Tim Kelly

If you're going to win, win big! LOL

But if you had all the time you wanted to go fishing then you could enjoy the challenge of finding the fish and working out how to get them. That is the real fun part of fishing that keeps me going. Catching is great and important, but catching without doing the work is a slightly hollow victory. I dislike hotels. Never really feel comfortable in them. You're always slightly in the way of the people working there. They want to come in a fiddle with your bed or something else unnecessary every day. Much happier staying in a campground or an apartment somewhere. I can tidy up for myself. To me the Lund is perfect. It should handle rougher water better than most bass rigs and it has space in the cockpit for a partner fishing with you to put his tackle bag. Normal bass layouts are excellent for the angler, but the co angler never has any space for their stuff. Fishing with someone is fun, so might as well make them comfortable. Talk to me about slide in campers! This is my fantasy and I'm enjoying it.

OK indulge me. I have this fantasy where I win the lottery and so can buy a boat and vehicle to drive round fishing all the cool places around America. Boat is pretty much sorted as a Lund 1875 Pro Bass XS, but the question is what to tow with? I imagine staying in campgrounds rather than motels, so need to tow my home as well. Do I need a 350 size truck with a slide on camper, an RV or some other solution? How would you do it?

I expect the worm weight you have tied on above your worm is wearing your line a bit. You need to re-tie more often as the line gets damaged from being dragged along the bottom and the weight bouncing around on it.

I thought they'd always been a split between Nitros and Bass Cats?

Fluorocarbon casts much worse on spinning gear than mono. 7lb is pretty thick. I wouldn't expect that line to cast a light wind resistant bait well at all, especially if the hair jig is dry. Braid or lighter mono will transform things.

Depends where you live....

Me too. I happily subscribed to their "Extended Cast" on the internet, but they've removed that option. Surely broadcasting over the internet is the future and satellite and cable companies are in decline. Why would they not want to gain global income rather than the little audiences they pick up through the various TV packages?

X2 My wife often complains about getting thumped as I set the hook on a monster in my dreams.

Pretty sure I'd hate fishing as a co angler in a tournament. I get to fish not nearly enough and the fishing itself can be challenging without being stuck behind someone who's not considering you in how they fish an area. All that and you're fishing on a day when there are a load of other anglers out, so there's a good chance you won't get to fish a lot of the better areas. I love my fishing and I go to catch fish. Fishing tournaments is likely to reduce your personal catch even if you're at the front of the boat, but stuck at the back... I don't mind fishing an occasional tournament, but really don't need to add another level of competition to the challenge of catching the fish in the first place. If you can make friends and fish with a variety of better anglers outside of a tournament you're likely to improve as a fisherman more than if you're stuck behind a hoover watching him swing the bass in.

Seriously doubt the fish care. This battered example had about 60 fish to it's credit and the plain lead was about falling off the hook.

I've dabbled with a few finesse casting options. My best, easiest and most ridiculously easy to fish down to 1/16 id an old ABU morrum SX3601 with an avail spool. It's really hard to backlash and with 6-8lb mono it works exceptionally well. The right rod is crucial for throwing light baits with casting gear, and a more moderate action rod will do better than a faster actioned one too. Mainly use spinning gear for the light stuff, but sometimes it's nice to get the casting gear going. More fun somehow, though the fish don't care.

Try cutting up a lure to see how they're built. Generally there are either some figure of eight shaped pieces of wire moulded in or a wire form running from the front attachment point to the rear hook hanger. These are referred to as "Through wired" and are stronger than the fig8 wires usually. I imagine there's lots of examples on you tube as there are plenty of people making lures on there.

Living in England, all of my bass fishing involves a plane ride. Since 9/11 it has become increasingly difficult to take rods on planes, and especially so if you're crossing the Atlantic. I used to fly with one piece rods up to 8ft long, but that would be either all but impossible or extremely expensive nowadays. I have built up an arsenal of decent quality 2 piece rods for my bassing trips, and they work well, though I hate the compromise I've actually managed to get most bases covered reasonably well in 2 piece rods, but it isn't easy. I haven't fished in Portugal, though friends have. The fishing can be very good. I believe it's a bit of a procedure getting fishing licenses, so you might want to look into that. I've fished in Spain a number of times and believe it's similar to a lot of Portuguese bass fishing with deep clear mountain water supply reservoirs. Rock and not much weed due to the water level fluctuations. A lot of the bait is small 3-6" silver fish, called "bleak" and not as much crayfish as is typical Stateside. As a result I would probably expect spoons, cranks, jerkbaits, flukes etc to be one line of attack, but senkos and neds will catch you plenty too. I had a very good Spanish trip where Baby Brush Hogs were the best bait. As always, it depends on what the bass are doing and where they are. There's a pretty decent competitive bass scene in Portugal, so do some googling and you will be able to find out about some of the results and venues.

I've found the hooks on schroomz heads to be brittle, so I pour my own heads now using VMC and Eagle claw Lil nasty hooks. They will bend out of snags rather than snapping. I don't like hooks that snap.

John Cox with his senko masterclass.

A pair of networked Helix 9 units would be a very good set up. Probably going to run you a couple of grand though for side imaging units.

I'm pretty sure that what the reel is, and where the brake settings are is fairly irrelevant as they all work if you get the cast right. If the lure hits the water at too steep and angle or without enough momentum the lure isn't going to skip and the reel will probably backlash. Practicing getting the lure to hit the water at the right angle is key. Thicker mono or fluoro makes it easier to pick out the fluff ups too. Thinner braid is just awkward.

None whatsoever. The braid is so soft it makes no difference going through the guides. Doing the final half hitch by going through twice also helps lock the half hitches down, the longer tag end is just belt and braces insurance.

I find it slightly odd that you are blaming Dobyns for your shopping choice. You bought a rod at a discount price, which often means the line is ending and a new model is being introduced, and when it arrived it wasn't what you thought it might be. Now you want someone to pay for your mistake by swapping a previous model rod for a new model rod for no cost? You wouldn't be able to buy a new model rod at the price you paid for your old model one, but you're moaning about being asked to make up the difference? It looks like an extremely generous offer by Dobyns to me. If someone had threatened me with an insinuation that the 30 man bass club would follow my lead on a rod company if I didn't do as they wanted, the offer would have been withdrawn straight away. If you chase bargains rather than making a considered purchase, you're going to lose out sometimes. You have to take that on the chin.

A properly tied FG will not slip. I had a few false starts with it when I first used it, but that was down to me and not the knot. More practise and really pulling hard on both ends of line after you've done the first half hitch is really important. I tend to do around 24 weaves then the first half hitch. Pull like a lunatic on the braid and the fluoro to seat the knot, then a couple more half hitches. Clip the fluoro flush with the knot, then three more half hitches round the standing braid, then a double through half hitch to finish and leave the braid tag 1/2" long. Absolutely no failures since getting the technique down.

Once you wash the salt out of them Zman Zinkers float pretty well.

I must be way too old, I couldn't care less what anyone else has bought and definitely don't want to watch them unpacking it. I appreciate the difference between your own shopping and opening sponsor's product though. The world is a bit mad if people sit at home on their computers watching people unpacking their shopping. I might start a channel with a live fridge cam, so people can watch the traffic in and out of my fridge. Should be a huge hit!

A friend of mine has one. I've fished out of it a few times and it's a great boat. Feels more like a glass boat. He has a 150 XR6 on his, and it likes a drink!

Good luck with it all.