Darren.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Wow, opinions are like...you know what. Everyone has one That said, I use Palomar, Clinch, Uni for securing hooks to line. What is *best* is subjective at best.

"Best" is relative. Weightless TX, weightless wacky, or weighted of either works great. Water clarity? Maybe, maybe not. Tonight I caught bass on a weightless, wacky junebug "senko" and on drop shot, a green pumpkin/watemelon shad- shaped worm. Water varied depending on location from green/clear to green/cloudy. For Wacky, simply bend your worm in half, and place your hook in the bend, perpendicularly. What ever you do, start fishing slowly. Let the worm fall, give it a three twitch up, then let it fall, and work it back to you. Vary from very very slow to a little faster.

Reminds me of when the Lindner's left Shimano for Quantum (again). For several seasons, Shimano made the greatest reels and rods ever. Suddenly, they didn't, but Quantum did. Money talks. KVD scores big with Quantum, probably stick with what pays the bills

For spinning, I like to use 6.x:1 ratio. It's just what I'm used to. I like the speedier retrieve for soft plastics, and I've even fished a lot of lures on them. Just have to reel slower for some things. But when I need the bait in fast, a fast retrieve does the trick. Same for me with casting reels. I use 7.x:1. Shimano quality will be in their spinning side as well. For $120 you should be able to find a Saros, or maybe even a Stradic FJ or FK on eBay. Maybe. Hard to go wrong there.

Spinning reels under $120 are numerous. Look at brands like Shimano, Diawa, Pflueger, and others. Your best bet is to take the rod in to a local store and try on different reels to get a feel for the balance and *feel* in your hands that only your hands can tell. You may hate what I recommend (if you buy it), so I'd rather push you to try reliable and highly rated brands by folks on this forum as mentioned above. Good luck. As far as line, my personal experience has led me to braid for mainline and then I tie on a leader of varying pound test. Management is virtually painless with braid as opposed to fluoro and so on.

I do left for spinning, right for casting. @trick worms is right, try 'em out in-store and see which is more comfortable to you.

I agree the Ned Rig is "IT" this year, so far, and probably everywhere. Personally, my "IT" lure is the same every year. The Senko

Congrats. Or you could name him Pond, or Creek, no, maybe Crick... How about Quarry? or Stream, hey, what about Brook! Or maybe "Blue" You'll have to have two more after him to join the 4-Boys club.

Not sure you'll find as small a reel as the 50e for $120. I have the Chronarch 50e and it is quite awesome.

Welcome aboard! Good suggestions above. Years ago I switched all my reels to braid plus a leader. Braid is, in my experience, so much better for line management. It doesn't jump off the spool like mono... You can go straight braid if you do not want to use a leader. Heaviest braid I use is 15# test.

How's that for the finals. I go to the toilet and the Warriors lose. Dadgummit. Congrats to Lebron and Kyrie. They won it for the Cavs.

Excellent catch!

Wow. That's pretty stiff, but then, I left the world of spooling mono/copoly/fluoro straight on my spinning reels in favor of braid and a leader. I'd drop to 6 or 8, but if you must go 10, use some KVD Line & Lure conditioner to help relieve the springy behavior.

Intense.

I cannot unsee this pic. Someone give me a spoon to gouge out my eyes and frontal lobe - or wherever our brains store images. Please. Help me.

I was a die-hard GS fan back in the Chris Mullin days. Then I was a die-hard Kobe fan. I'm with GS again, but Lebron is a specimen of excellence that is rare. I want GS, but if Lebron pulls it off, congrats.

Take your rod in to a local shop (BPS, Cabelas, etc.) and ask to put each reel on it you are interested in. Despite quality of all the above reels, you may feel one is a better fit in your hands than another. My experience was this. I was set on a Pflueger, but ended up going with a Stradic. The Pflueger is a great reel, but it just didn't feel right in my hands. So asking us what is best is subjective as best. Brands to consider: Okuma, Pflueger, Diawa, Quantum, Shimano, etc. FWIW. What I think is best, may not be best for you.

Welcome aboard!

LOL. Yeah, I know the saying well. Told it to a buddy tonight, in fact. He and I got skunked while my youngest son pulled in 3 bluegill and a baby bass. So ... yes, fish didn't bite well tonight. Except for my son. Bluebird skies, NE wind, but a 98% full moon should have at least been better for me and my buddy.

Welcome aboard!

Nice Mike! One of my sons and his buddies slayed croaker yesterday and today. Some very good saltwater fishing. Freshwater? Not so much. My youngest did score 3 bluegill and a tiny bass today. Registered my first skunk of the year today

Welcome aboard! For $160, I'd say a Cumara is a decent deal.

First: Welcome aboard! As far as the rods, no can help. No Dobyns experience. Reels, I'm a big fan of the Stradic line. Bought two FJs last year, probably won't upgrade again for a couple more. But by that time, I'll likely go with the FK (better pricing prior to new model release). Concerning braid. You don't *NEED* to go with anything over 15#. I am perfectly comfortable with 10# PP and a leader from 6-15# depending on what I'm fishing in. I'm currently using 15# PP SuperSlick 8 on a bunch of reels because I got a great deal on a 1500 yard spool. Otherwise, every spinning reel would have 10# on it. Fluoro is fine at 6 or 8#.