Darren.

Yup. Quienyo, do whatever you feel confident in. If you want to experiment/practice, then do so. You can and will gain confidence trying other mainline to leader knots if you want to take the time. Otherwise join the club of those with BOXES of line-experimented-with-but-not-used. LOL.

Why is that? Just curious. I was leery when I first started out, but once I gained confidence in tying braid to leader knots I've not looked back. I've only had knots fail when I screwed up. So I learned and practiced tying them till now I'm 100% confident they'll hold. I've pulled up some serious junk off the bottom when hung up without breaking -- not to mention some big fish.

I echo A-Rob's advice. Go with braid for the mainline and tie on the Hybrid as leader material. No more memory issues as braid just works better on spinning gear. It's what I use on all my spinning gear. Been testing out the 8 lb Hybrid in green and have been pleasantly surprised. It works great as a leader. I use a modified albright knot mostly with plenty of wraps up and down the line. The stuff is seriously hard to break even at 8 lb test. Give braid a shot, you'll have a ton of leader material till kingdom come!

Much of what the OP said actually confirms what my MD told me. I'm still in a lot of pain, and both arms, at that. I've yet to get the cortisone injections, though that's what my MD said was next. Some days are better than others sans meds, but usually I take Advil to work thru the pain. I find that paddling my kayak simply adds to the problem, so I'm reverting to a trolling motor setup on my yak for the time being. The tennis elbow brace (used to play) is a band that wraps around the upper arm just before the elbow. It has a ball or something in it that "mashes down" the muscle, etc. distributing the load, as it were. At least that's what I think I understood it does from my MD.

They've been hitting soft plastics for me there. Worms, lizards. Weightless, too. Water temp was in the low 60s yesterday. Water also extremely clear in spots. All have been caught in no more than 6' of water off of lay downs and bushes, and I've been on the rte 64 side.

Count me among the few who prefer shorter rods. Perhaps it is the places I fish, my height, the kayak, but I don't really like to go past 6'6". That said, a 6 to 6'6" MXF rod should be able to handle most everything. Something to be said for MH, but some rods (I believe like the Avid series, correct me if I'm wrong) are a tad stiffer than their rating. So one MXF may be stiffer than another, and more on the side of MH. I like the 2011 Compre rods from Shimano, the Avids, Carbonlites are great as well. If you can go to a store, put your reel on the different rods and get a feel for the balance and such, you'll probably be happier with your choice. My .02. And for reel size, look, I'm a small-reel fan. I use a Shimano Stradic 1000FI with 10lb PP braid main, 6-15lb leaders in various material. I have brought in some beasts with the 1000FI. I lost what we deemed a 7-8 lber just out of reach of my net the other day. Hauled it in w/o a hitch before she tail-danced and spit the hook in the net. The 6 pounder was caught shortly after. Again, no problem. A 2500 would probably be the biggest I'd go, but that's me. For the size rods you're looking at, a 2500 should be fine unless you want to go 3000 which is same size, but deeper spool.

Don't discount a for your soft plastics hooks! I find I have much better hookups with the line wrapped around the shaft of the hook as opposed to only the hook eye. Super easy to tie (as per the video). I use it on hooks down to size 4, whether wacky/drop shot, any manner of offset worm hooks, etc.That said, I will use Palomar, then the Improved Clinch for some setups, (weedless, jigs, etc.) but 98% is snell now.

Welcome! Ah yes, Beaverdam, NNPK, Waller Mill. All good reservoirs, some big stripers stocked in Waller Mill! Also fish Harwood's Mill. Beaverdam has some incredible "fields" of submerged stumps.

Wow. Nice. A little bit of everything, methinks :-) If it were me: 4", 5", 6", 7" Senkos in GP Magic, Watermelon Magic, Watermelon Gold Flake, Black/Blue flake, and maybe a few other colors to try Shad shaped worm, WMGoldFlake Fat Ikas Flappin' Hog II Some Yamaminnows

I have to make an amendment to my previous statement in this topic. I was digging through my box of fishing line on Friday and came upon a spool of Hybrid, 6lb test in camo green. I didn't realize I had a spool of Hybrid in that color (have in UltraSoft, not impressed with color there, too milky, but this is different). Probably picked it up a year ago and threw it in the bin. Anyhow, a fan of green lines (P-Line's mist-green), this camo green is pretty nice, a bit darker hue than P-Line's mist green, but pretty much as clear as P-Line. So I tried it on Friday afternoon tied on as leader to my PowerPro mainline. Caught two nice bass, one 2.3 lbs, to one between 3-4 lb based on my buddy and my estimation, she threw the hook as I bent down to take her by the lip. Nary a problem with the Hybrid. I actually liked it. Felt confidence in the line. Even snagged it on a branch underwater and was able to retrieve my line, hook (Gamakatsu #2 wide gap finesse). Impressed enough to order a 600 yard spool of it in green, 8 lb test, tonight off of ebay for about $9 shipped. Dadgum baitmonkey.

