Burntorangefan

Had company over the weekend and my friend's 8-year old wanted to catch a shark. We headed out on Puget Sound with nothing but jigs and Trick Worms because I had nothing set up for saltwater fishing. Within 10 minutes we hooked a 3 foot dogfish on a California Trick Worm. Bonus points because it was Shark Week! I never thought in a million years we'd get lucky like that, but Zoom came thru in the clutch again like they seem to always do. Great products, great people!

I'll combine a couple of comments and weigh in: I really like Shadow Raps and they work very well. That being said, I don't pick them over 110s and typically throw them when I'm targeting a narrow area and I'm worried about damaging a 110 or in musky water. I literally lost (2) 110s in the spring to separate tiger muskies and it's hard to explain the feeling of losing $50 in tackle when it was doing what it was designed to do!

@roadwarriorI tried to send you request for info via PM but not sure if it went thru. First time using it...

Congrats on your new combo! Like so many others, I'm also a big fan of St Croix. I own a variety in different shapes and sizes, as well as Loomis (home team, I live in WA) and I believe St Croix is the best large maker of rods in the country. Only way to beat one is custom, IMO. Post a pic of your first catch if you have time!

I tell them to breathe through a straw...

Yeah, one thing I learned is that if the rescue doesn't work on the first pass or two, it's not going to work and requires a full fledged breathing treatment. Regarding your feeling today, don't hesitate to go back. Trust your gut. You know how you feel and the ***** of asthma is that it really does kill people every year, even though most of us consider it an inconvenience. EDIT: regarding the pneumonia diagnosis, see "trust your gut" above. Could save your life.

I've had horrible asthma most of my life (I'm 43). I've had to do the ER run several times and once crawled thru the doors at the ER because I couldn't get enough air to walk. That was the closest I've come to having it kill me. Took FIVE breathing treatments to open my lungs back up. I was put on Advair 250/50 that day and haven't looked back. Other than scaling down in the Advair dosage, it's been a game changer. I now take the 150/50 and only once a day (it's supposed to be 2x) and don't even carry a rescue inhaler any longer. I use it randomly during the year but the 200 puffs can literally go all year and it used to last only 2 weeks.

Russ RUSS is exactly right. In my line of work we often pull 20' trailers with several units of plywood on them and the differences between an F150 and 350 are huge, but the largest is the ability to STOP the load. I'd strongly encourage you to consider a smaller V6 powered truck or SUV.

Totally agree. I tie it for everything I can, with notable exception being a drop shot (Palomir). It's just quick and easy to tie and strong as hell. It's also a lot easier to tie when my hands are cold or wet.

IMO, San Diego Jam

I have a couple of the original size and love them. You can burn them quickly or start and stop, varying pauses, etc and the bass really crush them. I especially like them on a windy day when the surface chop is too much for a WP or other topwater.

Cowboys all day long. Need a plastic worm in Dallas colors! There's an idea for sponsors: if everyone is convinced they can catch bass in any color, someone should put out a line of NFL/College Football team colors. Tell me the Crimson Tide fans wouldn't jump on those like crazy.

Or a closet Iggles fan which would be worse!

I don't think it matters, necessarily. Or at least it's way down the list of things that do. That being said, this was more of a fun exercise in whether there are other colors that you'd use a football team's colors to describe it to someone.

Or the Michigan State Spartans. This is kind of what I was thinking of, where even the shade matters. The green here, for example, wouldn't match a lot of Greens on teams, but it's perfect for Sparty/JETS

So I was describing to another guy the color of the jerkbait we had some success on last weekend (Rapala Shadow Rap - Silver) as being black on top and silver on bottom - like Oakland Raider colors - and it made me wonder what other football teams colors work in bass fishing. Anyone have other ideas of lure colors that you might describe to someone using a football team color analogy?

Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm, Crosstail Shad when the bites get tough. Haven't tried the Bubbring Shaker yet, but will eventually. Recently we've started using Z-man plastics and they work well too and last longer. TRD and the larger one both have been really good.

HK P30SK daily in all but winter months. Full size P30 when I get to cover with sweatshirts, jackets, etc. Both gums are light LEM. A choice that was made after years of carrying DA/SA.

Can't help with braid but I only tie a San Diego Jam on fluoro and I don't think it's ever failed. Great knot!

I also really like the teardrops from WCT in 3/16 or 1/4. Quick off and on and I've never lost one on a fish or bottom. Might not have quite as much luck if the bottom was full of vegetation, but our lakes are mostly rocky bottoms.

Carrot or stick? Carrot: as mentioned, in most states the licenses help fund conservation efforts so you can feel good about doing your part. Stick: in WA, you can actually lose your BOAT for fishing without a license. Compared to fines, that's just barbaric.

Smallies are aggressive buggers. As everyone else said, they're quite fond of 110s.

I can also attest to the sensitivity of the Legend Extreme 6-10 MLXF rods. I have a brand new one that saw time on the water this past weekend and I'm very impressed. I'd consider the sensitivity on par with Loomis GLX and NRX. I also have a Legend Tournament Bass that I really like, but it's not in that league - nor in price to be fair. I don't mind the reel seat of the LE, though YMMV. I don't have any practical experience with the lighter spinning setups of other companies, so I can't be helpful in that regard. So on rods, I think since money appears to no longer be any object I'd lean LE or Legend Elite, GLX or NRX. On reels, I'm a fan of Daiwa and their MagSealed offerings may work for your salty desires. Some folks like to tinker with their reels and if you're one of them, they may not be for you. I am not, and they work well for me. But again, they aren't cheap......

The XF tips (or even fast) bend too high up the blank for cranks, imo. You want something like their new Legend Glass.

Hope this helps: I have a LTB 63MXF that I really enjoy but felt was a little too stiff for DS. Its a really common technique out here and we fish it A LOT in water up to 40 feet. Anyway, the little 63 helped me land a 50" tiger Muskie last year if that gives you an idea of the power these rods have. That being said, to me the Med is a little too stiff and I took advantage of being in WI last week and picked up a Legend Extreme 610MLXF. I've not fished it yet but I'm pretty geeked to try it. In my hands, it feels like the perfect combo for DS and Ned rigs. I know people split hairs between light jigs and DS, but I plan on using it for both.