NathanW

If you want to go light the Okumas are hard to beat. You can defiantly feel them flex and they don't reel as smooth as the Shimanos but the drag is just as smooth. On a spinning setup I have come to believe that cutting weight really improves the overall performance of your setup. Much more so than on casting gear. Size 2500 is perfect of me but you might notice that most pro's go 3000-4000. The bigger reels handle bigger fish and bigger line better than the 2500s.

Seaguar is the only FC I buy anymore. Honestly I don't fish a lot of Invisx because Red Label essentially performs simillarly and is much cheaper. Invisx doesn't coil up the way that Red label does but RL is so cheap that I don't mind replacing it before it gets the chance to coil up. Abrazx is my favorite stiff line and is worth every penny when you buy the bulk spools. I am extremely happy with my line setup right now and dont expect to change anything...It looks like this 15-25# FC Abrazx 10-12# FC Red Label Floating Line: Suffix Siege Braid: Trilene Braid or Power Pro Spinning Rod Mainline 10-12#: Berkley Nanofil

Red Label and Trilene (assuming its 100% Fluoro) will have you pretty well covered. Red Label, when brand new is extremely manageable and casts great, holds up just fine to most types of cover. I like it for any chuck and wind applications. It tends to coil up on reels that dont see a lot of use but its a great everyday line and cheap. Trilene on the otherhand covers the other end of the spectrum as it is stiff, strong and its abrasion resistance is right up there with Shooter and Abrasx. Its great for heavy cover pitching, using as leader, rocky areas, C-Rig, T-Rig, jigs. People struggle with Trilene that don't have a lot of Fluorocarbon experience, just an fyi.

I agree. I got really excited about their Finesse Shadz product a couple years back because they stayed on the hook way better than any other drop shot bait. Bought like 4 packs and not even a month later they were all misshaped, stuck together, deformed. But not melted because they were still in their original package. I have very little confidence in Z shaped drop shot worms. Z-Man needs to use clamshell packaging.

Yep. Just stay away from the smaller STX (3.75"). You cannot cast it. Agree that nothing beats an LC Pointer. Flash Minnows will catch em good too when you are fishing shallow flats.

Your whole life? I thought you guys won one when you had Rowengartner of the mound? Early 90's I think.

Yep. Use the Palomar knott as suggested. Overhand the loop end twice (we call this a a double palomar) to guarantee the knot doesn't slip when using braid. I could count on one hand how many times the knott slides around in a given season. It does happen but not enough to consider it a hindrance.

30-40 fish that average in the 3-4 pound range??? When they emptied the lake did the relocate the Locnese monster and heard of wild unicorns beforehand??

I am 100% left hand reeling. Did a lot more flipping this summer than I usually do so it has me thinking about getting a righty reel. Flipping right handed with a left handed reel is just a headache.

I have been very unimpressed by both BPS and Cabellas when it comes to selection of bass fishing gear. Still enjoy going into the store, especially with the kids. I have absolutely no moral or social discrimination against Wal-Mart. I have a hard time dogging on a company allows me to save money and provides a steady paycheck to the disabled as well as many folks who would struggle to find employment elsewhere. They have a decent selection of hard lures, line, Planos and soft-baits at okay pricing. They typically don't beat online retailers in price but sometimes are very convenient. You want union checkers? Go to Safeway where it will cost you about $15-$20 a trip when you are filling up your shopping cart.

From what I have read over the last couple years is that it is an issue that occasionally happens mostly on Tatulas spooled with 10-14lbs fluorocarbon and used primarily for cranking. Instances where the spool is overfilled has caused grooving to the top of the T-Wing. It is obviously not a critical problem as evidence from the popularity of the reel but I truly believe that it is occurring. I have not seen this on my Tatulas/Type-R's but I never do any cranking or high resistant reeling with mine other than during a fish catch.

I know a couple of lakes like that here in Washington. Up in the mountains close to ski resorts or mountain passes. Everyone who fishes them are after some type of trout and never bass. Some of the looks I get when people see me casting around a spinnerbait or jig in my bass boat are pretty priceless. I will tell you though these fish are easy to fool once you find them and big. Don't ask where these lakes are because I will never give them up.

