Hammer 4

Luke, have you seen this thread..? Might be something in here for you.

Nice..congratz..

First off, welcome to BR. With 12lb hybrid, I would go with 40 lb braid, 40 is a happy medium for all around fishing, and should work fine with your leader choice. As for rods, there's a lot out there, but for what you want, I'd suggest a 7' MH/F. One rod that falls in your budget range is the Diawa Tatula XT at $99.99. Have a few of these rods and they fish above their price point, fit and finish is pretty nice, they also have EVA split grips. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-DAIWAROD.html?from=basres They also have a Proycon rod at $79.99 with split cork grips. I can't say how these perform as I don't have one, just giving you another option. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-DAIWAROD.html?from=basres There are a host of other brands, but try and stay with a MH/F good all around rod.

I'd go for the 6.3:1 also..good all around speed.

Maybe just a tad overkill, but it should work just fine. Plus you can swap it onto another rod and go swimbaits fishing, so that's a plus..

Been using kvd for many years on all my mono..especially on the larger diameter line, although I used on 7 lb on up. From all the use, I think it helps with memory, although today's mono lines are pretty manageable..Where it really helps is on a spinning reel.

I use 50 lb braid for frogging, even with a new rod and reel, I've not had any issues. I'm wondering what brand braid your using, and if it's possible you may have got a "bad" spool.?

I was generalizing. I probably should have added that the weight they use doesn't have any bearing on what I would throw, so more about the weight and not so much about brand.

My feelings exactly..

I have the 7'4" XT..mainly for frogging. Also, the Irod Fred's Magic that WRB mentioned is an excellent rod, I have a couple of them, @ 149.99 they fish well above their price point,and customer service is second to none.

All I can add is, in all the time I've been swimbait fishing, I have never known anyone to use a spiral wrap on a swimbait rod. I never saw a need for it, and my friends didn't either.

I agree. To much of the functions these days are computer controlled, that's 1 reason why I haven't bought a newer truck. Miss the old days when there were no computers on cars/trucks.

Yeah, this topic has been beat to death..A simple search will turn up tons of info on this subject.

Well, seems like all the younger guys around here add some type of tuner to theirs, and install the Loudest exhaust they can..lol Toyota in the 80's had a good thing going, had an 84 4WD lifted 12" that ran forever, only replaced the rear end differential in 185k miles..

Mine was originally bought to be my work (construction) truck. Slowly added go fast parts to get better MPG's and for some fun. Mostly nowadays, guys pull up, and because of the sound of my diesel, they want to give it a go. I've let more cars/trucks go than I've raced. Now I haul my fishing gear and my mountain bike and that's about it.

I'll give the Tundra some cred..raced one that I'm sure had a chip/tuner. Off the line it was strong, stayed with me for about 25 yards or so, then the power of my diesel came on..I was impressed. Chevy can be a hit or miss, I've known owners who have had many issues, then there were some that had very few. IMHO the engineers of GM really missed the mark on their trucks, especially the older ones. I'll admit, I've had a bunch of small things go wrong, headline falling off, electrical issues, EGR gremlins, and injectors which were replaced under warranty. Still, I love my truck..Hope you guys know, I'm just razin y'all about your Fords, ect.

LOL...I'll give the fords a head start...and still beat them in my old 2003 Duramax..

I'd love to see Seth win this one...

Here's what I see a lot with newer anglers that are trying to catch bass. They start out with a fairly common bass lure, say a t rigged worm, after 10 mins they may change to a crank, ect. Then after changing baits 3 or 4 times, and after a hour or 2. I would see them switch rods to a light or ultralight setup, and proceed to try for panfish, because they couldn't catch any bass. IMHO, they give up to quickly. How much can you learn as a new angler in an hour or 2..? When I began throwing larger swimbaits, I'd take 1 set up, and maybe 3 or 4 swimbaits and spend no less than 4 to 6 hours fishing those baits, varying my retrieves, how I presented the baits, ect, ect...Doing this day after day. Bass fishing in most bodies of water is tough, without putting in the time, meaning quality time, becoming proficient is seldom achieved, if ever. After a good many years, I'm still learning, I try to pass on some of the things I've learned to people that show a dedication to catching bass. It takes Time, be willing to spend hours and hours, to get good at it.

I don't have 1000's of dollars worth of tackle, I do have a few hundred, not counting rods ans reels. I keep all my stuff, what little I have, only because when I buy something, I intend to use it within a short period of time. All of my stuff is contained in a small area, so it's kinda tough to misplace any of it.

Possibly, but don't try to make any long cast's..At best an easy lob cast that won't go that far..Better to get a rod rated for 2 oz..1 oz will be the sweet spot for it.

Ditto, same for me.

Never used snaps, ect..Always tied direct to the lure/hook.

I don't actually boil my swimbaits, ect..I'll boil the water, then turn the heat off, once the water stops boiling, I'll take a good portion of the tail and work it back and forth in the water for about 30 to 45 seconds, same goes for flukes and kiethechs. It really helps the action of the baits, and it warms your hand up real nice to on a cold day..haha

Plastic worms, jigs, and spinnerbaits, if I had to choose only 3..