gulfcaptain

Extra Fast rods don't have stiff tips. XF rods have softer tips but the rod shuts off faster where a fast action rod shuts down about 1/3 of the way down the blank, and each action a bit further until you get to moderate which is pretty much almost parabolic. But you should be fine.

No worries. It's all good.

fixed.....lol hey I'm not perfect.

Work hard, fish hard, finish in the top of your local tournaments, finish in the top 10 in several regional tournaments (BASS Opens, FLW Rayovac's, TBF) and then you can present yourself in a professional manner with a resume of your fishing acomplishments, why you would be a good choice to represent their product in the public eye. Understand if you're wanting sponsored to get free stuff, get in line with everyone else who thinks that way as they will file your request along with all of theres in the 30gal file next to their desk. Right now you just finished HS, what are your plans? Are you going to fish in College? Are you going to College? Hard work is the only way you're going to get yourself in the position you're looking for. Win locally first, get some local a local tackle store to sponsor you and get you a discount on your equipment. Win regionally, hit up some bigger local businesses around you. You place in the top 5 in some bigger events, or win an event that qualifies you for the Classic or the Forest Wood Cup and get a top 5, then the bigger guys will take notice. Remember there aren't any free hand outs, gonna have to work hard and prove yourself. Edit: Spelling and grammar are also important when you write them or send a resume. (wandering should be wondering) Just part of being a professional. Remember you asked, I'm just giving you some constructive criticism. Take it for what it's worth or ignore it.

If you go straight braid, get yourself a wooden dowel to wrap your braid around if you do get hung up. I use leaders if I know I'm fishing rocky areas just because it's easier to break the leader then the braid.

Having punched grass, watched it from the comfort of my home as well, it seems if the fish is that deep in the grass, then they go in after it. Fish rarely fight if you have them coved in grass. They just kinda lay there until you uncover them, the all hell breaks loose! If it's freeing them from reeds/buggywhips, then as long as you have him coming towards you then you have the battle half way won as long as you keep them coming your direction.

The best are the ones that pass by and it kinda goes like this Them: "Are there really fish in there?" Me: "There are a few" Them: "So are you trying to catch them?" I've always wanted to be a smart$$$ and say something but I've always been nice.

Ask your buddies ito introduce you to the owner.

832 braid and I'm one of those guys who feel that 30 or 40lb will get the job done. Just remember to get yourself some line conditioner and treat your braid before you go fishing. It helps.

Will do. Today was just a trial to see what it was about. Looking forward to seeing what this approach yields this season around here. Also let me know when you get your heads perfected with the weed guard although I did order some 1/16oz ball heads with a weed guard.

I have some of their baits and 3 of the Ethos Rods(1 spinning, 2 casting) Actually nice rods as I've had mine for 3+ years.

I've had to deal with their customer service several times. I forgot to add a few things to my order and they were nice enough to add it for me over the phone to the order I had already placed to save me the shipping and include it all. I've even returned a lure that wasn't running correctly and they sent me a new one free of charge with the return label for to ship back the defective one. I'm almost in the same boat with the statement above that maybe the Paypal account may have been short. There has got to be more to this.

Um, I guess I'm just quicker then most since I have managed NOT to hit myself with any weight being dislodged from snags. But these sure are funny stories...lol

So the ones that get caught over and over.....do they know or do they just like being picked up by people to see the world above the water? Do they only bite for the guys that are going to throw them back? Do the depressed fish commit suicide by bucket fisherman? I just figured I'd add a few more to this thread.

No, send his number to the Mountain Monster crew. They are much more fun to watch.

I used some Z-man Zinkers since I had some and cut them in half with a pair of sissors. And as for leadhead it was a Gamakatsu 1/8oz 1/0 ball jig head.

Plano 3600 and 3700's, but there are other brands that have boxes the same size.. Can get you a few of those and carry what you need in them.

