Darren.

Welcome aboard, Tim!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard, Zach! Best place to learn is bassresource!

Welcome aboard, Goose!

Welcome aboard, Mike!

Congrats!! Olympics, here he comes!!!

Welcome aboard!

Not from Cali, so can't help there, but welcome to the forums!!

I'll be getting it done...closing on 50 in 2019.

I know what you mean, Jim. Some of us are diligent note takers, journal-keepers, and so forth. Sometimes I wish I was one of those, but I'm not. Probably why I never went in to the sciences - even though I enjoy reading and absorbing much of their stuff... So my gut usually leads me on a given day. Known places that produce, etc. Like @A-Jay said, they both may be one and the same.... At least I like to think of it that way, LOL. I fish with science, I just don't know it!

Very cool catches!

Welcome aboard! Just because a knot loses in Knot Wars does NOT mean it is a bad knot, or unworthy of your time. I have no problem with the uni-to-uni and Alberto. Period. You MUST balance your knot with your setup - drag esp. Of course things can go bad if your drag is locked down and you score a lunker. Think of the knot as part of the whole, not THE end all, be all.

Welcome aboard, John!

I use a leader for everything, regardless of technique. Just my preference. For me I look at it as saving my braided mainline from frequent retying. Uni-to-Uni my first choice, second is Alberto (Mod'd Albright). Both are excellent. Just make sure you set your drag accordingly. I.e., light leader, don't lock down the drag.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Wow, that's a great catch. See, bass don't care what rod or reel you use!!

I have most success on 4" Senkos, Stik-Os, Dingers.

I think you can get away with a MF or even a MXF rod for those features. Consider a St. Croix, they tend to be a tad stiffer than other models with similar ratings.

Welcome aboard! Define heavy cover. I use ML St. Croix, and M power spinning rods in the 5'9-6'6" range for all my spinning setups. Only MH I have is a casting rod. *However*!! I will probably end up buying a MH spinning rod in the future. In the mean time, I've not had any problems brining in bass in heavy cover (6.6# bass in avatar was in a stumpy/bushy submerged field). Caught it with a 1000 Stradic and 5'9" Shimano Compre. 10# braid and a 10# Yo-Zuri Hybrid leader.

Welcome aboard, Brian!

Very nice catch on a fly. Congrats!

Bottom line of all this is there are a lot of rods to choose from. Depending on your price range, IMHO, the best bang-for-buck is in the $100-130 range where you'll find the BPS Carbonlites, Abu Garcia, St. Croix Premier, etc. I have Carbonlites in original black, and the white models. They are super light and very sensitive. I prefer shorter rods, and like shorter varieties in the St. Croix Premier lineup. Take her to Bass Pro or Cabelas with the reel and try it out on several rods. See what she "likes" and doesn't "like"....

Thanks so much for that!