Hawghead

I had a President, that for some reason just twisted the heck out of my mono. I know they are well liked reels, and my brothers all use them, but I couldnt get one to work for me. I have used spinning gear all my life, and I have never used more of a line twisting reel. Took it back and went with the Sedona. YMMV

I like Kayak fishing for bass because it's A LOT cheaper. I don't have a good places to launch a bass boat that are very close. I feel like I can launch my kayak and fish for a couple of hours and be fine with it. I can store my kayak in my garage quite easily. I have 4 brothers, they all have bass boats. They use their boats a few times a year. Three of us also have kayaks. The kayaks get used about 8 times as often as the bass boats.

Generally the "New" just means that some update was made to the rod. Something as mundane as the grip length or and worthy as the blank material. I wouldnt buy the BPS branded rods unless they are on sale. Not because they are junk, but because the go on sale pretty frequently. Just have a little patience and you will find it on sale

Feeding corn to deer that live in an AG area isn't going to kill them. Here is 4 not dying deer eating whole corn from a homemade feeder. It had been out there all for a few months prior to this pic. Had as many as 7 or 8 on camera in this spot

My year was one of less fishing that usual. I bought my first piece of hunting ground, and this past year I spent A LOT of time getting stuff ready for hunting season. This year should get me back into my kayak and more time on the water.

If you can get to the stores you stand to find deals. Got a 7' St. Croix Mojo for $70 at the Springfield MO BPS this past weekend. It's the previous model year, not the current with the new blanks. Seems like a pretty strong deal to me? Keep and eye on BPS. I often end up with $25 or $50 in gift cards and wait until their store brand rods/reels go on sale. Feel like I pick up some pretty solid buys.

Western Suburb of St. Louis MO, we are getting $1.64ish, some places in the metro area are getting 10 - 15 cents cheaper per gallon, especially if you pay cash.

Didn't really ask for anything fishing related. I tend to buy exactly what I want on my own. I did get a pair of Maui Jim Ho'okipa Sunglasses. I will wear them all the time, but they'll be best used while I'm fishing off my kayak this year. I have a really large head, and they are one of the few make/models that fit and don't look ridiculous on my melon.

Plus there is no limit to the amount of time, money, frustration, and joy one can get, lose, or feel with both. Either can be done on the cheap, or you can have big money wrapped up into gear and your personal hunting/fishing spot. I love em both

Justin, Where are you moving to? I have lived in St. Charles/St. Peters area my whole life. Other have stated many of your options. There are other MDC owned properties in east central MO that have options in terms of places to fish. Also, the 370 Lakeside park offers fishing opportunities.

Catch a little bluegill, use it as live bait with a real heavy sinker. Plop that little sucker right in the middle of the bed, he cant swim away and she cant let him stay there....you'll catch her. Not the most sporting approach I suppose, but it have seen it work and won a bet or two this way.

I teach high school science, and coach varsity basketball. Bball domininates my life from Nov 1st - Late February/early March. I have 4 young kids that dominate the rest of the year. I bass fish in the spring and summer when I can, and bowhunt whitetails in the fall when I can. Everything takes a backseat to my family and providing for them. In about 5 or 6 years when my younger son is out of high school, I'll likely back off the coaching and be able to start looking after my personal hobbies. I was really really into bowhunting and bassfishing when I only had 2 young kids and wasnt coaching, now the oldest is a senior in high school and the youngest is in KGarten.

I did the same as well a few years ago when I started using my first baitcaster. Really really like the jig. You wont regret it. Stay positive and confident.

Never, as a teacher is just doesnt fly. I have a lot of time in the summer, which is a bonus, but with 4 kids at home I dont go as often as you may think. I get two personal days each year, I use one for my family fishing trip to Lake of the Ozarks each year. But I have never called in sick to hunt or fish.

