kikstand454

Use your bass experience- and even many of the same lures, and catch trout, reds and snook. Top water ( I like the spook one knocker. ..) Spoon ( I like aquadream living) Jig head + plastic ( gulp or any swimming boottail) You're psyching yourself out. Predators are predators and they behave similarly. You can almost fish EXACTLY the same for bass and catch reds. When in doubt, don't discount the tourist rig ( popping cork and shrimp/gulp) it really does produce. Good luck!

Black sea bass. Black drum. Croaker? Trippletail. Look those up see if it was one of them.

The pro qualifier is a better built reel than the h2o- no doubt about it. That being said, I'm not convinced how much better it actually performs. My mettle cost me $25 on sale. It is as solid and casts much farther/smoother than any of my various pro qualifiers. Will it last as long, have good CS, or even have parts available if I need them? I have no idea.

Sorry. "Rock bass" is black sea bass here. We don't have actual rock bass in Florida.

Yeah I normally only eat trout or reds and I will fillet them and pan blacken them. Its not trully blackening- but its delicious and takes 12 minutes. Also either fish wrapped in tinfoil with butter, lemon slices and seasoning and baked in the oven or campfire for an hour or so is equally delicious and you feed more people.

I had the same issue you do and I found that rods that are described as " heavier than their rating" has been the answer. They tend to be heavier than a medium, but not as heavy as a MH. Perfect. I've been using a 7'medium/fast veritas for about a year now and its been everything I've ever asked for in a squarebill rod. It also is great for jerkbaits and topwater and all sorts of stuff. I really enjoy the "middle" power.

For $50 brand new ( and many times less than that) the h2o mettle can not be beat.

In the irl - redfish, seatrout, flounder, snook, sheepshead, black drum, rock bass, silver trout, weakfish, cobia, tripletail. Surf side- whiting, pompano Some people like to smoke Spanish mackerel and lots of people eat gafftop catfish (sailcats) . Yellow tail jacks and some sharks aren't bad if you know how to prepare them- yellowtails are NOT jack cravelle! Lol.

Congrats on the win! Fish the free rod and develop your own free oppinion. If it doesn't work for you, Sell it at a fair profit.

@ rubber band line. I guess compared to braid or aircraft cable it is stretchy. Otherwise its just fine. Order your copoly online. TW or wherever. I get almost all my YZ off fleabay.

Sounds like you got the right gear now OP. I'm totally covered head to toe every time I go out. Its over all cooler that way, and sunburns suck. On the sunscreen note, I still carry sunscreen and put it on my face and neck ( even though I wear a buff and a wide hat) . My favorite is nutregena. Its expensive, but it goes on nice and dry and you don't feel it at all. Because I'm only using it generally on my face- the one can will last all summer.

C-rig, jig, deep cranks on the ledges. Buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, horny toads up shallow. But like C&G, the last few years I have fallen in love with punching mats- and that is my current #1summer deal. Its just edging out a c-rig these days. Hey! Stop telling everyone about weightless trick worms!

^^^^ this. Also - X2 on the hot lips. Old school cranks are hard to beat for the trully deep work.

^^^^^^ that is true to an extent. Especially good advice for just starting out. Buy it trully is a practice makes perfect thing. .... you will eventually get to where matching line ans lure and rod matter less and less in casting, and more in presentation and overall comfort. I regularly two handed , overhead cast a spook Jr on a 7' mh/f rod sitting down on my kayak and get 20-30yds. I need that size rod for the fish I'm catching- not the lure I'm throwing. You can do it OP- it really is just spending time learning and gaining experience.

If it helps at all- I have all my hooks seperated by size in rattletrap boxes. They fit perfectly in a regular Plano.

X5. Good stuff! !! Hey Hoosier, feel free to send that pos baitcaster to me. ....I don't even care what brand it is.

Yes. It has a tare button.

Get a $3 luggage scale off eBay, and a pair of fish grips ( plastic ones- like vice grips) Problem solved for about $15.

I throw the c-rig ALOT! I use. 7'6" crucial mh/f. I think your 7'3" will be the way to go. If your fluke doesn't work, try a trick worm. Move the bait with the rod, sideways drags. ... sweep set. The bite is similar to a t-rig most of the time. .... but sometimes you'll never feel it- it'll just feel "different". Set the hook!

X5

IMHO xpress , all the way. ... don't look back.

My trick for topwater bites- and I spend ALOT of time throwing a spook- is to laugh a bit at the bite. Enjoy the moment. Don't be so keyed up to set the hook. That small hesitation of smiling or yelling woo is enough for the fish to fully take the bait. Reel into the fish THEN set he hook. Strong sweep set is all that's needed.

^ nonsense. I throw 3/8oz jigs constantly with my 7'mh/f veritas and I could use that thing for punching mats. It may not be OPTIMAL for throwing that sized lure - but it surely CAN do it. Its practice. That's all that's needed here. OP- all the answers are right here in this thread. .... everything I was going to suggest has already been said. 1. Set up the reel properly ( your 65# braid or whatever was fine. ...espicially if you were going to use this rod for frogs- which it is fine for) 2. USE THE TAPE TRICK. This will cut down 95% of your frustration. 3. Practice PITCHING first to educate your thumb. No more swinging for the fences until you know you can reach them 4. Use a slightly heavier bait. You CAN throw lighter baits with your setup, like I said, but you will find it much easier to LEARN to cast using a heavier bait that is closer to the Max of the rod. 5. Do not give up. Once you have it down, you will never even want to use a spinning reel again. 6. Prepare to be broke. The baitmonkey is a ***. Good luck!

^ this. I'm probably going to do that to some inexpensive rods this summer and try it out in my kayak.

If you're going for both spooks AND buzzbaits, than a medium rod that is heavier than its rating- like Abu or the mojo you're looking at- would be the ticket. I think you would be very happy with the mojo rod you were wanting, but I personally would spool it with copoly rather than braid ( or mono) ...... unless you plan on being around dense vegetation all the time- then braid is the ticket. My (pretty new actually) set up: 6'6" veritas m/f Pinnacle 7:1 reel 12# yo zuri hybrid