matuka

Just my two cents here. Normally I fill my spools to the bevel. I make a bit of an exception for my Tatula. If you fill all the way, you'll notice that the line comes on to the spool at a bit of an angle. It makes a small "v" coming thru the line guide/T wing and sort of scrapes the line a bit as it winds in maybe the final five or so yards. I don't care for that extra friction potentially weakening my line. I've got mine just a bit "underfilled" to avoid this. Check this out on your reel before you rip off that new line and see if it makes a difference. As you probably found out, you get excellent casting distance with the T wing anyway.

I too believe in contact. But I have had two occasions when a bass has picked the squarebill off a tule it was stuck on. One was a 5-3/4! My PB on a crank at the time. Keep concentrating when it's stuck.

LC BDS3, Rapala DT 6 and 10, SK 1.5

Some of the weights I have look a bit cheesy around the edges and I did put an insert in them ala Aaron Martens. Some say the insert decreases the angler's ability to feel the bottom. I not sure I agree.

Just curious who uses tungsten weights specifically with or without inserts. Seems to be differing opinions on the merit of each.

When it counts I too have a slew of colorful words. But mine may make a sailor blush.

For the finessy stuff, all four fingers above the reel with index finger extended on the blank. Why? Cuz Mr. Finesse, A Mart said so! Less fatigue he says. Just an aside, I noticed TO in the Classic dropshotting. Bail open, index finger on the spool edge and trapping the line. Interesting.

Like others have said, don't get too hung up on it. It gets too cumbersome to set up your tackle according to gear ratios. Lots of pros are professing higher gear ratios for lots of techniques. They also get all the line they can eat to fill all those reels. And where can you put all those extra reels in the boat? Personally I have found moving baits too fast, to be more problematic than the inability to "catch up" with your reel. So currently my selection is this: 5:1 or slower for swimbaits and a few crankbaits. I have one 7:1 for t-rigs or flipping. EVERYTHING else is 6:1, and that's about 80% of all of it. Pretty simple.

Five years ago I received similar calls several times. When I declined their offer the gal became quite rude. I called Bassmaster to inquire or inform them of this. I got a little run around and poor explanations. I decided to e mail them as they had invited in their mag. the message was quite involved and I received no reply as requested. Therefore I let my subscription lapse and want nothing to do with them in the future. No customer service after 18 years subscription, imagine that.

Absolutely, and even skinnier.

the one I turned into a lure retriever

Any knot is only as strong as YOU tie it. There are many good knots out there for this purpose and what works for one may not work for another. I know an excellent big bass fisherman/teacher/guide who uses a blood knot. His doesn't break. Mine donated a umbrella rig and all the fixins after ten minutes, without a fish! My Alberto is better than my double uni, double surgeons etc. I tested this stuff in a very crude and boring way. Take a two foot section of braid and fluoro. Tie an Alberto with two ends and a dbl uni with the others. Now you have a loop. Now pull the mid sections of the loop till one knot breaks, (use gloves). Repeat nine times and you will have a good idea. I'd be interested to find out what your tests show.

Super Spook: baby bass or smoke and chartreause Rico: I only own one and boy is it beat on. Hollow body Frogs: I favor the old Bobby's Perfect

Why did I ever stop using this bait? It worked great! I can still hear the jingle from the commercial.

I've spent more on Keitech than any other soft plastic in the past year. This season I've been using them almost to exclusion on my home lake. Fatties in 4.8 on a swimjighead, 3.8s on the A rig, 4" SI's swimming on a ball head, on a shakey head they are killer. Shake'm, drag, dead sticking, hopping down ledges, and my favorite, a light C-rig nose hooked with a Owner wacky hook. After watching the Classic I threw one on a chin spin with great and surprising results. The Easy Shiner shines on the rig, little ones (3"" on the top and big ones on the bottom. I've even C-rigged these as well. Yeah, they're flimsy, but $.50 per fish is worth it to me. I tried the 4" SI's on the A-rig but they caught up on each other due to the ribs and softness Note: I run a small piece of 40 pound mono sideways thru the head of the C-rigged SI. One drop of glue holds it there, then cut the excess flush with the head. Nosehook the wacky hook (#1) right behind the peace of mono. This old school trick REALLY saves baits. Sorry, no pics.

two clamshells with a few colors can do for your day trips I would think.

I love old school cork. Unfortunately, durability is a big issue to me. I have a few older high end rods with pitted cork. I haven't found an adequate method of restoring these corks. For many, a few soaking rains and filler started coming apart. They are subject to rod rack rash in the boat. Alas, I buy them and baby them.

I like mono for the squarebills. At least fifteen. I need something that is strong, abrasion resistant so you can bang that thing around a bit, and relatively inexpensive cuz it needs to be changed out frequently. P-line cxx for me.

I will never, ever, count my Giants out. They never look good on paper, but three rings in five years.....I'm a believer.

I use BTS as well. But usually only about twice per year. What I'm looking for is something to spray on and wipe off after a day on the water just to get whatever collected on the hull, off. I can't just wash the thing off in the driveway anymore. Draught, water usage restrictions, fines and all that. So I have to clean her up in the boat port behind closed gates. I don't care for the wax/cleaners cuz I use the BTS instead of wax, but I don't want to strip that off with vinegar, lemon juice or the like. Guess I'll just continue with the wet towel as well.

I think the bulk of your jig is diverting water from your paca craw. Those things kick like crazy. Guys out here use them like a horny toad. Try positioning it further back on the hook so it will catch more water. Personally I like the Keitechs and Big Hammers foe baitfish imitators and Chiggercraws for dads.

Years ago I went out to the pool to learn a backhanded roll cast. My first couple of attempts missed the pool.....

Can anyone suggest a boat/hull cleaner for my fiberglass bass boat? Specifically, an everyday type light duty cleaner that doesn't have wax in it. Homemade or commercial, so long as it works and doesn't smell like Italian salad dressing.

I'm also a big subscriber in the KISS principle while on the water. But when I can't fish, hacking these kind of ideas around is more satisfying than say, changing line, cleaning the bilge or swapping out hooks.

If I might ask, how are you rigging those shiners?