Dwight Hottle

Have you considered a z bone?

I agree you have to determine what lb test you want to use that gives you an advantage without any negatives. Not all 4lb test is equal. Some breaks at 4lbs, some at 6lb & some at 8lb. Once you know what diameter works you need to shop by diameter not pound breakage. As already mentioned braid will give you the right diameter but will inherently be stronger regarding breakage.

Apples to oranges.

Beat me too it. Since he doesn't fish much it might help get him back on the water.

The new shimano bantam has been released & according to Bantam1 feels like a conquest in a low profile design. Looks like shimano hit a home run with this one. http://www.tackletour.net/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=77478

Biggest largemouth caught on a Deps Balisong DD jerk bait & biggest smallie caught on a Smithwick Rogue DD jerk bait.

When I fished with Steve I think it was a full day 8 hours. Call Steve & talk to him about the time & what to bring & use. Make sure you bring a rod to fish jerk baits, traps & cranks. Shipping your rods might be the easiest way to go. Pack them tightly together with velcro straps or zip ties so they don't rattle around in the tube. Alternate butts to tips with the rod tips on the inside of the butts so that only the butts stick out at the ends. Cushion each end with bubble wrap & a sock pulled over the ends.

I have fished with Steve Daniels & highly recommend him. http://www.okeechobeeprostevedaniel.com/

Get well buddy. Flu is no fun.

TackleWarehouse Ilovehardbaits Both of these have gotten too much of my money over the years.

Good friends are tough to lose. Sorry for your lose Tom.

Welcome to BR. I think your new rod would work great with soft jerk baits, texas/wacky rigs & swim jigs. You could also use it for slinging traps & smaller crank baits on mono.

You should probably just stay in school & never graduate. Your fishing success has skyrocketed while your attending college, LOL.

I like the Daiwa magsealed technology for spinning reels both salt water & fresh. Shimano gets the nod for both fresh & saltwater baitcast reels.

Ima flit floater in the 120 series. THe bills are chartreuse or orange differentiating them from the regular suspending flits. They run between 1-2 feet deep. Also the original floating rapala F13 size. http://***store.blogspot.com/2013/01/ima-bone-floating-flit-120-shallow.html

If you are a student of the game it can happen pretty quick after a few years of trial & error. Confirmation of your becoming a good angler is when others are always looking for your advice. I personally think this site is heavily populated with lots of good anglers from the posts & pictures submitted. There is a wealth of information to be gleaned from Bass Resource. The next question to ask is how long does it take to be a great angler?

Sorry my post came across as the Tranx only being made for heavy baits. It will function as intended with lighter baits too. Its my choice for all swimbaits at one ounce or higher.

The reason I was wearing a Lakers hat is because we were fishing out of Lakers Unlimited fishing camp.

I just bought one today (300A 5.8:1, 30'IPT) to put on a St Croix legend tournament lip stick rod for swim baits rated 2-6 oz. Fish USA had the reel on sale today for $215.99 with an extra 10% off for being a forum member. You deal sounds real good. To answer your question yes it is made for handling bigger baits. The only other shimano low profile reel made for the task is the curado 300. Musky fisherman & swimbaiters readily endorse it as "the low profile reel" to own for heavier baits.

Barely is the operative word J. You could tell I was gritting my teeth.

Lake trout love the color white. They are also sensitive to color changes as sunny or cloudy conditions change. When sunny they prefer silver backed spoons. When cloudy they like copper & brass. For jigging white tubes work well. Also jigging spoons, regular jigs with plastic trailers like reapers, sluggos, & grub tails. Trolling opens the door to all kind of baits. First off think spoons & flashers. Crank baits, jerk baits & most other plugs work well too. They love kwik fish & flatfish baits. Lake trout are speed sensitive. They will follow a trolled bait long distances but will strike best when you speed up or work the bait erratically. They also will ram a bait with their heads to stun it & then turn and eat it. Lots of guys miss hooking them by swinging on the stun hit but not lowering their rod tip or feeding a little slack back before swinging on the second strike when the trout actually eats the bait. No bait is too big for a mature lake trout. A twenty pound trout will hit a 18" bait. Musky baits work well for trout. Big believers, large spinner baits, grandmas, jakes etc. all work well. Lake trout prefer 48-52 degree water temps. You can find them shallow in the early spring & shallow again in the late fall when they migrate in shallow to spawn. In the summer they will be found deep depending on available water depths & bait. I have caught them as deep as 120 feet. My PB trout was caught trolling a 12" Luhr Jensen dodger with a 3/0 treble attached at the back with a "4 saltwater plastic squid threaded on the treble.

Could the difference in bearings be a JDM sourced reel versus the American market reel?

I understand what you have just said. My credit card and I believe all credit cards are linked to your home address as the billing address. But TW has always honored shipping to my winter address but billed to my home address. Two different states but my card is linked to my account. That might be the difference as you indicated.

Just a heads up Tackle warehouse will ship to a different address than your billing address if you call them & explain your circumstances. I do it every year for the last 10 years in the winter.

Awesome