ClackerBuzz

nice fish! that ain't no 'pan fish'. you better get a trash can lid to cook'm!

one summer i was a waiter at an 'all you can eat' crab house in Maryland beach. claws would break off the blue crabs while steaming and the cooks would dump all the broken ones on a tray for the staff to eat. i thought it was the greatest 'perk' ever getting to chow down on free crabs for dinner. a cook looked at me on my 3rd day and said "by the end of the summer you'll be sick of eating crabs". I said "No way!" with my mouth stuffed full of buttered crabs and old bay seasoning. well he was right...i ate so many crabs by mid-summer that i didn't eat them again for 2 years. its not arrogance, after awhile you get tired of eating dink pie

another great post for me to bookmark. you never disappoint Tom. thanks

did you consider going weightless? i rarely get t-rigs snagged...90% of time im fishing soft plastics weightless in less than 15ft of water so patients is needed more than lead weight.

I would die laughing at either of these. Or maybe "Always remember to have your pets spayed and neutered". x1000 on Glenns great video and looking forward to more.

lure knockers don't work well from shore b/c they are too heavy to slide down the line at a 45deg angle. you kind of need ur pole to be 20+ft in the air for it to slide to ur lure. they do however work awesome from boats/kayaks etc. save me a bundle of money. here's a home made/homedepot version

what size senko are you using? this is a quote from RW on a senko thread. it helped me take the leap to bigger senkos b/c i like trophy hunting (stout/thick 6" worms like/or similar to original yamamoto's). "I don't fish 5" Senkos anymore because I think they catch too many small bass. Now, that may sound silly, but I'm a recreational fisherman and I target big bass only. The 6" Senko has moved my bass fishing to another level." in my head (always a dangerous place) i think of larger fat/heavy senkos sinking faster and once on the bottom they are in big bass territory. smaller/aggressive bass will burn energy and surface quickly to intercept a slow sinking senko. they don't get that chance with large ones and are too scared to go near the bottom 'dinner plate' of a big bass. you get less bites but bigger ones. found the original thread: http://www.bassresou...8-screw-gary-y/

until i hit the lottery i'll stick w/ paperclips. 6 for $22.50...how do they sleep at night?! i'll buy ones like that if i come across a better supplier. i will wrap with string and coat w/epoxy as a winter project.

x2. the powell max skeletor suggested is great as well. keep in mind the ratings are different with nicer rods. some would say they had it right the first time and the big box manufactures messed it up. regardless....a MH nice rod is like a M cheap rod. a H nice rod is like a MH cheap rod. i would stick with a M like ur planning b/c you want to throw soft plastics. you won't be disappointed. did i mention twice the accuracy?

i use a bent paper clip and electrical tape b/c i like to hook them the same way as you....w/o taking the point out of the plastics like this but i don't have mine projecting near as high. http://basstardfishi...ook_Keeper.html

I agree RW and I stick to my guns 90% of the time. Big fish hunting is where its at for me. However I admit I still have moments of weakness where a 12" dink puts a smile on my face after 3+hrs of Pepe le Pew. I think its all relative to the skill level of an angler and/or their goals

YTM DVT!

I haven't tried them but my guess is you won't have any complaints about any of them b/c you are at the top of the Fluorocarbon hill. I use Seaguar Invisix and am 100% satisfied. I've never had a knot or line failure. Its price point is middle of the road for fluoro and I don't mind paying a little more for it. (I just spooled 6lb red lable on my finesse set up and I'm looking forward to see how it holds up). I use braid as my main line and will only ever have a 10-20ft leader. This means I don't loose lots of line in the event of a professional over-run/backlash. Its well worth the extra .05c a yard compared to cheaper lines especially I only buy 2-3 spools per season fishing 150+days a year. Keep us posted on ur experiences

abu and shimano rods are nice saplings rods compared to a broomstick. they become broomsticks when you put them up against st croix, powell, dobyns etc. don't get me wrong they are strong, light and have nice components but they don't have the tip that nicer rods have. with higher quality rods you can cast twice the distance with half the effort...and you get twice the sensitivity. you can't get that from a rod off the shelf at walmart or dick's. i've never cast a 'high end' shimano/abu rod but at that price point I'll take a used g loomis IMX or higher as kickerfish mentioned

Its so cold out, how long are you going to keep fishing? "Till ice over"

x2 on powell endurance and dobyns micro. very nice rods. i also like st croix. i just scored a legend xtreme on ebay for $140 (regularly $330). i just got a fenwick tech smallmouth for spinning/finesse and LOVE it. they have casting rods too for $129 w/ lifetime warranty. Cabelas and GanderMT carry them if you want to hold one in ur hand. if you don't need it till next season take ur time. tackle ware will have 20% off black friday and christmas. check our forums every few days b/c members post some great rods. and of course if u live on the edge..flea bay. i'd stick w/ a M or MH for plastics (I use a powell 674 MH/XF for my senko rod and LOVE it). i fish from a kayak/canoe so i like between 6'6" and 7'. are you fishing from boat or shore? St croix is discontinuing their Legend Tourn Bass rod so you can find them for 50% off ($120 vs $240). you can't go wrong with them. light, sensitive, strong, lifetime warranty.

Stuffed like'a turkey

Wayne, I'm planning on buying the 385ci DI combo this winter (to use on my canoe and kayak in shallow water conditions). I found it on moodeals for $409. Do you know of any other DI units that are being replace that I should look at? What site do you prefer? I would like to stay under $500 so I believe SI is out of my price range. Also I'm worried about a 5"+ screen making the unit too big for my kayak. Tks I just saw Humm has the 386ci DI combo on their site for $299. I can't see any difference between the two but I'd love to save $100!

Bill Murphy's In Pursuit of Giant Bass

thanks. i'm going to pick up both the small husky jerk and x-rap. sounds like the will both do the job

x2 on what kind of line? i'm so confident with seaguar invizx that i can go out multiple outings w/o re-tying (if i've had a slow day, no nicks, small fish etc). i've snagged a cotton cordell rattletrap on a log while shore fishing and was able to bend out the hooks and recover it with 12lb invizx leader (using braid as mainline and w/ a blood connection knot that held).

I like "Got enough money for Budweiser...need $1 more for a Heineken"

One time I was 3 sheets to the wind walking home by myself from a bar. A guy asked for money and I only had $20's and $5's. I was drunk and he seemed nice so I gave him a $5. His story quickly turned into the "I need a train ticket to get home" story. I told him thats all I could spare but he still followed and harassed me for blocks bc he saw my $20's. My drunken kindness turned to irritation and then to anger. I told him I did indeed give him a $20. He demanded I only gave him a $5. I said look for yourself.....he pulled out the $5 and I grabbed it back and told him he should have kept the $5 and quit while he was ahead. Needless to say he didn't like that and a fight broke out. I got my $5 back and made it home safe. That was in my younger day's and I surely wouldn't do it again especially in this day and age. My new immediate stock response is: "I was just about to ask you if I could borrow a dollar". It works 99% of the time... except for when one kind homeless guy tried to give me the coins in his hand.

now i know where all my jig trailers go

this is a great thing. i do the same b/c i worked in the industry. servers do get the credit card tips however they are taxed. cash tips are not taxed so you do them a huge service (it is up to the waiter to report his/her cash tips).