Marty

There won't be a press conference with him saying 75 times how excited he is to be there.

I didn't see the information on Strike King's site, but I wouldn't buy their glasses or anyone else's until I knew that they offered 100% protection against both UVA and UVB. My glasses are Ono brand in amber and I agree that it's an excellent overall color.

Like Glenn said, confidence that the spot holds fish is huge. I tend to spend little time in a spot and move around, covering a lot of water. That's just me, based on my own thoughts and opinions. But I do the same as Glenn, I leave when I have no confidence. However, I might lose confidence much more quickly than some others. There's no one right way, you have to follow your own instincts.

I agree with some of the others who are suggesting that you might be carrying too much.

The obvious answer is that you only "need" one rod to start. More rods will allow you to keep lures on and change lures faster. It's a little early in the game to be talking about technique specificity. I agree with the previous poster's advice. Get some all-purpose rods to start and as you gain experience you might decide that your current equipment is not adequate for certain techniques and can increase your arsenal accordingly. I personally have been fishing 40+ years and use just general purpose rods. Getting technique specific never held an appeal for me. That's just me; lots of guys use different equipment for different techniques.

My personal experience is that large bass (large being a relative term based on where I fish) will hit a variety of lures and can be caught on all the major lure types. Fishing in the vicinity of large fish is the much bigger challenge than what lures to change to.

I've always used backing, whether years back when I was using mono or in the last 7-8 years since I've used braid. I've done it enough so that I can eyeball it and spool on enough backing to leave room for the 50-60 yards of braid that I fish with. You can start by measuring the amount of braid you want and spooling it and then fill the rest of the spool with backing, and then reverse it. Or you could just fill the spool with backing to within about 1/4" of the lip and then add the braid to within 1/8" of the lip. You can get a rough measurement of line by knowing how many inches of line your reel retrieves with each turn of the handle and then multiply by the number of turns. Regardless, I buy a 300-yard spool of braid and get 5-6 respoolings out of it.

I haven't used either yet, but I bought weedless wacky hooks, VMC 3/0 and another brand which I forgot in 4/0. Sorry to hear about the negative comments about the VMC. But regardless, I wouldn't have confidence using something as small as 1/0 with a 5" Senko.

I always use corn, but I'm not claiming it's the best. Lots of people swear by bread, doughballs of many kinds and other stuff.

When I started changing my eating habits almost 25 years ago, carbohydrates wasn't a dirty word. Based on nutritional information available back then I decided to eat a low-fat, high-carb diet, with dinner having 4 oz. of protein and the bulk being carbs, like rice, pasta or potatoes. Carbs are considered bad now by many, but it worked for me. Not that I'm recommending this, but I discovered that I can binge from time without any effect on my weight as long as I stick to my general eating plan on a day-in, day-out basis. I generally pig out (due to lack of will power) and picnics and other gatherings where there's food and I've been able to get away with it.

I'm not going to get into brands and colors, but the topwaters that work in large or small lakes will work in ponds as well, be they large or small. In other words, the full assortment of topwaters, including, buzzbaits, solid and hollow frogs, walking baits, Jitterbugs, poppers and whatever I might've left out. Topwater is my favorite fishing technique and I've caught fish on those lures from waters ranging from 5-acre ponds to 40,000-acre lakes.

I'm sorry for your loss and you gave excellent advice.

I know that WW is a good program because I have friends who are or have been on it. However, you don't have to spend money to lose weight if you have the will to do it. There are tons of free information on how to lose weight healthfully. All that's needed is the will to do it. Good luck and best wishes that your wife's procedures go well.

Here's a little factoid. As far as I know, Duncan is the last true superstar to have actually spent four years in college.

I was overweight but didn't have the pain and arthritis that you do. But I decided that all the crap I was eating wasn't doing me any good health-wise, not to mention the overweight aspect. I decided to make a permanent change in my eating habits and to start exercising. The word "permanent" is emphasized because that's what you need to do, as opposed to going on a diet. Over the course of six months I lost 55 pounds and have kept it off for 24 years. Do yourself and your family a big favor by committing to a healthier lifestyle. Your pain might ease, you may feel better and you definitely will reduce your chances of heart disease, diabetes and a host of other obesity-related ailments. Good luck. http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/obesity-epidemic-astronomical

Don't overthink it. I'd get a muted color and a bright color and that should serve most of your needs. At least it works for me.

He had a great first four years after which his career suffered because of persistent foot injuries. If Kidd hadn't decided to retire, maybe 30 teams would've made the decision for him. He's been lauded a lot for both on and off the court, but was tarnished by a domestic abuse and anger management issue and a DWI arrest.

I used to get similar results with a 4" and 5" Senko. I use a 3/0 EWG with the former and 4/0 with the latter. You should be able to cast reasonably well on the 20# Power Pro.

I used to use 10# mono, such as Stren, or co-polymer, such as Gamma, on my 2500 size reels. 6-7 years ago I put 15# Power Pro on most of my reels. I don't have major problems with wind knots, but there are annoyances like the line wrapping around hooks, getting into split rings and the like, but the good outweighs the bad. The two things I like best about the braid are its strength and incredible resistance to abrasion from vegetation and wood.

Seeing a snake with food is something that I've wanted to see for years, but haven't.

I have a KVD 1.5 and it's a good bait. You're new to crankbaiting and may find the selection very daunting, which it is. There are dozens of brands and styles that are effective fish catchers and you will have to make some arbitrary decisions on what to purchase. Decide on a price range and a running depth that corresponds to the water you'll be fishing and buy a few name brands or private brands from stores you trust. After you get a little experience under your belt you'll have a better idea of what you want. I haven't seen the video, but in my personal belief and experience that is not necessary. Many anglers believe that color is not near the top of the list of factors that make fish bite. I carry no more than two colors, typically something muted, like shad or bluegill, and something louder, like firetiger. Obviously, I have no idea of what my fishing would be like if I carried 5-6 colors, but I'm very confident that adding more crankbait colors is not high on my list of things that I have to do to improve my results. Good luck. I think crankbaits are one of the best lures out there when it comes to attracting strikes.

I also replace with the same size. Most of my cranks use #6 or #4 trebles. The manufacturer's site or that of some retailers might tell you what the hook sizes are. If they don't you can eyeball it and come close enough.

Sorry if this is confusing, but they all work. Some miscellaneous comments in no particular order. Buzzbaits can be used in semi-weedy water or open water. I think they're good in the rain and on choppy water. I always use a trailer hook. Poppers can be used in multiple ways; one way is when you're targeting a small area because you can pop them without moving them much distance. Buzzbaits, Jitterbugs and walking baits can be used to cover water. Frogs, both the hollow bodied type and soft plastics, work great in weedy water but they can also be used in open water. I'm a Jitterbug nut and fish them a lot, maybe too much. I use the 5/8 oz. in black. Good luck. Topwaters are a lot of fun and don't believe it if you hear that they shouldn't be used under bright conditions.

I bought a President a few weeks ago based on favorable reviews here and other places. It replaced a Gander reel which I returned which had an intolerable line problem. The President didn't have that problem and seems very good so far. The 2nd time out with the reel I foul-hooked and fought a grass carp for 15 minutes till I got it to the side of the canoe. It was at least a yard long at a rock-bottom minimum. Suffice it to say that the drag worked extremely well. Obviously I have to wait longer to make conclusions about durability, but so far so good. If I needed an extra reel today I wouldn't hesitate to get another President.

I often refer to the New York length-weight charts. An average 42" would weigh 15-2. It sounds like yours was above average girth so you can add something to that 15-2, but I wouldn't know how much.