desmobob

Lake, or Loch.... I was bank fishing one night with Elvis, Jimmy Hoffa and Bigfoot, and we saw one of those. None of us knew WHAT it was! Tight lines, Bob

Yup... my favorites. I like to think that I get hung up a little less often with them, and I generally am fishing in pretty shallow water anyhow. Tight lines, Bob

Mine was an 8 1/2' 6-weight fly rod built on a G. Loomis blank. I built it back in the pre-Interwebz days, when you didn't have access to all the good advice, information, instruction, reviews, etc. we have now. It came out pretty nice; I made a small wrapping mistake on one guide, I think. Several years later, it developed a very slight, but very annoying play in the grip area. Some day, when I have a lot of time, and ambition to go with it, I'll attempt a repair. Tight lines, Bob

I had a fine Navy dentist "extract" all four of mine at once, too. Sweet... as was the dry socket I suffered from later on. =:-0 I don't think it would be any risk going fishing a couple of days after the procedure, especially if it was done by a real dentist! Tight lines, Bob

I bought an Orra Winch this fall, and while I haven't put a lot of time on it yet, seems like a nice reel. I think my best-bang-for-the-buck reels are my Daiwa Tatulas. I got them new, from eBay dealers, for $92 each. I have two seasons on them now and they have been great performers. I have three Lew's Tournament Pros that have been excellent reels. I know they're out of your price range, but due to my satisfaction with the ones I have, I personally wouldn't hesitate to try one of their lower-priced models. The big sales are coming up... you might be able to find something pretty nice in your price range! Tight lines, Bob

The Volkey 68L got a little better workout today. I was throwing a Ned Rig with it (1/20 Shroomz and 1/2 ZinkerZ) and caught two big yellow perch on the first two casts. I thought I may have to give up the Ned Rig, but the next fish was a big smallmouth! Despite the 47* water temperatures, she managed to "jump" (didn't totally clear the water) three times. This was my first decent fish on the new rod, and it did very well on the bigger fish. I then hooked a small largemouth, then a decent one, then a good one (~3 lbs.). I really had fun with that rod! It casts light baits very well with the PX-R and 8 lb. Yo-Zuri Hybrid, and is very sensitive. I really like it a lot. I hate to see my fishing season coming to an end. I'll be looking forward to next spring and the opportunity to throw some small crank baits with the rod. Tight lines, Bob

I had a great afternoon today in 46.7* water with a lightly-weighted T-rigged Senko and a Ned Rig. Large- and smallmouth bass were in the mood to be finessed! Tight lines, Bob

This veteran is waiting for the rain to stop so he can get out fishing! To all vets: thank you for your service! Tight lines, Bob Edit to add: The fish gods were good to this veteran on Veterans' Day... lots of nice bass today!

Wowser... nice bag! Beautiful fish. Congratulations! Tight lines, Bob

All spectacular!!! Thanks for sharing the photos! Tight lines, Bob

Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing some photos! Malawi cichlids have always been my thing, but I'm not as "into it" as I used to be. I guess my lack of success in dealing with their aggression sort of took the fun out of it. I got to the point where I had so much rock in the tank, there was barely any room for water and I still couldn't keep them from killing each other. ;-) I did have a lot of successful breeding going on for a while. Hmmm... so far, it's looking like bass anglers prefer cichlids! I love those HawgTech discus! Tight lines, Bob

Nice review! It's good to read a review from someone with experience using several other rods in the price range. Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion. Tight lines, Bob

^ This. Cough, cough, Vanish, cough.... I tried Seaguar InvisX and liked the way it handled, but it gets sliced up and shredded by toothy fish and Zebra Mussels. Their AbrazX works much better for me. But I am now also in the boat with guys who use braid and just a fluoro leader. When I need mono, I like cheap, good, Yo-Zuri Hybrid. Tight lines, Bob

I have a 55-gallon set-up with a couple of African Mbuna cichlids and a big Synodontis catfish. Of course, everyone's hiding when I took the photo.... Here's the catfish, about 15 or 16 years old now. The photo was taken several years ago.... Have you ever wondered if aggressive feeding activity in the aquarium relates to the same in the local lake? Every once in a while, I notice my fish are extremely aggressive at feeding time. I always wonder to myself if it means it's a good day to go fishing. So far, it has only happened on days when I wasn't able to fish. Besides, most days that I DO fish, I leave too early to feed the ones in my aquarium before I leave. Maybe I should turn the aquarium lights on and feed them early on fishing days to I can see if the fish in the local lakes are acting the same as the ones in my tank.... Tight lines, Bob