I like a sort of hybrid rigged baby brush hog. I guess its is a speedier and simpler version of a Carolina Rig. I simply clamp on a split shot about 15-18 inches above plastic bait, but the splitshot is below the bullet weight. It lacks the clackers and noise of the C-Rig, but is much faster to retie and adjust as needed. I also am gaining confidence it my jig with a crag trailer. Other confidence baits are senko styles lures T-rigged weightless, or Bomber Model A's in brown crawdad.

A lot of the combos and sometimes even the reels that they offer are not the same as the normal BPS branded stuff they carry all year. For example they have the Tourney series rods and reeds and the Extreme series rod and reel. During the spring classic they will almost always have a reel or a rod/reel combo that is branded with the same name as an existing series. It will typically have "Special Buy" or "limited quantities" on the add. These offerings are NOT the same as the normal reel or combo that is available all year long. They will occasionally have the "legit" items on sale, but you can usually tell pretty easily what the imposters are.

Since before I could remember. I have 4 older brothers and my dad took us all hunting and fishing all the time. He couldnt afford any hobbies besides fishing. We all had second hand gear and had a blast with it. We fished for everything. Usually the days started with bass fishing, but by the end of the trip we would be catfishing and going after just about anything. Spend a lot of time on the Mississippi north of St. Louis fishing. My brothers were always draggin me along on their various adventures. I got to do and see a lot of cool stuff as a kid. We all still fish together to this day.

I did A LOT of reading on this website prior to getting my first casting set up. I would recommend you do the same. I got a Shimano Citica and paired with a 7' M weight BPS extreme rod. Practiced a lot with it. Be conservative and humble in your expectations when you start, and work your way up. If you have someone who knows what they are doing around to assist you that will help also.

Can't think of a good reason not to leave it attached until you got a running outboard when launching. I also cant think of a good reason not to attach it prior to pulling up the ramp. Avoid power loading at all costs.

Zoom Lizards or baby brush hogs.

I would look to various options in props prior to drilling into the cavitation plate. Treat the cause of the slow planing/poor performance not the symptom.

storm maybe under rated in most of the country but a WW is probably the most thrown bait on table rock lake in MO during the cold months there are even stores that still carry the originals in original colors new in box and they go for like 20 bucks a pop Amen to that, I will throw LOZ in there as well for a place that you GOTTA have a Wig Wart on in the spring. I always have a healthy supply of the various crawfish pattern WW's for my spring trip to LOZ.

I had some in my bag for a while. One day I was fishing a private pond and the bass kept short striking a t-rigged lizard. I would let em swim with it for a long time and still no hook ups. So I decided to try a t-rigged senko and that slow horizontal fall was too much for them. This was the summer of 08. I caught just insane numbers of bass on those silly things. Still have a bunch, but last year I didnt use them all that much. I am sure they will be used again this summer. When they are on, they are on. I like to cast em tight into cover. I let em sink for a few seconds, and then give them a twitch twitch with a crank. Keeping some tension on the line. I usually get so antsy with them that I anticipate the bites, and end up working them too fast.

Last year was the year of the Carolina Rig and Jig for me. My favorite was sort of an altered Carolina Rig. I was simply crimp a split shot above the t-rigged plastic and let the bullet weight use that as the stopper. I did away with the beads and swivel. Made retying a lot faster. This summer I would love to get more into spinnerbaits, dropshotting, and getting away from the shore. Paddletail swim baits will likely get their shot as well. EDIT: Also last year I broke the ice and into baitcasters. I got a Shimano Citica and put in on a BPS extreme Med 7' 6" rod. It was my jig and craw trailer rod. Did well at Lake of the Ozarks with it. I need to get better with it so I can expand the list of of lures I can cast on it.

For me it is pretty much the shebang. When I really enjoy the solitude when am fishing alone and just really focusing on the next cast, move, lure change etc. I also love fishing with a partner trying to work together and have a good outing. I like the time fishing because it is 'me' time. I am not dad, coach, teacher, husband, or whatever. I can leave all of that behind and just fish.