I am sure the entire Bassresource community would agree that No. 1 is the Skeet Reese Tessera 6'4" Medium Heavy casting rod paired with the Skeet Reese Victory Casting Reel spool with Viscous Fluorocarbon coated line. No. 2 is the Quantum KVD Signature Series 7'11 casting rod paired with the Team KVD Casting reel with Spiderwire Invisi-Braid. Admin please lock thread as this forum topic may be closed due to definitive answer.

I would jump on ebay and grab a Tatula 100HSL for 98 bucks and be done. Great reel.

I strongly disagree with any advice that suggest buying a low quality reel. I understand it and they mean well but hear me out on this. A decent reel could last a decade or two and has good used resale value. I am not saying you need a $300.00 reel but reels in the $100-$150.00 range will suit. I have seen used Curados sell on eBay for more than I bought them for new after Shimano discontinued making the reel. Same is probably true for a lot of the Diawas that tend to have a cult following. Rods don't last that long anyhow and don't typically resale well if you find out its not something you like. I wouldn't advise against buying less expensive rods because its very difficult to know exactly what you like in a rod in your early years of fishing. DVT is correct regarding bottom contact baits but I don't think its relevant to price the way it used to be. The last few years we have seen rod companies sneak $100.00 rods into the market that outperform many of the other companies best stick. Dobyns and Loomis aren't lowering their prices and improving their low end because they want to, the market is forcing them.

I also like the white over the black in most situations. But around here I fish a lot of clear water. Cavitron > All others but don't be afraid to fish what is available or what you already own. You have to make a lot of casts with a buzzbait and cover a lot of water in order to be successful. Keep a very keen eye on the water as you are retrieving the bait back to the boat. Sometimes when you have a follower you simply have to kill the bait for a second for the fish to strike.

A lot of squarebills I have fished seem to gum up easily were the front hook grabs the bill or the line or the two hooks grab each other. The KVD series squarebill seems to be the most immune to this problem. Probably all I will be buying from now on.

Of baits I actually fish would be deep cranks, jerkbaits, and spooks.

For bass/freshwater smallgame fishing I would ask the opposite question, what are the advantages of a deep spool? None that I can think of. I catch fish in 70-80 feet of water on my revo which has the shallowest spool I own and I never run out of line. Shallow spool means less wasted line and better line management.

Since you are throwing from shore I am not sure I would go the Lucky Craft route. Otherwise I would say go Pointer 78 and Flashminnow 95 and be done. Maybe Pointer 100 also but not as your starting point. But since you wont be getting your bait back when you snag maybe look at the XR08, XR10 and Rattlin Rogue. Also, I would consider passing on the deeper running baits. They are not worth the fuss in my opinion. I cannot see a lot of situations where this would be practical from shore as I only seldom find use for them from a boat.

5 years ago I might have agreed with this concept. The problem is the better I get at finding and catching big fish the more I need equipment that performs and rods that have lightweight yet powerful blanks. My rod lineup of 5 years ago consisted of almost entirely sub-100 dollar rods with forgiving action and medium to medium light power. They were easier to cast and friendly to smaller lures. You look at my rod section today and you are talking mostly MH to Heavy Action and true fast tips. A true fast tip is not something you find often in most rods under 100.00, but there are a few out there. Low budget rods with MH or H power are usually well on the heavy side. Regarding reels every sub 100 dollar reel I bought stopped working eventually and the opposite is true for reels over MSRP 100.00. I have Curado D's that are 8 years old and still in the boat and BPS Pro Qualifiers that are three years old sold AS-IS on Ebay.

Price/Time/Effort to get it repaired considered you are almost always better off buying new online when dealing with aluminum props.

If you are a bank fisherman I would say that a spinning rod is more versatile and likely a better choice. If you are a boat guy you should prefer casting gear up until the point that it is counterproductive (e.g. light lures, skipping, deep water). When boat guys deny or are unsure of the advantages of casting gear it is a pretty obvious tell that their skillset is very narrow, very weak or both. Don't take this the wrong way as guys with a narrow skillset can still catch a lot of fish and have fun. Just they will have glaring weaknesses that they are probably unaware of which is perfectly acceptable if they are just having fun but inexcusable if they are trying to become more versatile.

THIS!!! Nothing more frustrating this other than a guy who talks all day. If you snag no big deal we will try to get it BUT if the boat is going one way and you cast the other way all I can say is I hope you don't lose your whole spool. Also, boaters don't care about your Fantasy League... And no we wont snap a quick photo of your 3.5lbs bass.