The In-Fisherman series on largemouths is pretty good reading. Some of the material is repeated in the books, but overall, I think they're a great read. But then again, I heard the Lindner boys are mean to Glenn's fans, or something like that.... Tight lines, Bob

Thanks for the tip... I'll pick up a couple. That chartreuse gill halo color looks like it would be fantastic for the muddy waters I fish. Tight lines, Bob

That's what happens on southern L. Champlain when you throw a crank bait in the fall. It's a pike and pickerel magnet! Actually, any bait moving fast really sucks them in. I got my biggest fall largemouth on a squarebill this fall, but hesitate to throw them because of the pike and pickerel activity. Tight lines, Bob

The man is good. No denying. Good thing we have guys like this running the place! Tight lines, Bob

The water was just a quarter of a degree over 48* today when I was out. I had limited success with a twin-tailed Hula Grub on a shaky head, the same grub on a swing jig, and an unweighted T-rigged Senko. I would have also (or maybe even primarily) thrown a 3/8 oz. jig with Pit Boss or D-Bomb trailer, but I was messing around with some new gear today and using a light rod. If I was fishing smallies, I'd have most likely done a lot of drop-shotting and also fished the shaky head/Hula Grub. Tight lines, Bob

But seriously, that is WAY cooler than the usual tuxedo. Very nice. Tight lines, Bob

I did that each time I checked my settings. Still no notifications. I just went to my setting again and selected the box to have followed topic replies notifications in the notifications list on the site as well as via e-mail. And, as always, I clicked the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page. Tight lines, Bob

I knew it! The dude wears a DRESS! Congratulations and best of luck to you and your new bride. Tight lines, Bob

I did that sort of thing last summer. I was throwing a T-rigged worm, got bit, and somehow lost the fish and the worm. Put on a new worm, threw to the same spot, and reeled in a bass that still had the other worm in his throat. But... as has been mentioned, bass have been observed hitting the same rubber baits repeatedly in the test tank. They are reported to ignore (for a short period of time) specific hard baits that they have been caught on. Hey... you mentioned a "dumb bass." That's what my dad always used to call me; even before I learned to fish! Tight lines, Bob

You're right... I love it! I didn't do a whole lot with it... I didn't make it to my smallmouth lake, but I fished southern Lake Champlain this afternoon. I threw an unweighted t-rigged Seiko and quickly caught a largemouth that was about two pounds. The skunk was off the new rod almost immediately! I moved to a rocky point and tied on a 1/8 oz. swing-head with a twin-tail Hula Grub on it. I eventually got another bass about the same size as the first. The surface temperature was 48* and fishing was slow, so I tied on a 1/20 Shroomz Finesse jighead and half a ZinkerZ and figured the ol' Ned Rig would help me pick up the pace. I immediately caught a small pickerel and many casts later, a big yellow perch. No bass! The pickerel bite was fun. I had the sense that something wasn't quite right the last time I gave the rig a little hop. The next hop felt very slack. I slowly raised to the rod to get a better feel of what was going on and the line went streaking off at 90* at what seemed like 100MPH. Pickerel! Later, I caught a bass almost three pounds on a different rod, throwing a heavier Megastrike Shake2 head with a another twin-tail Hula Grub. The rod fishes wonderfully. It casts light baits well, is very sensitive, and has plenty of backbone. If someone handed me that rod and asked me to guess what it was, I'd think it was a medium-light/fast, not a light/fast. If anyone is considering trying one and expecting it might be some whippy little toy of a rod, you'll be pleasantly surprised. I can't wait to get some serious fishing time in with this rod! Tight lines, Bob

I really enjoyed the book, especially because Hannon bases his ideas on scientific evidence or personal experience gained in his many years of studying bass and fishing; targeting only the biggest bass. It was pretty much his life's work to study the big ones. I live in the Northeast and don't recall thinking the ideas in the book wouldn't apply to my home waters. It's an interesting read, especially if you've already read the In-Fisherman's series of books on Largemouth Bass, which I think does an excellent job of describing the life of the largemouth bass in general. Tight lines, Bob