Tony L.

I bought "titanium" pliers and they haven't even thought about rusting after several seasons (i think they are actually aluminum pliers with titanium vise/line cutters). I am an extreme cheapskate and NEVER would have considered paying for a pair of these under normal circumstances. I just lucked out and happened to find them on clearance the day after Thanksgiving, but now I am a believer and will probably splurge on the exact same pair if I ever lose them.

Haha.... Well I shoulda known that you were already doing tournaments when you said "locally and regionally". At 19, you're already lightyears ahead of the game and way beyond what I know how to do. Glad that some others here were able to give you some more advanced advice to get things headed in the right direction. Good luck to ya!

I can't say that this is my area of expertise, but I do have a few thoughts---- for what they are worth. It seems that you'd want to started by fishing (and doing well in) some small area tournaments or joining a bass fishing club. Sponsors tend to support tournament anglers and teams as opposed to recreational fishermen because they aren't supporting your hobby so much as advertising their brand. The better their angler or organization is, the more fame and popularity they have, the more it gets the sponsor's name out to the public---and the more people will want their businesses to be associated with that person or club. Tournaments and clubs are about as public as the sport can get and therefore the most logical place that businesses would want to spend their advertising dollars. To take that next step, you would need a way to prove to the world that you are a good fisherman and that you or your organization will be a worthy investment that will bring them business. That is done by joining an established club or proving yourself in tournaments. That would take a LOT of hard work and dedication, but is the route you need to go if you are looking to get a sponsor.

Nicely done! It is always a pleasure and an honor to share the water with someone that has so much respect for the fish and for the sport. Congrats! I'm jealous.

Hello all! I'm thinking about purchasing a budget canoe to take camping and to access some of my local waterways that have either horsepower restrictions or rules for electric motors only. I found one at Walmart that I can have shipped to the store for customer pickup. I had been checking out similar models at Dick's, BPS, Dunham's, and Gander Mtn. As much as I try to support other retailers, Walmart ended up having it for nearly $300 cheaper, so I just can't turn it down. My question is this.... In my home state of Indiana, you must register a watercraft as soon as you stick a trolling motor on it. Does Walmart typically provide the paperwork that I need to get this done (bill of sale, certificate of origin)? You ordinarily don't need to register small watercraft here unless the value exceeds $3000, but that all changes when it becomes motorized. Will purchasing a canoe from Walmart allow allow me to do this? If not, it might be a deal-breaker. Does anyone have any experience with purchasing and registering a Wally-World canoe/kayak? I may also post this later in the general forum to get a few more answers too. Sorry for the duplicates!

Well played.

My wife is also pregnant wife our first- our little girl is due in just over 3 weeks. She literally just handed me her phone with a picture of a baby t-shirt that had a fishing rod on it with the words "I hooked daddy's heart". She found it on pinterest. Congrats!

^^^^^ Beat me to it! It is awesome that you can see them to know that these fish are in there, but that's also the problem. You can see them. That almost assuredly means that they see you.

Nah... I wouldn't know anything about it. That's IU country, and I'm a proud Purdue Boilermaker. In all seriousness, I've heard that the crappie bite is phenomenal in the spring but I have never had the pleasure of fishing it. I waterskied there once a long time ago, and I think I remember that lake having a lot of rip-rap and some very steep/fast dropping shorelines with quick access to deep water. That might be a good place to start. Good luck, and have fun! I hope someone has better info for you than I did.

I put a small section of dowel rod into the chuck of a cordless drill. It works very similarly to the beater bar that you mentioned (which was brilliant, by the way), except you can just throw it away when you are done.

The bearrings in the Quantum PT (Performance Tuned) series are also stainless steel, just like the revo. I picked up a spinning version on Black Friday a couple years back and fished it this season. I really like it. I had gone in with the intent to buy a pflueger, but they had these 50% off because a newer model had come out that was a slightly different color of red. Too good of a deal to pass up, and I don't have any regrets. Never compared it side by side to an Abu though. If you are able to get into a store where you are able to hold them both, let us know which one you think is smoother. It's probably something that you'll only be able to find out for yourself when you get your hands on them.

