gulfcaptain

sounds like you have a good starting point. I might upgrade to the Extreme reel instead of the Bionic.

I agree with Tom. Fishing a worm or a jig, I line watch just as much as I fish by feel. Many times with a jig it's just heavy, no bite to detect, other times punching thru grass you get a tick with a line pop. Having finger contact on the line gives you more sense of what is going on as opposed to completely relying on the rod in your hand.

okay, let me be the first to say, I started fishing 15lb braid on baitcasters, just moved up to 20 because of my topshots. I have never had braid dig in. Used 10lb by accident(thought I picked up a heavier spool) and it didn't dig in just was too light. As long as it's put on tight, has some sort of backing to grip(I would suggest some mono) then it won't dig in. It will become a mess if one of your friends that's not used to fishing braid tries and backlashes if they don't understand how to pick it out and go to cutting. But never had a problem with lighter braid digging in.

Did you use a topshot or fill the reel full of flouro?

Okay, I'm sure I'm gonna get lots of different opinions about this topic. I've been fishing braid for the last 8yrs. It started out with fishing just saltwater off of the S.Cal coast and then just progressed to all my rods which now have some form of braid although most are fished with topshots of either mono or flouro. Now over the years I have used everything from 10lb to 100lb braid and on all my bass rods with the exceptions of my 2 swimbait rods, one which has 40lb braid and 25 mono and the other has 65lb braid with 25 flouro I can't see a reason to fish anything more then 30lb. Mainly fish 20 with the exception of my flipping/punching set ups, 1 hvy which doubles as a frog/pitching rod, and my umbrella rig which all have 30lb. I can not see any reason for 50 or 65lb braid to fish bass with. Sorry, I've played tug a war with 50+ pound amberjacks, horsed in 25+ pound jack crevelles, and winched a few 30-50lb groupers off the bottom and away from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. If I can do that with 65lb braid to those fish there is no reason other then overkill to fish bass with it. So my question to those who do is why? The picture attached is of a 100+ pound amber jack that I managed on 80lb. So again why other then you can.

You can try it, but I would just use the KVD line conditioner. For some reason even if boiling did work, I would question the strength factor after subjecting it to high heat. Both flouro and mono. The heat could change the dia of the line as well as make weak spots in it for it possibly being stretched and no longer being uniform after winding it on. I would hate to try something like this and loose a fish of a lifetime due to the line failing from something I did to it. But odds are if it broke first thing to blame will be the line and not the fact that it was boiled prior to spooling. Just my opinion and hope that I'm wrong, I just wouldn't take that risk.

Just because the river is clear, stained and muddy water warm faster then clean water....so odds are even though that creek is cold, it's probably just guessing about 10 degrees warmer which may only be in the upper 40's but it's still warmer then the river and lake. Being it's muddy and shallow they will get really shallow in the afternoons to sun and feel comfortable because the water is dirty. They may be up in less then a foot of water.

Used 10lb pp for about a week, took it off and put 20lb on it. Works much better. 10lb is great for spinning reels. I choose to put just about a 100yrd on my reels, and use 20lb mono for backing with either an albright or uni knot. You may want to leave a little more gap like you have though if you are going to use mono/flouro topshots. I use anywhere from a 10 to 20ft topshot. But 10lb braid will be a challenge if this is your first baitcaster and may lead to bad experiences not to mention if you throw a bit of a heavier lure and it does it might part and cause you to loose some equipment.

All around crankbait rod....I would pick the 755CB.

Think we are talking about the good old common carp.

If fishing is slow, why complain about the fight that fish has given you. Unless you plan on keeping that carp you gaff, then it wouldn't be a good idea. I don't believe in just killing a fish just because it happens to be the wrong kind, ugly, or some think it's useless, not to mention if you buy a commercial gaff, odds are it's not gonna be as good as you would like. Having made many a gaff while working on sportfishing boats in S.Cal, those gaffs are crap, the hook is normally too big, and depending on your state fishing regulations, IE, Cal, it's illegal to gaff ANY freshwater fish. Get a net and release your opponent safely and be thankful for the fight it gave you. It maybe annoying when you hook them, but it's still fun to pull on something that pulls so hard without giving up.

Sentimental value....can't put a price tag on that lure that you had to go get with the $5000 boat. Crazy is if you went and bought the boat to retrieve the $5 lure you lost, but if you already had the boat you're good.

considering I've only been able to "bass fish" about 21 days so far this year I'm up to 30, 6 of which came today with 2 being a 5.04 and a 4.25. Not to shabby for city park ponds/lakes, biggest this year so far was the 1st fish, a nice 6lber on a swimbait. And being I have a 25% rate of fish over 4lbs, I'm not gonna complain. I'll take quality over quantity any day.

I would fish an ounce to ounce and a half tungsten weight pegged with a creature bait/beaver style....maybe a D-Bomb, Sweet Beaver,...etc. Something compact. Maybe a punch skirt with it as well. I'd look at the wall of Tulies, look for points, indentions, gaps, maybe where two different types of vegetation mix. Bottom line, if you look at it all you will overwhelm yourself. Look for deep water access or a creek channel that is close by. Think someone mentioned isolated bunches as well. All of it looks good, it's our job to pick the best parts and fish them. As mentioned above, make a number of casts/pitches to each pocket. And when you do catch a fish, look at how it was relating to the cover or what was different about that spot then it's surroundings. Greatest tool you have is yourself and the observations you make. Good luck.

Exactly..... I could probably buy 3 of those for the amount of money I have spent on plastics......and the 3 wouldn't take as much space either as the plastic's I don't use but have. Besides, if they are handcrafted here in the US, then why not. I give the maker props that he worked hard enough to market a bait that he made himself. Good old American Dream.