Raul

Deadsticking means leaving the bait in a stationary position for an X extended period of time without doing anything ( no twitching, no jerking, no nothing ). There are baits tailor made for deadsticking: Hard jerkbaits Suspending cranks Most soft plastics Poppers The catch here is, it 's the fish who determines for how long the bait has to remain inactive before biting it, your job is to determine that, the fish tell you. It 's a matter of patience. I caught my first 10 pounder deadsticking a Rapala Minnow, caught the second one the same day doing exactly the same.

Down here the most common bass forage are bluegill/tilapia/carp, some places have bass/bluegill/carp, others have bass/bluegill/tilapia/carp, others have bass/carp ( and have had it for many years ) In places where there 's only bass/carp the bass are as healthy and fat as they are where there are other fish species as forage, the bass population is as numerous as it is with other fish species however, where there 's bass/carp the carp population has few small and intermediate animals, most of the carp are torpedo size ( huge ), so bass being fat and few small and intermediate size carp means bass are eating the smaller carp leaving only the fish they can 't eat, the huge carp. Koi are nothing but fancy carp if they multiply then ----> bass food.

Shure, finesse, cranks, small spinnerbaits. Not true.

Yup, that happens to me too.

I 've never oiled the ones in my reels.

We southerners don 't get it, for us it 's only more or less hours of daylight to fish.

Dude, Burley means you are not doing it right by telling your wife she going out shopping is costing you money and then comparing it to what costs you go fishing. It 's not what you say but how you say it and what they feel/think about it and most times they are going to take it the wrong way.

List of baitcasting reels I 've got: Curado 200B Curado 200B38 Chronarch SF Chronarch 100B ( latest addition : ) Chronarch Mg Scorpion 1000 Scorpion 1000Mg Metanium XT Citica 200D Core Ambassadeur XLT PLUS Ambassadeur 521 XLT PLUS TDZ 103H TDZ 105H TDZ 103H Custom ( Metallic red ) Alphas Itö Alphas Type F Liberto Pixy 2005 edition That 's the list of what I have, it doesn 't mean I 've only got one of each, ok ? List of BC reels that are in my sights: Steez Aldebaran Mg7 Metanium Mg7 Alphas R Edition Conquest 50 BC reels that are in my sights if I can find one ( and have the money ) in the condition I want: TD 103 Itö TD Aoi TDZ 103H Custom ( Metallic blue, Metallic Black ) TDZ Type R TDZ Type R+ Liberto Pixy 2003 & 2004 editions. Millionaire CVZ103 When I was content with what I had ? let me see ..... back in 1985 ! You think this guy is content ?: You can never have "too much" tackle.

Oh yeah, F&I ruled those Tamaulipas lakes during the 70 's and 80 's.

Not really, I use my Alphas and Pixys for worming/jigging.

Magforce Z is inferior to Magforce V with light lures. The Alphas and the Sol have the same IPT, it 's basically the same reel. Yes the Pixy is THE finesse baitcaster per excellence only troubles of that reel are: 1.- The availability, since it was discontinued there has been a boom in the popularity of the reel, nowdays they are not easy to find, when you do happen to find one it 's going to be in not the greatest condition and still the asking price is going to be in the $200+ a piece. 2.- New in box Pixys have become very expensive, asking price for an NIB starts in the $350+ .... if you can find one 3.- The spool capacity is limited, the reel is for 6-8 lbs test line, go to 10 lbs and the ammount of line it can hold plummets to the floor. 4.- The drag is anything but powerful, very good, very smooth drag but for light lines, try to get more drag power you will have to upgrade and add components the reel doesn 't have .... components that are not that easy to find. I know the Pixy, the Scorpion Mg and the Type F because I have them. Now, you want a light reel, with good drag, with better line capacity, capable of casting light lures ----> TDZ 105H ..... if you can find one too. Francho is correct, comparable to the Type F and to the Scorpion Mg you have the Sol and the Chronarch Mg; from those I would choose the Sol ( and I love my Ch Mg ), it may be heavier but the finish is by far a lot more durable.

Well, I don 't own any sexy shad colored baits.

The guideline is ---> any color is fine. Color is in my list of very important things to consider when I select a bait for the job ........... at the very bottom of the list. To give you an example, the other day me and my compadre were fishing at a nearby lake, he was fishing with tail less grubs I was fishing with Shad Assasins, two very different baits. He was catching them with watermelon, green pumpkin, rootbeer and pink/purpleish tail less grubs, I was catching them with white, golden shiner and black shad shad assasins. Bait color made no difference at all in the catch ratio, it didn 't matter which color you choes the results were the same as long as the bait was located the right place and presnted the way they wanted it. You could switch from one to another color and the results were the same. Of course that there are no "rules" to follow ( other than the fish rules ), there are times that color makes all the difference in the world, however those times when color does matter are so rare that you seldomly encounter them, or at least, in my 28 years of bass fishing very few ocassions I 've encountered those times when color does matter.

For what you want it for I wouldn 't go for the Advantage. Tough choice between the two JDM, I 've got both and can 't decide between which I like more. Weight wise they are about the same, both handle light baits very well, the Type F doesn 't have clicking star drag but the drag is more powerful and slightly smoother than the one in the Scorpion Mg; the Alphas has HEG and one extra bearing under each knob ..... Thinking it in more detail ----> Alphas Type F.

I 've tried many brands over the years and still return to these trusty trio: Trilene XL, Trilene XT and Big Game

On cranks: direct tie or snap On hooks: direct tie On Topwater cranks: direct tie On spinnerbaits: direct tie On in-line spinners: snap/swivel combination

I HATE hump grip handles.

The how to depends greatly on the contour of the lake. Some lakes I fish are practically flat with a minimal degree of slope, getting deeper ( if such thing is necessary ) mean that you would have to try to cast farther to achieve a little bit more depth, however 90% of the time I don 't need to go "deep", I need to find the proper structural features that will hold fish which may not necessarily need to be deeper. On the other hand, in some other lakes I fish going deeper is a lot more easy, just cast 2 ft more into the lake and there you got, DEEP. But why go deeper if all the action happens 0-10 yds from the shoreline ?

Any bait serves the purpose.

Stained water, muddy water, crystal clear water ----> black Trailer ? : choose whatever color you like.

Good baitcasters for light baits: Daiwa Sol Chronarch Mg Curado 100D Daiwa Alphas Itö Daiwa Alphas Daiwa Alphas Type F Daiwa Alphas R edition Scorpion 1000 Scorpion 1000 Mg TDZ 103H Great: TDZ 105H Daiwa Liberto Pixy

Texpose the hook.

There is a lesson to be learned here guys, be shure to have an obscene ammount of tackle before you marry SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED AT ALL COST, that way she won 't notice when you add another piece to the collection. Ah, and be shure to add it when the lady in question is stone cold dead asleep. That 's how I do it and so far she hasn 't discovered it.

If I were to choose a state to where to move I would go Texas without thinking it too much, specifically in the Laredo-Brownsville strip. There you have some of the best Texas lakes ( Falcon and Choke ) plus some of the best Mexican lakes ( Sugar, El Cuchillo, Guerrero ) and if you want to go salt you can always go to South Padre Island in Brownsville. Besides there 's always good hunting in that area.