hatrix

A Jig all day. Or maybe a drop shot that's a close second for me.

I think most of the garbage comes from people who don't take fishing as serious as I think most people on here do. It seems like it is usually some guy or kids bobber fishing and leaving there worm containers and garbage laying around. I always put my cigarette butts in my pocket that's about the only garbage/mess I make.

I have a speed spool reel so that all I can comment on. It is a really nice reel for under $100. It might even be the best one you can get for under $100.

Yea I would say a drop shot or wacky rig.

I never use 2 hands. Im not sure I can even really get it any farther 2 hands. I use 1 hand all the time on spinning or casting gear. Also 2 hands does not seem as accurate for me.

That reminds me about those frogs. I totally forgot about those things, and they should have the cheaper clone series out by now. I think I definitely need to buy another and try not to loose them this time.

I also was gonna say something about the pics not being by the water. Hope they both made it back in time.

I do quite often with slower presentations like drop shot or carolina rig or something of that nature. Drop shot for sure though I catch them one after another. Although I guess if you think about it by the time I finish one drop shot cast you could of thrown a crank bait like 5x.

I don't think you should ever have to cut your line off the reel using braid. For starters make a long cast or pull out more line then you can cast and slap a piece of tape down there so you don't get deep backlashes. Then if the backlash is to crazy for you to fix you can cut off you lure and pull you line out from underneath the backlash and you should be all good to go. As long as you can find you main line underneath the mess you got going on if you cut off your lure you can pull it out from underneath. I tried to teach someone to use a bait caster with cheap BPS mono they got a few overruns like expected they make another cast get another backlash the spool stops abruptly and the lure goes sailing away. More then once it happened and after that they were cut off. It was back to spinning for them.

Well I guess everyone uses it the same just like I pretty much expected. I just wanted to know how most people have there's set up and its like I thought with no tension and no side to side slop in the spool. It's funny though cause I have seen people talk about how it should be set so it slowly descends and when it hits the ground the spool basically stops spinning and no one who replied including me set there reels like that. I have even seen pros say there reel is set like that and that seems kinda strange. I watched a Denny Brauer video on flipping and pitching and his reel was not free spool on his flipping stick. He pitched a jig and it landed on his deck while he never thumbed it and had no overrun on his spool. He said that's how he sets his reels and that seems kinda weird coming from probably the best guy there is on that subject.

I would maybe recommend some kind of braided line if it's your first bait casting set up. It might not be the easiest to use or best casting but it's more forgiving if you end up getting a bunch of backlashes. If you end up having to pick backlashes out or get deep ones that the line wrapped over tightly it might cause nicks and weak spots in your line and cause it to break. I wouldn't want to loose a big fish or a nice lure cause I nicked my line all up with a bunch of backlashes.

Spend it all on lottery tickets

Well I also use no spool tension and keep my mags set any where from 3-5 depending on wind. Also like goose said I do add some when using a spinner bait since those are like the worst casting bait for me especially when it decides it wants to helicopter in the air. Sometimes when I am out in open water throwing heavy cranks or lipless cranks ill add some just so I don't have to really use any thumb on it.

I am just trying to find out how other people like to do it. Do you fish with it free spool all the time no matter what your throwing or maybe just some lures you add a little tension or do you always have a little bit so it just falls slowly? Out of the hand full of people I fish with I'm the only one who really knows how to use a bait caster and they all use spinning so I am sort of curious to know how other people like to set there reels.

I took every thing apart expect the thumb bar and it was pretty easy. Every thing is much better except I can still sorta feel and hear the gears when I crank the handle. I used grease on about 3/4 of the main gear since that is what I heard to do and let it work it self over the rest by turning the handle. I don't know if I need more grease or what the deal is but it for sure didn't feel and sound like that when I bought it. I will have to take it apart again and see if I can't make it perfect again.

Those do look real nice and I like that you can pick how you want every aspect of it to be.

Bomber square A and little suspending minnows work good for me, and for top water lots of top water is super light like jitterbugs, heddon torpedos, poppers like a rebel popper, river 2 seas also has a super tiny hallow body frog I been using the past couple of days.

I actually just found a pretty decent video on cleaning a reel. I think I need to go grab some oil also before I start. He used the same grease I have and some oil. It went kinda how I figured it would grease on gears and oil on bearings.

Is this something a regular person could do? About a month a go my rod slid off the boat and took a bath for at least a minute while I was trying to get out some nasty treble hooks in a fish. It might of been in there longer if my brother didn't say "You know your rod is sinking right?" lol. Any ways, I gave it a basic cleaning by taking the side plate and spool off, but it is still not the same. I just bought it around April I think, and I suspect it could be even better then when I originally bought it. I have some Abu reel lube, I thought it was oil but it is like a white/clear grease. I wanted to get some hot sauce, but I just filled up the tank and only had a 5 spot on me when I stopped in the bait shop. Will the Abu reel lube work or do I need to go get some good oil for it also? Also does any one have a link to a guide/video of someone completely breaking down and cleaning a bait caster?

LOL for real

What punkinseed said but I like koppers now more then spro for the fact that koppers are way softer and I think I get better hook ups. I think they both cost the same also $10 or koppers might be a couple bucks more. Either way they are both great frogs and will catch fish what ever you choose. +1 on rage toads also those are really good for burning over pads. Just make sure you get some kind of twist lock hook so you can get more life out of them.

I been throwing the 2.5 in sexy shad a lot and have really been killing it. It is easily my favorite lipped crank that I have. Earlier today I got 5 fish in 5 casts on it. That was really cool since that is somewhat of a rarity for me unless using like a drop shot or some other kind of slow finesse presentation where I can really take my time and just pick them off 1 by 1.

Was throwing a Booyah spinner bait earlier since I never really use them and don't generally have good luck with them, and wouldn't you know it BAM! I got hammered on. I set the hook and instantly it started taking some drag I got it to the edge of the weed line about 7' away from the bank caught a quick glimpse of it and then.... a giant black walnut fell out of the tree above me and hit me in the head. I freaked out for a millisecond and did some little duck maneuver then remembered about the fish but it was gone We always joked around about them falling and hitting someone since they make such a big splash or thud when they hit the ground, but no one had ever been hit by one yet... Of course I get hit right in the head when I have a really nice fish on but I guess that's how it goes. You can't win them all.

I doubt he gets picked up in the middle of no where and sleeps in a hotel each night. I will admit he does get assistance with things and he doesn't do it all "himself" he also has a camera guy following him who has to go through the same things he does. Regardless if he sleeps in a hotel or not and I doubt that he does, it doesn't change the fact that I am sure that guy can really survive in the wild by him self.

I guess it would only really matter much to me on spinnig gear. Generally when using casting gear only the outside portion of my left hand ever really touches the grip since I am constantly palming my reel. On spinning gear though I hold the front cork in front of the reel and slim cork is the way to go, I don't like the rods with a thicker cork grip or foam for that matter.