fowlskies

Ya, I mentioned the spinnerbait also, its one of my go to lures. I have to say I have been impressed and like a couple of the War Eagle baits that I have.

I would say: Jig (color depending on clarity of water) Sebile Magic Swimmer (Bluegill pattern) Senko style worm Spinnerbait (most likely white/chartruse unless really dirty water) And if I could sneak a 5th without anyone seeing it would be a chatterbait.

The best producing swimbait I have used is the Sebile Magic Swimmer (hardbait). My second choice would be the Yum Money Minnow. I've used and own the hard Storm Kickin Stick (works good but not as good as the Magic Swimmer), a variety of Storm's soft plastic swimbaits and Berekleys and Yum's version of the grass pig. They have all produced good results but by far the best was the Magic Swimmer followed by the Money Minnow and third place to the Grass pig style swimmers (U can throw those in some knarly spots with good results).

That's a good deal...now u have to find some soft water and start slowly dredging the bottom with a jig.

Awesome, what combo?

There's no hijacking, I would like to hear more about this reel.

Well the dealer gave me a refund plus he paid shipping back to him. He was a good guy nand it looked like an honest mistake, I would still buy another reel off him. Ended up buying a pair of winter hiking boots that was one of cabelas daily holiday deals, since i needed them more than another reel. I think I still might get a reel, Cabelas has a U.S hibdon 800 on sale for $40 that I might have to try out.

For $130 Dick's has the abu Garcia Orra combo, its better than the Abu Silver or Black Max someone suggested earlier. Keep within your price range and don't listen to the you "need" to spend $300, there are plenty of people fishing jigs with much less expensive setups that catch fish. The Orra is a really nice reel and will do everything you want it to.

Well this sucks....I got the reel in the mail today and it won't come out of free spool. So I figure it just needs to be taken apart and lubed. WRONG, the free spool lever is broken...right where the free spool lever engages with the gear to kick it out of free spool. Its sheared off so it won't engage with the gear. Very disappointed, it was my birthday gift and I doubt that pinnacle still has parts for this reel in stock. Does anyone know where I can get parts for this reel??? Either that or I hope the dealer on ebay will give a refund.

Well I bought it for $36. Hope all works out well, I'll update this tread when it gets some use. I bought it off ebay...my $36 bid got beat out by a dollar at the last second, but the seller had another one that was "Buy it now" for $50 (is this where u got your price J Franco? lol) that did not sell so I offered him $36 for it and he agreed. Awesome!!!

Thanks for the info guys. I have a C3 4600 that I really like and thought this might be able to throw lighter lures.

I was looking at a reel thats not made anymore and was wondering if anybody has used it in the past. The reel was a Pinnacle VS5 round reel, anyone ever use one and what price would u pay for one NIB? It looks like it could be a nice little reel.

You may also want to look into Pinnacle's tournament class reels. I've heard very good reviews about them, especially the optimus XLT. I have one of their lower end baitcasters (matrix) and don't have anything bad to say about it. It's smooth casting and I don't have any problems with lighter baits but it doesn't have the power of my Abu C3 4600. Just some food for thought...

I always have a War Eagle spinnerbait and a Sebile Magic swimmer tied on to a couple of my rods. As for why, they are great search baits and then I can pick the area apart after I get a bite/blowup or two. Also with the swimbait I can get a great reaction bites even when the bite slow by being very eratic reeling the bait in, gives a good injured and fleeing baitfish action.

This happened to my father when I was a kid and he was helping take a fish off my line. His didn't get infected though. It would bother him every once in awhile when he could feel it moving around in there and it finally went away after a good 3-4 years. It either disolved or got carried away in his blood stream but he was too stubborn to go to the docs. I don't know if you're avoiding the doctor's b/c you have no insurance but I would go to the doctors if it is infected before you end up in the emergency room. If its not infected and you leave it be you'll have the feeling of a sliver stuck in your hand for quite awhile, just ask my father.

