pressphotog

This sport is supposed to be fun and relaxing but the hate that goes on in the reports thread has honestly pushed me away from participating. We're not all going to get along with each other and that's ok. Please just be adults about it and bite your tongue so we all don't have to be burdened by the nonsense being spewed. Honestly... I'm embarrassed for you all.

The waters near me have been absolutely filthy dirty. The rivers are filling with seaweed, the bay and some ocean waters are littered with human trash and so I put the big rod down and found a section of beach that was good enough to see if any fluke were around. I found 7 the best one being this 17 inches or so. I didn't see any other fish caught.

The fish I was hitting in the ocean have moved on and out front was slow except for some larger but not quite tackle busting size blues in big water crashing on a bar. I decided to try instead something different and hit a spot wayyyyy different for me on light tackle and had an absolute blast on 24-29inch fish. First one came on hydro minnow and then next 7 came on the bucktail.

I rarely if ever get wind knots - in a season I can count on one hand the few times it happens. My normal routine after the lure lands is to flip the bail and pull my line taught on the reel then do my thing. This works for me and I never have issues. I think too a key to this is not to overcast - let the rod and lure do the work and me sure you stay in constant contact with your lure. Sometimes low almost side arm casts works wonders in wind too. Just work the conditions you have with a plan. The water and wind will tell you when it's not working by splitting the lure back at you and if this happens it's probably time to find a new spot.

I was throwing 2 oz and was just and I mean just making the bar on low tide. I don't think that size would have worked in the shallow water if the wind and sweep wasn't strong otherwise I would have been dragging bottom.

My outing are not often like this. I was in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you get lucky. All of my BT are tipped with OtterTail short split tail. I have tried many others from the long to the twist kind and the short straight split is by far my best producer of fish.

Fished an hour out front on my lunch break on an ugly tide but some nice look white water on the bar. If I could reach the bar I had fish on the backside lip on every few or more casts. Most fish were 30 inches with a mid 30's sprinkled in. All fish on the bucktail. Wind was a challenge but fishable. Lost a jumbo blue too that cut me off at my feet. I ended with 9 fish and for the spot, conditions and water I was working with I'll take it.

My wife and I went on our first date here and more after that. No matter what goes up there the memories of meeting the love of my life and the journey I was sent on from here will never be forgotten.

I have mine paired with down with a smaller reel so it's perfectly light for me and a pleasure to fish all day and not feel it at the end of it either. I 100% agree 5 ounces is not in the comfort range of the rod at all and I have the Ti guides on both my evolutions. I rarely have to fish that heavy the biggest I throw on it are large Danny's

I totally get how fishing style and location can matter. In the end most fishing rods are strong but once fractured with bumps and bruises modern rods just don't handle that well. If I need to fish a spot where I or the gear might get banged around I would opt to fish some of my oldest gear built to go into battle like that. Thankfully those days for me are limited.

I have fished all the brands. St. Croix, Loomis, Lamiglass, Century. I currently have 2 Evolutions - the 9 and 10 foot and they have been an absolute pleasure to fish. They are light and do all I ask it to do from calm to the worst of conditions with all of the lures I fish big and small. I find it interesting that guys who are just horribly rough on their gear complain things break. I am not saying this pointing at Goldy either. This is a very general statement - I have a few friends who trash their stuff then complain things go wrong. The reality is your things broke because of how you treat your stuff and not because the brand you use sucks. I take meticulous care of my gear and guess what I have next to no breakdowns and have decades of gear in perfect working order to prove it. A lot can be learned from this. Nearly all modern gear is the same - treat it right and it will treat you right.

A little 12 inch dink on a bucktail saved me from a skunk and another hit was all I could account for today. I will say the minute that dink was caught I got mugged by another fisherman. Seriously! Mugged over a 12 inch fish.

I have officially seen it all. This morning I watched a fisherman roll up close to me. Puts pvc pipe in the sand. Takes out pole just barely and I mean barely able to chuck bait. Takes a WHOLE UN-SHUCKED clam then proceeds to grab a battery drill from his bucket. He drills hole in clam shell. Put whole clam with hole now in the clamshell and launches it about a whole 25 feet if that on this rod that was crying for mercy. He then proceeded to cast and retrieve this rig for the next 20 minutes - I couldn't watch it anymore. I left. I wanted to record this situation but didn't want to embarrass this person.

Fished an hour at lunch and has a thick little 30 inch fish in skinny water on my back bay rod. It was a heck of a fun fight on that lighter gear. There was other fish there crashing adult and peanut bunker by the thousands but I could not connect and time ran out and I had to get back to work. I too were seeing LOTS of swimming worms too so a hatch is underway. No photo... it would be a gross spot burn if I did.

EDITED: This was meant for jcubelo23 sorry for the confusion. This isn't the first post like this - I tried to dm too after the same kind report on the 12. The day after there was 8 guys and two boats all the way in the back of that spot - you should edit that post and do better to protect the spots your fish and not burn it down to the ground. I get your learning but I felt it worth mentioning the result of posts with backgrounds that clearly show the location.