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If I have any advice for the OP, it is this. Don't drop the $250 all at once. $250 is a lot of money, but tackle costs a lot also. Spend a little more money on a few quality lures to start yourself off with. That voice in the back of your head that screams at you to purchase more tackle doesn't go away.You have been bitten by the bait monkey accept it and try to cope. Whenever anything new comes out or a lure wins a big bassmaster tournament, you have to have it. You are most likely not going to kick the urge to buy more tackle, a $250 purchase will help fill your tackle box, but I say save that money for when the next lure you have to get comes out. Try and spread the cost out. Example: I took a trip down to Bass Pro shops once, Spent like $300, then we stopped at a Wal-Mart on the way home, they had a new KVD Finesse Spinnerbait, so I bought 2 of them for another $15. Try and spread out the costs. Now that I am in college I don't buy nearly as much tackle, but I did get a new rod and a small tackle order from TW during their Labor day sale for my birthday, that was $120, and I just ordered a reel for that rod for $70. I also can't stop myself when KVD Squarebills are 2.50 in a clearance bin, and I don't even fish square bills that much.

I have a couple 7' MH HMG's (different year models) and I love them. Also have one of the old Eagle GTs which is good for the price too. No experience with the Elite techs, but the next time I am in the market for another rod, it's going to be a Fenwick, likely an HMG.

Z-man is what I am into right now. That being said I probably have hundreds upon hundreds of conventional soft plastics. I really like Big Bite Baits, Berkley havoc/ powerbait, Yum is good, SK, Zoom. I've tried a lot of stuff haha, it all works.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/144574-topwater-carp/?hl=s-waver#entry1610991

I've had that happen with a cheaper luck E strike spinnerbait before, The curve at the bottom wasn't closed all the way and It fell off just when casting. I don't fish spinnerbaits too often, I havent bought one in a long time, my favorite I have ever purchased was a Peppers baits Spinnerbait. They have a great hook, top of the line components, are the perfect size, and most importantly do not have an overly long arm.

H20's are alright. The Slush Minnow comes with hooks that are on the small side. And the bluegill one is fatter than I expected, but both baits still work fine and make a commotion.

Never knew those brands were made by the same company. So does this tell me anything about the reel? Should I avoid it?

huh, it kinda does. Don't think there is any connection there though, as this is a $70 reel haha.

I saw this reel in gander mountain and played around with it for a little bit. I really liked the feel of it and almost bought it. I know that Quantum has made reels for gander in the past, and I'm not sure if this one is a quantum, because it doesn't really "look" like a quantum. I looked on the box and through all of the paperwork on the inside and couldn't find a make. To me the exterior looked like a pflueger, but there were differences on with the line guide and interior braking that differed from the pfluegers that I saw in store. I wanna give this reel a shot but if its made by quantum... well let's say I've been there, done that, and wished I hadn't. http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Gander-Mountain-Tournament-Baitcasting-Reel-GMTOUR100RH-71&i=831076

These work pretty well! Academy H2O express pistol minnow.

I bought 2 at $40 a piece over a year ago. I love the handles on them. One of the reels' worm gear stripped for no reason and rendered the reel useless :/ . I still like my other one though. Also, it is loud, doesn't bother me though. I would say there are much better reelsin the $80-100 range. But in the $20 range, I'd pick one up for sure.

Flat Head Jig I really like the sound of AP Jig. (standing for all purpose)

How big is that bass? Huge, numbers do not matter when you got a picture like that!

The line diameters should be at least somewhat close. 10lb braid is much, much smaller than 12lb flouro. If you want to use a 12 lb leader use 40-50lb braid. If you want to use 10lb braid, use a 6lb flouro leader. The knot isn't going to tie if the lines are of much different sizes.

Jackall Aska! caught them off my girlfriend's grandmother's dock on Lake Wissota.

Zell pop is the best I've used. Straight up catches 'em. I got one of the Lake Fork poppers in a LTB and it appears VERY similar to the zell pop.

Like WRB said, 15lb test braid is too small for baitcasters. I would know, as it was the first braid I tried on a baitcaster when I first got one. Line ends up snapping on casts because it gets weakened very easily on casting gear. It is also troublesome to cast because of its small diameter, it's like trying to cast 4lb monofilament.

There are times of the year where fishing is tough for example a month or so ago, it seemed I could only scrap together a few small bass per outing by fishing a wacky rig, they wouldn't hit anything else. I took a break from that body of water and fished others a little bit. I also like to take relatives out to fish for panfish or sometimes trout, those can be good ways to break up "the fishing rut" that can sometimes happen.

Like others have said, stay a ways back from the dock so you don't spook the fish. If they don't know you are there the fish will be 100 times easier to catch. In clear, northern waters, I've done well fishing docks with a finesse jig, a wacky rig, dropshot, or light T-rig.

I use the YUM $5 pair from wally world. (I lose them often) But they aren't bad sunglasses, they are fairly sturdy and fit my face like a glove. The polarization is also better than a pair of Igogs I bought for $25.

Fun fish to catch, if I don't have a pair of pliers on me, it can be a little troublesome. But most of the time they are fun bonus fish.

That D-bomb just straight up catches them. I just purchased some Z-man turbo craws that are made of elaztech, only fished it for a little bit, but I like what I see, I did catch one on it first time out too. Those Z-man plastics are ridiculously durable if you haven't tried any yet. They are stretchy and unlike traditional plastic. If durability is a concern, I'd give one of the elaztech baits a try.

happened to me too, Luck e Strike Scrounger, stored in a 3700 indoors

http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/10460-identifying-juvenile-grass-pickerel-and-juvenile-northern-pike/

I don't think there are chain pickeral as far west as owatonna. I may be wrong, but I believe Chain Pickeral are mostly an east-coast fish, ranging out to only about Lake Michigan area and south from there.