Bird

Very very good to hear. Hope you really enjoy yourself on the water this year.

What to tell a man who just lost a son.......Wow Tom, extremely sorry. Praying for some relief for you and your family and loved ones.

Any of the 8 cylinder half ton offerings will handily tow 4K and give a nice ride when not towing. When you move up to 2500 series trucks you gain beefier components and payload but your nowhere near that requirement. Imo The 1500's I've towed with were 5.3 vortec Chevy's and 5.7 Hemi's, both engines were outstanding and would play with 4000 lbs. I've since moved to 2500 6.4 Hemi but tow a 30ft RV with my boat in the bed.

I use a 7'3 HF, but you need to pair it with a high speed reel in pads and cattails. IMO

Buggs island is intimidating. Lol I stayed on one side then reversed back to where the wife and I were camping. Prefer lake Norman of all lakes in NC.

Hunting season is over and lakes are iced.......chasing the wife around and watching Football.

Black is actually a great color for stained water no matter what the bait is. About all the lakes I fish are gin clear and all I've been throwing is Roboworms in morning glory, Aaron's magic and people's worm when I drop shot.

Ain't that the truth, jeesh.

When I tie on one of my confidence baits....it stays on all day. Lol I pre-tie everything the night before depending on body of water , usually take 5 sticks. BUT I will change retrieve and drop rate in search of fish. A prime example would be a Jerkbait , I've had to turn a twitch into an absolute aggressive boat rock'n jerk and bass started slamming it......power fishing at it's finest. Lol So, what I tie on the night before is staying on, I'm stubborn.

I use Kastking speed Demon Pro's, have several and really like them. To early to comment on durability though. I will say Amazon reviews are very good.

Yes I do the same and does take practice. Where I may differ is I always engage bail by hand.....habit and how and what I use spinning reels for.

I'd say a 7ft MF throws more baits than any other set-up, everyone should have. Where the baitcaster would excel in grand fashion is setting the brake for a certain distance " shore line " and throwing baits like spinnerbaits, buzzbaits , chatterbaits where it's paramount that the bait be in line and moving when it hits the water. I throw a LOT of spinnerbaits and a baitcaster just lays it in the water in perfect harmony with blade movement. Many reaction strikes are instantaneous. To answer your question....you need both.

I wouldn't give up on DS, fun way to fish. Try a 4 1/2" Robo.

Gamakatsu finesse wide gap 1.0 All I've used for years.

Drop-shot is a staple on my boat and hook ratio has been very good. What line and rod are you using ?

SM. White fluke LM. PB&J ZinkerZ

I have to agree, Titans need near perfection to win at KC. Niners easily.

My wallet may not be as fat as some but my frugal ways must count for something. Lol Best for the money across the board: #1 Lews #2. Kastking Is it coincidence that I fish both ?

I have some on the way and thought they'd be great for Neko rig. Really like the durability of TRD.

Mobasser, I'm not stalking you. Lol Good question as I'm an advocate of reel maintenance. I personally inspect every new reel apon purchase and yet to find one that wasn't sufficiently greased from factory. I do however perform annual maintenance and then use my preferred grease.....Rock&Roll super slick.

Some of the lakes locally that I fish eliminate all jigging techniques with jig heads due to algae/vegetation growth. I've had the best luck with bristle guards but even better by simply shoving in a tungsten weight on desired bait and hooking weedless when battling the aquatic jungle.

I love most everything about kayak fishing, the solitude, simplicity and efficiency of just throwing it in the truck and going. My boat actually has a motor pod.....Jonnyboats Bass 100 made by FeelFree. My only gripe: I lost the casting accuracy I had on the big standing platform of my Nitro but firmly sticking with the kayak.

As robust as baitcasters are and great tools for fishing, I believe spinning reels are a better choice for light applications. About the lightest I go for bass fishing would be 1/16 oz jig heads used for Ned rigs and use 6'6-7' med to med light rods paired with a 3000 series spinning reels. Google finesse fishing to get a better understanding of lighter techniques for Bass fishing.

I over casted a dock and hung my Jerkbait only to have a dog race out and ****** it. My friend was laughing insanely as I yelled GET ME OVER THERE !! as my drag was peeling. It actually ended well though. It was a friendly dog which allowed me to headlock him and remove hooks.