BobP

I put an oily fish attractant like Kickn'Bass on the bait before hooking it. 90% of the time, the bait will end up on the line, out of the way, instead of balled up on the hook shank. The baits also last longer that way.

Black/blue, black, or brown for stained water. Green pumplin for everything else. If I want secondary color, I put it on the trailer. Otherwise, jig colors would drive me crazy.

X2 what Hooligan said. If you snap set on a fish that's coming toward you or lower your rod tip before a snappy hook set - creating slack in the braid - you will cause an instantaneous strain on braid that can break it. It's like cracking a whip. It's counter-intuitive that the sound is the tip exceeding the sound barrier of 764 mph, but that's what causes the noise. 65lb braid has become almost standard for frog fishing because it's hard to break. Hard but not impossible, especially if you do it several times, making the braid weaken just above the knot. If you can't cure the habit, maybe go to 80lb braid.

My Symetre came (several years ago) with a rubber washer stretched around the anti-reverse bearing housing under the rotor. It deformed and began to stick the rotor when retrieved. I took it off, threw it away and haven't had further problems. I assume its function was to prevent water intrusion into the anti-reverse bearing housing. It's worth a check.

A couple of V-blocks with felt glued into the V's, a tea cup to hold the thread, and a phone book to tension the thread - simple but gets the job done. The problem comes when it's time to epoxy the thread wraps. I bought a cheap 6 rpm a/c motor and fashioned a rod chuck out of a piece of PVC pipe with 3 bolts threaded into it to hold the rod handle. Swap the motor assembly for one of your V blocks and you're in business. Total cost, about $30. I've done around 25 rods so far and feel no need to upgrade to more expensive equipment.

Ether based starting fluid in an aerosol can is the quickest. Spray it into a shot glass, throw in the bearings, swish them around, spin them on a pencil point to check cleanliness, then set them on a paper towel to dry. They're dry when they DON'T spin quickly on a pencil point - just takes a few minutes. I assume guys have enough sense not to set themselves on fire.

I'd get either the Trilene XL or the Stren but given a choice, I'd go out and buy 1/4lb spools of Trilene Big Game at Walmart. 8 lb for spinning, 12 lb for baitcasting reels. You get much more line for a very reasonable price that way ($7-8 per spool).

Sensitivity is about how much vibration the rod transmits to your hand, not about the action. A balanced rod/reel combo with a high end graphite rod and fluorocarbon or braided line is the most sensitive. There is no industry measure about rod sensitivity so you can only compare rod to rod in your hand. Generally speaking, higher strain graphite is more sensitive but rod design also enters into the equation. IMO, if you're going to splurge on one rod, it should be your worm/plastics/jig rod because the costly high strain graphite will cost more but pay dividends in sensitivity.

I remove the split rings and use a Normal Speed Clip. If you are a real crank fanatic, you want to test the crank with various methods and use the one that works best, be that a clip or a round or oval split ring. It's amazing you how very tiny changes to a bait can make a significant difference.

If not for the E series Curados, we'd never be hearing these gripes. It's all about your viewpoint. Mine is that you can buy an E series Shimano at a steeply discounted price from its original $199 MSRP. I paid $145 new in box for a 50E, which is essentially a Chronarch with green versus white paint. What's not to like about that? Otherwise, the Shimano lineup and prices are back to what they were 5 years ago. I know confusion breeds discontent, but ya gotta reason your way through that. I'm just happy the Shimano price/model realignment provided the opportunity for a deal.

Here's a fairly simple description of carbon fiber IM numbers: http://www.calfeedesign.com/tech-papers/grades-of-carbon-fiber/ IM is basically a measure of carbon fiber stiffness and rod IM specs are not very meaningful because so many other things go into a rod blank that are as important to its performance, strength,and weight. IM numbers were popular in rod advertising in the 80's and 90's. That has declined as more consumers become more knowledgeable about rod technology.

If you want a generic solution, go with a good quality 12# copolymer monofilament line or 20# braid with a mono or fluorocarbon leader (no fluoro on topwater baits because it sinks). A 6'6" medium power rod with a fast tip would be my choice since you are looking for an "all around" solution. Were it me, I'd use a combo more suited for fishing jigs and plastics to penetrate those weeds. That would be a MH power fast tip 7' rod with 30lb braid and a fluorocarbon leader. That way, you could fish the whole water column.

It depends on how you fish, what line you use, how much sensitivity you want when retrieving crankbaits. I don't use monster hook sets, I keep trebles razor sharp, and my reels have drags that actually work. I think it's critical to feel what the crank is doing on the retrieve and I use either fluorocarbon or hard mono line. For me, a medium or MH power graphite rod with a soft medium action tip section gets it done. I use a 6 1/2' M for throwing shallow baits around cover. Lots of sensitivity and that length makes for accurate casts. A 7 1/2' MH rod for deep cranks, where casting distance is at a premium. I've tried fiberglass and found it much too tip heavy with too little sensitivity. I rarely if ever lose fish when cranking, so the "pulling hooks out" rationale for fiberglass just doesn't resonate with me. If others experience that problem, they'll choose accordingly. There's a whole universe of cranking rods available, from all graphite to all glass and blended options in between. You're better off if you ignore well intentioned advice from others (based on THEIR style of fishing) and decide what fits you best.

