deep

Hmm, so what should I do? Link my bank account? Sorry, I'm a noob when it comes to paypal (at least).

I have a paypal account that I use to buy stuff from Ebay. I haven't got it set with my bank account with it though; it's set up with my debit card. How do I: #1. send money? What info do I need from the person I'm sending the money to? #2. receive money? What info do I need to supply to the guy who's sending me the money? Also, once I get the money, could I transfer that to my debit card?

Gamakatsu hooks, Kinami flash (senkos), Strike King spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, Rapala and Strike King hardbaits, Berkely and Stren lines. Oh, and Sufix Elite too. That's a good thing since the Dick's Sporting Goods that is nearby stopped selling Sufix Siege.

No, I didn't. Please read the original post again. I meant sales and clearances in tackle websites, such as TW or BTD. Just an example, there are several good deals to be had at thehookuptackle (or whatever that site is called) now: IRods for $110, black dog shellcrackers for $35, BBZ 8" for $20, etc.

There's a "hot deals" section in the TT forum, where members post, well, "hot deals". I basically am a lazy person, and although I am a member of TT and SBnation, would rather scour one forum than 2 or 3. I'm sure there are others. I was thinking if we could have such a section, where we could post sales and clearances just to give a heads-up to other people. I know we do this all the time, but such posts do get lost, and frankly I found deals on the TT "hot deals" that were not posted anywhere here. I don't know how this works out with BR sponsors, but it's an idea.

I pretty much stopped buying stuff from BPS and Cabelas because of the sales tax and the S/H charges.

4lb dia is a bit too thin I think. That might cause the line digging in and causing bird's nests. I use 6lb dia (30 lb test) on my spinning gear. Never had a problem with the color coming off, although I do use a lot of KVD's L&L. Stick with it and you'll love it.

The only problem with the bill lewis' rattletraps are the hooks. All the ones I bought invariably had one hook of either of the trebles super blunt. The other hooks were pretty sharp though, which is funny. I prefer to stick with red eye shads now-a-days.

You did? What's the trick? For the life of me, I can't catch a thing on the rapala liplesses. I do pretty much okay with red-eye shads and the bill lewis' traps though.

Don't wait for the weather to warm up. In colder weather, just make your pauses a bit longer.

Boy oh boy, that's still my favorite rod! Did you get it from Dick's too? I used it for everything except plastics though. Not enough sensitivity, not enough hook-setting power. Put on your favorite 6lb line, you should be good until the spawn is over; I know I was. EDIT: Since you mention you're "fairly new", let me tell you what I did. Until the spawn is done, a lot of bass will be shallow. Agreed, most of them won't be very big; but in those days I was happy to catch a bass of any size. I got myself one floating Rapala, one X-Rap, a couple of Rebel poppers, a couple of inline spinners; all in the weight range of 1/4 oz or so. The color didn't matter to me, I just bought what I figured the fish could/ would see: lighter colors for bright days, darker colors for cloudy. I fished the hell out of these few lures until I lost them. Find yourself the north bank of your lake, and do the top-middle-bottom approach. Look out for structures, cast as close to it as you dare to, and retrieve. Cast and wind with deadsticks and directional changes in between. Once you catch a few, you'll start figuring it out. Good luck and keep us posted.

Thought I'd share this. I just placed an order for a pair. It was on closeout, and after applying the 50% off discount, I actually got it for exactly 25% of the original price. Not bad! Even better, they have a free return policy.

Ordinary day: xraps Tough bite: pointers Ordinary day: skitter walk Tough bite: sammy That's what I found. IMHO, there's something about the LCs that catch fish when nothing else will. This coming from a huge Rapala fan. But that said, those tough days are about one in twenty, or less.

I used a 5'6" daiwa samurai spinning combo (light/ fast) for several months and caught a few hundred bass, including a 6 lb-er and a 5 lb-er and a few 3 lb-ers before the bait and gear monkeys found me

One little piece of advice; get the longest rod you can.

