Robert Riley

That black and yellowish looks interesting. I have

Those looks good, never thought about a PitBoss... I'll have to try that. I like the color scheme you got! I mostly night fish with them, so it's white on white or black on black.

I'm buddies with the lodge guys, of course, they said they will have 3x as much display space for fishing and hunting. Idk how much of it is gonna be fishing, but the more the better, i hope.

My mall is getting a new Field & Steam store as well as a new Dicks. How is Field & Stream's fishing selection comparatively? Am I looking at some new cool stuff or a bunch of $0.99 baits?

Almost fell victim again... I'm afraid of what will happen when my new job rolls around...

I guess sunglasses are tackle right? I've found some costas and wileyxs for cheap. Im interested in getting them, but I got a big head. Cheap sunglasses tend to be tight around my ears and will give me headaches if I wear them too long. Does anyone else have this problem and want to save me some trouble?

hm that's interesting. I think I'll buy a few from Zman and D&M. I'll probly add a craw or a swing impact. What size trailer would you use?

I'd gander mtn rods, if you want to spend money, go with SC Premier. As far as reels no experience outside Abu's Toro, which rocks. Check out "Muskie First" forums, it's nothing like this, but it's something.

So many chatterbaits to pick from on TW these days, I've run out and have no idea what brand they were. What do you guys use? And any that you swear against?

What everyone else has said! Shakeyheads, dropshots and wacky rigs! Grab yourself a 6'6'-7' Medium Extra/Fast spinning rod, a smaller sized spinning reel that balances well, some 8lb braid/fluoro leader and go wack 'em!

BB1 pro is just a BB1 with external brake settings, pretty sure that's the only difference. OP--If you are bombcasting or cranking, get the BB1. If you are doing anything else, TP is where it's at. I also have extensive knowledge on dobyns and lews if you have further questions.

Yup, just the size. Has both features you ask about. Mine is a Muskie reel haha

Sure the Team Lew's will be a a bit better than the rest, but you won't be disappointed with any Lew's so you can save some $$$. I have 4, a Tourney Pro, a SpeedSpool and 2 BB1s, with a Tournament MB on the way. The SpeedSpool is awesome, a great reel for the price. Tournament Pro and BB1 are probably the best if you don't want to break the bank. I wouldn't see myself buying Team Lew's unless money was no option. I'm sure they are better, but I can't imagine being worth that much more money.

That sounds like the right rod. The medium is the right action for smaller cranks. A longer and softer rod will allow you to cast farther, provided your lure isn't too light or too heavy (1/2 should be about right). Just make sure to keep your reel running smoothly and your brakes are adequately adjusted. I have the 7'6" MH version, it's pretty good. Haven't had much time to use it. Edit: You will like 12lb YoZuri, I use it.

I have a DX744, awesome rod. Best bottom contact rod I've ever used. I don't have any Champions, but I have used them and fish with people who use them. They're good rods, big step up from the Savvys and a little step down from the Extremes.

None of my local shops sell Dobyns, I just have a club discount. What do you have to say about it? I'm debating between a D736 and a D766. Leaning towards the D766.

Most of my fishing is on a pressured POS lake just off campus, so I thrown mainly shakeyheads, wacky rigs, t-rigs and sometime weightless senkos. I'd say probably 80% if we don't included black buzzbaits when I night fish.

Im going to assume you are asking about rod selection for crankbaits. I like to have two rods like you mentioned. One for squarebills and lipless cranks, usually a 7' M/F rod, with a 6.8:1 Lew's TMB and 12lb Copoly. The other for "shallow to medium" divers, which is currently a MH/M Veritas 2.0 with a 5.4:1 Lew's BB1 and 12lb Copoly. In my experience, glass vs graphite, I chose graphite. Graphite has better sensitivity, but you have to play the fish more, which I call fun fishing. If you are throwing deep cranks on Kentucky Lake, go grab a 8' glass rod, you need the forgiveness of the rod since you are fishing such deep and open water. And as per your last question, it's the exact same haha. As far as reels, a quick reel, 7:1 is good for picking up all the slack line. You can use a fast or moderate rod. I like fast since I fish a lot of walk-the-dog baits.

That's mostly what I throw around here, I use 14lb Red Label FC. You could get away with 12lb Hybrid if you like flipping with Hybrid haha. The lake I fish doesn't have monsters or lots of cover and is pressured, so it's about lighter lines. So the difference between 12-14 isn't that big. If you aren't fishing similar areas, I'd beef up to 16-18.

That's how I feel, can you explain what you mean by letting the rod play the fish? Is this just not letting the fish pull super hard, while still maintaining tension on the line? AKA what I was taught as a kid?

Would you guys use a spinnerbait rod for squarebills and lipless? I know people prefer a faster action for for those cranks, and it sounds like it'd be a M/MH fast action. So a little bit of tip.

I have a Skeet Reese Flippin rod and a Lew's Superduty 8.1:1. It's alright, plan on upgrading to a Dobyn's Champion sometime in the summer/fall.

Anyone have experience with these? I'm just curious, and I have 40% off.

A large spool is often use for large lines, or techniques that use a lot of line (ie deep cranking). But what about the actual spool? Turns out the larger the radius of the spool (and the line wrapped around it) the more line you bring in with each rotation (this is known empirically as IPT or inches per turn). So since we all know that flipping is about getting your bait here and there as fast as possible, as well as getting the fish out of the nasty cover as soon as possible, so IPT is really what is important. The gear ratio is generally indicative of IPT, as well as the power in the gear box. A recent example is Lew's LFS series reels, they have higher ratios, and they are a little more compact. It turns out that they increased their ratios (6.3->6.8) to keep similar IPTs among the reels! Brilliance!

Lew's Tournament MB seems like the reel you want. If you want to spend a little more you could get TWO LFS Speed Spools, or a Tournament Pro (which is awesome).