ChrisD46

A baitcast reel is only good for : "Power Shakyhead" fishing 1/4oz. and greater weight jigheads on 12lb. FC using 6 inch Senkos on Falcon lake bass . The ideal shakyhead set up is a spinning 2500 series reel , mono backing and either 8lb. FC or 10 ~ 15lb braid + 8lb.FC leader and 1/8th oz. jigheads . Learn how to use this spinning setup and search you tube for Jeff Kriet or A-Mart shakyhead tactics and learn this application correctly ... To use just strictly a baitcast outfit for shakyhead fishing is akin to using the above mentioned shakyhead spinning reel for punching into thick vegetation - there simply is a better way here .

Curious how YOU rig a centipede straight up & down with the ribs on top OR rig it on the flat side ?

I should have added I mainly stay with 1/2oz. football jigs and only use a baitcast combo for football jig work ... Looks to be an application where 12lb. to 15lb. FC is most popular !

What is your football jig line set up : Straight FC ? Straight Braid ? Braid + FC or Mono Leader ? ... I'm trying to decide my football jig line set up for <15ft. open water with scattered gravel / rocks in a Southern reservoir ?

Good alternative if required ... I thought about friction tape but it possibly would build up more than necessary.

Thanks DH - good to know just in case .

You will get a good deal if you stay with a BPS combo as others above have suggested ... Otherwise you should check out a Shimano Sellus series spinning rod in the application you most use.

Alonerankin2 - Thanks ... If I have a good experience I would possibly look at the Sellus Drop Shot model IF there was an opportunity to compare four or five of the same model side by side . You have to remember these rods are made in China and at a $49.00 price point the workmanship , sorting , quality , etc. is going to allow what is acceptable at the price point to go through as "good" versus having a straight rod blank guides with good wraps (it can be done - I just had to go through a few to find "it"). In fairness to Shimano - the initial quality is better than other manufacturers at this price point ... I'm not too hard on my equipment and maintain it well ...Time will tell how the Sellus series holds up - however looking forward to the journey !

Good comment - I actually tried this rod at the store today using a Abu Garcia 2500 series spinning reel as well as a Shimano 2500 series spinning reel : Both worked quite well ... The key (per the salesman) is to center the front "foot" of the spinning reel frame into the front reel seat insert first , then center it and finally hold the reel in place while you tighten up the rear of the reel seat (what we were always taught to do ?) . * This reel seat is very light weight graphite / polymer material and I believe with care and occasionally checking to make sure the reel is snug in the reel seat there should be no real issues . I would also caution against reeling down on a big fighting fish with this rod vs. lowering the rod tip and reeling with less pressure on the line and reel . Finally , the store had 5 Sellus SUSX68M's (Shakeyhead model) so I checked them one by one to pick out the one with the best straight spine , made sure all guides were straight , wraps / epoxy were perfect and no nicks or imperfections .... Hard to beat for $49.00 ! I will pair with my older (but still excellent ) Shimano Sahara 2500 , 10 lb. Sufix 832 braid , 7lb. Sniper FC leader , 1/8th oz. Spot Remover jig head with Zoom Swamp Crawlers or Roboworms on the business end for Georgia spots putting the feedbag on for winter .

Power Pro , Sufix , etc. 40lb. braid is the same diameter as 10lb. mono which for years and years has been the defacto lowest lb. test that most bait casters cared to use (12lb. mono has been the standard) . If you want to use lower than 40lb. braid - just skip the baitcaster all together and go straight to <20lb. braid and a spinning reel . * Gary Yamamoto wrote an article detailing his switch to lower weight braid and spinning reels - basically saving his baitcasting set ups for : Carolina Rigs , Crank Baits , Big Swim Baits , Pitching & Flipping heavier soft baits and jigs ... Everything else is now spinning (mostly with braid) using a Co-Poly leader & braid to match top water applications or FC leader & braid to match sub surface applications .

After additional research - there were only two promising fixes I found : 1 . Is Friction Tape (sold at Home Depot ) which you could use to build up either the reel seat of the reel frame ends . The 2nd fix was a 3/4th inch X 1/16th inch cork strip for rods that could be purchaced by the foot and placed on the reel seat (available from here) : http://www.mudhole.com/Rod-Building/Surf-Rod-Building/Cork-Tape-per-ft .

The series of Shimano spinning rods I'm interested in (new Sellus split grip) is nice for the money - but some reviewers complain of a wider than normal reel seat which can cause the frame of the spinning reel to canter a few degrees sideways while reeling and / or cause a feeling that the reel is not locked down and secure . In order to combat this problem I thought about tightly wrapping some electrical or friction tape around the reel frame ends where they secure into the Shimano Sellus rod reel seat to "beef it up" a bit and cut down on gap space between the reel frame ends and the reel seat width space . Your thoughts ? ...Anybody with a Shimano Sellus spinning rod encountering the same problem ?

+1 ...Excellent job Mike - you know your jigs ! Current customer & 100% satisfied !

Baitcast 15lb - 20lb : Seaguar InvizX

All said and done , I'm willing to try the regular PP and Sufix Performance first before moving up to a higher priced braid - I may not even need .

Interesting to see that in spite of the newer 8 strand braids - many still like traditional PP Spectra in the <20lb. line weights .

Good reasoning ...

The non - 8 strand braids I find are a bit thicker in line diameter in the < 20lb. class ... 20lb. and over they are closer to the same size as the tradional (PP , Sufix Performance ) 4 strand braids. I'm leaning towards the Sufix Performance braid in 10lb ~15lb. because of the great over all reviews and because Dick's sells "pony" size reels (110 yrds. - $11.99) . I want to try with everything spinning such as shaky head (more dragging & hopping as opposed to shaking) , T-Rigs , weightless senkos , top water plugs , minnow baits and crank baits . I'm either going to find I like braid for all or just some of the above applications ...For jerkbaits and drop shot I just don't see how you can use braid (slack rope syndrome) - so I'm not even going to bother as I believe mono or FC is superior for slack line apps .

For freshwater spinning for bass - 20lb braid is at the upper limit - why are you then suggesting to bump up to 20lb . ?

What is your favorite all - around, light weight braid for a typical 2500 series reel / 6'6" MF rod setup in open water ? My short list of readily available braid in my area is : Power Pro Spectra Power Pro Super Slick Sufix Performance Braid Sufix 882 Seaguar Kanzen

X3 ... This is the best tactic to use a "french fry" type soft plastic (zoom centipede) .

Can someone please reply with the suggested zip tie size & source and wire size & source used for a typical 3/8th oz. size spinner bait ?

It got so bad I had to rent a safe house for my unused lures to keep my wife from serving divorce papers ! I really wish we could table this topic for Jan. though as I don't want to be reminded of my shortcomings during Fall fishing season ...

I would simply start out with a Roboworm or Zoom Meathead 4 inch worm and a 18 inch leader length : Cast , slowly lift / gentle twitch , drag a foot , slowly lift / gentle twitch , drag a foot ...

Top water is the most exciting using a popper or twitch bait ... A spinner bait followed by a jig is the most versatile .