Xtreme, I have fished the salt for many years, since I was 12. After I finally made the committment to artificials, I caught small bass, but a keeper eluded me....and I worked real hard at it, but the learning curve was steep, as there was no internet to help me along....I'm thinking you may get your keeper a lot sooner than that 2 year timeframe...guess it was a good thing that ya ran into that Darkskies smelly wader dude.....