Raul

The very first bass I caught in my life was by jerking a Rapala Original floating minnow in a pond where the water had like an inch of visibility, it was so muddy the lure was literally plowing the water. So ---> Bass DON'T NEED TO SEE THE BAIT, in order to find it.

You need to adjust this ----> Other than the initial setup where I tighten the cast control ( spool tension cap ) where I allow the lure to fall slowly on freespool I very seldomly adjust anything else, ocassionally I might increase the centrifugal/magnetic braking in case I have to ( like casting into the wind ) but I leave it to the thumb.

I catch carp with those.

30 lb braid is not 12 lb test diameter nylon, it's more like 8 lb diameter nylon so it's pretty thin. As like anything in this sport, there are no rules as which is best, I don't fish for pike, zander or perch since none of those species ia available in my country but I seriously doubt you can go fishing for pike or zander with 10 lb test braided like and trying to tie a leader good enough for them to 10 lb braid is easier said than done.

Yep, that's it.

Trying to find out which one is the most productive by asking isn't going to take you very far for a very simple reason, it's not like all baits were released at the same time so there is no point for comparison, you want to know which one is the most productive for me the answer is pretty straighforward: Original Floating just because I've been fishing with it for more than 40 years, in second place are Countdown, Jointed and Husky Jerk even, I got a few deep HJ that I fish very ocassionally and a few X raps that also aren't fished much ( sometimes when it's windy and Trying to cast an original is a real pita ), as for the newer models I have no advice since I don't own any.

There's four things I never leave home without them: 1 Jacket 2 Roll of toilet paper 3 Lure retriever 4 Mend it glue repair

Silly !

Gulf coast Amistad ( 1/2 of the lake is in US ) Falcon ( 1/2 of the lake is in US ) El Azúcar ( right across the border from MacAllen/Hidalgo TX ) Vicente Guerrero Las Blancas El Cuchillo ( near the town of Cadereyta, NL ) Pacific Coast El Salto Bacurato ( Baccarac ) Aguamilpa Central Mexico Calderón There were some really famous big momma lakes several years ago which I used to visit but over exploitation nearly wiped them out, I've heard rumors that at least two have made a comeback: Cajón de Peñas in Jalisco ( Pacific ) and San Lorenzo in Tamaulipas ( Gulf ) The catch here is ...... don't come now, don't come until Feb - April, at those lakes it's time for the spawn, besides, lakes are at lower levels because water was drawn for irrigation for winter crops ( winter and spring is the dry season, there is practically no rain during those months ). If I were planning a trip to catch me a few biguns I would pick El Azúcar or Bacurato.

99.99% of the time I don't see the fish.

Absolutely ! True, I carry as much stuff as my 12 ft tub allows me, however, to avoid complications I pretty much fish with the same lures I've been fishing for the past 4+ decades.

If you begin to whine about how much a fishing trip cost then the sport is not for you, go find another hobby like watching paint dry ( of course you can always whine about how much half a gal of paint cost ).

Reminds me of a Mann's Lil George ....

Most productive jig color during the fall ? Hmmmmm, now that's a tuff one, lemme think .......... got it ! ----> BLACK. ...... now that I come and think about it, most productive jig color year round is also ---> BLACK. kinda simplifies things.

How do you know they are bass and not panfish biting your bait ?

The spool is the first thing I would upgrade, regular for a SV spool.

Well, high speed tools are more "manly" ya know.

Clear water, stained water, muddy water ..... any color is fine as long as it's ---> BLACK.

I got a boat ( well, if you can call a 12 ft aluminum Jonboat a boat that's what I got ) but I fish a lot more from shore, from the boat I carry 5 rods and like 500 lbs of stuff, from the shore I carry 1 rod and a small backpack with a handful of lures.

6 months in a row I fished every single day ( yeah fellas, beat that one ! ), I took a sabatical semester after I finished Vet school.

Simple, don't buy any.

Anybody can catch a 10 lber, catching one of those takes a lil bit more skill....

Interesting ..... I do the same.....must be something in the air....

I haven't purchased anything, not even a split shot, in 3 years.

I don't think there is such a thing as "the best", I've fished trickworms with EWGs, Js, straight, offset and it's pretty much the same for me, I swear I see no difference at all in the hook ratio between hook styles.