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I fish alone a good majority of the time so comparison opportunities are scarce. But since we're pumping ourselves up ~ I go with it. Fishing from a small craft limits my mobility so this has forced me to learn something I call Fishing Small. It means since I'm not going to be running & gunning all over the lake, to get the most out each trip I have to choose when & where I fish wisely. Sometimes that's as simple as when to fish & at what section of a lake. Other times it refers to what time of day or night, to be on certain spots. Learning to break a spot down. Looking at every possible environmental variable - it's challenging. There's the obvious ones of past, current and forecasted atmospheric conditions like air temperature, wind speed & direction, cloud cover, precipitation,and barometric pressure. Then there's the possible effects of any lunar activity, if you believe that there's any bearing there. Clearly the water itself, Depth, the turbidity, any current, temperature of course, is it rising or falling, what about the what level itself what's the story there? How about the presence of bait or what about food for the bait or other predators that even eat the bass ? Is all of this the same all over the lake ? Usually not. The presence of Cover, wood, weed, man made deals like docks & rafts. How about boating traffic & fishing pressure ? I want to take as much of this into account as I can IN ADVANCE of my arrival, because if something is "out of tune" - With 3.5 mph as a top speed (if you can call it that) there's no Moving to another area of the lake. At least not very far or very fast ~ timing is everything. Then there's the "what bait, technique or presentation" I do not use a "Search" lure - ever. By not beating the water to a froth with something simply to cover water looking for "a Bite", I've learned that by getting to the area, looking for the spot, finding the spot on the spot, and making a high percentage presentation to it, one can often fool the fish you're actually looking for before she realizes you're there. Big advantage. A little harder to do at night - darkness helps but so does practice. A Ton of trial and error comes into play and there have been more misses than hits, but sometimes it comes together and I get a few decent ones. Even still, the environment routinely lets me know that I still have a lot to learn. And that my friends is what keeps me going back. A-Jay

Why I am a better bass angler than you are! List of anglers I have beaten either by winning the tournament or finishing ahead of them more than once on Toledo Bend & Sam Rayburn. Harold Allen, Rick Clunn, Ken Cook, Jerry Dean, John Dean, Villis P "Bo" Dowden Sr, Todd Faircloth, Shaw Grigsby, John Hall, Tommy Martin, Darren "Mad Man" Mooneyham, Larry Nixon, Terry Oldham, Ron/Rick Pierce, Zell Roland, Bob Sealy, Lonnie Stanley, & John Torain. You will only underestimate me one time!

I am a better "one trick pony" angler than you are. What I mean by that is I find something that works and fish the holy hell out of it. I've been on a jig and/or swimjig kick for about 8 or 9 years. Not that I don't throw anything else, but 85% of the time that is my presentation of choice. I'll go one step further to tell you I throw 1 color swimjig, just changing trailer color. I've used Northstar jigs for years. Since they changed hands this year, I changed brands to Seibert Jigs who is making a custom order for me as we speak. Thanks Mike I use one brand of swimjig trailer. I throw 1 color jig most of the time with 1 brand and 1 color trailer but have been known to throw a second color jig and trailer on occasion. Using limited presentations makes for easy shopping because I buy everything in bulk. My theory behind this: I believe a well placed bait is more important than the color. Doesn't matter what color bait you're throwing if there are no fish to see it. My ongoing kick with jigs and swimjigs is the average size of the fish tend to be larger. I've got plenty of other colors and types of baits/lures for those times I have to adapt or are fishing water I'm not familiar with, but they are collecting dust in the 3700 boxes.

Why I am a better backlash-getter-outer than you are! I got a lot of them this year! Dang bushes around my pond always catch my lures in the act of casting.....

I was having a little bit of success in summer on suspended fish but it was only 1 or 2 on an outing. I was ready to give up but before I did I made sure to try it in colder water, 52 degrees was the magic number with a light stain. I was throwing a 1/4oz model I make myself with a fluke Jr. on the back and just slow reeling it across the bottom in 6; of water and that is when I got my first good fish on it. Ever since then we've been doing well, it seems like the best conditions for our waters is from 48 degrees up to 60 degrees with the best action happening in the 52 to 55 degree range. There is one thing I learned, if you feel you are getting hit, don't set the hook, just keep reeling until the rod begins to load up, then pull it hard, it seems that just about every fish likes to bump it or push it a time or two before eating it. If you go to you tube look at a video of Paul Mueller fishing the fish head spin, that video is exactly what happens in my water, tap ..Tap..Tap..Load and then set, I was setting the hook on the taps and was missing bad until I started to keep reeling, I wish I saw this video first.

