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If you're needing to use anything stronger than #8 mono on a spinning reel, you would be better off using braid. It will handle far better than heavier mono.

TSI 321 - light oil for bearings 85W-140 gear oil - heavy oil for the slow-moving parts or parts that see a lot of water spray, like the worm gear or where the bail pivots on the body of a spinning reel. Superlube grease - the best I've tried yet for gears. Cal's Drag Grease - drag washers

Slow the speed of your hand. The reel is fine the way it is. High-speed gearing has more pros than cons.

For me, it costs the same as paying for an annual license for 20 years, at the current rate. In the long run, it'd probably be a wise idea, given inflation and the general trend of license fee increases. I don't care about that now; I'd rather put that $600 toward an Ultrex.

This Wild team reminded me of some of the Vikings squads in the late-90's, early-2000's. Exciting, high-scoring regular season. High expectations, high hopes. Massive underachievement in the playoffs.

They're incredibly goofy-looking, but there's nothing easier on the feet than a pair of Crocs.

Authentic Costa Del Mar 580 from eBay go for about $125-150. It's the best deal around. I've had a half dozen pair of cheaper ones, but these are the way to go if you're not one to sit on your glasses or drop them in the lake. You'll want to go with green or silver mirror on amber lenses for general freshwater fishing. That's the consensus. I have both silver and green and can't tell the difference.

10lb Sufix 832 braid will handle better than 15lb, regardless of it's stated diameter. The chances of breaking the 10lb are slim. I don't believe for a second that it actually breaks at 10 pounds of pull. It seems much stronger.

It'll work fine. Compared to a moderate-action cranking rod, you'll miss a few strikes and lose a few fish due to the hooks ripping out, but the difference won't be that big of a deal. If it turns out you really enjoy tossing crankbaits, a move to a designed crankbait rod wouldn't be a bad idea. Millions of bass have been caught over the years on fast-action rods. A crankbait rod isn't a necessity, it's a luxury that's fun to fish with and slightly more effective.

A leader will have nothing to do with fixing line twist, unless there's a swivel on it. Is that what you meant?

Rapala braid scissors. Going on 5 years now with the same pair.

I've always seen pretty good products being rebranded by a retailer and sold. You tend to get a very good value with these, and the warranties range from good to outstanding. I've owned a bunch of Scheels rod built on Loomis GL2 blanks that cost about half as much as the real deal. Those were my favorites at one time. I have a couple 2005-era Cabela's spinning reels that were clearly made by Daiwa that work well and have a lot of miles on them.

The purpose and style of that hook-keeper allows you to loop a dropshot sinker in there. That's where they really come in handy.

I'd start with a 1/8-3/16oz head. The hook size doesn't matter too much. It's easy to hook bass on a shakyhead.

I'm going to have to try these. I've never been wow'ed by a deep-diving crankbait.

Sounds like a great road trip! If you can, stick around for a few days on Mille Lacs. It's a different kind of lake in that it's not easy to find fish. The bass form tight schools and they have a lot of room to roam, and you'll catch as many walleyes as bass somedays. The lake fishes very big: big distances, big waves, big fish. But once you find them, you've struck brown gold. If you can, shoot for weather with wind in the 4-9 mph range. Anything over 10mph and you've got 3 foot rollers. It's just a 130,000 acre shallow bowl.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I troll for walleyes sometimes, and the hours seem to go by so slowly, even when catching fish. It's boring watching a rod tip, but it does take some serious skill in terms of boat placement to do it right. It's a different kind of fishing art.

Good work! I'd love to be able to skip like Andy Montgomery, but I'm still sticking with the MF/F spinning tackle for now. 1/3 of the my skips wind up in birds nests when I try with the back caster, with the exception of frogs; those are easy to skip.

Couple hours left. Lots of good stuff available and in stock. I have two orders this weekend already. Looking forward to trying the Dobyns Sierra and Picasso Shock Blades.

Buy the best stuff you can afford, or you'll just end up replacing it in a year or two. That's the nature of bass fishing tackle.

Tried it. Tossed it. Gliss is significantly better than Nanofil, but they're both way too fragile. If you're not pleased with these types of lines, I'd recommend trying a high-end braid in 10lb test. The casts will be 90% as long as with Gliss/Nanofil and the abrasion resistance will be far better.

It's all going to come together, just like riding a bike. A good tip I can share is to NEVER allow your thumb to completely lose contact with the spool, especially when you're starting out. Just lightly drag the thumb across the spool when you cast, and when you begin to feel a backlash developing, just give the spool a little tap to slow it down. This is how I cast 75% of the time still, especially in the wind. It's important to understand that a backlash occurs when the spool is spinning at 75mph but the lure is only traveling at 65mph, for example. The technique described above will drop the spool speed back down to 65mph. Good luck!

4" smallmouth. 5" largemouth.

Z-Man Zinkers rigged with a o-ring. They float, so the tip of the plastic stays nice and tall, wriggling with every pebble you drag it across. By far the best Neko rig bait I've tried.