Ok, I want them... where and how? Those are nasty...
Look at the type of water your fishing and where you want your fishing to go... if your fishing small ponds or small lakes you can get away with an inexpensive John boat or even float tube, if your fishing larger lakes or river systems, you need a bigger boat to move around efficiently and deal with rougher water safely. Are you just fishing cause you have nothing better to do? Are you fishing cause that's all you want to do? Do you want to fish competitively? To answer your question directly, if your serious about your fishing, you'll want a boat... you don't have to start with a ranger but if you really have the bug... well, you'll probably end up there... ha ha...
That's a rock bass, nuisance fish up here in NE... Warmouth are a cross between a Smallmouth and Spotted bass, they won't have a spot on the top of their gill plate and look pretty close to a smallie.....
Dude hands down I would found the biggest treble hooked lure I had and planted it squarely in the back of that tools head... I have zero tolerance for idiots on the water... understanding we were all idiots once, that's just lack of courtesy/ common sense... casting practice.
One of my favorite set ups I have is a BPS pro qualifier 2 matched to an ABU vendetta 7'3' MH I actually have two of these set ups and I use them frequently along with several other bait casting set ups costing significantly more money... but I have to say, the pro qualifier2/vendetta combo has been a work horse for me and performed flawlessly! The Lews stuff in that range will serve you well also... on a side note, I picked up a Daiwa Pro cast combo at dicks for $99.00 and I gotta say, I actually really like the rod... reel is a on the cheap side but it works fine...
You really want to take the chance when you hook that fish of a life time? Nope rods aren't supposed to talk to you...
I'm 6'1" and anything under 7' feels like a a toy to me. In fact the only 7 footers I have are used for jerk baits and drop shots. Longer rods obviously cast further but crucial for me is that they move more line on a hook set fishing deep and on those extra long casts... my favourite all around casting rods are 7'6" but I also have a couple 8 footers for flipping, pitching and swim baits...
If your offended or irritated by a conversation about God, then your probably not all that bright opening up a thread titled " A preacher and his sermon..." just saying... maybe you should look for a safer hobby? There's a lot of sharp objects in those them there tackle boxes...
I look at it like this, apart from the differences in nerve perception ( their brains don't process pain the way we do, they feel pressure) fish have no moral dilemma with killing and eating anything they can, even past the point of necessity (they will eat regurgitate and keep eating if a food source is plentiful) so if they have no conscience in how they go about there lives, then other than the instinctive response to flee danger, they have no feeling either way about being caught... other than killing them for reasons other than food, I see no moral dilemma in spending a couple minutes visiting my local fish...
Awesome thread... there is no place I feel closer to god then on the front deck of my bass boat, especially fishing alone with no distractions... to revel in the glory of his creation...
I could spend an hour writing you an instructional here, go on you tube and look up how to cast a bait caster... tons of good videos. Using a casting reel effectively is an art and it takes a little practice. A lot of guys are intimidated by them so kudo's to you for pushing your skill set!
Oh and to the guy on here who said he uses bass for bait, you sir are an absolute idiot! It's illegal in literally every state to use a game fish, particularly a spiny game fish for bait... so your either full of it or your a conservation criminal, which is it?
Welp. One thing I've noticed about this forum is that it's mostly inexperienced anglers asking questions and when the few experienced guys on here try to help there's a ton of idiots trying to start arguments over advice freely given... here's some more experienced advice... the Ugly stick is a piece of shit Walmart beginners budget rod that does one thing well and one thing only, it doesn't break... it does not feel good in your hand, it's a chore to cast all day and you would probably never find a serious angler using one. I have an elite and a GX2, I keep them on my boat for rookies and children. Dude, you want an ugly stick? Send me your address and $5.00 for shipping. You can have both of mine.
No doubt ugly sticks are tough rods but if your gonna be casting all day they suck... Heavy as hell and all the sensitivity of a 2x4... if your gonna just cast bait and let the rod sit in a holder they're fine. If you insist on an ugly stick look at the elite... I have a 7.5MH and I've used it casting plugs to breaking stripers on the NE coast... There are just way better rods...
Get a trolling motor mount and you'll be fine... Bass guys have been doing it for years. interference is usually caused by multiple transducers overlapping cones... it can get weird with a side imaging transducer, not because of interference but because your moving the motor all the time disrupting the image scroll...