pbizzle

I had a tournament yesterday (placed third overall), but I noticed I kept getting these little knots in my braided mainline. It was pretty windy yesterday, I was using 50lb Spiderwire Stealth with a 3' 12lb CXX leader tied directly to it, and fishing a 1/4oz Texas rig or 1/2oz jig. I ended up getting two knots in my mainline. I posted a pic showing how they look. Do y'all have any idea how I can prevent these knots, and if there's anyway to get rid of these? I was also throwing a weightless super fluke on my spinning rod with 20lb 832 braid, a swivel, and an 18" 12lb CXX leader. I didn't get a single line twist on this setup all day. Thanks.

All my overruns with braid are usually easy to get out compared to mono or fluoro, but I DEFINITELY wouldn't try 20lb braid on a baitcaster. I have heard of people using 30lb/8dia, but I personally wouldn't go with anything under 40/10. I usually use 50/12.

The first one I got was loud out of the box, but I took it back and exchanged it. I have 3 mettles that I bought at different times, but I think this one is about 8-9 months old. The last one I bought is only like 7 months old though.

So last week we had another club tournament, and me and my boater won it. I caught the second largest fish weighing in at 4.75(New PB) and he caught the biggest fish at 4.95. I caught my fish on the mettle using 50lb spiderwire. It felt great before I caught the fish, and for the rest of the tournament. I went fishing Friday after school though and it was really loud and I could feel the gears. I oiled the bearings, but I haven't greased it yet. I was just wondering if any of y'all have had this happen, and if so did it affect the performance of the reel?

I've always soaked my reels in freshwater.

I don't want to be the guy that recommends something else and throws a thread off topic, but I would go with a H2O Xpress Ethos for $59.

I wouldn't think that it would be necessary, but it couldn't hurt. Most guys who use KVD L&L use it to reduce memory and make the line more limp. Braid doesn't have any memory though, and besides for that waxy coating on the line at first, it's fairly limp as well. I've never seen the need to use line conditioner on braid, but I'd like to hear what everyone else has to say about it.

Believe me that's a great combo. A 7' M F is a really versatile spinning rod, and perfect senkos, grubs, and tubes. The reel is also great. A 2500 is perfect for nearly all bass techniques. The 20lb braid is also going to perform great, and increase the sensitivity on a rod that's already very sensitive. I'm just not sure why you went a head and bought a $400 set up. I've been fishing a $150 spinning combo for all of that stuff. I'm not hating on expensive combos either, because if you have the money to spend on a rod that's great. If I could afford to buy an expensive set up like that I would buy one in a heartbeat. I'm just really hoping that you like fishing enough to justify the purchase, because, as you said, you just started fishing. I just don't want you to think that you MUST spend $400 for a decent setup. A spinning combo in the $150 range and casting combos in the $200-250 range are going to be more than just decent.

A pixy would make a heck of crappie reel.

You could get a pixy, and maybe let him use it once or twice.

I really hope that you like fishing, because that $400 combo will start to hurt if you don't.

That's true, but only to an extent. I haven't found anything tougher than my P-Line CXX and although I haven't tried it, I've heard that Yo-Zuri Hybrid is even tougher. The Yo-Zuri has some fluoro bonded with it, so Brandonss could give it a shot.

Sexy shad is my go to, because it's in my opinion the most versatile color. It looks pretty natural so it's good for clear water, solid white so it performs well in stained water, and it has some chartreuse in it so it could even pass as a bluegill if that's the primary forage species. Chrome with a blue back is DEFINITELY in my top 5 though. I don't know why I don't throw it more often, because I probably have the same catch rate on it as I do with sexy shad.

If you want to fish a Carolina rig right, you BETTER have some thumpers.

I'll put tube jig heads in tubes that I know I'm going to use, but put them all back in the bag. That way I can just grab one and not have to fumble around getting it ready.

I'm bad about leaving a jig or a senko or something rigged up after I go fishing. Then I never get around to taking it off, unless it's PowerBait or Lake Fork (that stuff stinks!). It's always cool not having to rig up when I hit the water though.

Being a teenager, the only other thing for me to spend my money on is girls. Honestly the only girl I'm interested in weighs about 6 pounds and has a giant mouth though.

How have y'all done with these? I bought them with the intention of bed fishing, but I'm trying to come up with more techniques to use them with. I think that they'd be really good for flipping and pitching on a Texas rig to docks and wood. They'd also probably work as swim bait or maybe like a soft plastic jerkbait. I also believe that they'd work pretty well on a Carolina rig and a drop shot. So how have y'all been fishing them or similar baits? What have y'all had the best luck with them on?

Do you know the definition of secret?

I rarely use anything other than a chunk as a trailer, but I ALWAYS thread it all the way on to the hook. I never hook it through the center. I feel like the bass is not as likely to get the hook in his mouth if I don't. I'll also cut the skirt down to match the size of the chunk. I like to fish a compact jig most of the time, but there is the rare occasion that I want to fish something bulky. That's when I find a bigger jig and something like a full size chigger craw or beaver style bait as a trailer. I'll still thread it onto the hook and trim the skirt down to match the size of the trailer, but it will be larger.

The Pflueger Purist are also REALLY nice for $80.

I don't know. I know that didn't help any, but I can't come up with a logical reason why. The only thing I know of that it could be, would be that the Zoom Fat Albert wasn't as soft and therefore didn't have as much action. Maybe the more subtle action of the Fat Albert didn't draw the attention of the more aggressive smaller bass as much as the more finicky larger bass. Either that or you just caught most of the big fish. I probably over thought that A LOT though.

More like junkies.

I'll use green pumpkin, PB&J, brown/orange, etc. but I've found that a 1/4 oz black/blue/red is my favorite jig. I think it's like 1/2 black, 1/4 blue, and 1/4 red. Whatever it is it works really well, especially with a black and blue Yum Crawbug.

What action, length and taper would you want in a spinning rod for fishing flick shakes? What size line would you use? What other techniques would you fish on this setup? By the way I'm talking about 3/32 and 1/8 oz heads.