I would say that the Pit Boss is probably one of the most innovative baits in the Havoc lineup. I don't know of any other bait with those appendages and that action. It's certainly become a staple for a ton of anglers all around the country, myself included.

The DC systems of the Scorpion and the Exsence are very different. The Exsence has the IDC+ "Exsence" tune. The Exsence has far more adjustability and it eats my Scorpion DC in casting, plus it has the trademark whine while the Scorpion doesn't.

Let me tell you why you are better flipping, pitching and skipping jigs than I am! While I have a lot of time on the fishing casting jigs my skills fishing jigs in heavy cover or skipping jigs under docks are limited. Where I bass the lakes are deep structure with lots of rocks, little cover and no docks to target. Occasionally I travel to lakes or the delta where the bass relate to heavy cover and under docks and short casts are needed to hit small targets. I have developed a casting technique similar to Hank Parkers loop cast using my standard casting rod to make accurate casts close the the waters surface so the jig lands softly and accurately 30 to 50 foot casts. I don't own a flipping or pitching rod and sometimes a partner loans one to me. I can catch bass flipping or pitching, it's a struggle and not my strong suit. My casting jig skills have taught me to watch and feel the line for any changes in sink rate, tension or movement. What I watch for is where the line enters the water cutting a V, if the V stops or moves that indicates a strike or the jig stopped. If I know the jig hasn't hit bottom yet or the line tension increased or decreased, set the hook! Tom

TW maintains a list of people who ask "when is the next sale" on the various forums, and use it to disqualify you from future sales/promotions.

Thought this topic could generate some interesting replies. The "I" is anyone posting a reply, the blank is any specific lure/presentation you feel is something you are good at. Why I am a better casting jig angler than you are! Casting jig is a skill set that I feel very confident in using because of the time spent doing this started in 1955 over 60 years now. My first jig was a Doll fly 3/8 oz black hair jig without a trailer and didn't have a clue how to fish it other than what was offered on the card it came with. Cast it out and hop it along the bottom. I soon learned a jig caught bass and snagged easily, Doll flies didn't have a weed gaurd. Soft plastics were unknown to me at this time, the Cream worm hadn't made it's way out west until 1957. My source of bass fishing knowledge came from Jason Lucas outdoor fishing editor of Spirts Afield, Jay suggested using a pork rind bass strip for a trailer and a small denture rubber band hooked between the jig eye and hook barb, this worked great and would influence my casting jig fishing forever. Back in those days my reel was a Langley Lure Cast bait caster with Dacron braid, the a rod a 5 1/2' tubular fiber glass Conolin bait casting rod. This outfit could cast a 3/8 oz oz jig 50 yards, all the line the reel held. Being a bank angler back then a long cast allowed more distance to retrieve the lure, not necessarily a good idea because you missed most strikes. With the old knuckle buster reel you had to keep your hand on the reel handle all the time when retrieving or hopping the jig along the bottom,this also required holding the rod by the fore grip, line running over the index finger and under the thumb to feel strikes and help prevent the handle from spinning backwards during a hook set. This out fit also had a lasting impact on how I would develop casting jig fishing skills, strike detection, hook setting and controlling bass during the fight, you had to play the bass or lose it! Today I still hold the rod the same way, make long casts, feel the line to detect strikes and use both the reel and rod to get a good "reel" set with rod sweep technique developed over decades of jig fishing. I also rarely use a fiber or wire weed guard preferring a piece of soft plastic worm attached via a spring between the hook eye and hook point that replaced my original small rubber band. I also still prefer hair jigs with pork trailers. Why do I use this old school jig presentation of making long casts and use out dated hair jigs with pork trailers? The answer is in the number of bass caught over 10 lbs, hundreds. My 5 top jig bass caught between 1982-1994 are: 17.4, 17.4, 17.6, 18.6 and 19.3 lbs. Tom