Came back to my apartment from the university and found the package from BTD on my doorstep. I ordered a 6" wood lunker punker jr in foiled trout, a 6" Mattlures tournament series in light trout, a Mattlures soft male bluegill, and received a free small shellcracker. I know six inchers are small fry for the Cali guys. But the lunker punker looks huge, and I mean really really huge. It dwarfs the Mattlures' trout, and they are both "six inches" Hell, half the bass I caught last year weren't much bigger than that punker! I'm excited, 'cause the "swimbaits" I did throw last year were Matt's baby bass, the Mattshad, and the SPRO 4" shad. I still need to find a good deal on a Curado 301, pick up a SPRO BBZ 6" floater, one or two 6" Hudds, and I'm good to go. Will need to find one of Matt's hardgills, but that can wait for a while. (Note to myself) P.S. One hour after unpacking the package, I'm still super-excited.

Thanks everyone for the opinions and ideas. uncadave, thanks for the offer, but I already have a Citica 201E which I love. Gone_Phishin, I don't really want a round reel.

Shane and authentic, check here: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1295633452 I guess I wanted to know what are blue lenses good for, and not what is a good all-around lens color.

In.

I've been thinking about buying a better pair of (bass) fishing sunglasses. From what I read on here, I guess sunny conditions => green mirror or gray low light => amber. Are blue lenses good for offshore use only?

This is mostly a hypothetical question since I won't be doing any deep cranking for a few months at least, but it'd be nice to do some homework, and search on fleabay for deals. Right now I use a BPS pro-qualifier 5.2:1, and I've been nothing but happy with it. I'd prefer to change over to Shimano though, if the options exist. How about the older Curados? How do they stack up to the Curado 200E5? To the PQ? The cranks I'd throw would be around an ounce, if that's of any use. P.S. I have nothing against Abu Garcia or Daiwa or ... reels, but for a baitcaster, I would stay with Shimano, or continue with the pro-qualifier (solid little reel).

Hey Fat-G, since you mentioned "an all-around spinning combo", let me throw in my 2 cents for what it's worth. I have 3 spinning combos: 7'3" M/XF Powell Max spinning + Shimano Sonora + Daiwa Samurai: bottom contact lures, meaning weightless T-rigs, T-rigs, wacky rigs, and small jigs. By far this is the most sensitive rod I have. I'm glad I spent the maximum I could on the rod. I did skimp on the reel to spend on the rod though. So far it has worked out. 7' Team All Star M/MF + Browning Citori + Sufix Siege: this is my all purpose spinning set-up for any lures in the weight range 1/4 - 1/2 oz, excepting of course the soft plastics. 6' Ultralight set-up: for lures under 1/4 oz, small topwater, little inline spinners and spoons. I use it for panfish and trout. When I use it for bass, I try to put on some 2/10 or 4/15 braid.

I agree with that... but soley based on the techniques listed, my personal preference would be a XFast. Well, the only thing that would make it a difficult say is the Ika. It's a pretty heavy bait so an XF might not be the best option. I definitely see what your saying though, especially for the Flick Shakes. 70% of the Flick Shakes will be the 6.8 versions, so I guess that'll be heavier than the common finesse worm. Fat Ikas on a M/XF Powell work just fine for me. If you can stretch your budget to $100 or so, you'll get some great choices. Have you already bought the Sahara? It's a great reel no doubt. The reel I use for identical techniques is a cheapo Shimano Sonora (retails for $50 or so). I have it on a Powell Max spinning. The combo has seen some extensive use and hasn't let me down yet.

Don't pitch a lot. But I'm 5'7" and all my rods except my UL is 7' or longer, the longest being a 7'11".

Okay then. I'll #1. Save up for a 300 size reel #2. Teach myself to reel slower when I eventually buy that Curado 301E. Thanks everyone.