gulfcaptain

Mexico......three lakes down there with all inclusive lodging and well guides to fish. El Salto, Baccarac(think that's how its spelled) and there is one other lake down there....Picachos or something like that. Here's one of the links for Billy Chapman's lodge. They pick you up at the airport and drive you back to the lodge which from my talking with him is about an hour and a half from the airport. Just a thought but only works if you have passports. Otherwise I'd hit Florida and do some Peacock Bass fishing as well. Welcome to Lake El Salto Web Site- Lake El Salto Bass ... www.anglersinn.com/

Tournament fishing I carried an extra reel with me just incase and for a frog only tournament I carried a spare spool of braid incase I needed to change line size I could swap the spool without changing rods and reel. Normal fishing, no I don't carry an extra spool or extra reels, just lots of combos.

Totally understand, I'd PM Sibert or Bluebasser and ask them some advice and they may be able to direct you the right way to get what you need and the disired action you're looking for without costing you the R & D part. Another thought, you may be able to use some heavier single strand wire and make a harness and use a worm weight on the front of the hook all attached to the wire then attached to your blade. Wouldn't matter which way your hook eye was as long as your haywire twist was the right direction with the blade.....just an outside the box idea.

60, that's prime water temps. Some overlooked baits when fishing ponds in the fall......smaller castable a-rigs with 3-4" baits. But honestly I'd fish it the same way I'd look at fishing a lake, just in a smaller body of water. Fish at 60 can be anywhere and quite active.

I'd look at using a different head design then. Siebert uses a football head and that thing has tons of action compaired to Zman's Chatterbait. And putting a bait with the same head design as a chatterbait but with split rings depending on blade design which might be the difference has more action at slower speeds as well. What blades are you using for you baits?

Honestly, Senko's and that style of worm in other brands, jerkbaits, various swimbaits I didn't like after I tried them to no avail, some Zoom Critter Craws, and a few other creature baits and probably a half dozen different worms I've given up on as well. Edit: I did find a use for the Zinkers though when I cut them in half.

I don't have that friend, but I have the ones that want inside info on the offshore scene or fishing the islands and the only time they call is when they are going and haven't figured it out. Of course after the 4th time of telling them to figure it out since I wasn't asked to go, they stopped asking. Fishing buddies will always offer to help with costs. Some are just fishing buddies looking to fish. I have a couple friends I call that live 300+ miles from me that I call to go fishing.....but I'm not looking to go for free and have no problems pitching in after I've made the drive. And if they are friends, be upfront. If they get their feelings hurt, they will get over it if they are really friends. More then likely though if asked they will pitch in and help and may not have even thought about it or new they should.

All of them at the right time, otherwise why would I fish with them. I do have a growing box of baits that I have ZERO faith in though sitting in the corner of the garage.

I feel this way as well. And all I can say my top 3 aren't any of the 3 (Shimano, Diawa, Lews). I can't say much about Lews as I've never fished them, but the other two, well they aren't used anymore.

You can always up the size of the pump unit you don't use to one that puts out more gpm and attach your hose straight to the pump with a barb fitting (pvc or brass). If you want to run a seperate washdown hose and still be able to use the live well, then add a barbed tee, and attach your washdown hose to the tee and you can add a small ball valve to issolate the water and keep it from going into the unused live well.

use two split rings instead of compromising the strenght in the hook by opening it then closing it. Or just find a horizontal eye'd hook to use only one.

Did you ever try punching a weight into that vegetation during the summer months? If not maybe drop a 3/4oz tungsten weight/skirt and a 3-4" creature/craw bait down in that heavier grass. I fish a few ponds with heavy grass (well until they decide to remove it or spray it) and when it's hot, sunny and not much happening any other way, I drop a 3/4-1oz weight, a punch skirt, and a structure bug into the thickest grass. Lift and jig a few times, reel in and drop into another spot. The bites either come on the fall, or when you lift and go to jig it and it's heavier then normal. Read up on punching and give it a try if you haven't done it before.