First off, before reading many forums from several of you about the Ned Rig and that it was a great way to catch fish. I didn't give it much attention, but I saw some pics of Bluebasser's smallmouth he posted the other day and that caught my attention. So I decided today that I was going to go find out for myself. Cut a Zinker in half, put it on a 1/8 leadhead and went fishing. Well first pond didn't think much of this bait until I made a cast to some cover and went to pull it past....bam....2lb bass. Okay, it had my attention. Went to another one of the many parks I fish, saw quite a few fish, some still on beds, but couldn't get a reaction from them. Okay, the Ned Rig's turn. First bed, 2 casts and the female ate it. Fished the bed a few feet from that one, and a buck bass. Okay, now I'm seeing something. No long periods of trying to get them angry. They just picked it up. Fished on and caught another one. Then found one that hit it 4 times...yes I missed the bite 3 times. But that was what amazed me, not a bed fish but a fish sitting up against the bank in a little spot of weeds watched it, tracked it as I worked it, and yes hit it 4 times. Caught 4 others that I could see that bit, missed a few others as well. Needless to say I ended up with 11 fish for my 5hrs of fishing. All on the Ned rig. I am now a firm believer that this little rig WILL catch fish. It's not flashy but it's simple, and it gets the fishes attention. Looks like I'll be carrying one of these tied on this season and may be making it a part of my fishing arsenal.

Look at it this way, now you hvae a pressured water to advance your technique since the days of fishing in a barrel are over. Anyone can catch fish when they bite like that, now you have to earn those bites and catch the ones that are a bit tougher. Spots I fish I would kill for a fish an hr. That would be great in some LA/OC area city park lakes. I have spots where I fish off the beaten path that I have taken 2 people to. They are told prior that these are my spots, that they aren't to be fished without me, and if I find out otherwise, well then they won't be fishing with me again.

Think it has to do with more with normally East Winds are associated with hi pressure (not all the time) and West winds are associated with dropping pressure. Normally once a front passes the fish seem to suspend, hold up, and not bite as well as they did prior to the front passing. That's my take on the whole "East bite least/ West bite best". Of course this doesn't always apply due to different weather systems and conditions.

Well if the plug was put in from the inside and it and it has electrolysis, then do the above, but you may want to get a hammer and a deep socket that you can use to pop it out. If it has a white power look around the plug then it is indeed electrolysis. In that case, you're going to need a bigger plug once you get that one out because the aluminum is going to be crap. The crewboat's I work on were designed with SS piping, needless to say I know first hand about how bad electrolysis issues can be.

I shore fish quite a bit, bring what I think I'll need as well as what I'm gonna fish. So needless to say for my short trips around town fishing different area waters there is a minimum of 6 rods, 1 tackle bag loaded with 4 3600 size boxes and who knows how many bags of plastics. Then once I'm there I decide what gets put into the small pack a carry with me and which rods I need. Like A-Jay said "if I think I need it it's going with me". I may not take it out of the car, but if I need it it's a short walk up to get it or swap out a combo for another one I have in the car. Besides I have all that nice fishing equipment, if I fish with the same baits every day how am I going to know how the others fish if I never take them fishing? This is also how I learn new techniques and gain confidence in other baits. Only time I do not fish this way is when I fish swimbaits, then I ONLY take the swimbaits so I have no choice.

My swimbait rod ran me $59.99. It only gets expensive after the first fish. My profile pic was my first swimbait fish. I had 3 Hudds at that time. One year later, two swimbait rods, a dozen or so Hudds of various sizes, some Mattlures, and a couple Triple Trouts. If you're not into throwing the Hudd, then get yourself some 168 S-Weavers and try those out. You should have a rod that can handle those, or just suffer and continue to catch 4-6lb fish that none of us can feel sorry about you catching wishing they were bigger....lol Good luck.

Well, when I worked in a tackle store (94/95), some of Diawa's rods and reels were way marked up, sometimes 125% above cost.

Just a heads up, I love fishing the Line Thru's especially the 8", but wasn't impressed with the action of the 6". Not a good slow wind bait from what I experienced nor did it have the nice kick of the 8". This is my opinion from my experience, just figured I'd give you a heads up before hand. But had the same idea you did, just didn't pan out the way I wanted it to.