camman

I use Reaction Innovations Beaver in California 420 or Black/Blue and usually a 1 oz weight and punch

Spro Hyper Snap with power swivel

I use mono...I want a little stretch in the line when fighting a fish and also a little more give when the fish bites to eat the lure. Braid has zero stretch and you have a higher rate of pulled hooks and a shorter opportunity of the fish eating the bait.

Our water doesn't get cold as 42 degrees but I've done well with the Zoom Ultra-vibe speed worm. It has a little bigger profile with a little tail action

No they dont

5" senko....all you need

For a chatterbaut style baits I picked up the Picasso Shock blade this year and have done really well with them. A little more expensive than a Chatterbait but I get a good wobble with them and they hold up

LuckEStrike RC2 Jerkbait, went just over 7

Yeah you should pick up ocean fishing, its your new backyard. You can fish the beach for surf perch and the occasional halibut. I use to go to Channel Islands harbor and fish for bat rays in the summer time. Not sure if its still there, but also check out Rancho Simi Park in Simi Valley, another small lake...which was free to fish Man I haven't fished Casitas in years...I heard that it was so low that they had or were about to stop allowing private launches? Hopefully the rain has changed that...I use to fish that quite frequently as thats where I had the boat inspected for....Also Piru use to be a great lake to fish the Northern Strain largemouth, but again not sure how it is once they found the quagga.

I mainly fish the CA Delta but I get up to fish Clear Lake a couple times a year. If you are looking to fish swimbaits at Clear Lake IMO you should start with the 6" Huddleston 68....I think they are one of the best baits in the market. I would get both the ROF5 and ROF12...They don't have a true Hitch Color and the closest color is probably a green gizzard shad. As for rod, you can get away with a Heavy Crankbait rod or a Flipping stick with the bait....It really depends on how much you want to spend on a rod will dictate what you should get.

I was there in September...didnt do any fishing but was surprised to see our hotel had about 4-5 fishing channels. I watched some of them...some where showing the bass fishing from Japan, others were showing more ocean fishing (both from a boat and from the shore), also saw a few FW fishing for carp I believe....

So true

Shallow - Older Lucky Craft RC series....can't be beat....also add in the River2Sea Biggie Sqarebills or Spro Little Johns. Deep - SK 8/10XD or DD22

I would imagine you may have trouble setting the hooks on bigger baits with a ML rod. Even with the hook exposed its a lot of plastic in the fishes mouth and having more backbone in the rod will help on hook sets

Second either the Delta or Clear Lake...the bassmaster Elites are heading out of Sacramento next week but they will be heading South for the bigger bags. Randy Pringle and Cooch are a couple other guides for the Delta as well...mid-June is frogging time

Rod/reel is not balanced properly...for me when this happens it makes it more difficult to detect bites

I use the higher speed reels for pretty much everything...flipping, frogs, plastics, jigs, spoons, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, jerkbaits, shallow cranks. I think the only thing I use lower speed reels for are swimbaits and deep diving cranks.

I deep crank on a 7'6" 5 power rod which is basically listed as a heavy and I do just fine. I'm throwing DD-22 with no problem....biggest thing is your casting distance as the farther you cast the deeper you can keep the bait. Any rod will work, where you appreciate the glass/crankbait rods are when you are deep cranking all day...they put less fatigue on the body.

From a swimbait perspective I like a low geared reel so i can slowly swim the bait. The Tatula has a 5.4:1 reel which fits the bill while the Chronarch does not come in a lower gear. Second is line capacity, are you fishing braid or mono? If you are fishing mono and depending on how heavy, you probably want the Tatula as it has a larger line capacity. I usually throw my Hudd 68s on anywhere between 15-20 lb mono depending on where I'm fishing. If you are fishing braid than either reel will have plenty of capacity. If you are looking for more of a multi-purpose rod/reel, I'd go with the 6:3.1....than it really comes down to personal preference and whatever feels better in your hand.

I think they are trying to clear out the old model as a new one is on the way. For that price they are a solid workhorse reel. I would say the one knock against them is the weight, they are are pretty heavy reel.

Original bags in a larger ziploc bag with no scent.

This is what I use, I don't have it full with trays and use a binder to hold plastics as well. I actually have an older version, before it went ugly with blue/orange. http://www.basspro.com/XPS-Stalker-Tackle-Bag-or-System/product/10221672/

Its all dependent on the waters you fish...I mainly have crawdad or bluegill colored squarebills

It depends on your mold. If I recall some molds actually have you insert the weed guard into the mold when pouring it with lead, this prohibits you from putting it in after. In this case you have to bake it with the weed guard in it, just do it on a low heat. If your mold has the ability to put it in after its poured and baked, I would go this route.

Bring a reel or two if you are dead set on using your own stuff but I would just use the guide's gear.