Talk about stewardship. Being responsible on the water and shoreline. What clubs do for cleanups and awareness of Invasive species

Fun post. Thanks, Tom. (I'm not entirely comfortable with the "better than you" phrase, but understand the point of the thread.) I'm a pretty good crankbaiter around cover. It, and many other aspects of my fishing skills, come from my years as a jig fisherman. From my jig obsession I learned, among other things: concentration, visualization, where my lure is in the water column, and strike detection to a fine degree. Quite a few years back now I showed a young tournament angler how to fish a crankbait (the Big O back then) like a jig. And on his very next tournament as a back-seater he frustrated the heck out his co crawling a Big O through cover. It became a GoTo technique and overall confidence builder for him. Crankbaits beg to be fished chuck-n-wind -and that's great when the fish are willing- but that asks a lot of the fish much of the time. Being able to put a prey-sized critter (don't care what you call it) into the heart of things and applying proper triggers -and be able to detect the takes- will catch a lot of bass and expand your confidence in many lure types.

2 out of 3 aint bad..just stinks shes broke.

Several years ago I had my best day on the BassResource.com Roadtrip at Pickwick. Sworming Hornet with a LFT Live Magic Shad trailer. My presentation is completely different: Cast and allow the lure to fall on slack line. Hold the rod steady at about 10:00. When the bait reaches the bottom reel up QUICKLY without pumping your rod, about 4-5 cranks. Let the bait fall again on slack line. Repeat until you feel you are "out of the zone". 100% of the strikes occur on the fall. On that particular day I was fishing with Dinky and caught 78 bass.

I have fished these things consistently for over 2 years now and still haven't caught a fish on them yet! Even when the white bass are on the banks heavy I can't get one of them to eat it. They look great in the water, and I'm not ready to give up on them yet, but man they're making it tough!

What I especially like about the Pit Boss is how buoyant it is which, as a jig trailer, allows it to sfand up nicely on a jig with an angled hook (e.g., Siebert's Dredge jig). It makes for a good imitation of a craw in the defensive position.

Cant beat a Pit Boss....for $1.75 a pack?! Cmon

I WAS a better Spook fisherman than you. A spook was the first topwater lure I ever used and use it I did. As a bank fisherman, errant casts with treble hooked lures was a recipe for snags and lost lures, but I quickly found out that the fish liked to hang around and in those snags. After reading an article in 'Field and Stream' I decided to learn how to walk a Spook around objects. It took all of that summer, but I was able to master doing just that. The following season, I started throwing a Spook just after ice-out and did so on a regular basis until the end of the season. I experimented with a dozen different modifications, from bigger hooks, split rings, adding weight to the tail, feathered trebles and even moving the line tie location, not to mention different retrieves and rod angles. That was back in the 70's. An accident and two operations later, I have very limited range of motion with my wrist. I've learned to compensate, but still deal with pain. As a result, my skills have deteriorated, but my love for that lure still has me reaching for my 'Spook Box' with regularity.

Especially when a sale is currently going.

I think you were lucky....she left before you tied the knot. Then it would have been real messy. Everyday is a new day. Try to maybe do some physical exercise several days a week to help burn off some of that #@!$. Like they say above .... stay away from the juice, take a deep breath and start fresh.

