RB 77

I agree with this statement completely. If a reel of mine gets opened for any type of heavy maintenance or repair, a pair of Carbontex usually goes back in.

I know, I know. Haha. I saw your post count and figured as much, but thought I would throw it out there in case the youngster himself was reading just in case there was some confusion on the name of the baits and not the actual spelling. Regardless, it sounds like the young man is on the right track to getting the proper gear he needs to throw the types of lures he likes to fish, which include a bunch of my favorites as well.

I agree for a first time set up that would fit the bill perfectly. I would go with a medium heavy power/ fast action rod around 7' long. Craws and crankbaits perhaps? I would also suggest reading through this thread thoroughly. This is an excellent recommendation for any novice angler. Most of the pinned threads are really...

Yup! This is a chart of the local city run reservoirs in our area. The colored column indicates the percent of the capacity the reservoirs are currently at: Barrett 160.88 ft 74.35 ft 34,805.5 1,860.6 5.3 0 El Capitan 197.00 ft 112.10 ft 112,806.9 23,606.3 20.9 0 Hodges 115.00 ft 91.98 ft 30,632.6 11,533.1 37.6 0 Miramar 114.00 ft 105.10 ft 6,682.4 5,342.5 79.9 0 Morena 157.00 ft 76.20 ft 50,694.0 1,100.8 2.2 0 Murray 95.00 ft 91.00 ft 4,684.2 4,044.4 86.3 0 Lower Otay 137.50 ft 126.24 ft 49,848.9 36,340.4 72.9 0 San Vicente 306.00 ft 262.83 ft 249,358.0 182,179.2 73.1 0 Sutherland 145.00 ft 60.72 ft 29,508.1 2,128.4 7.2 0 Brutal in some instances!

I employ a heavy, straight side arm pull back to the boat when I'm fishing the rig. NO quarter with such a heavy rig. It does seem to help keep them buttoned. If they seem like they are going to surface at all I dip the tip. This also seems to help prevent them from jumping and shaking that heavy rig.

Man, color is funny thing. Some days it doesn't matter, other days it makes all the difference in the world. Even with just a subtle change in the color hue of the plastic. I have seen it where literally the color of the flake is making and breaking a bite. Same exact color worm, with the same exact presentation with just one different flake color in it meant the difference in getting bit or not! However, generally speaking, presentation (along with location) rule the roost as far as finding a bite pattern goes IMHO.

I'm a worm/ jig dragger at heart and have also caught my fair share on cranks and what not, but when it comes down to reaction baits, hands down I have more confidence in a spinnerbait than any other type of reaction bait. This is probably due to its sheer versatility more than anything. While I don't invest a ton of stock into too many color, size, blade combinations (I fish mostly Shad and Bluegill, 3/8ths and 1/2 oz, silver and gold blades, etc) I fish them with so many different presentations it makes me feel like the opportunities to pattern fish with them are endless. Burning, slow roll, yo-yo, bottom crawling, open water, heavy cover, through stick ups, over laydowns, plowing shell beds, dragging them off the bank, the sky is the limit! Sometimes none, sometimes both, sometimes one or the other. For me personally if I want to make a "smaller" presentation I will forgo both. When I want a larger presentation I will use a soft plastic fluke style or swimbait style trailer with a trailer hook. When I want a larger profile, but am fishing heavy cover, I will use a soft plastic trailer with no trailer hook. I do not use any hard fast rules in regards to this, but these are some general guidelines that I follow.

Those reels are an absolute steal at those prices! Buy them ASAP! Oh yeah, BTW I love my Calcutta's for swimbait fishing among other things.

It probably is and they probably don't care. Like Glen said fresh line every tournament.

I have fished them just about every way imaginable in the past, but these days it's 99% fly-lined.

Inflated and wet... Yup!

I have one and like it quite well. C-rig rod I believe.

Well far as the rod and reels go I will let others help you with the endless possibilities, but as far as inflatable PDF's go I have one of the Bass Pro ones and it works like a champ. Don't ask me how I know...

I swear it must be in my buddy's garage! Haha. I would seriously like to see some of these "warehouse" collections though.

I usually go with a 3" or 4" boot tail swimbait. Although most of my bladed swim jigs have creature baits on them.

Well, as far as colors go I use three primary colors and variations of the like; green, brown and black. Usually in that order. As far as variations go I will usually add purple to the green or brown jigs. I usually a co-poly line and usually 12 lb. test. Usually a 3/8th or 1/2 oz jig. I go up or down in line weight if I go up or down in jig size.

Both! Always. Slow roll over grass and such. Bottom bounce on rocks, shell beds, etc...

Yeah, RI has that game on lockdown.

Classic! Haha.

Yes. Frog on frog violence is real!

Big bait, big fish...

The tag end back through like in step four in the diagram and like others have mentioned is the CRUCIAL component in assuring the hook always points up.

Mostly 50 and 65, 80 only for salt water use for me. The trick for me is to get it on super tight on the spool right off the bat and "repack" the spool on occasion like J Francho mentioned.

In my opinion I would just up the line size. I would stick with mono and fish at least 12 lb, more likely 15. It is top water after all. I would use the 10 lb for draggin' worms and such...

SD Jam knot. For almost everything actually...