It's is what it is. When the industry you work in isn't firing the way it was and the possiblility of not having a job or income coming in, it doesn't matter how cheap gas is if you don't have an income which to purchase said cheap gas. I understand low gas prices are great, but if you look at the whole picture it doesn't fair well when the economics trickle down into other parts of the economy. When home sales were booming, housing and constuction was strong, but when the market tanked, all the people in those trades took a hit including all the suppliers of building goods. It was great for people wanting a cheap house, but I'm sure if you asked the people that built them if they wanted cheap housing or a job building, they would choose to continue to work in their profession and trade. That's just a logical way to look at it from the inside. Until you're in that position you'll never understand that logic.

Looking at your rod lenghts, why don't you look and see if they have something in a 7'2"-7'3" M or MH. Just a thought. But like I stated I'm not a St Croix guy and have no experience with their rods.

Having a few of those reels, but none of those rods, I prefer to fish something in a 7ft MH action for a chatterbait/spinnerbait. The reel also makes a great lippless cranking reel btw.

My thoughts exactly......Whaaaaat?????

I have a 7'10"MH and I woundn't think of trying to throw small cranks on it....too much rod. It's like trying to use your flipping rod to fish a 1/4oz dropshot. I do have a 7'4"MH though that will fish both. Originally got it to throw SK large squarebill, but it does handle smaller baits (3/8 is a light as I've thrown on it)very wll and can handle the bigger baits too. Both are Quantum Tour KVD cranking series rods. The 7'4" lends itself to both applications but you can try a longer rod, but may be disappointed in the performance.

Mine looked like that at one time, now they are more less in ziplock bags, the bottom or in a pouch of the soft pack I carry when I fish, or scattered about in my trunck....lol but a few still in the "jigbox". just not enough to know it's a jigbox.

Thinking I'm gonna wait on that bass boat I want just a little(lot) longer I want.

Being on the front lines of the GOM offshor sector, I can tell you since late last year it has almost brought things to a halt. A LOT of people down here in Louisiana are hurting, not just offshore workers, but the entire support system and local communities around it that depend on the offshore industry.

I may wipe mine down, but dirty cork grips gives them character. Shows you actually fish with it and use it opposed to worrying if it's dirty. So when mine aren't in use, well they are in a floor rack until I'm ready to use them again, with dirty cork grips....lol

Um, I'd like to see it go back up. I can buy more gas at $3 a gal then I can at $1.85 a gal if I'm unemployed. Not a great time to be in the offshore oil industry as times are lean and extremely tuff right now. So I know you like them low oil prices, but I'm hoping it goes back up to about $75 a barrel so the GOM starts picking back up and drilling returns back to where it was in 2014.

Be better once they get covered in some algae and attract baitfish as well. I would look at covering some of the pipes and bottom piece with a light coating of concrete to help that growth get a foothold as PVC isn't the best surface for it. Could also do a mix of pvc and some small natural branches at the bottom as well around the base(cover for baitfish). Sink it and if you're really looking to max it out, put a few big rocks around it. Great idea though. Good luck.

I fish all mine with 40lb braid and 20-25lb mono (CXX)....#1, learn how to lob the bait. Snap casting like it is a smaller bait will send it far....unattached of course. Let the baits weight work for you instead of against you. Fortunately learning how to lob a live bait up to sometimes a pound helped me easily transition into casting bigger swimbaits. Sometimes I cast them with a underhand side arm pitch/lob. But if you try and cast larger baits like you would a 1/2oz crankbait it's not gonna work out too well with braid. Best to go all mono if you do so you can have some line stretch. Edit: Also, look at getting that DVD of Southern Trout Eaters, good advice for swimbaits and btw, even they broke off a Hudd on a cast on camera. It happens, just make sure you have another one as a back up.

Just remember, put some mono backing on that spinning reel first before you spool it up.