ww2farmer

Good luck Dwight. Best wishes from my family and I to you. Get well and get back on the water.

"regular" Pflueger President, size 6930............$59.99..................done. Spend the other 20 bucks on tackle.

Versatility..............I have limited room in my boat. I don't need/want 15-20 rods for each and every technique. 4 casting rods, and 2 spinning rods cover 90% of what I do most of the time.

I carry both (and 3") 5" is my go to size for Largemouth 4" is my go to for smallmouth or for when the largemouth are being ornery. 3" for when nothing is biting LOL

I like ML spinning rods for drops shotting in open water or very sparse cover.

I prefer Yum dingers over senkos any day of the week, and twice on sundays. A dinger with a 1/16th oz wacky jig, or 1/16 oz belly weighted EWG or screw lock hook falls darn near at EXACTLY the same rate as a weightless Senko..................and once you add that little bit of weight to a dinger it has the "magic wiggle" that people go ape for with senkos..............heck even weightless a dinger still has a little shimmy. A pack of dingers + a pack of wacky jigs/weighted hooks is still cheaper and more durable than a pack of senkos/unweighted hooks, so it's a win win for me. Plus if you want a bait that falls SLOWER weightless than a senko, you have that option with a dinger. I have never been out fished by any one who's bag of stick baits said "GYCB" on them, when I have been fishing DIngers, if a guy beat me with a senko, it's because of where he was putting it and how he was fishing it that day.............not the because of the name on the bag. There is a long list of guys around here who have given me their money at the end of the day who fish with "better" stuff than I do. LOL

This ^^^^.............I find the 30 size to be "just right".

I use it for everything................if it's wrong, I don't want to be right.

In my Tracker, that's what the "under the seat" storage is for..........the front deck compartments are for tackle. My boat is not that big, but under the seats are two life jackets, a throwable cushion, the paddle, running lights, spare TM prop, small tool/hardware kit, first aid kit, rain suit, anchor, two lengths of rope, weigh-in bag/cull tags, a package of assorted zip ties, a roll of duct and electrical tape, drift sock, signaling device, extra plug, and a wad of plastic grocery bags for trash.

As a beginner, is it safe to assume your have no exp. with bait casting equipment? If so, get your feet wet with spinning gear. I can highly recommend a Pflueger Trion in the TR30 size for $39.99 from Walmart, with a 7' M Berkley Lightning Rod shock spinning rod, also $39.99 from Walmart. A little more than $50, but at $50 for an entire combo, your going to be pretty limited to some less than stellar gear. Where as the Trion/Lightning Rod combo, while being inexpensive, is not cheap junk, and will serve you well as you find your way.

It's probably the most versatile color there is. It works in ultra clear water (despite conventional wisdom) to the dirtiest of water. Is it my first choice? No, but it is often my 2nd, and if I could only have one, it would be a real coin flip between black/blue or green pumpkin.

Kidding aside. This is like the 45acp vs 9mm, Glock vs 1911,etc...debates Your going to have fan boys on either side, who , sometimes irrationally, claim one is better than the other, I see this argument almost daily on several gun topic related forums. It always breaks down into a peeing contest that serves no real purpose, other than people identifying what there favorite stuff is. For the record, I am firmly in the AR fan boy camp. Yes, even in NY, we can still have AR's. I know of almost no other platform, that an idiot like me can fully assemble from a box of parts in on my kitchen table, with a minimum of tools, into a fully functioning, reliable, accurate firearm in a multitude of calibers. I have built two in 5.56/.223 that have been trouble free for many many rounds, a third 5.56/.223 project on going, and also a 300 blackout project in the early stages. I have no interest in a .308/7.62x51 AR at the time due to the lack of industry wide standardization between everyone's offerings. Even vendors who use the "DPMS" platform, often have issues with cross compatibility problems with other brands using the DPMS template, it's too confusing for an idiot like me. My choice in a 30 cal./7.62 platform is the "outdated" M1 Garand or the Springfield inc. M1A.

