gulfcaptain

***'s, why...well have 2 one black and just got the green. Don't like the handles on the Ducketts and the Carbonlites. Love the handle set up on the Omens and the lenghts. I don't knock BPS rods as I do have quite a few of their rods, just not the Carbonlites. So I guess my vote would be either the black or the green....just make sure it's an ***.

Yum's Yumbrella Flash Mob Jr with the 5 arms...if you can't fish 5 hooks, dummy hook as many as you need to be legal with 3-4" swimbaits and 1/8oz lead heads. Work it just like a spinnerbait along the outside of the weedlines just under the surface or dropped down below the school.

Don't have the Mettle, but do have one of the Menace....first baitcaster I ever bought at was over $70 and very well made and 3yrs later still smooth as ever. I would say you're in good shape with the Mettle, just keep it oiled and maintained and it will last you. Their H20 rods are pretty nice as well for $60.

Spinnerbaits, blade baits, buzz, squarebill, rattle-trap style baits. Find a 6:1 ratio reel and spool it with 15-20lb FC or Mono. Let the rods moderate action help with these baits as stiffer rods tend to pull the baits away from the fish when we set the hook. Now you have a deep crankin rod and a shallow muti use crankin/blade rod.

As I'm sure you have read in many posts probably the best all around casting rod would be a 7'MH. That is unless you are talking about a spinning rod which then I would try to find something in the 7'M action. As for brand, well you have a lot of choices, *** has pretty good sticks (both black and green omens) in your range, Falcon, many of the ABU's, quite a few Shimano's, Duckett's, Daiwa, etc. Have to find the handle length and trigger set up that you like best. But you have lot's of options.

Just like any other knot, need to check it and if it looks worn or it's been a while retie. We do it to hooks and lures all the time. If I have a really good day on the water, typically when I get home I replace the topshot. But then I only normally fish a 6-10ft piece of FC or mono.

if it's shallow, go with the line thru, you can work it slower and kill it as well as adding nail weights to make it suspend just under the surface or sink really slow.

#1 buy the biggest display you can. The more features you have the better visual picture you can get of the area you're fishing, but all on one screen the smaller the the images so the bigger the display the better off you will be. If you're gonna opt for one, buy one that you can plug in the other options later as you upgrade. Ask lots of questions.

first off if there's a NO TRESPASSING or NO FISHING sign, well that might be a tough one. If it's an open course you can probably walk on and fish, just be respectful of the golfers and stay out of the way, make sure you leave no mess, and did I mention be respectful. Stay out of the sand traps and greens, and don't fish right where you're in the middle of someone trying to go down the fairway. If you're wanting to ask, go into the clubhouse or pro shop and ask if you can speak to the course manager and ask him. If he gives you permission ask if he has a business card you can have for reference if anyone questions you being there.

bowfin

honestly when I worked on a sportboat I didn't even fish freshwater. It wasn't until about 5 yrs ago did that change when my oldest son hit the age of 3 and took him bluegill fishing. It just progressed to what it is now. Now he chases bluegill and I fish bass. We each enjoy our persuit of our selected fish and enjoy it. He's staring to enjoy bass fishing but throwing a lure all day for a bite or two isn't his deal yet. But like someone stated above, it doesen't matter what kind of fish it is, I enjoy catching them all. Honestly the best and funnest fish I enjoy catching, a big jack( AJ, Crevelle, or CA Yellowtail) chasing down and engulfing a surface iron.

just think of all the circle hook sponsors they could list and bobber makers.

^completely agree with you on that flyfisher. May only be one that size but it would put the golf course in the cross hairs of many an angler that would normally bypass it. But I do wish njbassman the best luck in catching it. Advice, throw a swimbait 8" or larger....savage line thru floater would be a good start and see what other sizable fish happen to live there as well.

Did they notify you by personal message?

Didn't even know if you posted a review of Savage Gear you would get something. Maybe I'll get lucky and I haven't heard about a 6" line thru but if it's as good as the 8" I'll have a few of them on my wish list.

It can be listed as private waters, but word of mouth will still put it out unless you have the ability to not tell a soul where you were fishing and not take any pictures of your spot where someone can figure it out. Golf courses are touchy subjects when it comes to being able to fish them or not. I have nothing against him fishing there and wish the best, I just would keep it really quite...the less people around you know the better off it is.

I would rather it come through without hanging as easy...it can stand up all it wants but if gets hung up constantly then it isn't doing me very much good. When you get it lined up and ready, I'll take 3-4....will it come in tungsten?

May want to try the G-Lock's, I have a better hook up ratio on them as well as the bait staying more inline and not wanting to come up the shaft.

you do relize the minute you catch and register that fish if it is a record, the press from where you caught it will cause you to loose your spot. Increased pressure from fisherman that do not respect golf courses causes everyone to loose access to them. I wish you the best on your monster bass hunt, but remember once you catch it odds are that will be the beginning of the end of your nice fishing spot. Have a course like that around my house.....now it's not the course manager that runs you off, it's the local sheriff's who use their helicopter to round up all trespassers, impound all fishing equipment, and then write all nice tresspassing tickets with the next time they catch you....off to jail. So my advice, keep your spots quite and enjoy them and don't bring added press and pressure that will cause them to ban all fisherman and result in the above actions of local law enforcement.

Personally, I use leader/topshots on all my swimbaits. Only thing I fish straight braid is frogs and my punching gear. My prefererence and normally only use at most 15 to 20ft of mono or FC. I would use a mono topshot. Will also help keep the bait from tangling in the braid if you twitch it and kill the bait as it tends to glide sideways and may pick the braid up on the hooks....also give a little stretch but not much as you are fishing with trebles and the limited stretch on braid could cause a hook to pull out.

Pepper and River to Sea have the double inline's. Check them out at TW.

Throw a 4" Fat Ika at them. Seems to work really well on S. Cal's heavy pressured spooky bass quite well.

50lb braid isn't an issue, but you will need a topshot of 20-30lb mono or fc. Most fish swimbaits on straight 25lb mono. I have 2 set-ups, one with 40lb braid to 25 mono and the other is 65 to 25 fc and a bit heavier action as so I have 2 different swimbait set-ups without having to change. I think it was stated above, once you start throwing swimbaits and find success with them you start buying more and more. I started out the same way with a 6"BBZ, next step....the 8" Huddleston.

Can't believe no one has suggested Mend-IT. I use this on my flipping baits, as I might get a fish or two out of the SK Rodent's and other soft baits. Take off the damaged bait, put it in another bag, and when you get back home or once it's dry, use some Mend-it and fix the bad spots. Makes them good as new. Do this with Senko's and Ika's, works really well. That $12 bottle has saved me probably $100 in baits as well as those $20+ swimbaits.And also a fan of the Skipgap hooks for my flukes.

Well if you can't get them to respond to a frog, and have nice thick weedbeds, go punching. If they won't come to the top and play, go in and get them. I carry 2-3 types of frogs, may try a different style, slow walk, long pauses, but if they aren't coming up, I just go punching with a heavy punch jig (3/4oz or heavier) and put my bait in some of the deepset weeds I can find as well as holes and hold on.