The Rooster

I find magazines and newspapers with spelling errors and other mistakes very hard to read just due to trying to keep up with what's being said. Actually using the wrong words from not understanding differences in such words as due vs. do, words such as to, too, and two, causes my brain to momentarily derail and I have to back up, reread it slowly to get past that hiccup, and then move on with a renewed sense of what the author is trying to say again. When this happens, the enjoyment is lost.

The sheer audacity!!!!! Parents at home, please do not allow your children to view these vulgar statements!!!!!

I've been reading about different bubba rigs lately. A bubba shakeyhead for example, using a 3/8 jig head. Nice! I never would have thought of that.

I always keep them in their packages too. Learned that the hard way many years ago. What a mess that was. But I was wondering how you store all those bags? I have 30 right now. That's after selling some a while back. Now I probably don't need more but it would be useless of anyone to tell me thIs because I already know I will buy more. Is a large gym bag the only answer, or do I need to learn which ones to leave at home on different trips at different times of the year? Raul said he uses a 3700 for his. I used to do this too when I took them from the bags. Some of my bags are too large to really fit those boxes anyway. How do you store yours?

Is a bait like this not too long? I thought a drop shot should be a small bait since the hook is so small. Wouldn't the worm sag down since it sticks out sideways from the line?

Maybe so but I don't like the models with 3 treble hooks on them. I don't buy baits that are that way due to tanglement. Two of the hooks on the Rapala models are close enough together that they can catch on each other. Also, I always fish these on 8 pound line on a spinning rod. Nothing more. I changed all the hooks back to the original ones. We'll see how they work.

Non toasted Crust on White bread Smooth peanut butter Strawberry jam (first choice), grape jelly (second choice), or apple jelly Glass of milk, 1%, 2%, or red cap, preferrably cold enough to have little milk ice crystals in it around the edges Peanut butter and banana is freakin' awesome. Just to say I had tried it though, I once ate peanut butter and dill pickles. My wife's choices: Toasted or non toasted Crust off White bread Smooth peanut butter, warm or cold Strawberry jam (first choice), peach jam (second choice), maple syrup (third choice), or grape jelly Glass of milk, 1% only She does NOT like peanut butter and bananas. Also, recently she has began to develop peanut allergies so she has had to stop eating anything with them in it. Too bad, more for me. And now, I have to go make one!

I have several plastics here that I'm wondering why I even bought. They still look like fish catchers but truthfully I have no idea exactly how to fish some of them. So I have a few questions. 1. How do you fish a Zoom Trick worm? What colors do you get? I currently have white ice, disco green, and summer craw. I figured these would be used weightless, either tex posed or wacky. Maybe shakeyhead but they look too long for that. Carolina maybe? 2. The Zoom Finesse worm, a smaller version of the trick worm, do you fish it the same way or is it for some other technique. I had been using these for shakeyhead worms, but I see now that they have a skinny tailed worm for this. Does it work better? Seems like it might be easier to get action from. I don't own any yet, and I only had one color of the finesse worms, plum, but I sold those, so now I currently have none. I believe I thought I might actually just snip a trick worm down two inches to use for a finesse if I needed one. Was that a fair idea, or is there a need for finesse worms separately? 3. They make magnum versions of both of these. What are they for? Seems a magnum finesse worm is a contradiction of terms. 4. What do you store your plastics in? I have 30 bags now, stored in a small tackle bag. Any more and I'll have such a mess it would be hard to find anything. But I know I'll buy more when I see some I like. I guess I'm supposed to just take certain ones with me depending on time of year and location maybe? Sorry for such stupid questions. I just want to hear from people who fish these baits to get ideas for them.

Ok, this gives me hope. I'll change the hooks back because I much prefer the original action. Man what a hassle that is going to be. Sore fingers for sure. I guess I'm going to have a lot of spare #6 hooks laying around. Good thing that's the size my favorite crankbaits use.

I've carried around Rapala original minnows for 17 years and hardly ever touched them due to the smallish sized hooks they come with. I believe a size 7. The one time I've ever had a strike on one I missed it and always thought that was why. A couple of years ago I swapped all the hooks out to size 6, a size larger, and they look much more likely to hook up, but now they don't float right anymore. They sit low in the water, and when jerked they dive and are slow to rise again. This might be a good thing in some situations but I don't know when or where. I normally just twitch them on top when I ever use them. Does anyone know if there is a topwater jerkbait made that floats well and has large enough hooks to hook up on a strike? I know it's silly that after this long I don't know of any and haven't tried other types but I mostly use other lures besides these. I was just sitting here looking at my tackle and saw the ridiculous amount of these things I've bought through the years and thought it's finally time to do something about them. Either figure out how to make them work or sell them all and get something different.

Gun Smoke Bonanza The Andy Griffith Show Everybody Loves Raymond Seinfeld Property Brothers House Hunters Pawn Stars King of Queens King of the Hill There's just too many to list. The list of shows I hate would be even longer.

