NCLifetimer

Another Jig vote. When you get close to cover you can also practice flipping it.

James 14 nailed it with his first sentence. Its more comfortable to stay out of the wind, and if you usually do your probably on the opposite side of the lake compared to the wind while the small aquatic life, shad and bass are on the other side.

I personally have the Abu Garcia Silver max you listed. Its a great reel for the price IMO, even better after i cleaned it. It makes a noise when casting even with clean bearings, but I don't mind. Personally, since it seems like you want a low budget reel, Id get either a Basspro Pro Qualifier in a 5:1 gear ratio or a lews speed spool in a similar ratio. Id spend the extra 50 dollars or so now, you'll be glad you did.

+1 to that. If i run out of terminal tackle or lose a favorite lure ill buy another. I'm regularily trying new worm types/colors. Not as much as some people, but enough I'm sure.

Sometimes. Usually not because i also enjoy the simple sounds of nature. Fishing is an escape for me from the busyness of everyday life. If im with friends and they aren't bitting worth a S#@$ then ill put on some music. I don't think that music negatively affects fishing in the sense that the fish are spooked by the music, but it could draw you attention away from the lure if you let it.

I second tinboats.com, they can probably give you a better idea of what to look for. A ton of info over their about jon boats. Why no trailer? you can probably find a used one for 200. would make offloading way easier and after a few trips it will probably seem well worth it.

+3 to tinboats.com, all the information you could ever want is probably already covered on that forum

I fill with a backer then put the Flouro on. I usually put 40-60 yards of flouro on, depending on application(less for t-rig, more for crankbait). If i've used the first 40 yards of line up, its time to replace for me because of diminished casting distance.

4 pins, atleast on mine

I just got a Basspro Pro Qualifier reel, right at $100 bucks. Can't speak for the long term durability, but its a great reel so fair, almost comparable to the Lews Tournament Pro I have and just as smooth as my quantum Energy PT. Look at the reviews on Basspro .com, 400+ people can't all be wrong. I personally can't image a better reel for a hundred bucks, ill buy another if i want another $100 reel.

pushing them inward locks them in the "off" position. pushing outward turns them on. The more you have off, the more freespool you'll have in casting. I have 2 on and 2 off on my Lews TP.

In my experience the fish bite around 11-3:30 or so right now, as states above. That extra few degrees is enough to make a few active.

I fish mostly North Carolina Lakes, Falls, Jordan, Gaston, Harris, Norman, etc... I've had decent fishing with crankbaits that were partially white and partially blue or green(sexy shad), also others that were more bluegill colored. I was wondering if anyone knew more specifically what the bait fish look like in specific lakes?

I don't think you can ruin any reels with braid, atleast i can't think of a way to. Your silvermax should work fine with braid, mine did for 2 years until i switched it to flouro.

That link seems like a good estimate. You could always use math. Integrate the radius(or diameter/2) as it increases with each added layer of line(assuming the layers of line layed perfectly on top of eachother and their was no compression). You'd need to know the initial radius( that of the spool) and the final radius(that of the desired line capacity level), width of the spool, and the diameter(or radius) of the line. Or you could do it with algebra, adding up each increase of the radius as layers of line are added and compensating for the radius change. Let me know if you want a formula for that, and i'll let you know where to send the check just jokin Inches per turn is most accurate when the spool is full, atleast i believe that is where it is measured from? It serves its purpose, because most cast even when far don't use to much line(compared to the diamter of the spool). The error with IPT is greater as the spool gets closer to empty. One the BPS pro qualifier i just got for example, the spool is very small in radius because its the crankin model with high line capacity. Initial IPT is very low compared to rated IPT, but increases towards rated IPT as spool diameter increases. My advice, trial and error. Buy some cheap backing, add too much the first time, spool up the braid. If you run out of room remove some of the backing and retie. If you need more backing then add more before reconnecting the braid. Could be a pain if your using a lot of braid thou, as you would have to take the braid off to cut/add backer.

Surplus army ammo can. if you have a army surplus story around check in their, you can get one for about 7 bucks that is just as big if not bigger than the cabelas one.

Oh ya, not sure how important the tournament aspect is to you, but some tournament circuits have an age limit. FLW might be 25, not sure if this applies or is relevant to you thou.

Lots of colleges have teams. Go to FLW and look at ranks. Most clubs get either 10 or 8 spots for national tournaments. North Carolina recently got moved to the southern division of FLW(guessing by your username you might be looking at a north carolina school). some schools like NCSU have large clubs, so competition to move on is tough. ECU for instance has a smaller club. Larger/organized clubs go by point systems, the anglers that preform the best move on. Having a boat and knowing the lakes is almost essential to being able to qualify for the spots in schools that have larger clubs. Their are other circuits that colleges fish besides FLW, but its the big one with the biggest payouts as fair as I know. FLW is structures as= qualifying events, regional championships and national championship. usually schools get to send 1 boat 2 people (boater and non boater) to each qualifying event. the best five boats from the qualifying event in the region move on to regional championships. best 5 from each division move on to nationals for the big money (100,000 dollars). The southeastern division has 5 qualifying events, so up to 10 people from each school get a chance to win big. My advice, decide what you want to major in and than look at schools. Most schools already have a club, if not you can start one at the school and enter collegiate tournament circuits. If you have any other questions drop me a PM.

Dick Sporting Goods (atleast around here) have a Abu Garcia Silver max mounted on a Berkley lightning custom rod. A friend bought it for me years ago and its still a combo I use today. Usually around 70 bucks. Nothing fantastic, but works well and the rod is surprisingly sensitive. If cabelas does have the combo Tom. D mentioned for that price, get that. Very good deal

What knot do you tie them with? I've found that when i use a loop knot on crankbaits/lipless cranks (vs. one that tightens against the split ring/lure) the lure runs truer. Google "non slip loop knot" its the one im talking about. Not sure what is the root cause of the problem, but a loop knot might solve it.

I keep some terminal tackle in the same 3700 that has the plastics. The "refill" box is a smaller box. Anything with small separate compartments should work fine.

a 1/8 oz weight, size 5 hook and a 7.5" culprit worm is the lightest i usually pitch. guess thats about 1/4oz? i can only pitch that light with a lews tournament pro and a JB custom rod, both are smooth and the guides on the JB allows for virtually no line slap. It takes a very smooth reel to pitch light weights, if you haven't cleaned/serviced your reel recently I would do that. Bet that will help.

Culprit ribbontail worms are also a favorite of mine. 7.5" with a 1/8oz weight and a #5 owner hook is what i throw about half the time. I plan on picking up a pack of the fat max to see how they work flippin this spring.

Deeper water and drop offs prove most successful for me in the winter. When you have several warmer days in a row, the bass with become more active and move into shallower water. Not super shallow, but into the 6-8 foot range in my experience. Fish structures, rock piles, trees, etc. And as said above, slow down. While some presentations/lures work better in colder weather, most will catch fish when fished slower. Natural colored plastics(green/brown) and natural shallow cranks fished slow along structure have worked well for me lately.

Shallow crank bait(rapala 3/8oz black and white). Blue culprit 7.5 inch worm. 3/8 oz brown/green jig.