My go to is also a swimbait. I don't have one in paticular but use them situationaly. But its usally one of three depending on the cover (or lack of) I'm fishing. My main three are a Magic Swimmer for open water, a Money Minnow for somewhat weedy area, and the YUM version of the grass pig for putting it into a grassy area. I find it hard to put these down but if I do its usually for a jig or a chatterbait. I keep wanting to get more experience with a texas rig (although I've been liking the Jika better) but find it really hard to get away from the swimbaits.

Haha. Best answer yet why use an imitation when you can use the real thing.

One helpful tip when you are practicing in the backyard is to use a bright colored weight or lure. This helped when I was learning, its easier to see in the air and its relation to any trees, bushes or the ground while you're learning to cast and you are able to thumb the spool when you see your bright bait coming close to an obstruction. I use a chartruse chatterbait while practicing. I always found it harder to track a lure in the air while casting it over the lawn than casting it over the water, a bright color negates this problem.

I would throw a Sebile Magic Swimmer in bluegill pattern (only color I have as of now). Its usually my go to lure when nothing else will bite and I've thrown everything in the box. My other go to when the bite is slow in a good olde in-line spinner. But if the bluegill bite is on nothing works better than the magic swimmer. In fact I went out yesterday evening for a couple hrs with a buddy and the only lure to boat a fish was this one and we threw the entire box at them, including my friend throwing out bluegill cranks. For weeds (as long as they haven't grow right to the top of the water) you can swim it just above them all the way to the top of the waterline to the point its a wake bait or let it sink and swim it just above whatever depth the weeds are at.

Try an in-line spinner, smallmouth love them. I always try everything in my box but the best producer is always a Blue Fox spinner, its a great river lure.

If you're going to BPS, the Pro Qualifier gets a lot of love on here for a $100. (reel only) I have no experience with this reel but going by hearsay it must have something to it.

For under $100 I would look at a Abu Garcia C3 4600. Good strong smooth reel that will handle anything you might hook into in the everglades. Not that I have a lot of experience w/ baitcasters but I picked this up and seems to be a great reel. A lot of people on here will shun anything with a price point lower than that, but if you only have a $100 to spend on a whole setup, (reel/rod/line) I would go to your local Walmart and pick up a $50 Pinnacle reel (Vision, Solene, or at Dick's the Matrix XT) and pair it up with a $40 Berkley Lightning Shock rod and for $12 get some 30-50 lb PowerPro braid. For $102 you'll have a decent setup to get you started into baitcasting and see how you like it. My first setup (out of the 2 that I have) is a Matrix XT on a Berkley Amp rod that I like a lot and has handled 5-6 lb fish with ease. Although I don't have many 10 lb bass here in upstate NY but I'm waiting to see how it handles when I hook into a good size pike. If you have $200 - $300 to spend listen to the other guys on here b/c they know A LOT more than I do with regards to that price point.

I bought a Pinnacle Matrix that I have been happy with. When I was looking at the Pinnacles the Solene had good reviews, most said that it casted very smoothly. Its not going to feel like a $200 BC but at that price point it is a good reel. It should last you awhile if you're a fisherman like me who only gets out once or twice a week for an hour or two. I figure most people who shop at that price point don't have extensive fishing time like some of the fanatics on here and you should be fine with the Solene. If you are going to be pulling a couple 8 hr days a week out on the water you might want to step up to the higher price points On my Matrix I can cast 1/8 baits fairly decent and so far I have been impressed with it. Pinnacle has also made quite a few good reels that don't carry their name but people rave about. I'm pretty sure the BPS Pro Q used to be one of them. But thats another arguement that has been hashed out on here before. IMO Pinnacle is a good brand and if you research them you will find very little negative feedback, they seem like an under the radar company.

Thanks guys. Clayton thats a great deal, always feels good when you can walk away with quality at a good price. I wish we would get a Cabelas or BP around me, but if you keep your eye out Dicks has some great deals once in awhile.

Picked up a new Abu C3 4600 at my local Dicks... It was on clearance and was the display model (that wasn't in the case just two weeks ago) so after the discount for being a display model it came to $36!!! They've never had the 4600 there only the 5600, all of a sudden one showed up in their display and it was their only one. I don't know if it was one they randomly found out back and put on the shelf or what but I'm a happy about it. Pumped, I think it'll be my new jig setup.