I wouldn't get divorced for her not liking me fishing, but I wouldn't quit fishing either. She'd find a way to deal with it, period. Fortunately, my wife is not like that. She doesn't care for fishing herself, well, very much anyway, but she also doesn't mind me going and supports my "habit". Now, I wouldn't go excessively, but I'd go several times a year, at least into the double digits, whether she liked it or not. There's no woman anywhere that would just make me give up something I love. If she loves me, that's part of who I am. If you don't like it, well, there's things about everyone that someone isn't always going to like. That's one of them. Deal with it. That's my two cents, and a buck fifty more to go with it!

I sort of get the ending. It's irony. I loved the video though. Seemed pretty high energy. Charged me up.

Edwin Evers, KVD, and Gary Klein. I also like watching Gerald Swindle, he's funny. My list used to be longer but I've removed a few names. I won't say anything against any of them to say why, but some of them I just don't care for. That said, just because someone's name doesn't appear here on my list doesn't mean they're one I don't care for. I don't know them all, just some of the more prominent names. I used to watch about five or six particular guys but some of them I saw things out of that I didn't enjoy and don't think sets a good example, that's all.

People show how long the spool spins after the bearings are upgraded to show how much more free it has become. This translates into longer, easier casts since the spool resistance has now been reduced with better bearings. I'm surprised no one has said that bearing count doesn't matter. I hear that said a lot and it's mostly in response to people thinking a reel with a high bearing count automatically makes it better. The truth is in the middle. You need bearings, and more is always better unless the added weight means something to you but they've even solved this problem now, too. More bearings doesn't make a better reel unless they're of good quality though. A reel with less bearings, like some Shimanos, can be fantastic. A reel with more bearings, but cheaply made, can suck. I believe, however, that a well made reel with more bearings is the best of all.

No doubt the PQ is solid. I like BPS reels in general so this was just one more that made me curious.

BPS has a Nitro Tournament Z baitcast reel that is priced at $60 and has a list of specs that seem to compete with at least the Pro Qualifier that's priced at $100. All except the dual brakes. Is this a poorly manufactured reel, or is it worth the $60? Anybody know, or have you messed with it much in the store? Maybe Hootiebenji might know about it since he works there. I have a heavy powered rod I don't use much but would like to set it up as a frog rod. This might be a cheap way to put it in rotation. Here's the link.... http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Nitro-Tournament-Z-Baitcast-Reel/product/1303270646333/

Good choice because the Pro Qualifier IPT on the 7.1:1 ratio is only 29 inches. My older model BPS Extreme 7.1:1 is 31 inches. My 6.4:1 ratio Extremes are 28 inches, nearly the same as the PQ at 7.1:1 ratio. The PQ 6.4:1 ratio is just 26 inches. Not saying that it won't work but I'd rather have the faster PQ since it more closely compares to their prior 6.4:1. For buzzbaits you don't want to drop down.

When you actually get married at the marina on the lake you fish at, in late October, with an early season snow flurry already in the air, and it's dark outside, and during the ceremony you are still thinking about the fishing that you could be doing just a few feet away and wondering if the bite would be any good. True story. My new wife was agreeable to it also. I was actually regretting not bringing a rod to get in a few casts when we did it.

Wow, that sucks. Poor guy. Besides the loss of the fishing season, this could potentially change his life.

Someone mentioned Mitchell having a split grip rod pretty early on. They had one with EVA split grips called the Mitchell Fulcrum. When I worked at Walmart back in the 90's, they sold it for about $40. I distinctly remember it being 1996 when these first came in. Was grey in color. It was advertised as being well balanced, hence the name. It did feel well balanced, even without a reel, but It always felt a little heavy overall to me. I think the handle was actually weighted to help make it feel better balanced.

That is exactly the way I have been thinking about it lately. I'm glad I decided to use the clear blue line. This year I am going to change a few things. I want to bring the fun back. Some of my most memorable fun days were when my brother and I would just bank fish, with a bunch of cheap rods, all baited with minnows and casted out into a school of crappie. We would catch so many it was unbelievable. Never needed a bunch of technique specific rods or special lines for that. Hooked into one of my most memorable bass on a cheap 5' ultralight and 6 pound mono when fishing this way. Didn't land that fish but the conditions weren't favorable for it anyway. We were fishing the creek channel of a lake at winter pool level. Lake bottom was pure mud but the crappie were stacked in there so we went. The water's edge was so slippery, and it was mid March so it was cold, that you didn't dare get too close for fear of falling in. Therefore I had to just attempt to swing the bass in to land it. Of course hoisting what appeared to be an 18" bass just snapped 6 pound mono like sewing thread so he fell back in the water and hung there for a moment until he realized he was loose, and then he was gone in a flash. Man that was a fun fish though.

I don't get a flyer and can't find one online. Is it available online?

It was coming to this site that made me this paranoid. I think I've read too much and got myself locked into certain habits and ways of thinking that I used to never have. Now I'm feeling like if I don't do certain things a certain way that it will be bad. I think I'm going to start breaking those habits again.

On the newest models of Pflueger President spinning reels (not having the wooden knobs), is there any way to access the bearings inside the handle knob for cleaning? Some of these reels don't even have bearings there, like the Trion for example. Do you know if they're made so they could be added? I know that last one is not an expensive reel but I sort of enjoy tinkering on things like this. Adding carbon drags and bearings to make upgraded versions of themselves. I don't really want to tear up a handle trying to find out though. Just wondered if any of you all had removed one before.