Darren.

Such pretty fish. On my bucket list of "things to catch" some day. 'Course I want to catch the monsters in the Amazon....

Really? Wow. Then I must try it. Is it a few notches up in alcohol content, too?

I'm going to have to try that stout. Seen it before at a local wine/beer store. But I've had to lay low on some of the stuff, packs on way too many pounds, LOL. One such stout is Dragon's Milk. Gosh that's good stuff.

LOL, yeah, but it's temporarily out of stock!!

I like Zoom Trick and Finesse worms best for TX rigging. I've caught some beasts in the 5-6 pound range with TX rigged senko style baits, tho. Find GP/Chartr. tail, black, junebug as most effective of the last I've fished TX. I use wacky so much more.

Curious as to his reasoning, Sam. There's one thing I love about my Stradics, and it is the direct drive handles. I don't know if the higher end Daiwa reels have it. And I'm speaking of spinning reels here... I spoke with two repair shops locally here in the last year about Daiwa repair, and they both said they'd rather repair Shimano because the parts are easier to get, but Daiwa's aren't (among other reasons).... I'm curious as to DVT's thoughts on the matter. But I do like my Daiwa Lexa 2000SH and my BC Lexa. Both have been given to one of my sons though. I like the Stradic FJ and Chronarch 50e reels so much better. Might be a different story if I was comparing a Zillion and Ballistic to the Chronarch and Stradic though....

I'm going to say "no"... That said, personally, I always tie on a leader to my braided mainline (PowerPro & PP SS8). For one thing, it makes the braid last longer. When I retie (inevitable) my hooks/lures, I cut down my leader, not my braided mainline until I need to tie on a new leader. That's a lot of reties I can do w/o depleting my braid. My .02.

Welcome aboard!

Great haul, Kent. Sweet fish.

This.

Welcome aboard! I'd suggest a St. Croix Legend Tournament Avid rod in 6' or such. The LT doesn't have anything under 6'8", but they are splendid rods. Just got a spinning model which is unbelievably sensitive.

Still looking. Used to carry around a Leatherman knock-off, but it wasn't, um, good. One of my kids has it now. Eventually I'll buy another, and I'll watch this thread for suggestions, too. Thanks for starting it, OE.

My local fishing buddy was discovered by my sons when they were searching a local spot on Google Earth. He's clearly sitting in his kayak just off the road. Great tool for the most part.

My head is starting to hurt. Let's leave math and physics out of the sport... mmm k? Just kidding...

I'm using 10lb PP regular on several 1000 size reels, and some have 15lb PP SS8. 15 will be perfect for your son's reel.

Welcome aboard! I felt the Mojo rods were too tip-heavy, but that's in my hands. Others like that feeling. As well, the new Mojo now use the same blank as the Avid, so that ups the game a little. I had an Avid spinning rod that I sent back for warranty replacement and ended upgrading to a Legend Tourney and wow, what a difference. The LT is another level of sensitivity to my fingers. But at full retail, they go for $250 and up. Not sure what reel you're looking at - casting or spinning? Assuming you mean casting, but might want to clarify for everyone.

I use Senkos, but not nearly as much as I use Bass Pro Stik-Os in 4" and 5". I find they work extremely well, and they're readily available for me as I'm close to a BPS. Used Yum, and other brands, but I like the Stik-Os the best. But there are colors I can only get in GYCB Senkos, so I keep those on hand.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

I don't think the point of the OP was it was more fun for bass fishing, but given all the bites and action live bait generates is more fun than the often-times waiting game of bass fishing. The action blue gill, perch, crappie, etc., provide can be quite the fun diversion, IMO. And don't tell Fish Chris not to use live bait

Let me just welcome you to the forums! Seems you have info you need well in hand.

It sure is fun, especially if you have little kids with you. The excitement is contagious. I don't use live bait (i.e., night crawlers) much these days unless I'm going out with long poles (no reels) and pencil floats. Truly enjoyable experience.

I was actually looking into this today, and came across Alan Hawk's reel care "guide" and he happens to like Hot Sauce, but it is one of his likes. Also likes the Shimano products, Penn, Ardent, Daiwa, etc. For me, I'll stick to my Shimano, Ardent oils, and Ardent grease. Probably pick up Shimano greases at some point down the road.

Digging in is when say you have a snag and you pull/reel in the log or whatever. The thinner line will dig in to itself - think of dental floss going in between your teeth, but your teeth are the rest of the line on the spool... Make sense?