deep

Looks interesting. What does it cost? Couldn't find a price on it. I'm wondering about the quality of the glasses, because you'd have to use these instead of your regular fishing glasses.

Guess it doesn't matter. Long ago, I bought a 1000 yd spool (or something like that) of 10 lb Eagle Claw mono for $2.00 from Walmart to use as backing. That spool is still going strong. If you're putting 10 lb mono as backing on a *spinning* reel, I'd be a little careful so that it's wound tightly.

Try Daiwa Samurai. Yes, the initial cost is high, but one 150 yd spool lasted me 2 years. I spool 75 yds on or so at a time, and reverse it in the middle of the year. Throw those 75 yds in the trash at the end of the year, and spool the other 75 yds on your reel. Two other braids I've been wanting to try are the Seaguar Kanzen, and the Toray Bawo. Guess I'll wait till I run out of Samurai, which won't be in a while

You're fine. I know nothing about smartphones and Ipads and Ipods and I-whatevers. I'm doing okay so far.. And yeah, chrome is pretty good, as is firefox.

Looking for opinions on this rod. I'll be using it for casting jigs around 1/2 oz, in 20-25 FOW, with braid + leader. Powell Max Football Jig Rod 7'5" Med Hvy 753CEF, Extra Fast, 3/8-1oz. thanks for any inputs

X2. They're a bargain even at full retail.

Thanks for the tip.. I only wish I could go out and fish one of those places. Heck, I wish I could go out and fish even my local lake right now. I managed to go out only twice in the last seven weeks Let us know how you do with the A-rig.

You mean something like this? What I've found is that smaller hooks are usually better; doesn't mess up the action as much. But Hooligan is right. If a fish wants to eat that bait, it will eat all of it.

Not just jigs; I checked the site and there's a bunch of great stuff one can pick up at 99 cents each. Thanks.

OP, if you want to play it by the rule book, use 5:1 for cranks and slow-rolling blade baits, 7:1 for bottom contact baits, 6:1 for everything else. But as others have pointed out, it's all up to what's comfortable for you.

You're right Wayne. They seem to be easy to make. I don't have any fishing scenario to use the Alabama rig in right now; and I certainly am not going to spend $30 on something that I myself can make. Maybe I'll make myself a few rigs over the winter for use in summer 2012.

I know a lot of big bait guys swear by Maxima...

Maybe. Even probably. But with braid and a slack line, I *see* way more bites than I feel. That fits in pretty well with the way I fish jigs. And of course, I love the hooksetting power that comes with using braid. Thank god there are no zebra mussels where I fish though

Do you ever fish any non-braided line? Just wondering.

Thank you. Hooligan, what do you think about the abrasion resistances of the two lines for similar test strengths? I took a closer look at the specs for the two lines (Kanzen and Samurai). The Kanzen braid costs more for higher pound tests than it does for lower pound tests! Isn't it usually the other way round? Maybe the lower tests have a smaller number of strands. IDK, I'm just wondering. There's a $16 price difference between 20 lb and 30 lb test Kanzen!! Samurai is slightly thicker for lower test strengths, and thinner for higher tests, compared to Kanzen. That is interesting too! The 30 lb test- which is what I use on two of my spinning setups- is priced about the same for both lines. The line diameters are almost identical too, for 30 lb test.

lol, you're probably right. But I've read that book so many times that whenever I hear the word *stitching*, even in a different context, I imagine a guy, sitting in a boat, oblivious to everything else other than his worm and the lake bottom, taking up line with his hand, waiting forever until the big female decides to feed. My favorite day-dream too. Picking up line by hand is a very effective way to "reel" slowly enough though Instead of camping out on a good-looking spot, I like to do something that Bill Siemantel calls a milk run. Hit several good spots with several lures several times in a day, hoping that sometime somewhere I'll connect with an actively feeding fish. Each cast and retrieve though is a stitching technique. As slow and as natural as possible; the whole retrieve usually takes a couple to three minutes. But I make a maximum of 5 casts at a spot, from different angles. If a fish is there, and doesn't hit the lure on the first cast, another retrieve along the same path will only tick it off, or scare it away. That's what I believe anyway. So you see, I've stitched hudds, I've stitched jigs, I've stitched big floating swimbaits; stitching meaning I've retrieved as slowly as I could stand it, and mixed in deadsticking. The only bigbait I never stitched is a Punker. No wonder I've only ever caught one fish on it.

A couple of home-made ones up on ebay too. $30 a pop.

I suppose you think catching actively feeding schooling fish is easy? Ever tried it? I have, and it can be very hit or miss. After you've tried it, and caught a bass every cast with a conventional bait, try fishing for suspended schooling fish; and let us know how you do. I've never tried this A-rig, and nor do I think I will in the near future. But we gotta understand it's just a tool, albeit a pretty radical one, if I may say so. There's no magic bait, but who knows what turns a school of bass on? No need to look down upon any technique just because it's new and unconventional.

Stitching I like to believe is a concept, and doesn't refer solely to the way he puts line back on his reel while retrieving. The concept being to present the bait as naturally and convincingly as possible. Why do you think they say "when you think you're reeling slow enough, reel even slower" about swimbait retrieves? Same concept. The great benefit with a worm is that it's looks totally inoffensive and natural to a bass. Did you read how he camped out at a spot and wait for the fish to start feeding? That totally blew my mind when I first read it. I've tried to emulate him, without much success; which comes down to my lack of patience.

This Kanzen seems to be slightly thinner than Samurai for similar pound tests.. Now I wonder if it has the other qualities of Samurai that I've come to love. Is it a 8 strand braid? And what does it cost?

May I suggest a medium or medium-heavy power, fast action rod in your choice of length? With 75 bucks to spend, you can even go for a Shimano Clarus, a St Croix Triumph or a BPS house rod. Plenty of options.

I meant the photo ha ha, I know how hard it is to hold a fish right against your face, and try to get a decent photo.

Probably not... they are back up. http://www.ebay.com/itm/hard-plastic-swimbait-lures-/350502446903?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519b92e737#ht_500wt_1288

You don't look too excited though, lol. Great fish!

X2