gulfcaptain

Broke my PB this year. Was I pumped....of course I was. Every fish over 6lb get's your heart racing. IF and I say if i would have caught her in the spring I would have more then likely broke the 10lb mark. Does that make it less of a fish.....nope. Took a pic, got a quick weight, and returned her gently back into the waer to fish for another time. Another angler that was there had a picture of the same fish from 2 weeks prior that was caught by his friend. The next mark for me is 10lb, then I figure I'll shoot for 15lbs.....anything better then that if I ever get one that large will always be a special fish and all will be treated with the respect they deserve and released for someone else to enjoy.

Caught an Oscar when I was 10 from a pond on a plastic worm.....was gonna keep it and it got off when I put it back in the water to fill the bucket up.....as for endangered fish, well it's almost impossible not to catch the endangered Baccacio AKA Samon Grouper off of S. Cal when you're trying to catch quality rockfish. There are more of them then ever and have to move to try and find other bottom fish. But hey those studies that came from the Newpaper fish counts of what the sportfishing boats were keeping must of been right because we stopped keeping them when we were wanting something else. Now they are protected and can only keep 2. And if you fish in the Gulf of Mexico you have to move to try not to catch the overfished and endangered American Red Snappper.

If you're looking at the line thru get the floater and a pack of nail weights. You can alter the bait, make it suspend as well as sink slowly if needed. You can't make a slow sink float. And overall, if it's a hard bait....floater, slow sink......soft. Less hooks for them to see IMO. Besides if I'm gonna spend close to a $100 on a bait, I want to be able to retrieve it if I happen to have my line break during a cast without having to get a mask and fins on.

Yes, just the other day had good frog day where the only color they wanted was a platnium frog (ISH Phat Frog). They were keyed on shad and wouldn't look at any other color frog. 3 other guys fishing frogs and not a blow up on the colors they were fishing where I had a few over 4lb and some smaller fish to go with them as well as the usual misses which are still fun to watch although it would have been more fun to catch every one of them. The days you find what they want, why switch it up, give them what they want.

SK Rodent, Rage DB Craw, Big Show Craw, Biffle Bug, Zman Punch Craw, D-Bomb, V&M Hula Bug, and Netbait's Paca Baby Paca Craw

Well considering mainly fish city park ponds that get lots of pressure, if you manage 2-3 fish a day consistantly you're doing something write. So my normal outing is around 6hrs (fish while my son is in school) so if I get 6-8fish druing the day it's a pretty good day of fishing. Normal day, 2 fish and then there are always days where they don't want to bite and you get zero. Those days you look back and hit the reset button and go at it the next day with a different approach by what you observed the prior day.

Go with a puch jig set up if you're wanting to fish a jig style bait around moderate heavy grass. Sebiert has some good ones and are priced well, get the wired collars though, the rubber banded ones after a few days of fishing slipped down so had to atler them a bit with some braid and re-enforce them.

Can't catch them all the time. Some days are good and others not so good.

I would go with an Academy set up with their H20 brand. You can get a good rod for about $60 and then their Mettle for about the same price.

I use the bobber stops simply because they are smaller and if something happens or the knot still breaks I might be able to save my punch jig. Plastic may work though. But the fine braid on the Slick 8 seems to wear easy. I've had the knots slip out of the hook eye as well on some hooks that aren't welded closed.

Slip a bobber stopper between your hook and weight and see if that helps your problem.

Return, but I would notify W&M and see if you can replace it with them with your proof of purchase.

When I lived in OK, targeted them on windy points with small 1/8 oz grubs, rooster tails, small 3" swimbaits with spinning gear in the 6-8lb class. Boat ramps also worked well. They school up on humps, drop offs, chase shad. Like to run up rivers or creeks during the spring to spawn. Fight quite well, hit lures head on. Perfect little game fish and great eating. Oh, and I'm sure one of the smaller umbrella rigs would work if you're wanting to use your bass rod as well as offshore jigging with spoons or the Little George's.

Have the same issues with all braid brands especially when punching or pegging the weight. The slick has a habit of breaking more then the original when it gets frayed. I've gone to 832 for my flip/punch rods. Tried using a glass bead once, didn't work very well but to seperate me from my punch jig. I have started using a bobber stopper at the hook in front of the weight to prevent any contact to the knot that could weaken it so far with good results.. And with the super slick, color 18"s with a marker to see how much wear the weight is having on the line.

Um, well I'm gonna go my own way although I do have Quantums, but *** is winning me over so I'm going with them. Best part about my Quantums.....they aren't Lew's and Shimano's. The old 6500 and 5500 Abu's were great light duty saltwater reels though.

Big swimbaits are just another tool in the fishing arsenal and have their time and place when they excel. Like Tom said, there are times you can throw them and get lots of fish, then there are times you can throw them for the whole week and not see a follower. When the fish are keying in on bigger offerings they do excel. But then there are times other baits will out produce in numbers and size.

Here in S.Cal, the Fall bite turns into the winter bite when they start stocking those yummy rainbow trout the bass look so forward to eating.....and a few people too.

I use the Lexa 300, nice reel. And the Irod's look nice as well. I would look into P-Line CXX. And as far as the rod, I would go with the Large Bait instead of the Jumbo. Started with the Cardiff because it was i little less when I first started getting into swimbait fishing, but upgraded to the Lexa.

I've used 15 to 65lb on baitcasting gear. Most of mine are either 20-30lb though but do have a couple with the 15lb on them and as long as it's packed tight and the drag is set right you shouldn't have any issues.

Why stop at one? Repeat what you did and look for the same conditions and cover and see if you can't put another one in the boat.

I've watched a 5-6lb bass follow a big moth that was flying a couple feet above the water. That fish rose up from about 4 ft of water and trailed the moth for a good 200ft before the moth about 15ft above the water. But while it was within 5ft, that bass was right behind it. Never seen that behavior but it does show how much they can see when they want to.

That could be your favorite jig and worth every penny of that $2.99. Might be the only one you have left....I always carry an etxra rod.

I'd go with the BPS Crankin Stick.

I totally agree. Sorry, one of my best friends is "untrainalbe". We have fished together for almost 4yrs, he fishes the same 3 baits, won't change, won't listen, is stuck in his ways and doesn't like trying new things. Is that untrainable....yep. You can't help everyone, it's just the way it is....sports are the same way.....IF you lack the want to change and do what is asked, then you can't be trained.

What you have listed you want atleast a 300 size reel, Cardiff, Lexa, EXO....etc, 25lb mono, and I would say at least a rod that has a lure wieght between 2-6oz. Okuma Big Bait rods, the new Diawa Swimbait rod that came out, or you can look into some of the BPS Graphite Musky Rods if you want a starter rod in the 7'6" MH. And as far as topwater, I've used the ROF 0 Hudds, but if you're looking for a floating soft swimbait, look into the Savage Gear Line Thru's.