I started tournament fishing just last year as a co-angler and had to do a lot of learning pretty quickly. Everything so far seems like excellent advice. I hope this isn't too remedial, but here's some things I discovered over the course of the year. RODS: I usually bring 5 or 6 with me. 2 Spinning and 3 or 4 Baitcasting. That's the absolute maximum I'd recommend. Any more than 5 or 6 and you'll end up with a tangled mess, as well as difficulty getting everything stowed away during the many times your boater says "Ok, it's time to move" with about 5 seconds notice and then he's ready to leave. You don't want to make him have to wait while you're trying to get your rods put away so they don't get bounced off the back of the boat at 60mph on choppy water. Definitely do not forget your PFD. Your boater might not always have an extra (and shouldn't be expected to). And if he does, it may not even fit properly. Also, don't forget your own fishing pliers. It's a real pain having to ask your boater to use his all the time. Also nice is your own digital scale and a set of culling tags or a culling bar. Your boater will usually have at least a scale, but there's no guarantee he'll have a second set of culling tags for you to use. And the time it takes to dig multiple fish out of a livewell to find out which one is 1.86 Lbs and which ones are 1.87 or 1.92 Lbs is time that you don't have your line back in the water. A tackle bag that holds some 3700 size plastic boxes is likely your best bet. Maybe even swap one of them out for the same size Spinnerbait/Buzzbait box. They're awesome for keeping them organized and untangled. It's also really nice if the tackle bag has at least a couple pockets on the outisde, one for worms and another for creature baits (at least that's what works best for me). Or organize the outer pockets for whatever you use the most because they're the most accessible without having to open up the zippered part of the bag each time. However you organize your bag and boxes, I've found it especially nice to have one box devoted to the stuff I'm going to use the most in that particular tournament. The items in it may change from one to the next, but there's not a ton of room in the back of the boat and it's nice to only have to go to one box, rather than multiple boxes and opening and zipping up the big tackle bag over and over again. It's a good idea to ask, either before the tournament starts, or when you're on your way to your first fishing location, how your boater would like to handle when the net is needed. Some like to net all fish, while others don't want to net any at all. I've found that most will swing smaller fish into the boat, while calling for the net only when needed for bigger or lightly-hooked fish. Also, become good at netting fish! That may sound like a weird thing to say, but too many times to count I've seen someone bonk a fish right off the hook when trying to net it, rather than dipping the net low enough into the water to get underneath it. Do that to your boater when he's got a tournament-winning size fish and it'll make for a pretty uncomfortable rest of the day. Snags: Every fisherman gets snagged now and then. Lost lures are frustrating and it can get expensive, but most boaters are pretty good about pausing a run along the bank to help get a lure unsnagged from sunken timber or inbetween rocks, etc. Do your best to keep this to a minimum though. It can get uncomfortable asking your boater for the 20th time before it's even noon to reverse the boat and go back to unsnag a plastic worm. I'd rather keep a set of clippers on me and quietly cut my own line, losing a 50-cent plastic worm and hook than frustrate my boater for yet another de-snagging run. Use your own discretion on this one. It'll be different for every body of water and what the primary baits being used are. Good rain gear is an absolute must. I keep mine in a small cooler that has just enough room for that, plus some food/snacks (jerkey and trail mix is quick and easy) and DRINKS. Gator Ade, soda, whatever you prefer. If it's hot out, your boater will often have one of the storage bins filled with ice. They're usually fine with stowing your drinks in there if you ask. I can't stress this one enough. Keep a set of clean, dry clothes ready and waiting in the car when you get back. You'll thank yourself when you've been fishing for 8 hours in the hot and humid middle of summer, you're drenched in sweat and you have no dry clothes to put on for the 3 hour drive home. Or even worse, it's cold and rainy and you're soaked and have to drive home in that. There's also the thankfully-rare but real possibility that you could fall out or get bounced out of your boat and into the water if the weather is particularly rough. If you have dry clothes to change into back at the ramp, it could mean the difference between a 15 minute delay for you to change clothes, vs. your tournament being completely over and all that time and money wasted. After the weigh-in is usually the best time to discuss gas $s with your boater. You'll only then know how far you've had to run over the course of the day. It may be 20 miles or you may end up in view of the boat launch the entire time. If you're unsure, simply ask "What are you thinking for gas?" and he'll usually come up with a number. I like to add an extra five bucks to it, whatever it is (unless on the VERY rare occasion you might get some jerk who's trying to screw you out of money). Luckily, those types don't seem to last long or go very far, as they quickly get a bad reputation. Some will even refuse to take any money at all. Either way, you'll quickly get a good feel for how much or how little gas your boater will end up using. Last but not least, after the tournament is over, help your boater clean up his boat. Don't leave any messes, pieces of soft plastics, worms, fishing line, or hooks stuck in his carpet. If he's wiping down the motor and outside of his boat, ask him if he has an extra towel and if he'd like you to help him out. It only takes a few minutes and you'll be known as one of the good co-anglers to draw. I've probably forgotten some things, but that's what comes to mind right off the top of my head.

