tholmes

That's not a bad idea, IMO. When you're learning, you WILL backlash your reel. If you have to cut it out, mono is way cheaper to replace than braid or flouro. Pick up a spool of 12 lb. Trilene Big Game. At <$10.00, it will fill your reel several times and it will make great backing line if and when you decide to switch to braid. Tom

Since I use mono 90% of the time, I just fill the spool on a new reel. When I need to add line, i strip some off and add about 60 yards of new line. When I use braid, I fill the spool about 2/3 full of mono and add braid to top it off. Tom

If I can remember all of them,: Kansas Oklahoma Colorado Missouri Nebraska New Mexico Utah Wyoming Texas Florida Georgia South Carolina EDIT: I knew I'd miss a couple Arkansas Louisiana Tom

Now there's a blast from the past! Are those still around? I used to catch a lot of bass on those back in the day. Tom

These thee, along with Norman make up the majority of my crankbaits. Very effective and reasonably priced. Tom

This is my "go-to" rig also, except I fish it mostly in submerged timber and rip-rap. As far as hard baits, 1/2 oz. Red Eye Shad in chrome/blue back A black/blue jig is in the mix too. Tom

if you have a crack problem, pull your pants up Tom

Yep! On most of the waters that I fish, 15" is the legal size. Under that, it's a dink. Tom

X3^. I love bouncing a crankbait along rocks for both largemouth and smallmouth. It's a killer tactic. Tom

I use a 6'6" BPS MicroLite ultralight rod and a (now discontinued) Pflueger Trion GX 4725 reel. It's a great combo for crappie, panfish, trout and ultralight bass fishing. Tom

I routinely use 8 lb. Trileene Big Game on a couple of my baitcasters with no problems at all. 10 lb. is what I use for most crankbait fishing. Tom

The first thing I would check is to be sure the line guide pawl is seated correctly. If it is, and the reel still stacks line on one side of the spool, replace the pawl. Tom

This is the answer^ If it were me, I'd have the reel professionally serviced just to be sure. Tom

X-Rap on a Vendetta 7' M and an Abu 4600 C spolled with 10 lb. Trilene Big Game, and a 1/4 oz. blade bait on a an Adu 6'6 ' light spinning rod with an Okuma spinning reel filled with 6 lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid. Tom

Look for a 4600 C or one or the many variants. C3, C4, CI, CB, etc. There are a lot of them on eBay. Be patient and you can get one for around $30. I just scored one for around that last week. Tom

Don't feel too bad, A-Jay. My first thought was, Who would ever do that anyway? Tom

I guess that I have a stubborn streak when it comes to lures. I won't ever completely abandon a lure unless I've fished it in a wide variety of situations over several seasons. If it's consistently non-productive, it goes in the box on the shelf labeled "Garage Sale Stuff". Tom

I'm not gonna count 'em because If I knew, I couldn't honestly tell my wife "I don't know". Tom

I use, almost exclusively, the round, Swedish-built Ambassadeurs. Like others have said, they're strong, reliable workhorse reels that are every bit as good quality as most low-profile reels. Plus, they're easy to work on and parts are readily available, even for reels that are decades old. I bought my first Ambassadeur in 1968 and I've not yet found a compelling reason to switch. In my case, the round reels just feel better in my hand. I have hands about the size of coal shovels and have no difficulty at all palming them, even the 5000 size. Tom

^^ What he said. Tom

"Anyone Have Any Experience Flying With Rods And Reels?" Not intentionally! It was a pretty short flight and the landing was rough. Tom

I fish a bunch of different lipless cranks. Bill Lewis, Cordell, Rapala Rattlin' Rap, SK Red Eye Shad, Xcalibur, and probably a few others. I mostly throw 1/2 oz. but I'll go lighter or heavier as the situation warrants. Tom

I loves me some blade baits, especially in late winter/early spring! I make my own and instead of treble hooks, I ues open shank double hooks. Just clip them through the holes in the blade, making sure the points face to the rear. That solves a LOT of the hang-up issues. Tom

Let's see...over the past few months, a new refrigerator, new washer and dryer, new gas range, 2 recliners and a sofa, a multi-function switch and an idle air control valve for my pickup, around 300 plastic worms, a couple hundred hooks, 35 spinnerbaits ( got 'em at a garage sale for $5! ) and about a dozen crankbaits. That's not counting a lot of gas and groceries. Tom

About the only lures that I use swivels on are casting spoons, to prevent too much line twist. I always tie directly to everything else. I never use snaps, they catch too much junk. Tom