NYWayfarer

Super aggressive Redbreast Sunfish took a swipe at my Whopper Plopper 90 If I am incorrect in my identification that this is a Redbreast Sunfish please let me know. They are one of the more colorful fish I catch out of the Hudson.

I keep my filler spools in some shoeboxes in my basement. I buy line in bulk when it's on sale or clearance. I have spools down there for years that I have not gotten to yet.

I like to keep it simple, I use 12# Kastking Fluorokote on most of my baitcasters. I do have a topwater exclusive baitcasting reel that I have spooled with 12# Berkley Big Game I have a baitcasting reel with 30# braid I use for frogs and Carolina rigs. Most of my spinning reels for Bass fishing have 8# Kastking Fluorokote on them. I have 1 spinning reel with 20# braid on it.

My current spinning setup for shore fishing on a river for dropshots and wacky rigged senko is a St. Croix Premier paired with a Lew's Mach II spinning reel. I couldn't be happier with the performance of this combo. I have had the Premier for years and it is still going strong. The Mach II reel has an aluminum frame and a great drag. My only complaint is the green Winn grip knob gets dirty fast. I use a Medium Light Rod and size 100 reel for these finesse techniques but I imagine you could get a medium or medium heavy Premier and a size 200 or 300 Mach II reel for the added applications you are looking for.

My favorite Neko baits are the Yum Swimming Dinger and the Missile Baits 48 worm. I am going to try the original Zoom Trick worm this weekend and see how it goes.

I haven't had a bird attack my lure but I have hit birds twice while casting a lure. They were flying by as I started my cast and the lure hit them in mid-flight.

I have so many fishing pliers (rapala, madbite) and hook removers (baker, buck) and yet my go to pliers for the last 2 years is my dollar store needle nose. I wipe them with a damp rag after every trip, dry them with a paper towel and a drop of oil and they still look like the day I bought them.

Been awhile since I caught one of these guys. Didn't miss the smelly slimy mess at all. It was fun to catch though. The water was as calm as glass and I was able to see him shoot up from the depths to slam my Strike King Red Eye Shad crankbait. He was as long as my arm and weighed in at almost a pound and a half.

I agree. One of Nike's slogans is: "Just do it" That's my advice Just buy a reel that has a lot of great reviews here and other places and you should be fine. Everyone gets a lemon now and then, that's what returns and warranties are for.

Key word is some. Yes some stuff is dumb but a lot is not. Watching YouTube fishing stuff I have learned a few things and have been entertained. Not bad for something that doesn't cost anything.

My son is a very picky eater but so is his mother. I can count the amount of things they eat on my fingers without the need to take off my shoes for extra digits to count. I on the other hand, eat everything. As far as kids these days, my son got mad at his mother and I for scheduling the family vacation on the week there was an update for his video game.

Second and third impressions are still great. I did take both the spinning and casting rods on vacation with me. I used the casting version primarily and my son used the spinning. It was nice to have the option of the 2 tips on vacation as I used the MH to punch some of the overgrown areas I fished. I switched back to medium for T-rigs and smaller crankbaits. I am very happy with this rod and find myself using it even when I don't need a 2 piece rod. It looks great paired with my Lew's Tournament MB baitcaster

I guess that's another reason I don't carry it much. I have a waterproof phone in a waterproof case! The action camera in the chest mount is easier though. I touch one button and I am recording. The voice activated Go-pro's must be awesome. I will have to eventually upgrade.

Sorry to hear this. My condolences.

Tarpon. Peacock Bass being a close second.

I own a medium light spinning version. It's a fantastic rod, especially when it's on sale for half off. I bought mine for $40 on sale during one of those sales. This is the way I shop now. No more full priced reels for me.

Getting the foam wet should not be a problem. In fact I wipe mine down with a wet cloth after fishing. This is all it takes to remove any spots on the foam. I let it air dry after that. The next day I can not detect any fishy odor from the grip.

Never to early. Sunday would be the only day for me to get on the water with my kayak as my Saturday is going to be very busy. Sadly though it looks like rain the entire day. On the bright side we need the rain here badly.

This year I have had a lot of luck with the Heddon Baby Torpedo on calm days and the Whopper Plopper 90 on windy days/choppy waters. Smallmouth in my area love the Bluegill color WP. It far outperforms my bone colored WP

No upgrades or tuning to reels I already have. To me an upgrade is purchasing a more expensive reel from the same manufacturer's I like. I would do that before fiddling with the internals of a reel I already own. I do like the looks of some of the tricked out reels I have seen out there. I have resisted the temptation to start doing the same.

Smallmouth hook themselves on my WP 90 I use a 6'6" Med/Fast Abu Garcia Vengeance rod with my Lew's tournament MB spooled with 12# line. I chose that rod because of the action. When I see the blow-up all I have to do is pull back and reel. The bend in the tip prevents the WP from getting ripped out of any smallies with that type of hookset.

I am following @A-Jay example of fishing at last light. Not getting Bass quite the size of his but the activity is there at that time of day. Last night the topwater bite was on just before the sun went down. Bluegill Whopper Plopper. Smallmouth love it.

Good to hear! I can vouch for the backbone and sensitivity of the light action rod. Imagine a 1 pound Bass on that stick! I got a few on vacation. Really gets the heart pumping!

No. I have never felt the need to drink directly from the source. I bring water with me in one of those vacuum sealed water bottles. Keeps ice forever.

I use one of those knockoff go-pro's. It is a Craig digital camcorder and camera. I found it at Ollie's for $9.99 (regular price on amazon $30) Didn't come with a memory card, so I bought a 32GB for $12 All of the go-pro accessories are compatible. I got a package of them off of Ebay for $19 included chest and hat mount, floating and extendable stick and some extra mounts. I barely use it as it is one more thing to carry when fishing.