That's one more than I've ever caught! Looks awesome. Can't wait to catch one someday.

Another vote for Stradic, either the "regular" or CI4 model for the extra coin.

Welcome! And I'll agree with everyone else, spinning is what you want to start out with. Bait casting is good when you feel you're ready for another step, another tool. But you can do pretty much everything with a spinning outfit. Digging out backlashes is no fun when you could be fishing. Another day, another time. I echo the spinning reel size, around 2500. I use 1000 for my bass fishing, some would consider that ultra light, but not me. For a rod, a medium or medium heavy 6' or 6'6" model to start with. Opinions vary on rod length, so go with what feels right. Ask the store to put the reel you want on various rods and feel the balance, feel the weight in your hand. Does the tip fall to the ground, or is the rod+reel horizontal (good IMO)? What feels best in your hand? Then start with soft plastics (also IMO). Don't despise a good float and live bait either. Do what you need to do to get your feet wet, back into the game. Once your confidence starts building, then you can add on.

Did you figure out the picture posting?

I've got a Garmin Echo 100, did not have the extra $$ to go another step up. If I had $100-150 to spend, I'd look at the Garmin echo 150, or Garmin echo 200, if I could up that price a little more I'd look at the Lowrance Elite 4 series. The Mark 4 are nice as well. I chose Garmin because the trolling motor mount was included, but I'm not using my trolling motor for now. Lowrance, Humminbird are the big boys, Garmin's coming along nicely. I don't fish big waters so haven't yet found a "need" for GPS. Maybe I would if I had it, don't know. I would love at least one of the new Lowrance DSI units. Depending on your yak you can build yourself a nice mount + arm for the entire unit for $25-30. Or buy one at several online or local kayak retailers.

I have quite a few spools of Hybrid, but hardly use it any more other than for leader material, or long-pole (no reels) fishing. Sensitive, yes. More cost-effective than pure FC lines, for sure. For me, P-Line Floroclear is my favorite. Just my experience. I did like the performance of 10 and 12 lb Hybrid on my baitcasters tho. Did not like Hybrid or Ultrasoft much on spinning gear for mainline, even with line conditioner. But the wider the spinning spool, the better. I like smaller reels, hence: I've changed all of my spinning gear to braid for mainline and various leader material. Braid is just that much better for management on spinning gear in my experience. With the right leader-to-mainline knot there are no worries about having a weak point in the line. Knots that have not failed me: , and in 2nd place, Uni-to-Uni. The link shows both knots via Knot Wars. The slicker the line, I find the Modified Albright to be better.My .02 having tried a bunch of lines. You should definitely try Hybrid out and decide for yourself. Might be the ticket for you.

Some sweeties there. Happening in Virginia, too! Yesterday's haul was this 6lber, a bigger one thrashed and tossed my bait about 30 minutes earlier. My son and I saw that one break the water, and thrash barely out of reach of the net...

You are in an enviable state, fishingator! Welcome to bassresource, and catch some of those giant Florida strain bass, eh?

webertime, that has to be the best avatar! FWIW, I was looking at the same Shimano Black Moon backpacks, that is, until I decided to take up fishing from a kayak. It'd probably still work out great, but I now use a BPS double-sided worm bag and a plano box or two with hard plastics.

Yeesh. Must. Hold. Lunch. Down....

If you haven't already made your decision, another vote for Sahara @ $80. Tried the BPS models, tempted by the carbon, but chose Sahara. My experience with Shimano spinning reels (Stradics are my fav) is they are reliable, use quality parts, smooth, rated for salt/fresh, and for my hands, they feel the best. Now I'm also a guy who prefers smaller spinning reels for bass - the 1000 size is my favorite. I have one 2500 size Shimano Spirex that I use for crank baits.

Finding the pattern on a given day. Which is perhaps another way to put what J Francho said. The pattern (for me) is the problem needing solving.

Awesome. Peacock bass fishing is on my bucket list. I'll take Florida, because it's far more likely to become a reality, but really want to hit the Amazon.

Welcome, fellow Yakker! Some beasties you got there. Sweet stuff.

I've got two Quantum bait casters, a 7:0:1 Accurist, and a Shaw Grigsby (believe it's an Accurist) model from DSG. I consider myself a Shimano guy when it comes to spinning gear which I use more than my BC gear. My Quantum BCs have served me well, with regular oiling and such. Exception being, as mentioned above, the finish. They ding/scratch easily. Also noticing, after 4 years of the Grigsby model, occasional slippage in gears. Because these are my only BCs, I can't compare them to Shimanos, Daiwas, BPS, etc., other than in-store comparisons. So I'll only give opinion on the Q's. My own experience has not been bad. Would I opt for Quantums again? Not likely. Only one I might consider, having played with it, is the Smoke which is pretty sweet (looking). I almost went for a new Curado with the reel trade in, but couldn't justify it to the CFO. Was able to justify a replacement spinning reel though because the kids can fish that. If I were a big bait casting guy, I might feel otherwise....