SirSnookalot

Not here, west wind is the kiss of death, east wind is rougher weather, fishing is much better.

First time or 2 using red it does seem to stain your fingers a bit more than other colors, nothing I would classify as serious.

Ran into a guy yesterday at the ocean, told me he had caught peacocks a few weeks ago at the Boca Rio canal. He was using a fly rod. I know the place well, haven't been there in years but have caught some really nice bass there. Being public with lots of parking access (boat launch too) it's a popular place, you can easily space yourself away from other fisherman.

A senko maybe one of the better bass catchers I've used. As good as it is I seldom use them, just don't enjoy fishing them.

HaHa

A fluke is the only bait I use when I'm fishing in vegetation, hooked weedless with no weight and I fish it as topwater lure. As much as I use them for bass I use them them for snook and tarpon, generally on 1/4 oz jig head. Fishing heavy seaweed in the surf I'll fish them weedless with a weighted hook. Freshwater I use Zoom, salt it's DOA.

If I'm fishing open water it's a roostertail, been catching peacocks, bass, mayans, oscars and gars everyday day. Only time I change lures is to put a new roostertail on, the present one has caught about 35-40 fish.

I don't even fish for big fish anymore, 50# tarpon makes me pretty happy and pretty d**n tired. I was having a ton of fun catching sub 1# mayans the other day, I went to target them. Caught a 3# bass and I was disappointed, lol.

I saw a gator floating belly up in canal the other day, it's tail was floating about 5 feet away from the body. I was too lazy to go back to my car to get my phone.

Cardboard with slots work well, I prefer filling empty 150 yd spools, I carry 3 in my inshore fanny pack.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-12-22/news/fl-crocodiles-return-20131222_1_crocodile-lindsey-hord-alligator

Not for or against Okuma, but based on Amazon reviews ? A baitfeeder is an excellent option for certain types of fishing, don't see it for bass unless using live or cut bait, plus they generally weigh a little more.

1. The knot isn't that weak if tied correctly, fish pulling out drag takes much of the stress off the knot. Braid and a locked down drag doesn't require the kind of hookset they may prompt a visit to the chiropractor. 2. Many larger bass seem to swim at you instead of away. 3. Abrasion. 4. Braid tangled in a treble can be time consuming to unravel. 5. Bit of shock, especially on a top water lure. 6. Break a fish or a snag off.

One thing I like about Palm Beach county is that our canals have high banks, the water mocs I see are down in the water, still scare the crap out of me. Have seen a few by ponds luckily no incident, I leave the area pretty quick. I don't care how much you like snakes, it only takes 1 bad experience to make you an unhappy camper. There have been reports of saltwater crocs in the ICW in Delray where I live, haven't seen one yet. We have lots of bull sharks here, they will circle the boat when you have a fish on, scary but they don't jump in the boat.

Any name brand of braid should give you no problems, the break strength is much greater than the fish can pull plus using the drag takes a lot of stress off the line. My lines get scuffed up a lot from the brush on the side of the canals, fishing ponds or from a boat the line stays much healthier. For the last few months I've been using US braid 10#, haven't had a wind knot and I use inline spinners without a swivel quite a bit. I do like PP slick but at twice the price I don't feel I'm getting twice the performance, plus I've had wind knots. Until this line proves otherwise I'll be sticking with it, recently loaded 2 of my barracuda reels with the 20# and that's been fine as well.

Lately I can't buy a snook and haven't seen any tarpon, but catching some very nice jacks. Starting to see mullet and glass minnows, no greenies yet. I'm predicting or at least hoping the next outgoing tide (about 2 weeks) there is going to be snook activity on artificial. A few small ones have been on the beach lately. I'm pretty much waiting until the wind shifts, this s/e brings in a lot of seaweed. I'll be heading up to North Palm Beach, snook, jacks, bluefish are being caught up there.

They have disappeared around here too, once the mayans get off the beds the peas should turn back on. Catching quite a few mayans now and for a small fish give great fight.

Nice trip.

Believe me if one fishes enough something is going to happen, anything short of injury is just fodder for a good chuckle. Any fishing item I own can be replaced, most of it pretty quick. Bought a new grapling hook as soon as I was done fishing and made a new tube once I got home, I'm right back where I started. I could care less about losing a lure, all that matters is the thrill. Yesterday I hook into a very large fish, I don't mean 10#, maybe twice that size and it was jack. Fish takes me 50 yards this way, 50 yards another way, back and forth then decides to go into the inlet. It wraps itself around a cement pylon, a crane and steel cable could not have landed it, so I broke it off. That thrill over shadowed my loss of an $8.00 spoon, if you aren't ready to lose a lure stay home and play dominoes. I'll be back again today and don't care if I lose a lure or not.

You can fish just about any lure or technique with a fast med or mh rod, I personally prefer med or ml. $150-175 can buy you a lot of enjoyment.

I don't a think leader should be too visible, line on the other hand is personal preference. I'm not a line watcher, my eyes are roving as I retrieve to throw my next cast.

Would depend how much you fish, how short the leader gets. I change 1-2 times an outing on my saltwater gear, freshwater I can go quite a few days, I always check the knot. In salt I tie my lures on and in freshwater I often use a duolock, that's the difference in timing for me.

Singe the end of the braid will curtail any fraying, but just trimming the tag end very close any fray is minute.

I wear Solor Shield flip ups over my prescription glasses. 2 pairs are about 3 years old with no scratches at all, they work well. Hard to find flip ups, most places only have the clip ons, which I don't care for.

If one is proficient tying that knot it takes a very short time to put a new one on. I keep my leaders no longer than 24#, since I put new leaders on often my knots stay fresh.