I think BassPro Extreme rods in general are excellent values. I still have a couple I bought 10 yrs ago and they have prooved to be both durable and sensitive. Now, are there better rods "out there"? Sure, but it's hard to find that level of quality for the price.

I build wood baits and like them for shallow and medium depth fishing. Deeper than 12 ft, I'll use either wood or plastic. It's hard to find GOOD deep running wood baits in the 15-25 ft range. Harder to build them too!

A buddy of mine just sent me 3 Berkley Shock rods to replace broken guides. IMO, the rod blanks seem pretty nice but the Berkley guides are pretty cheap compared to most brands. That said, they seem a decent deal for around $50. But I would choose a Shimano or a BassPro rod with Fuji guides by preference. In a spinning rod combo, I think the rod is more important than the reel. For baitcasting, I think they are of equal importance.

Reels run from $40-400 and most experienced anglers looking for durability and performance look in the $100+ price range. The reel you cite has a graphite frame, which is more prone to torque distortion than an aluminum frame reel. They just aren't as durable and don't perform as well. My first baitcaster was similar. I wish I had just bitten the bullet and paid a few more bucks to get something better because it would have saved me a thousand backlashes.

And no, you don't want to jack it so tight you strip the threads - just medium tight and then align the nut so the screw on the cap will align. Shimano reels have always had a little back play in the handle, maybe just due to the anti-reverse bearing they use. No biggie.

My PB came out of a retention pond on a Florida golf course - 12+ lbs. On a Zoom curly tail 6" worm. That said, big bass seem to love stick baits like the Yamamoto Senko, deadsticked weightless or with a small weight. Purple is the classic Florida color for plastics. I've caught more 6+ lb bass on stick worms than any other bait - and I don't even like fishing them!

Senkos are heavier, have a faster fall rate, and softer with more action. When I think those qualities are important, like when throwing one weightless, I go with a Senko or another brand with comparable weight like a Wacky Worm or Netbait stick worm.

There's no way to make a broken rod tip "as good as new". To repair a broken blank properly, you need to epoxy an exactly fitted piece of graphite blank inside the broken tube and another exactly fitted piece, preferably fiberglass, on the outside. A rod tip interior is too small for the inside patch, plus any patch will add weight to the tip - just where you don't want the extra weight. So there really isn't a perfect fix for broken rod tips. Best you can do is what Fry says - cut it off and put on a new tip top guide. When it happens to one of my rods, I trash it unless the break is within 2" of the tip. The shortened blank will have a different, faster, casting action, which I usually don't like. The sensitivity usually remains the same. I make that rod my "loaner rod".

Fireline will soften up eventually but not as much as braid and it will always maintain some of its "body". I've used 20 lb Fireline on my Carolina rig rod for years. For me, it casts farther and more consistently than either mono or braid. JMHO

It's usually pretty simple. Ideally, you want a crankbait to at least touch the bottom or hit cover while you retrieve it. Most bites come as the crankbait deflects off the bottom or off cover. As far as the depth of a particular bait - note on your sonar the depth of the water on a submerged flat and run your crankbait over it to see if it is hitting the bottom. That's really the only way to guarantee a bait is running at a particular depth with the distance you can cast and the line size as determining variables. You will generally find that many crankbaits run shallower than their "advertised depth". For instance, a Norman DD-22 runs 18 ft deep on a 100' cast with 10 lb line. There are some exceptions like the Rapala DT series of baits which usually run to their advertised depth (a DT16 will run 16 ft deep, etc). You should also know that almost without exception, crankbaits run at their max depth for only a short part of the retrieve and it is usually from 30 to 12 ft from the boat. If you want more/earlier bottom contact, you can "over-gun" it by using a crankbait that dives to 12 ft in 8 ft of water, etc

IMO, if you're going to fish those crankbaits, put decent hooks on them. My "standards" are Gamakatsu round bends or Mustad KVD short shanks. The Gamys stay sharp as hell for a long long time and are tough corrosion resistant hooks. I've started using some KVD hooks and think they are the best short shank trebles available as far as hooking power. If you're going to be giving away some of the crankbaits, you might consider VMC round bends or short shanks as they are OK but less expensive. I think Cabelas carries VMC Rapala hooks, which are my favorite VMC style.

I'd put some 14lb Berkley Fireline on there. It will cast as far as any superline, better than most, will increase sensitivity, handles very well on a spinning reel, and lasts a long time. When you are concerned about line visibility, tie on 3' of fluoro or mono with a double uni knot.