Went fishin' yesterday in a lake near Raleigh, NC. Air temp was 50deg. Water temp was still ~56deg after a real warm week. Most boats were fishing deeper water off the points. My buddy and I hit the north banks w/ grass and reeds, in the sun. We slay'd 'em. Probably 18-20 between us. One dink, the rest from ~2 - 5lbs. Used weightless Yamamoto 6.5" cuttail worms, cast right up next to the grass/reed edge. They were soft hits. Often felt like the worm was just a little stuck on a rock or stick. Put very little pressure on the rod and just held it. After 3-4 seconds, it would move slightly. Give it slack for a second, then bust him. Only lost one fish during the day, and he was a MONSTER. Fought him for ~15 seconds and the worm came out. My take-away was: Think. Exceptionally warm weather and water temps recently. Have continued catching far up in the coves. Then air temps dropped 20deg and lots of rain. Figured fish may be moving, but that's different than moved. Dance with the one that brung you. If that doesn't work, then start moving. Going back today and will begin w/ the same strategy.

My brothers and I fished a special regulation stream today. We got into some really nice fish, I was shocked! We caught 6 fish 18" or better between the three of us. In addition to the big ones, we landed a whole bunch of 8-15" stocked and wild rainbows. This was all in public C&R artificial only water From the exact same pool as last year where I caught what I considered to be my "prettiest trout ever", I did it again. I think this guy escaped from Bass Pro Shops. Only an 18" or so fish but I wish I knew what he weighed! Quality brown

But the spots were on fire! XD8's and Shakey Heads were the ticket.

Yes I went to the closest independant dealer. He advised me what frame would work best for my head shape & prescription. The frame I liked the best was not suitable for my prescription because of lense thickness. I gave him my updated prescription & he ordered them directly from Costa. They came in 4 days later. Instead of going to a large box retailer who sells Costas I looked for a optical shop. The optician can give you detailed info to make the best choice. I was told that the copper lenses offered the optimal sight penetration into fresh water & were the best driving lenses for daytime lighting.

This reminds me of when I'm walking around a store and someone randomly ask me where a product is like I should know just because I'm there. Seems like it would make a lot more sense to ask an employee (i.e. email TW or join their mailer to get notifications of their next sale).

I carry a ton of Berkley baits in my boat, especially the Havoc lineup. The twitchtail minnow is a great bait and one of my favorite multispecies baits.

I have a regular avid 6'8 mxf and an elite 6'6 mf and used to have a premier 7' mf, all spinning. If you're going to be Texas rigging 99% of the time I'd get the mxf, if you're going to throw a crank on there occasionally I would get the medium fast. If if this is going to be the one rod you take with you beating the bank or the one you just leave in your car I would get the medium fast.

Seems like as long as you stick towards the higher ends of their lineups it's all pretty decent.

Powerbait, especially power worms and Chigger Craws, have been staples in my tackle box for a long while. I have only used a few of the baits from the havoc line (pit boss, juice worm, subwoofer), but they strike me as both affordable and fairly innovative in some of their designs.

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you all for sharing you concerns. In 2015 we have made some extensive changes as pointed out. Going forward for 2016 we will be making many more changes. One of the biggest changes will be simplifying selections to make it easier for all customers. Some products will be consolidated into one group. For instace. The Big O and Gridirons will become one type. The next big change will be the descriptions will be changed or modified to better help on selecting the appropriate jig. Unfortunately with the amount of colors we offer i can not have a zoom feature unless i cut the colors down to 10 total. I wish I could have the zoom. As you may have noticed we have started a custom jig section and made it easier to purchase quickly some styles. This will also be expanded. These changes will take some time to complete. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to pm me. The biggest difference in all of our jig types are the hooks. Supreme uses Mustad Ultra Points. Big O, Grid Iron, Storm all use Owner xxx strong round bends. Dredge uses the Owner deep throat hooks. Which has become some of my best sellers. Thank you.

Can't speak to many of their other baits, but the 7" Power Worm in blue fleck is my go-to plastic worm. I've tried others and the only one I like as much as the Berkely is the Rage Tail Anaconda (also in blue fleck).