HEY!! HEY!!.................some people have it on the DVR and haven't watched it all yet...............ZIP IT. LOL.

Very little in the way of local stores out here in the sticks. We got one guy, a couple towns over, that caters to the local bass guys. But he doesn't carry much of what I like/use.............nice guy though, and his prices are decent. I stop once or twice a year, and grab a few things just to be friendly. But other than that, nothing around here.

sounds like my kind of place. I fish a a similar area around here. It is not easy to get to by boat, so most boats stay out, since mine is paid for and I have people that weld aluminum, I ram in it in there. 90% of the bank fisherman in there are friendly, and don't mind, and I go out of my way to not disturb them, the other 10%................well lets just say, altercations have happened.

Every WNY bass resource member has a standing invite to fish with me any time, any where.........it's kind of devious on my part. On Silver it's to show off and dazzle people with my skills LOL. On Conesus.....................it's to back the trailer in the water, I hate that ramp.

What he said...........I am one of these "most people". 7' for me,

The airsoft game called, they want the internet gun experts to report back for serious operations.

Well clearly it's.........................................I have no idea, how about a picture.

I find him entertaining at times, over the top often, but I like what he does.It's good to have some personality in fishing. Heck I can watch a bunch of middle aged, grumpy, lying jerks (myself included) on my own local tournament trails, I don't need EVERY ONE on TV to be like that too. Him and I would be like oil and water, but I still would like to take him fishing, and push him off the boat................. because that would be entertaining too.

Welcome................Man, lots of WNYer's around here now...............I better start keeping my trap shut LOL.

It will help. I have fished fluke style baits with braid and a fluorocarbon leader for many years now and like a little weight on the hook instead of "asking" the sender fluoro. leader to help pull the bait down. A small split shot crimped on the shank of the hook works great...up near the nose if you want the fluke to fall in a nose slightly down position, or back near the bend for a more horizontal fall. Other options that I like include: #1: just use a heavy wire hook, sometimes just the extra weight of the heavier hook is all that's needed for conditions #2 : use a hook with the weight already pre-molded to the shaft. I really like the VMC "Drop dead" hooks, and they are about the only thing I use for fluke style baits anymore. #3 : I am a big fan of the alberto knot for joining fluoro to braid, but sometimes with a fluke, I will NOT use this not, and substitute a small swivel. The swivel adds weight and helps keep the bait down. I shortern my leaders up when I do this, so I am not constantly reeling the swivel through the tip guide #4: Buy a fluke style bait that has a denser salt content. I gave up on Zoom because they are TOO buoyant, I tried several other denser baits, and liked them a lot better. The GYCB D-shad was one, the SK Caffeine Shad was another, and my personal favorite bait of this style is from Havoc called "the jerk". It's denser than the Zoom baits, but not soo salt laden like the SK and GYCB....which IMHO made those two, very fragile.

If my name was Wayne, I'd answer.

I am so not "that guy" that I might as well be the poster child for K.I.S.S. as it pertains to bass fishing.

If you want a rod that's just as tuff as the ugly sticks, but far lighter and more suited for bass fishing with "feel" baits like jigs and soft plastics, look at the Berkley Lightning Rod Shocks. They are $40 or so, and I think highly enough of them to keep them around and mixed in with custom made rods I use. I have broke a couple...............but they have all been broke in user induced comedy of errors. I broke a 6'6" M casting rod once when a pike bit off my last of a certain jerkbait on Conesus lake, and I threw the rod down hard in disgust on the gunnel of wnybassmans boat, breaking it in half. I broke a 6'6" M spinning rod skipping stick baits under docks, and wasn't paying attention and went for a wild backhand cast, and wailed the rod on the TM shaft breaking it off. I broke the tip off a 7' MH casting rod shutting it the door of my rod locker and I broke a 7' M spinning rod trying to be cute, and dead lift a 4lb smallmouth with the rod in a "high stick" fashion. I have a dozen more of them, and when I am not going full stupid, have held up just fine.