There isn't really a rod that can do everything, but the 7' M or MH, Fast Action is pretty close. It will be good for MOST of you mentioned. For crankbaits or lures with treble hooks, you would ideally have something with a bit more flex. It isn't like a MH/F wouldn't catch them, but it would be a bit more difficult to actually play them out and land them.

That picture + what you are describing reminds me a bit of the Lindy "Watsit" jig. I might be wrong though, because you mentioned a slow fall and the times that I've tried the watsit, the weighted head makes them fall like a rock.

Southwest Ohio, huh? Have you checked out the Campbell Chain of Lakes and Wildlife Preserve near Harrison? That was my favorite place to fish during the 3 years I lived in Cincinnati. With so many people confusing it with the Harrison Lake State Park and Brookeville being nearby, this little gem got very little pressure- especially the little lake in the back with the beaver dam and the creek flowing into it. Welcome to the forums!

Cograts! I would never ask you to put personal or identifying information on the internet, but..... Boy? Girl? Everything went well and mom and baby are in good health? Exciting times! Congrats again!

Keep them in the bags, roll the bags up/wrap them around themselves, and put the whole package in your Plano box. Best of both worlds, and you can avoid the accursed bait monkey.

http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Water-Fly-Fishing-Complete/dp/B001IAHX6A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1422060167&sr=8-4&keywords=fly+fishing I know that people on Amazon aren't exactly experts, but this outfit has over 100 near perfect reviews. I kinda brushed it off until I also saw it featured in a fly fishing magazine that I recently subscribed to. It was highly regarded. I'm trying to branch into fly fishing myself. Haven't tried this one, and I certainly can't say that I am very familiar with fly fishing, but all indicators are that this combo is a great value. I think that I remember also reading that Orvis is introducing a budget friendly combo too. It is even more economical than the "Access" combo, which had previously been their cheapest. Of course, Orvis is a name you can usually count on.

I have 10# braid on my finesse spinning setup that I use with an 8# flourocarbon leader. It works very well in most situations, but the cover I fish isn't super thick and the bass in Indiana aren't super huge.

I admire your enthusiasm and am glad that you've found a brand you have confidence in. One thing is for sure though, things that "we can all agree" on are few and far between on this site. Bass fisherman have opinions as varied and diverse as the day is long, depending on what works best for their individual strengths and needs. Maybe this is part of the reason that the tackle and hook selection in most outdoor stores is so overwhelmingly huge to start with. Judging too by the comments that have been posted so far, while everyone encourages and respects one another's opinions around here, we understandably tend to bristle a bit when being told in absolute terms what we should and should not be in agreement with... For my part, I do use Mustad treble hooks when I am using punchbait for channel cats. I like their J-hooks for panfish as well. For bass though, I personally find more success with Gamakatsu, but to each their own. There are still other brands I need to try as well.

I am ashamed to admit it (funny how often I end up saying that on this site), but last year was my first time going to the big one nearby in Indianapolis. I was pretty impressed, but I must also say that I have nothing to compare it to. Once you wade through the acres of RV's and Speedboats, the fishing wing was pretty darn big, I thought. Lots of charter services, but a bunch of smaller local tackle vendors, demonstrations, gear, and clubs too. I plan to go back in the next couple months. I'm sure though, that it was probably better in years past. I guess that I'm lucky for not knowing what I may have already missed out on.

If you are trying to figure them out, you can speed up the process by each throwing something different. But if you have figured out exactly what they are biting best on, might as well both fish it. There's no sense in letting one guy have all the fun

I'm intrigued. What do they call that, and where do I find one?

This one... but I'm biased because it has become my go-to bait when others aren't working. I'm sure other lures would produce well too if only I fished them with the same amount of confidence that I have in the Senko.

X3 --- the diesel would probably be my choice between the two though. You really don't need to go out and invest in another rod just yet. What you have will be fine for 95% of frog situations. What you might possibly be missing out on doesn't justify buying a new rod unless you REALLY want to commit to that technique

I have two of them from nearly 15 years ago, when they were solid black. They don't get used much anymore, but I fished the crap out of them when I was in high school and I know that they will still work if I need them. A good value for $45