Bubba 460

All things in moderation. I can fish when I want.  My kids are all grown and have their own lives. My wife has her job as a teacher in a private school and loves it and is a homebody in the summer. I usually fish on average 4-5 days a week, sometimes more, sometimes less all year. Depending on the weather or what water I want to fish. Personally I like smaller bodies of water, under 100 ac. Gnarly is my cup of tea over open water. Standing timber, stumps, lay-downs, pads, lots of pads. grass, feeding flats. I hunt for bass in their lair. The presentation for me is the fun thing; to have a bass slam a frog on the pads or next to that lay-down that you just know a bass is hunkered under and to get him to commit. That explosion of water on a big Whopper Plopper or that subtle 'tic" on a wacky.     Age dictates time on the water coupled with productivity. After about 3 or 4 hours the pain starts, how much pain I put up with depends on how the fish are responding so bring pain killers.  On a good day I can put up with a lot of pain. Used to stand most of the time now I sit most of the time. Now it hurts to do either so I switch.    You can not enjoy fishing if you are preoccupied with worrying about personal things, family, health, or anything that is constantly on your mind. It will eventually pass and you'll know when it's time to hit the water again. A break can be a good thing and there's always something to do around the house that fishing has kept you from doing. I really don't have another "hobby" at this time but I do enjoy physical work over mind exercises when I am not fishing.

I have two  Pflueger Presidents that are nearly 40 years old and still work. I have retired them as they are beat to death. I have two Pflueger Supremes and two Patriarchs (each 12 years and still great ).  All are spinning reels and have two bait casters as well. I have not owned a  Pflueger XT but almost bought one a month ago and still might. I have no complaints with the Pflueger spinning reels I have bought and for the money they did what was expected for a reel of that class. I have used them for over 50 years. For the $50-$60 price range of the President it hard to beat ~ IMHO.