Toeshots

Will be picking up a Carbonlite casting rod, although I was hoping they'd be more than $10 off. I do have about $20 in rewards points so I guess that helps a bit.

Tatsu is great stuff. As mentioned before, if you use backing, it really becomes more economical. It's also on sale at TW fairly often, so you can get it at a good price many times throughout the year.

Picked up 20+ of these beauties last month. Now just waiting for the water to soften up. This winter has been BRUTAL!

I think 6'6" is a good length. Don't want to go too long since it's a tip-down technique. Fast action and M or MH power depending on the size of your lure.

The BPS Sinker Stops work great. Super easy to use. You get 45 of them for about $2 so it's a really good deal as well.

Haven't tried their cranks or plastics but I did buy one of their bass jigs and I hated it. The weedguard was really stiff and when I tried to fan it out, the strands would become weakened and snap off. The skirt also had almost no action when I put it in the water.

I like 10-12# mono

Haven't had to deal with warranties yet, but I've talked to them on the phone a few times and they have always been great and very helpful. I agree with the others saying to go straight to them. They will make sure you are taken care of.

I am strictly C&R as well, but as a kid, my grandpa would filet any keepers from the day. We'd get back and he'd make us a shore lunch of the bass we caught. Battered and fried. I remember loving it as a kid, but I can honestly say I haven't had bass in 15-20 years. I think the general consensus is that it's average at best? There's got to be a reason why bass can't be found on restaurant menus...

I use the cheap BPS worm binders and I don't think I could ever go back to not using them. I have all my plastics sorted by type and color in the binder pages. I know exactly where everything is so there's no fidgeting through random bags of plastics trying to find the right one. Also, the binders fit perfectly in the sides of my BPS 370 tackle bag.

As far as value goes, the Booyah Pad Crasher is tough to beat.

I just threw mine into one of the ziplock bags in a BPS worm binder.

I'm with ya. I think I've made 7-8 trips to BPS this winter and will probably have a few more. I've also ordered stuff online from other places. This winter I've bought (so far): - PQ 7:1 - Pflueger Supreme MGX - Fenwick Elite Tech SM - a bunch of cranks, plastics, jig trailers, line, terminal tackle, etc. - about 25 jigs from Siebert I seem to look at and reorganize my tackle at least once a week. Can't wait for spring here in Chicago. The last few winters have been pretty mild, but this one seems to be making up for them. It's snowing again right now. No end in sight. Sigh...

What line are you using with this setup? My main concern is the 8# Tatsu (6Lb mono diameter) just being a little too light for this. I'll probably try it anyway though if I'm fishing more open water.

Thanks for all the input. Looks like I'll be starting with #1. FWIW, I do have the same Avid in MH with a Chronarch 200E7 that I suppose I could use when throwing in and around heavier vegetation. I just felt the fluke would have trouble loading the MH Avid, which is pretty stout, although this is an ignorant statement because I've never tried it.

I think three of my setups could be used for weightless Super flukes, but I am trying to figure out which one would be best. I will be throwing them on a 4/0 Trokar swimbait hook. Here's what I'm trying to decide between: 1) 7' M/F Avid, Lews TP 7:1, 15# Tatsu 2) 6'0 M/F Abu, PQ 7:1, 12# Sunline Mono 3) 6'9" M/XF Fenwick ET SM, Pflueger Supreme MGX Size 30, 8# Tatsu I was thinking I'd use my spinning rod but I'm a little concerned about the 8# test not being enough for the size of the hook/hookset. What do you guys think?

No reason why you couldn't use 50 size reels for everything. That Chronarch has about 25 IPT which is right in the middle as far as IPT goes, so it's a nice all-around speed. The higher-end Shimanos have higher gear ratios in the 50 series so you can get the small profile reel with the increased IPT as well.

Well don't forget about the lifetime warranty on the Avid vs. 5-year on the Rage...

Booyah Pad Crasher in Swamp Frog Rage Toad in white or green pumpkin

I favor 1/2 oz jigs most of the time but will downsize to 3/8 or 1/4 oz to slow down the fall when the bite is tough. I am throwing the 1/2 and 3/8 oz jigs on a 7' MH/F St. Croix Avid and the 1/4 oz on a 7' M/F Avid. Anything lighter than 1/4 oz will be on a 6'9" M/XF Fenwick Elich Tech Smallmouth spinning rod.

I use the same BPS tackle bag as above but in the standard red version. I also bought 2 of the cheaper ($9) BPS worm binders along with some extra binder pages. I filled 1 of the binders with soft plastics and the other with jig trailers. The binders fit perfectly in the side compartments of the tackle bag. Everything is organized and nothing is loose. It works very nicely.

I've had the most success with a 1/2 oz Red Eye Shad using a yo-yo retrieve. 1/4 oz may be even better as it would have a slower fall, but the 1/2 oz seems to work just fine. Slowly dragging a 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig has also been fairly productive for me in cold water.

No hard to understand, but would you recommend straight FC for a combined topwater/jig setup?

The best Fluorocarbon? Seaguar Tatsu is incredible stuff but runs about $30-$40 for a 200 yd spool. Not sure if you had a price limit in mind, but for "best" FC, I think Tatsu would be hard to beat.

Sounds like the OP is using 1 setup and wants his line to cover multiple techniques. Darren is saying to keep the braid but use different leaders so that he can fish those techniques in a potentially more successful (and cost effective) manner. As you said, FC is not ideal for topwater due to the fact that it sinks, so maybe the OP could use a mono leader or the straight braid for topwater. When he wants to fish bottom-contact techniques he can tie on a FC leader and be good to go. As the OP has not indicated that he is looking to buy another setup, using leaders gives him to chance to use FC for jigs and then be able to change to a more topwater-favored line with the same rod and reel.