ThatZX14Fella

I feel the same way about spawn fishing.

I have a pair of Huk sunglasses. My dad has a pair of Maui Jim's. There is absolutely no comparison. The build quality, the clarity, everything about the Maui's are 100x better.

For me, I enjoy advancements in engineering and technology. I enjoy fishing because of the r el and rod, not because of the fish. The fish are just an added bonus.

As with anything, it's preference. For me, I enjoy baitcasters more. Spinning reels are fun to use, but when under load, they just don't feel that great to me. They feel awkward and less powerful. This isn't a big issue with finesse applications, but just that alone drives me away from them, for the most part.

My primary hobby, even above fishing, is cars and motorcycles. Fishing and guns are pretty much tied. I used to be really into video games, but we can't get good internet where we live, so that time has passed. Other than that, just your regular guy stuff. Outdoor work, trying to build things, drinking, etc.

Bass: Shimano Sienna on a cheapo 5' rod Abu Black Max on an Air-D X 7' MHF. Unfortunately, the rod broke not long ago. Catfish: Abu Ambassadeur 5000 on an Ugly Stik Catfish Special 8' Shimano Nexave 4000 on a Pro Cat 7' which I just bought today.

Unfortunately, it was nearing his bedtime and we had to leave. I felt bad for leaving on that, but there will be fish there when we come back. I'm planning to get him some before this weekend. Him, my brother-in-law, and I have a camping trip scheduled for Saturday. Hopefully he hooks into something bigger.

My nephew and I were catfishing, and after he'd lost my last dip bait hook, I tied on a Ned rig for him. He fished it for a bit, and I just so happened to look over to see his line going side to side. I told him to set the hook...twice. I had to give him a visual to get it across. He ended up hooking into a three pound bass, way larger than any bass he'd caught before. He got it up to the bank and the line broke. I went into the water after it, but was not successful in the retrieval. He hasn't stopped talking about it since. He's nine years old and loves to fish. Hopefully I can get him on something larger soon. Other than that, the only action we had was about a ten inch channel catfish.

My input is, if you're like me, and you like to try things just to see the difference they make, go for it. If you're looking for an actual increase in performance, buy a couple of higher end reels. The higher end reels will (probably) be better performance, even after a lot of work on the budget ones. However, there is that off chance that the budget reels can be made better for less. Kind of like an older car vs newer car. You can buy an old truck for $1,500, throw some mods at it, and walk a new truck for far less money, but you have many other issues that will still need to be resolved, if they can.

I'm off of drinking for a while, unfortunately. I've been having a lot of health issues. Panic attacks, vision problems, daily headaches, vomiting, etc. I'm on anti-anxiety meds, and went to the ER a couple of weeks ago. They found a mass in my sinuses and I'm waiting to go to the ENT to get it biopsied. So, I'm currently unable to drink. Which sucks, because I could really use a few beers.

To each their own. I prefer sport bikes over cruisers, but I still get why guys like their cruisers. For me, I'd enjoy having both BFS setups and spinning setups. I like having a variety of options. Why limit yourself when you can learn more and ultimately have more techniques? Isn't that why the majority of us enjoy fishing, anyway? Fishing would be pretty boring and unproductive if you never tried new equipment and baits.

There is no, "best," brand. As with anything, it's all subjective. Some like Daiwa, some like Shimano. Some like Chevy, some like Ford. Some like Yamaha, some like Harley. Some like H&K, some like S&W. Some like...you get my point.

I only have a couple. A couple of buddies and I were camping one night and kept hearing branches wnd grass moving across the creek. We shined a light and saw something coyote sized or so with red eyes. I wasn't too concerned, but one of the friends is quite the wuss and good at making other people believe that something more is going on, so him and my other friend decided to leave. The other story is while we were at a place just down the road from the last. Had a few weird incidents there. Multiple times of hearing a women scream. The first time, we saw a flashlight coming up to our car soon after and booked it. The most recent, my buddy and I (the wuss) were camping. Heard a woman scream, and a few minutes later, we heard a chainsaw crank up and run for a while. We finally fell asleep, but we're awakened by a sound under the hood of the truck. Truck wouldn't start, so we got out to check it. A battery cable ended up popping off. So, we repaired that and left. Chances are, the woman screaming is people swimming and having fun, and the chainsaw was for wood. The battery cable, however, is a little more mysterious. Not that anyone could have just raised the hood, so I'm not saying that it's natural or supernatural, just odd. I've heard many reports of that place, though. Everyone has stories about weird things going on down there at night.

I live in a, "warmer state," (Alabama), and it has been snowing here for nearly a week. Warmer states are just states that get hot in summer, but still freeze you during the winter time.

I had already dated it, I just forgot what the date was. I think my next one will be a 1500C or 2500C. I'd like to make one into a BFS reel because of how much I enjoy fishing the Ambassadeurs. If I have any questions, I'll be sure to let you know!

I'd like to grow my Ambassadeur collection. I only have two right now. One is my catfish/swimbait reel, and the other just sits around. Both are 5000's. The one I use is from the early 2000's, the other is, if I remember correctly, a 1973.

I have beef jerky marinating right now. It will be on the dehydrator tomorrow.

Given that you have proper rod and line choice, you can cast anything with spinning equipment.

I smoked Delta 8 the other night in hopes of helping my anxiety, and it only made it worse. I had multiple anxiety attacks to the point of throwing up. Heart problems run in the family, as well as cancer, alcoholism, and other things. I figure, as hard as my heart was pumping, it probably passed that clot, if there was one. I currently don't have health insurance, so that's not much of an option. I have a lot of other health issues that I need to resolve, as well. I figure that, if I can get into shape, I should be slightly less likely to have continuous health problems. That's why I'm trying to quit my drinking and smoking.

Right now, I'm trying to gain some mass. The (hopefully) comes getting off the bottle and smoking. After that, I'd like to start gaining some muscle mass and cardio. I'm hoping to end up around 180 and fairly toned. I'm 6' and 144.2, as of this morning. All of my weight is in my belly. The only issue I have with working out is that my left arm has a vein that goes over a tendon that I'm fairly certain had a blood clot until the other night. It's been hurting since. Nonetheless, I'm worried that that vein will blow out fairly easily. It hurts like hell if it barely gets grazed, so not something I'm looking forward to. Any tips on how to gain mass and get it to go to the correct areas? Obviously it's hard to build muscle mass in areas that have no fat to build off of.

Technically, I've only ever caught bass on a T-Rig, spinnerbait, and lipless crankbait. I don't count the private pond I go to, because I'm the only one allowed to fish it. I'm not a very good fisherman on the river, and I've only caught a handful of bass out of public waters.

There's nothing wrong with that. I honestly thought I'd catch more flak for using a catfish rod for more than just catfish. Use what you can until you can afford better. If you don't want better, that's a non-issue. There's plenty of times that I've been outfished by an old timer with a cane pole.

Most likely not the shops fault. Could be that the spool needs either a shim added or taken out, could just be the line itself, or, a list of other things. Spinning reels are pretty finicky when it comes to line management. If everything isn't perfect, they'll throw wind knots all day.

Soft baits would be: Finesse TRD Senko Trick worm Hard baits: Squarebill Spinnerbait And pretty much any jig I'm not naming brands and sizes because I don't pay that much attention to what I buy. I buy what looks good and what I think will suit my needs, and I leave it at that.

I enjoy cooking, but I don't feel my skills are up to par, so I don't do it much. Usually, it's just breakfast stuff or salmon.