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ As for the OP - I'll say that since 95% of the waters I fish have at Least 10 ft of vis (and at times some have 20 ft +) my version of match the hatch revolves around a baits working / presentation depth, size, speed (or vibration) and lastly color. What has worked quite a bit for me is to use colors & patterns that actually camouflage the bait; sometimes only partially other times as much as possible. Shades that match the bottom color whether it's a weed, sand or even clay (not much rock here). When using a non-bottom contact moving bait in & around natural cover, often the same recipe is effective. And don't forget that totally or even partially clear bodied bait, works in a similar manner as well. A-Jay

Love my 580G's. (Green) Both for fishing and driving, which I do a lot more of. They really shine on bright, overcast days and bring out the contrast much better than my amber Oakleys.

Guys, most people don't like to view desktop versions on their phone because the text is too small, and the links are very difficult to click - especially when they're close together. In addition, many things such as pulldown menus don't work in many phones. So it's a bad experience for them. That said, I hear you. Despite those drawbacks, you want to have the same view as you get on your laptops. Done. Near the bottom of the forums, you'll see a link called "Theme". Click it, then "View desktop version on mobile". It's literally the same view, but I removed the auto-scaling function, so it doesn't change views when your screensize changes. Bear in mind the drawbacks I mentioned above, but you wanted it. Who am I to say "no"? But if anyone complains about it, I will refer them to tomustang and jbsoonerfan.

Green Mirror which is a copper base color

Lol you guys crack me up, I went fishing today, didnt catch anything but it was nice getting out... Thanks for the advice and stern words

I had a great year in 2015 fishing in Maine and Vermont. I did not fish as much as in past years due to some situations that I couldn't control. I still managed to get out and bass fish exactly 81 times this year. I caught 949 largemouth and 258 smallmouth in 2015. Total numbers were down from 2014 but more fish were over 3 lbs on average then 2014. I was fortunate enough to get on some very reliable patterns this year and ended the year with 43 bass bigger then 5 lbs. The largest for the year was 7 lbs 13 oz caught in the spring. This year was the 10th year in a row that I landed a largemouth over 7 lbs. I caught my biggest Vermont bass yet weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz. I usually don't target smallmouth. When I did target smallmouth the fishing was outstanding and this year was the best I have ever experienced. Of the 258 smallmouth I caught 60 (about 23 %) were larger then 3 lbs. I also was fortunate enough to catch my personal best 4 lb 13 oz smallmouth. I had one of my best 5 fish bag limits ever in the spring which I was fortunate enough to share with my mom. For the day my 5 biggest largemouth weighed 29 lbs 15oz, the 3rd heaviest bag I have ever had. This past year the frog bite wasn't nearly as good as 2014. I caught more fish this year flippin then ever before. The most productive lure for me in 2015 was the jig. I had many memorable days with friends and family. I was able to get my mom and dad their biggest bass they have ever caught. My moms weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz. On the year 7 friends caught there biggest bass fro my boat, the biggest being a 7 lb 9 oz bass my friend Brandon caught. Shane J from here on the forums caught his biggest Maine bass a 7 lb 8 oz largemouth. Shane was also fishing with me when he caught largemouth that put him on the leader board in Vermont and Maine that ended up qualifying him for the BBC. It was a great year in 2015. I can only hope 2016 will be just as good. I am hoping to fish swimbaits more this year and get my first 7 on one. As the custom as every year begins, I hope this year will be the year I get a 10 lb bass in New England.

I feel my strongest bass fishing skill is hopping sinking lures off the bottom so... ...Why I am better at detecting strikes than you . When I was a kid back in the 60's and 70's , I fished for bass , crappie , whites ,,,, on the Mississippi river and backwaters . Id ride my bike there and had a super cheap solid fiberglass pole and a zebco 202 reel that would never cast . Walking the banks with a crappie size yellow or white Doll fly I would jig it around the rocks brush , eddys , current breaks,,, I learned where the good spot were .Holding the rod in front of the reel with the line between my index finger and thumb I was able to detect light bites . I would spend hours down there, then ride back home to clean my catch .My dad worked at the Lock and dam and I would go with him. He worked his shift day or night and I would spend 8 hours fishing below the dam. Most of the time was spent tight lining for catfish until they opened the locks , then Id have the doll fly out because the game fish would go on a feeding spree . I still hold the rod with the line between the finger and thumb and am pretty decent at detecting strikes . There was no learning how to fish a Texas rig, jig n pig or other bottom bouncing lures , I could feel the slight taps since the first time I fished them .

