VTFan

My rods are stored in an overhead rod rack in my barn 24/7 which is unheated year round and I never have a problem with fluro except for a little minor line coil which is easily fixed by stretching it out and putting a little tension on it, much like a fish pulling on the other end. I also have also left my lures tied to the line and never had a problem and I'm 68 years young. JMHO

I too use Power Pro hi viz yellow. It fades over the course of a season of fishing. Never used 832 so I can't say from experience how the two compare. May try 832 next time.

KVD 1.5 squarebill, sexy shad color. 8 lb. 8 oz.

Zoom trick worms and Senko's for me. I really loved the Dudley Wackys except they are not durable at all. No matter if I used rings or bands, one or two fish is all I could get out of one worm.

I use an old laptop computer bag that has a shoulder strap and holds one 3600 box for bank fishing. The zipper compartments come in handy for bags of plastics etc... My bigger 5 tray tackle bag only gets taken in the boat.

I tried Spider Wire and immediately hated that stuff! To me it was very stiff and almost felt brittle. I agree with PBBrandon on the 832 and PowerPro.

Fluro to braid on spinning. Straight fluro or braid on casting depending on the lure.

My new PB caught last August while fishing with my brother. 8 lbs 8 oz, 23" long. Here in Virginia that's citation on length and weight.

I am the same way. Right or wrong that's the way I learned it as a kid and it works to this day at 68 yrs old. As you said, to each his own.

At 68 I can relate to all of what OkobojiEagle listed. My balance has really worsened in the past few years. Now a days when I'm fishing from a boat I make sure I have an empty coffee can for the purpose of 'mother nature's call' so I don't have to stand near the edge of the boat.

Personally I use 40# Power Pro on my casting reels with absolutely no issues. Using 30# Power Pro with fluro leader on my spinning reels. I'll get the occasional backlash or wind knot depending on which reel I'm using. I found out the hard way that overfilling either reel can cause problems. JMHO

Just curious how XPS fluro stacks up against Berkley Vanish...which is what I've been using for a few years. To me Vanish is ok but on the stiff side. Thanks in advance.

I too have no words except to tell you you are in my prayers.

Amen!!! My brother can wear them out on a DS but I just do not have the patience for it. I laughed but I fell for it as well. I still have a couple somewhere. Caught a few with them but again, I got caught by the bait monster.

I found that if I overspool my spinning reels with braid I will get wind knots. Once I removed maybe a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch of line it pretty much solved the problem. I still occasionally get a wind knot but it's rare and most of the time when I do I just make sure the knot is wet and pull on it and it...un-knots itself. JMHO

For years I would not touch a spinning outfit due to wind knots when using mono or fluro. Then I decided what the heck and gave braid a try on spinning and I love it!! Currently I have 30# Power Pro braid with a...either 17 or 20# fluro leader and before next season I plan to switch to 15# fluro leader. With this setup I fish mainly wacky's.

Just something that makes one wonder about the finickyness of bass. Lets say two anglers in the same boat, both fishing...lets say a drop shot, same set up, same lure...everything. Or lets say they are both throwing the same color crankbait, same setup...line, reel speed...everything but only one of them is getting bit. They are fishing the same depth water, same everything but one is getting bit and the other isn't. Got to be something there the bass don't like.

Being a recreational and somewhat of a budget fisherman I fish everything but wacky's and ned's,..stuff of that nature on the same rods. Usually I'll have a couple M/H casting rods and at least one medium spinning rod in the boat. I have one 7:1 casting reel that I do use for topwater. Just me.

Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and beetlespins were the ticket for me this year. I caught my new PB...8 lbs, 8 oz... on a KVD 1.5 in sexy shad color. It had been years since I had any sort of luck on cranks. Same for spinnerbaits. Black or white willow leaf spinners worked great for me as well. Sometimes the bite was better if I down sized and threw a beetlespin, again in either black or white. What did not work for me this year was wacky rigging. Over the past 2 or 3 years the wacky had been my go to bait but not so this year. It just wasn't happening for some reason.

Personally I had to go to braid with fluro leader using an FG knot. Don't have to worry about line twist anymore. Longer cast, more sensitivity. Love it when using wacky rigs etc... If I do happen to occasionally get a wind knot I just make sure the knot is wet and pull and it will come right out. Just what works for me.

I'm a firm believer that bass become accustomed to baits, colors, retrieves. For the past two years in my local pond I was tearing them up with a wacky rig. This year.....I bet I haven't caught 5 bass on a wacky rig. I remember one year the bait of choice was a super shallow running crankbait, another year it was a chatterbait. JMHO.

I heard Bill Dance say 'Wind out of the east, fish bite the least' but as someone else said, an east wind isn't going to stop me from going fishing if I have the time to fish. JMHO.

I used to be a tackle junkie. Now a days I stick to a few basic colors of the baits that work for me that I carry in a single Plano box. Not carrying that big Tackle Warehouse tackle bag with me on every trip anymore. I enjoy Matt and Tim but they do go very in depth and get a bit lengthy sometimes. JMHO

I personally never used them. Don't know why, just didn't even though my brother used them and caught the heck out of bass and did until he picked up a wacky rig and a drop shot rig. My humble opinion is that people try new things and the old stuff sort of gets laid by the wayside. I myself went back to some old school Beetle Spins this year for bass and..yep...they still catch bass like they did thirty years ago. JMHO

Problem solved. Too much line on the spool. How I made that bonehead mistake I do not know. Cast like a dream now...and I knew better!!!