hooah212002

Well, the lake I mention in my profile is one I go to frequently and have the best luck so far, is VERY clear. Visibility is ~10-15 ft. Common wisdom and the consensus here (that I have gathered) is that people typically have much better luck with either straight fluoro or a fluoro leader in clear water.

Oh, indeed. I plan on it when funds become more readily available. I'm tossed between Power Pro and Yo-Zuri, though. Leaning heavily towards Yo-Zuri since I suck at knots and don't want to have to tie a leader on frequently.

Affect and effect. I'll be dipped if I can never figure out when to use which one. I try as hard as I can to not need to use them in a sentence.

Spiderwire EZ-Mono. It has been surprisingly good to me otherwise. I picked up some KVD L&L last night and gave it a few tosses and boy howdy is that stuff MORE than worth the cost.

If you're not in the rear with the gear, you are technically in a combat zone. Weren't you in Afghanistan recently as well?

It shouldn't matter. Cops have to held to a higher standard as far as weapons discipline since they carry a firearm every day they go to work. Just because someone who is not a cop sucks at weapons discipline doesn't mean we can excuse cops when they shoot ANYONE full of holes, improperly discharge their weapon or anything of the sort. You really want to wonder how a cop will handle a situation he/she is supposed to be trained specifically for, just because joe schmoe civilian would crumble under pressure? It's pathetic the free pass some people give bad cops. And there are A LOT more bad cops than meets the eye. edit: Not to mention clayton has most likely been in MUCH worse situations than these cops, what with being in a combat zone as we speak.

I thought Mythbusters was re-visiting the "Swinging pirates" episode and you were lucky enough to be on set.

No worries, mate.

I've come to the realization that questions like this (what brand line should I get) are akin to the "Chevy vs. Ford" debate, or even the "PC vs. Mac" debate, though perhaps not as heated. Qualities of a particular brand that one person hates, another person either loves or doesn't notice. That same person may love Brand X, but 3 other people hate it for reasons that the guys who love it never experience. All these hypothetical people (members of this forum, for example) are ALL quality, knowledgeable fishermen. What sucks about this is that most people can't rightly afford to "try out" multple brands/sizes of braid due to it's high price tag. This is strictly my opinion as someone who is searching for just the right line to waste my money on, and as someone who is confused as all get out about which one to get.

I can't say that I saw that at this particular Walmart. However, I was simply looking for branded line (not Walmart brand) that was the absolute cheapest. I had to get a license, rod AND line and money was a factor. If I were to justify 5 extra bucks on line, I would have justified 7 and went with Power Pro like I wanted. Then, if I justified that 7, I would have justified an extra 20 for the rod I actually wanted instead of the cheapie i got just to be able to use my BC. My brain processes my finances funny. But hey, that's kinda what make me, me. My frugality aside, the rod I got turned out to actually be pretty good even at the low low low price $14.95.

I was tossing 3 different spinners all day as well. I lost one, albeit to a tree due to a failed cast along the shore. I tried to retrieve it because it was an SK Bleeding Bait (hmm, that brand/type doesn't seem to like me. 2nd Bleeding Bait lost in as many days. Bad ***?), but nearly took a plunge in the process and was ankle deep in mud. I posted about my poor strike detection ablilities in a different post, so the likeliehood that I got some hits on the spinnerbaits but failed to recognize them is a very good possibility.

Funny you should mention that. I tried it twice and lost both on the first cast before I even moved the rod or did anything.. Granted, I don't have weedless hooks, but I am unsure how well weedless hooks would have helped in this situation since a weedless T-Rig got snagged.

Sometimes the right answer isn't exactly a direct one. All your info was great and helped tremendously. It's quite poissible that I am overthinking things, but one tends to do that to cope with a slight strain of cabin fever (I'm at work all night and not sure if I will be able to fish until this weekend. ARGH!).

I'll probably catch A LOT of flack here for saying this, but here goes. I have had a good experience with the absolute cheapest mono I found: 12# Spiderwire EZ-Mono. It was $6 for 220 yards at Walmart. I have been VERY impressed with it, on my BC anyways. I've straightened quite a few hooks trying to get free of a snag. Either that or my knot is the weak point. I just picked up some KVD tonight, but it doesn't seem like it needs it yet.

That is something I hadn't thought of. Thanks. Really? I thought color was one of the most important for clear water, but not so much for dirty/stained water.

Where in WI are you? I work in Racine and the Walmart here has Lightning Rods on clearance. A bunch of them too.

Come again? Was that directed at me? If so, i don't see it being all that necessary, especially considering the fact that I admitted there could be a glaringly obvious distinction that I am failing to make. Also considering you are a moderator. Quite. But what meal? That is my question. If bass eat any old thing, why bother to "match the hatch"? I am an analytical/rational person and take nothing at face value. Yes, they work (obviously) but what about when they don't? Would it not be a better idea to see why they work in the first place to better understand why they aren't working when they aren't working? Yes, and I admitted as such I know. I'm pretty sure everyone here knows that. But is it just because they work and you have no interest in what makes them work better than other brands? I apologize if I came off a tad snippy, but I tend to do that when someone calls me retarded.

My first suggestion would be to start posting these in the proper section of the forum, lest you anger the mods who have to do it for you

Wow, that's rough considering what I've heard elsewhere about that place. I've pretty much convinced my dad that he NEEDS his WI license. I just got mine last Thursday and have found a couple places up here for us to hit. It's just crazy how much more water there is up here and it's closer or the just as far as we were planning on going had we stuck to IL.

Lately, I can't shake the idea that plastic worms potentially look like weeds or something and it seems to be effecting my confidence in using them (a very important aspect, IMO, is having confidence in all your gear). I can't see how a green, or variant of green, color worm would look appetizing to a fish when it looks almost identical to a weed floating by, or to the weeds you are fishing them in. Maybe not exactly, but close enough. Then you have a drop shot: a worm that is just suspended mid water column? A worm that scoots along the bottom (Texas or Carolina)? What the heck is a wacky rig supposed to resemble? I am in NO way trying to say anything derogatory toward these methods, especially since I know full well that they produce, I am just trying to make sense of it. I'm probably missing something glaringly obvious because I am overthinking things, so this "dillemma", if you will, may come across as highly ignorant.... I guess the easy question would be: what natural meal choice do plastic worms, or senkos for that matter, represent for a bass? I am not aware of any worm like creature that moves with the rapidity that we typically fish our worms at (except times where slooooooowwwww is the way to go).

HAHA, thanks for rubbing it in....

I don't have a favorite and the last time I used braid was like 15 years ago. I just started fishing again and I've yet to try any braid since. Everyone has preferences, so I see no reason why any brand is "the one brand to rule them all". There are quality fisherman on this site and some of them recommend Power Pro, some recommend Sufix. Those seem like the top two brands for braid if you base it on number of recommendations.

Since you are using a leader, the brand of braid shouldn't matter; clear water or otherwise. You'll get as many answers to THAT question as there are members of this forum.

Tried both and got nothing. The current is so fast it carries them downstream then to shore before i can really work them even if I cast upstream. I was under the impression that it's counter productive to work the bait upstream since it's unnatural and SMB lie in wait for bait to come FROM upstream. Is this wrong?

I bought it used from a member here and he did that before he sent it to me.