I disagree. If people get into as much detail as WRB, some of us might actually learn something

This is not the place to seek Real Help - if you believe you need it - Seek the consult of a Medical Professional right away. If you're just blowing off a little smoke then I'll tell you that Personal relationships are one part of every mans life; sometimes there are more challenges than other times. What if you had all the mental ability and capacity to do anything & everything you wanted to do but physically you were completely crippled ? That would be really tough. Fortunately that's not the case here - the only one stopping you from doing whatever it is that you want to do it's that knucklehead that's looking back at you in the mirror. Might be time to move on to whatever the next chapter in your life is - btw - this is the only one you get. Might want to do something with it before it over. Happens pretty fast. A-Jay

Learn on the Ardent then upgrade. I doubt a high end reel will accelerate your learning curve. Cast, adjust and cast....

There is a point of diminishing returns in both areas. For feel techniques like jigs and plastics skew the budget toward the Rod. For moving baits like cranks etc you can get by with less Rod and a step up in reel can prove enjoyable.

Lots of us have been there. It's going to suck. Your motivation is going to be awful and you probably just want to drink until it stops being crappy. If you do, you're going to stay a mess because you aren't changing your situation. You can't control how you feel about a busted relationship, but you can control how you actually respond to it. Seriously, don't worry about a relationship because a relationship shouldn't define you. Set goals for yourself. Get an education and a legit career. Get in the gym instead of the bottle. If you depend on yourself to make yourself happy, you have control over your happiness. If you rely on other people's bullsh*t, you're going to have a lot of bullsh*t ahead of you.

Sucks quite a bit. Life is xxxx, and then we die! Bro, I can tell you it happens, everyone goes through it. Don't let a female drag you down there are over a billion women in the world. You will find the right one. Don't be self destructive because you are hurt. Be proactive about it. Go lif the weights at the gym. Exercise. Get off your butt and stop feeling sorry for yourself. That's some of the best advice I have been given. Don't let someone else control your life like that. You know something, I spent 11 years with the wrong woman. I found the one I wanna spend my life with in 2014. I thought I knew what love was until she came along. I would sell my soul if it would keep her safe forever. Cause without her, I can't be. Drinking and drugs couldn't possibly feel the void. What I'm trying to say is you will know when you find the right one. As for being broke. I have worked sporadically the last 2 months. I got married and have worked 4 of the last 9 weeks. I have wiped out all three savings accounts. I am 2 months behind on all my bills. I need to make over 4000 dollars in the next month just to get everything caught back up so that it will only be 10 to 20 days behind. That's just how life goes. Things will get better. They always do. Go listen to, Ain't no fun, by Snoop Dogg. I think it will sum up some of what I'm trying to tell you.

Ain't no woman in the world worth destroying your life over

2015 highlights: Didn't break anything expensive Didn't drown Fished a tournament with my 6 year old daughter Joined the 20+ lb club for a tournament bag on my home lake 2016 goals: Don't break anything expensive Don't drown Fish more with my kids

I've experienced times when color made absolutely no difference at all, I would switch colors to the opposite end of the color spectrum, and that color woukd be productive. I've experienced times when I had to change colors constantly to continue getting bit, catch 3-4, change colors, and catch 3-4 more. This pattern would continue all day or night. I've experienced times when if ya wasn't throwing a particular color ya wasn't getting bit period!As for size of the lure, it depends on the body of water, some places I fish do not have a population of large bass (3 lbs +) so throwing large baits would be an exercise in futility! But then again I've caught large bass (6-9 lbs) on small baits! I make color and size selections based on previoys experience with a body of water and current conditions.

If you're just learning, I'd go with some cheap and manageable, like Yozuri Hybrid or Berkley Big Game in 10 or 12 lb test.