NBR

A $60,000 boat, a $200 rod and a $300 reel and your catch will most likely be the same but might just find that gear makes you more comfortable. Learn to equate the time of year with the lake/stream/reservoir, develop your casting and retrieve skills and time on the water will increase your catch. Some place I read that if I fish 10 times this year and catch 20 fish if I fish 20 times next year will I catch 40 fish. The answer is no you would be more likely to catch 100 or more. You would tie your knots quicker, have fewer backlashes, know the lake better, be more accurate in you cast etc.

Short rods were the norm when I started to bass fish. I can't remember the exact year but I caught my first on a red and white jitterbug and if the little reservoir still exists I could show you the exact spot less the wood that was in the water since that stick up is gone. My first bass was either in the spring of 1946 or 47. My rod was probably 4'6" maybe 5" it was solid steel with a hexagonal cross section. I can't remember if the cross section tapered from the reeel seat to the tip but I would guess it didn't. Longer rods cast farther and are more forgiving to surges from the fish. In those times there was no graphite and little fiber glass and fiber glass rods were solid not hollow. If they made longer rods then I think they would have been much to heavy to use all day. So the rod length was in keeping with weight issues and manufacturing technology. Today rods, reels and lines are so much better that when I see somebody dis a modern product I just smile. I have several old reels and I would bet that most of you would switch to fly fishing or golf before you took them to the lake. Line was even worse.

Positive to Positive and negative to negative is correct but that is parallel!. Parallel you increase the run time available series you add the voltage so you woul zap your 12v TM.

I just have to chime in again. I have bass fished for over 65 years and I have never caught a 10 pounder. I have fished Big "O" , the everglades, Lake Tarpon (Where at least at one time the Florida record was caught), Eufala in AL & GA, Reelfoot & Dale Hollow in TN. I have fished for smallies in more lakes than I care to name but some are St. Claire, Michigan, Huron, Rainy and Lake of the Woods I've never caught a 6# smallie. Lots of 4 pounders some 5's but no true 6's. I just don't worry about getting a big one anymore. If i catch one that's fine but the fishing is always good and some times the catching is also good. Both make for a good day. A few years ago I showed a guy some spots on my local lake. Not long after I heard him shouting about a 5# smallie. He had hooked it deep and by the time he brought it overto show me I was pretty gone. He was convinced it was a 5#+ fish. I didn't thnk so. Since I have a scale in my boat, so I asked him if he wanted to weigh the fish. Yes was the answer so I put the fish on my scale and if I remenber correctly it was a bit under 4.25. I have regretted to this day in asking him if he wanted it weighed. Now regardless of what he says the fish weighed he knows it was about 4.25. I broke his bubble and I'm sorry for that. I regret to this day that I told him I had a scale.

I have many bait casters and I guarantee you I can backlash any of them when I pay no attention to what I am doing or when it has been a while since I was able to fish. The word with or without practice is operator error unless by some real mistake the reel is very poorly set up. Let me see. I have Shimano's, Daiwa's, Quantum's Pflueger's and BPS' reels and the above applies to all of them.

Your chances are slim and none. Actually unless you move to FL,Ca or some other location your chances remain at slim and none and then they don't get great. How many of you guys have actually caught a scale weighed 10 pounder?

I have fished in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario many, many years with out a steel or fluoro leader. On rare ocassion I've been bit off but I'd guess less than once every 3 or 4 years. I also don't buy expensive cranks and in the past few years I pretty much switched to soft plastic with a plain jig. Two largest northers caught while walleye and bass fishing were 16 and 14 pounds (both released). Many other smaller toothy critters. If I was going to target either I'd use steel or fluoro.

Could be that no bait fish wil show up on sonar. Maybe the forage is crawdads or wigglers. I'd give it a go fishing from deep to shallow and then from shallow to deep.

I much prefer bait casters over spinning gear. I have a BPS proliteBC rig that I easily use with 1/4 ounce and can go as light as 1/8 ounce but I just don't fight it when I want to fish less than 1/4 I use a spinning rig.

