Darren.

x2 When I tried straight braid to hook (wacky style), I tied a snell, and it worked great...but palomar works best, IMO.

I finally spooled my 12lb test on one of my unused Stradic 1000FI spools. Took it out this afternoon for some casting and testing. Guys, I have to be honest, and I'm hesitant to write this given all the praise so far. I am not all that impressed with line. I know this may sound sacrilegious but it feels like Fireline to me, lays poorly on the spool. Yes, I know how to spool new line on my reel. I put on a heavy weight, cast it out and tightly wound it back. A little better, but not much. Never experienced this with regular PP. Perhaps if I downsized to 10lb it would be better. Of course I'm used to 10lb PP which is 2lb diameter, so that could be playing part here. A positive is that it is very quiet...but that's the only one I've found so far. I'll give it more time, but so far, I'm a little bummed I don't like it more. I really want to.

Excellent drama exploring the whole human condition. Love it. I stalled in season 3 after baby born. Let my wife catch up to me, and now she's all caught up and I'm not.

Here's a snippet from another post I made today. "Braid for mainline is great because of line management (esp. on spinning reels). Braid can be rather pricey. Every time you tie on another lure, another hook, directly to braid, you remove a little bit of your pricey line. Get hung up, you lose more. Soon, you need to respool because your braid is down too low for your liking. However, add a leader and your braid dwindles much more slowly. You get hung up your leader (hopefully) breaks first. You start out with 6 feet or more of leader, and retie lures, hooks, until you need to replace your leader. Those reties don't affect your braided mainline until you replace the leader. The longer the leader, the less you lose your braid." This is one reason I use a leader, perhaps even my main reason. Other reasons, abrasion resistance, visibility, etc.

Welcome!

I'm using Shimano Compre rods (previous gen), and awaiting (today) delivery of an Avid 6'3" MLXF rod. The longest spinning rods I have are 6'3". For $39, those rods sound great. Question is, how'd they feel in your hand? Yeah, feathering the line, or palming the spool/feather line works just fine. As a kayak fisherman, I really have no accuracy issues with the spinning rods. I tend to pitch in fairly close quarters, no probs.

That's a neat little rig.

True. While it does seem to be popular, IMHO, I just don't see 50-80 lb braid as necessary for bass fishing. Saltwater, sure. So yeah, over-or-under-kill putting a 15lb leader on such, depending how you look at it. Catch 22.

Allow for a completely different perspective. Braid for mainline is great because of line management (esp. on spinning reels). Braid can be rather pricey. Every time you tie on another lure, another hook, directly to braid, you remove a little bit of your pricey line. Get hung up, you lose more. Soon, you need to respool because your braid is down too low for your liking. However, add a leader and your braid dwindles much more slowly. You get hung up your leader (hopefully) breaks first. You start out with 6 feet or more of leader, and retie lures, hooks, until you need to replace your leader. Those reties don't affect your braided mainline until you replace the leader. The longer the leader, the less you lose your braid. As for weakness in the chain, I don't agree. Well, technically it may be true (or maybe not), but in my own experience, with 10 or 20 lb braid + leader, I never worry about my leader knot. I always test it thoroughly before I put it in the water. I caught my PB on 10lb braid + 10lb leader in thick slop. 7.5lb bass + extra poundage of grass and such. Nary a worry on my part. Everything held just fine. Just a "devil's advocate" approach. FWIW.

Silas, there's no reason you can't pitch with the gear you have. I pitch with Stradic 1000FI reels all the time. Can be done with great success.

She looks ready to drop her eggs! Did you let her go?

Welcome, Pete!

Let's hope it doesn't become the drama-insane "professional" wrestling ... umm ... stuff. Worst. Acting. Ever. Keep Bass Fishing Real!

Should work just fine! Senko colors are good, standard, and bass catchers. Fish 'em wacky, TX rigged. BTW, the article you mention is not linked to. Or at least I can't see it.

Fish 'em like that during spawn, pre, as well. I've thrown them on beds, and in areas where fish were just running. Made the ladies angry.

I have a bottle of KVD that I've had for about 3 years. Now that most of my gear is braid, I don't use it much. But it is majorly good for mono, fluoro, copoly lines.

One of my sons and I went out to the local docks yesterday. Nada, zip, zamboni. Well, my son did pull in an old line. No bass attached, tho. Spring, come quickly. Hurry up n' bloom, dogwoods.

I want to become a better jig fisherman, if I can find the patience. But I also want to go catching, not just fishing. Want to do better in areas that I don't have much luck in. And what ww2farmer said.

That's called innovating! For me it was rigging a lizard wacky style. No reason you can't use a soft plastic for other than it's "intended" purchase. I'm all for it.

We were forecast 68% chance of rain today here in VA (south eastern). We've got about 2 inches of snow today (so far). I am ready for spring x2.

I've thrown a bunch of different worm rigs in grass, be it wacky, weighted wacky, TX, pegged TX, split and drop shots. Best of those are probably wacky (weightless), and TX rigs in my experience.

Welcome to the forums, David!

Welcome, Aaron!

When the dogwoods bloom, spawn on! Taint happenin' down on the peninsula yet. Maybe some staging going on, but the water is still in the 40s.

4" Yamamoto Senko