Fishing

[The_Red_Man]

Texas rigging is best for swimming a worm through dense vegetation. Typically you want to swim just above or through the very top of the grass/weeds. Really, you don't need a lot of weight if there's no strong wind or current, I sometimes use no weight if it's calm.

Get a feel for what the grass feels like. My grandfather would say "if you ain't in the grass, you ain't in the bass". If they're there, they're going to smash it and try to drag it back down into cover, so make sure you have a decent rod, like medium to medium heavy with a fast tip.

 

[WonderWino]

I'd recommend picking up a creepy crawlers kit. No, really. I've been using one for years to make custom worm and insect bait. There are sites that produce non toxic goop in every color you could need and a few places that still sell old stocks of some of the more exotic stuff like the stretchy or color changing versions. If you know what you're trying to catch you can make custom worms for it and can add various attractant scents and things like glitter, set hooks and whatnot directly to the goop while its a liquid before you cook it. Its a bit of a trial and error thing but i've had pretty good results on bass, salmon and trout. Not as cheap as buying premade lures obviously but you can get worms and such that are exactly what you want and alot more likely to attract certain species this way

 

[Count Grishnackh]

In general I agree, though one of my favorite surf combos is a cheap 9' rod/6000-size reel Penn Wrath spinner that I bought for ~$60 new and swapped out the drag washers for a carbon fiber stack that was an additional $20. As long as you're good about cleaning and maintenance, you can make budget gear work for a good while.

Also, I know that a lot of anglers look down their nose at them, but KastKing makes some decent stuff if you don't mind imported gear. The Kapstan spinner I've got mated to a 10' Ugly Stik Bigwater rod is pretty nice and IPX6-rated for water intrusion. They also make what I think are some of the best 3600/3700 tackle boxes in the business.

KastKing and Picifun(same company) make quality, affordable inshore reels. I have a Picifun 2000 and 3000 Carbon X spin reels, they have better drag and are smoother than my Shimano Saharas. They will seize when exposed to saltwater/sand, and I tear my reels all the way down. I'm not big on spin reels for the surf, I love the Daiwa Sealine-X series conventionals, and Ambassadeurs. Not a fan of UglyStik surf rods, base is good, tips are too flimsy. I just replaced a Tsunami 10' with a Penn Battalion II 11'. That Penn is a very nice rod for the money.

 

[WhatInTheActualFuck]

Threw the surf rods into the truck for a trip today. Surf was a little high but managed to pull a few whiting and pomps. Tossed em back, since I didn't bring the big cooler and was mostly just whiling away a lazy Saturday. For as much time as I was out there, the day flew by.