Shane, You have mail.

A short look at that map and I think it looks pretty good. It should give you a few starting points. Remember things on a map are known to everyone. Keep glancing at your sounder so you can find structure that is not shown on a map.

While this may not be an issue when I see where you parked it could cause a problem if someone parked behind you. When I park in a lot I park so pretty much regardless of what other cars, rftruck,rigs do I can get out.

I sent my position on this issue and I will attend Tuesday's meeting.

As I look across the man cave at my rod rack I see Shimano, Daiwa, Quantum, Pflueger and BPS reels and about the same menage of rods with the addition of a Lews Speed Stick _retired until I rplace a guide. frankly in my opinion not a twit of difference in performance of any of them. If I am paying attention they all work well, cast a good distance and if I don't pay attention I can backlash any of them. Except for an Old BPS reel I have never worn a baitcaster our or had a major failure.The reels get lubed often as needed and cleaned every year or two. Most reels were bought because of new features or a vicious visit from the monkey. You just can't have too many rods and reels.

Front. While I back reel instead of letting the drag slip before I converted to back reeling I saw no need to reset the drag during the battle with a fish. This might be different with a huge saltwater fish but I have no experience with this.

Neither, it should come off with the new line spool rotating lile shown on the above post with a Berkley line spooler. Absent a spooler use a pencil through the spool and have someone hold the pencil and put some tension on the turning spool.

Spinng reels twist line one way one the retrieve and it untwists on the cast, net affect nil. Look at the root cause of your line twist. Possibilities are: 1. Twisted when you spooled the reel. 2. Your bait is spinning - poor rigging with plastics or spinning lure like a Blue Fox etc. 3 Cranking while the drag is slipping - absolutetly a big time cause of twist. 4. Maybe defective reel - I have heard of this as an issue but never experienced personally. I had not considered the line twist when reeling with a slipping drag since I use a tight drag and back reel when I need to give te fish some line. Then one spring I was respooling a reel and forgot to tighten the drag after a winter with it fully loose. Wow, what twist.

What Catt said. Fish operate on their calendar not the one we use and the fish calendar differs from from ours. You can go to Floria and fish the spawn in January and follow that north into Canada and fish the spawn into late June maybe July. Even at a single location the spawn can stretch out over a period of weeks.

Stated line capacity is a guide to how many yards you will need to fill the spool and IMHO serves no other purpose. If you buy a new reel and it says 100 yards of 12 # you know you can fill the reel with about 100 yard spool of new line. If you use 8# it takes more if you use 20# it takes less.

I'd probably quit fishing over the frustration over what to do with the other 5,000 or so other baits I have.

Welcome. I think you will find this a topnotch forum.

Garaged is a plus. Check out the transom and make sure the motor is in good shape, good compression and cared for and it sounds ok to me.

We don't know the type of water you fish but Scorcher214's suggestion is pretty good. If it is weedy or woody you might want to go heavier. There is a good tutorial at the beginning of the Rods, reels, line section of the site. Read that and the instructions with your reel. Prepare yourself to practice and cut off some backlashes. Best practise spot is not on the lake where you should be concentrating on catching fish not learning how to cast. Work on accuracy then accuracy and distance.

As long as the "Bucket Fisherman" obeys the rules he is at least as good as I am, maybe better. I started selective harvest (thanks In-Fisherman for the terminology) long before Ray Scott started B.A.S.S. and also before CR was popularized. If I hook a fish deep and I think it is likely to die I might bring it home for a meal but I am sure it will die if I fillet it. No doubt some released fish will die but then so will some fish that were never hooked. That is why we have state and provencial fisheries managment to protect the resource from over kill. If I see a bucket or any fisherman violate the rules my cell phone is going to be used.

I'd go to the resident manager of the property. If he says it is okay to fish ask him for a written permission slip on company letterhead. If he says no look for another spot.