NYWayfarer

Grats on the new reel and I hope you recover soon. Blood clots on the lungs sound extremely scary.

Targeting Bass with Ned rigs, whopper Ploppers or Rapala floating minnows have always resulted in catching off target species for me. Sunfish Yellow Perch Rock Bass Channel Catfish Northern Pike Chain Pickerel

I have both new and old versions of the Bass X casting rod. New for 2021 St Croix Bass X The older St Croix Bass X rod

I saw it on HBO Max. The only thing I liked about it was the new girl was played by Jessica Henwick from the Netflix Daredevil series. I liked her in that show as Colleen Wing and hoped she would get more work. Other than that it was really a mess. The original was a masterpiece and really all you need to see. Anything that followed afterwards never captured the same magic.

Got my booster and flu shot on December 10th. Currently have 4 people at my job that have tested positive for Covid. It’s only a matter of time before I get it. Hoping the vaccines make the symptoms mild as possible.

Caught my first Carp this year. I have seen them swimming in the local canal many times. Tried worms, corn, Lima beans with no luck. I had a small 1” swimbait on a light action rod and 6# mono. Tossed it past the roaming pack and twitched it while laying on the bottom as they passed. One of them sucked it up. What a fight! Peeling drag and a few good runs before it tired out enough to get it close to the canal wall. No net would have meant hand lining it up and possibly damaging its mouth. I was able to shake it loose. Definitely want to try catching another one someday.

Both the Mach I and Mach II combos have been redesigned since 2017 the date of the original post. I have the original Mach I and Mach II combos. Broke the rod on the Mach II combo high sticking a catch while in my kayak. Would I purchase them again if I had the chance. Probably not. The reels are graphite framed and have a habit of disengaging on a hard cast leaving the gears to make a horrible grinding noise. None of my aluminum framed Lew’s reels so this. a Lew’s TP 1 Black rod with a Lew’s Tournament MP reel would blow any of the Mach combos out of the water.

Grats! I have been working for the same organization for 16 years. I are received a bonus every year since I have been there. As a manager I tell my team, don’t expect a bonus and be pleasantly surprised when you get one. When you expect something is when you can be disappointed when it doesn’t happen. Unfortunately my bonus this year will go to pay for new brakes on my car and my son’s car. Those are the breaks sometimes ??

I travel light on my kayak fishing sessions. 3 rods, 1 topwater lure, 1 Texas rig and usually 1 dedicated to panfishing or a wacky worm rig. 3 bags of soft plastics and 1 small tackle box full of terminal tackle. All of that fits in my fishing PFD pockets.

My Pro TI is three years old and doesn’t have the Lew’s “P2 pinion bearing” their newer less expensive reels have. My Lew’s inshore LFS reel I bought last year has this bearing. That being said my Pro TI is a fantastic reel. I have caught 9+ pound Channel Catfish on it with no issues from not having this support bearing. I would not dream of selling it for missing this part.

136 grams according to an EBay description of one for sale.

I love my old Abu Garcia Cardinal spinning reels. I still have a 752 with the price sticker from Herman’s sporting goods store still on the box. The store doesn’t exist anymore but the reel does.

New for 2021 St Croix Bass X would be my choice.

Congrats! One of the nicest folks on these forums, Great choice!

It’s really upsetting when it’s fishing related trash. You would hope folks that fish would care what ends up in the water.

In the YouTube world I get annoyed at anglers that set the hook on a fish and immediately start saying “Biggun” on every fish or claim they got a 10 pounder over and over while reeling in a Bass that weighs 3 to 4:pounds at most. In the real world, my anger is directed at litterbugs and unleashed dog walkers. My local spots are trashed by fishermen, empty tubs of worms, chicken livers, discarded line and such. Just disgraceful. The signs on the trails by my local stretch of river say keep your dog on a leash. I have yet to see someone obey that law. I have had dogs jump on me, nose around in my bait and tackle bags, growl and bark at me. I carry some tear gas spray I pray I never have to use as I generally love dogs but I am not getting bit.

I also have a pair of the Rapala Mag Spring pliers that I like. They are offset design and use magnets rather than a spring to keep them open and ready for use. The only complaint I have is the cheap sheath you get with them.

I have a few Kastking reels (Baitcasters and Spinning) I have purchased over the years. Stealth, Assassin, Whitemax, Sharky 2 and 3, Speed Demon, Pontus, Mela and Centron. The only one I still use with any regularity is the Speed Demon. If I were to buy another Kasking it would be the Crixus Armor X baitcaster as it seems the best bang for the Buck aluminum framed baitcaster they have. I would recommend getting an Abu Garcia Black Max over anything else they have under $70 and a Lew’s LFS over anything they offer over $100. For spinning reels I highly recommend their Sharky 2 or Sharky 2 gold (aluminum framed) I have lots of Kastking tools I use all the time.

Unimaginable tragedy. My heart goes out to all those families.

Great pliers. I highly recommend them as well. They go on sale from time to time. Especially this time of year.

I haven’t seen a Bass since late October fishing from shore. November and December on the upper Hudson River had been all Yellow Perch, Pickerel and Pike. Temps are way above normal the last few days into this week. I went fishing this morning and got skunked. First time in awhile. Going to try again in a few days. It will be hibernation time for me until early April.

I still have mine. The paint is chipped but the reel still works. I wouldn’t use it over my newer reels.

Just me and the ducks out this cold morning at sunrise.

I am option 4 which would read “None of the above” I dropped out of college in year 2 Military service would have killed my Mom. She lost her brother in Vietnam and my father was a different person when he came home from the Army. I suffer from clumsiness. If I went to trade school I would be voted most likely to die by accident. I didn’t do to bad for myself. Any job I had I was able to rise to higher positions. First job was in a warehouse loading, unloading trucks. In a few short months I was working in the front office. Second job was in a bank. In a few short years I was managing the vault. In my current job I was made a manager in a year. All without college. My secret is common sense and wisdom. Two things that are hard to come by in our current times. I would look at where I was, see what works and leave that be and work at finding common sense solutions to issues I came across. Being able to make a decision helps. I can’t tell you how many people I have come across in my day that are afraid to. I witnessed the COO of our organization let a team member be insubordination to her in front of the whole office. When she asked me what I would have done I told her I would have sent the individual home on the spot. As she was walking out I would have told her she would be getting a call from me to discuss her employment with the organization.

I agree with this sound advice. I grew up in a place where you had to be “man enough” to say something to someone’s face rather than call the cops. Those days are over. Have been for a long time. People take you reaching out as an offense. How dare you tell them what to do on their property! Better to let the authorities handle it