Jaderose

I guess my thinking towards my gear is a little different. I don't care about aesthetics AT ALL. I consider my rods and reels to be tools. How well do they do the job I need them to do? It doesn't mean I don't take care of them, it just means that I don't care what they look like. If a fifty dollar rod (my finesse spinning rod) does the job well, why spend more on something I don't need? On the flip side, my frog rod is by far the most expensive combo I have. Why? Because it needs to be the best combo I have. It gets a ton of use and abuse. Use gear you can afford and feels like an extension of your central nervous system. However much it costs.

I know my home lake very, very well. On a new body of water, I just check the fall time of a jig. I'm not one of those old guys that thinks technology is useless and says things like "The pioneers didn't have...". My home lake is a little 100 acre MDC lake out in the middle of nowhere. I've fished it hard for about 12 years and still find it interesting. It has points, stumps, rip rap, laydowns, creeks, creek channels, flats, drop offs, you name it. If I fished big water, I'd have all the tech in the world, but I just don't need it for 99% of the fishing I do. If and when I start fishing some of Missouri's big water, I'll get a fishfinder and learn how to use it. But I still won't take videos of me fishing or have any desire to chat on the phone while I'm on the water...lol

Nope.

My phone does NOT go in my boat. When on the water, I am free of technology, unless you count a trolling motor.

I am fine with the tech I use. What I do see is people using tech for things that, to me, are pointless. For instance....used to be that I could go into a store and if I was unfamiliar with it, I could ask an employee where something was. The would tell me and I'd be on my way. Couple of weeks ago, I was in a Home Depot looking for something and I mistakenly asked a couple of boys that were obviously screwing around where said item was. One of them whipped out his phone and dicked around with it for a few minutes trying to look it up. He had no signal and ultimately told me he had no signal and therefore, had no idea where item was. I worked in stores when I was a kid and knew where every speck of dust was, let alone all the products. "Smart Technology" is sure making people dumb. BTW, I told the boys they were of absolutely no use to me and to think about the idea that they can be replaced with a phone next time they chose to just do nothing. I found an old guy and without even looking up he told me exactly what aisle it was in.

Good on ya, Mo. THAT is what Christmas is about. Christmas is the only time I wish I was rich. A lot of people would have full bellies and a present under the tree from Jaderose Clause

My biggest fishing pet peeve is....me. Those days when I can't get my head right. I can't find patterns and I fish "angry". I'm constantly thinking instead of just reacting to what conditions are giving me and the day becomes a slog. Or I allow thoughts about work or other issues to intrude. and idiots. I don't care for idiots

This is the correct answer. My wife and I are both in our 50's and responsible adults. If I want something and it fits my budget, I buy it. She has the same freedom. Larger purchases require discussion but not justification.

That part of their website is probably broken. Everything else on that piece of crap website seems to be. I was looking at baits the other day and it wouldn't even scroll through colors anymore

Blue/Black here but that doesn't mean I don't give any love to June Bug. I use it as an alternative to PBJ.

This. I'm a hand changer with both types of reels. I can cast left handed and do but most of the time I am casting RH, switching hands, reeling RH. The move from one hand to another is effortless and part of the cast. The switch happens before the lure hits the water and I don't think I've ever lost a fish because I changed hands. No desire to change as it's not something I even think about.

Watching me try to reel with my left hand is like watching a gorilla try to solve a Rubik's Cube. It's just sad

I'll take just one....Mepps Comet Mino but if I HAD to add one more? YoZuri Snap Bean Chrome/Blue

Just the idea that using spinning gear or Finesse techniques is somehow less manly. I'd say my fishing is probably about a 50/25/25 split. 25% spinning and throwing lighter stuff, 25% standard BC stuff (jigs, cranks, lipless, spinnerbaits, top water, etc) and 50% ultimate heavy with all the slop frogging I do. It's never occurred to me that throwing a weightless senko on my spin rod isn't macho....lol. Even when I'm throwing a Barbie Corvette bubblegum Senko.

I'm assuming this post is mostly tongue-in-cheek. If not, I couldn't begin to understand the thinking. I consider my gear to be tools and using them to be craft. Sometimes you need a jeweler's screwdriver, sometimes you need a sledgehammer. Just depends on the job at hand.

Mine has no black at all

I'm good for now. Although......

Wow.....it's not even January yet. ?

Oh yeah. I actually used to be a little gun shy about casting into gnarly areas but I got over it...lol. I don't mind leaving the occasional tree hanger or stump topper now. I DO hate leaving line so if I know I'm going to working areas with a high probability of losing lures, I will use a short bit (like a foot or so) of 15-18lb leader.

I may have talked about this before ? but If I am working a mat half the size of a football field with tons of standing timber, laydowns, crossing laydowns, stumps, open water pockets and lord knows what else, I had better be pretty darned accurate with my frog rod and I am. Most of the time...lol. Occasionally, I'll uncork a doozy and leave a souvenir triple wrapped around a dead tree limb 30 ft in the air in the middle of what is basically a swamp. I can visit these reminders of my blunders and I just laugh when I see them and be thankful that Scumfrogs are cheap.

ME LIKEY!

Several years ago, I had to cut a Live Target frog hook to free a deep-hooked bass. I contacted Live Target to BUY a replacement. They sent me 3 replacements for free. I was impressed.

I have one old Big O that kills. It's bright green and chartreuse and covered in glitter and It's beat to hell but I have caught a TON of fish on it banging it off rip-rap on a dam.

The little lake I fish most of the time has limited access for shore fishermen and a lot of times the people there can be broken into 2 categories. Families with kids or people trying to catch dinner. Why would I interfere with either of those groups when I have the rest of the lake nearly to myself? Why screw up a kid's fishing experience or (especially) ruin a possible meal for someone that needs one? There's plenty of lake. I don't need to be a jerk and I don't go fishing to argue with people. In fact...quite the opposite. Maybe this was a good idea back in the day, but this would be a fine way to get shot in Northwest Missouri in 2021.

I've done very well with bubblegum stik-o's in the spring and it's a fall back color other times of the year. I don't get the reluctance to use any particular color, including pink. They catch fish