunked, but I do realize that summertime bass fishing is not the easiest season by any stretch of the imagination and being skunked happens a fair amount in the summer. I would be much more disappointed if I got skunked during the Fall or Spring. I'm just curious if you fellow anglers feel the same way I do? Cheers & tight lines!

About 75% of my time is spent with one on, my favorite lure. I bought up all I could of the watermelon chartreuse (Kinami Palm Tree) they were discontinued on sale for $1.99 couple days later another box showed up

video from todays trip

That's really cool, I've never seen anyone cast like that but it obviously works for you.

Check out this video: @ :40 or this one...about 2:20 Jeff

I like diving in

Grabbing the line is something I learned not to do on "Schooled by Denny Brauer" years ago. He'd always scold the dudes for this. Funny though, I see it at least 20 times every Saturday morning done by the pros so....

Many years ago before all the anti-gun bs, my grandfather would shoot pike and musky in the head with a .22 before bringing them in the boat. Kind of like Swamp People only in Canada and Minnesota.

It's not only about weight, it's about force. A 5lb bass shaking its head out of water is going to exert force greater than 5lbs on the line

Just buy a net. No need to dive in dude haha

WTG. You have been on a roll lately.

The key is controlling your slack and knowing the rate of fall of the lures you are fishing. Some of the best jig/worm anglers use braid at night and fish controlled slack line because it transmits line movement feel better than FC or mono. The concept that sight or watching line is better than feeling line maybe a result of anglers palming reels instead of running line over or under fingers tips. You can't see line move in the wind but you can feel it. Strike detection is one of the most misunderstood aspects of bass fishing. I am not saying do not watch the line for movement, I am saying you can't always see your line move, you can feel it, so use all your senses and focus on what is going on below the water with your lure. I know and fish with some very good bass anglers who rely on line watching and haven't ever caught DD bass on jigs or worms. The bigger a basses mouth gets the harder strike detection becomes and the reason most anglers never detect big bass strikes unless the bass eats the lure and swims off with it. Tom

.45acp

I think the reason for the foregrip is purely traditional. It provides no benefits other than possible balance. If a foregrip is to be used it should measure no longer than 3/4 inch, and not be fat in diameter. No foregrip is great as long as the threads on the reel seat are trimmed as far as possible. Nobody does that. It's likely easier to mass produce rods with a foregrip than cut a bunch of reel seats. I'm pretty sure Dobyns and Powell use the size 16 ecs and do no trimming. Falcon rods are the worst and it's a shame cause most of there blanks are above par.

Watching your line is your best bet. Difficult to see if you use a lo-vis line (green/moss/black) so you may want to consider a hi-vis on the applications that get hit on the fall. You can always run your index finger just above the reel to help with feeling the tension but watching your line is going to be your best bet. You want to see your line "jump". That's usually a pretty aggressive bite. If you just see the line steadily moving in a direction, that tends to be a more subtle bite.

Keep em comin...I'm getting ready to order some soon and was looking for ideas on what colors to get.

Sweet smallie A-Jay! 30+ day of fish is stellar, way to go! I still haven't picked up any 6th sense cranks but that gill color sure does look good. Thanks for sharing.

Demerol.

LOVE the ECS seat. The ACS is the most uncomfortable thing I've ever held next to a Minima. Still on the fence about the SK2. Haven't fished one yet, just handled them in the shop. I'm not a fan of foregrips on my bass rods, but this one looks tolerable and wouldn't be a dealbreaker. The split grip, I can do without. I'm not a huge fan, but my current favorite rod does sport a split grip. Warranties have gotten out of hand. Glad to see them reigning them back in a bit. No reason to offer more than a 1 year IMO. If it doesn't blow up in the first couple outings, then there's no manufacturing defect.

hardcore bank angler tactics..

I started around 4-5 years old, 22 now. The things fishing had taught me: Appreciate the outdoors and the brown and green fish that live in them, appreciate my time off of work and most importantly, fishing is absolutely 100% addicting. The only cure for this crippling addiction is more fishing.

Here's a couple more ~ Dirty water to Clean Bottom Composition Changes (Rock to Sand, Sand to Mud) A-Jay

Very important! Sativa only for fishing, otherwise you'll just be staring at your soft plastics wondering how they get the sparkles so... Spaaaarkly, maaaaaaaaan.

No words can describe my day, but there are many hand gestures that can ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I must be emotionally constipated, because I haven't given a crap all week. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A successful marriage is like a "workshop", where the husband Works & the wife Shops ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life is short, 'Smile' while you still have teeth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Occasionally I'll drink of glass of water, just to surprise my liver ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger

The listed price of that lodge is $1495 for 4night/3 day. Lake Baccarac Lodge, which is the premier lodge on the lake is $1595. The economy package at Lake Baccarac Lodge is $1095 and at you place is $1295, so Lake Baccarac Lodgee is actually cheaper that way. Like I have always said, if someone is interested in fishing there, contact me and I can help with all the info and reservations for the trip of a lifetime! Jeff

I can get you any info you want on Baccarac. Not really a "cheaper" way to go. Gotta pay to play! Jeff