ChrisD46

Back in the day , Cortland floating weight forward fly line was all I knew and threw ...Time to ask for updates !! * What are good , easy care floating fly lines with good ratings today in a #7 or #8 weight ? * Suggestions for a good , two piece , bass action fly rod (approx. 8 ft.) that will be in the $100 ~ $150 range ? * Suggestion for a decent fly reel in the $50 ~ $75 range * What to use for backing ? Braid , mono or some special backing just for fly reels ? Thanks in advance ...

Thanks for the replies !! Yes , a 7 or 8 weight line is what I was expecting . Would love to hear line , rod and reel opinions as a : "best value / best buy" under $200 ~ $250 as I am on a budget and can't afford the really nice $450 - $500 outfits . Lastly , where you buy your supplies online ?

Anyone fly fish for bass - poppers , or streamers ? Years ago living in Florida I used a heavy fly outfit to throw deer hair poppers and streamers with success for bass - then got away from it due to work , relocation , etc. Providing you have room for a back cast and not too windy - could DEFINATELY be a little used tactic for bass they never see ! Back in the day fly fish pros like : Joe Brooks , Stu Apt and Lefty Kreh were pioneers of fly fishing for salt water game fish with GREAT success mainly due to the fish never seeing such lures before presented in that fashion ... I'm just saying .

Ardent reel oil , reel oil for bearings and BPS grease in a syringe .

Depends ...For something in the super fluke a #1 or 1/0 Owner Mosquito would work ...For a super fluke jr. I would drop down to #2 or even a #4.

All good advice , however do not over look Academy Sports H20 Xpress Mettle bait cast reel for under $60 . This is a solid all aluminum little reel I started out with - and with regular care it still is in use today !

Jrob78 & iabass8 : If you use braid for frogs & punching - what line do you use for top water - braid OR mono ?

Didn't they name a Trick Worm color after Mike ? ...I have good success on that thing during the spawn * All in good fun - I'm sure Mike feels you can spell his last name how ever you want , as long as you remember him first when it comes to buying jigs and what not .

Good deal - I now believe I got nothing to lose by going to WM and picking up a 150 yrd spool of PP 50lb. braid to try (along with mono backing) . * I like that WM carries it and I don't have to go order from TW or BPS and risk (yet again) getting served with divorce papers

alee17 : Did you notice much loss of casting distance going from 40lb. to 50lb. braid ?

I appreciate the supplier / price direction !

Wow ! - TW has the type R for $199 I believe ...never seen the typr R for $130 when the regular Tatula 100 goes for $149 .

For spinning reels (2500 series) - here are my set ups : * Drop Shot / Shakey Head : 6lb. ~ 8lb. flouro * Small Hard Jerk Bait : 8lb. mono * Small Top Water Poppers : 8lb. ~ 10lb. mono * Super Fluke Jr. 15lb. braid + 8lb. fluoro leader Everything else I use a baitcast reel for ...

14lb. ~ 17lb fluoro or 40lb. ~ 50lb. braid with a 12lb. leader of mono or fluoro should most likely not require a large spool ... 7:1 gear ratio preferred as you use the rod to move the C-Rig and need a high speed reel to recover line ... 6:3 to 1 gear ratio reel would also work in a pinch .

Depending on the size of the worm , I have used Gamakatsu 2/0 ~ 5/0 EWG because they were very easy to rig straight and then skin hooked texposed on top. I have since been in the process of switching to Gamakatsu offset round bend worm hooks as this hook acts more like a keel on a worm and the hook ups tend to be better on a worm due to the hook point being higher than the hook eye . The only down side is that rigging the worm straight is slightly more difficult as you have to measure where the hook point goes in the worm more precisely and the hook point stays embedded in the worm .

I should have also requested : What is the smallest braid pound test you will use to prevent reel digging ?

In the $149 range I have narrowed my choice to either the Daiwa Tatula 100 or Lew's Tournament Speed Spool - which do you prefer in 6:4 to 1 or 7:1 to 1 for the following applications : * Topwater * Jerkbait * Football Jigs * C-Rig / T-Rig * Spinner / Bladed / Swim Jigs * Pitching Soft Plastics At a quick glance I notice the Lew's has two addional ball bearings than the Daiwa while the Daiwa has the new : "T" Bar retrieve guide - any other features based on your experience that stand out between the two ? Thanks in advance ... Please Note : I don't do any cranking thus no need to share 5:4 to 1 ratio experiences for above ...

News to me - I never see flouro leader material in the fishing line section at either Dicks or WM ... I'll check again more closely .

All good advice ... My current fluke set up is : 7' med action spinning rod / 3000 size spinning reel , 15lb braid to small Spro swivel (key !) then 2.5' length of 8lb flouro leader to a Gama 5/0 offset worm hook - lastly a Zoom Super Fluke (Pearl or Baby Bass) then I tip the tail 1/16th to 1/8 inch into a bottle of chartreause JJ's Magic just to add a touch of color ... As the G-Man would say : "It's like the ORDER UP alarm sounded at the Waffle House for bass " !

First I would try P-Line CXX 12lb moss green color for $8.00 ...If you don't like it then you could try Sunline or Seaguar fluoro in 15lb but you will be looking at 3X the price for a spool . The flouro leader material is a good idea - but your looking at an on-line buy as no stores usually carry flouro leader material .

A lot of good comments - thanks ! * What I'm hearing is a growing trend where there are less and less places where braid OR braid + fluorocarbon leader cant handle the application. * If one were to review the past Bass Master article suggesting "six primary rod & reel combos for bass fishing" ...Then a couple more of those set ups would probably use braid today versus a couple of years ago . * Areas where I still have concerns for braid are : Top water (poppers , spooks) , Cranking , Jerk Baits and where rocky bottoms exist when dragging a worm , jig or C-Rig.

I have considered buying the BPS Pro Qualifier baitcast reel for a while now ...Howver the 6/18/14 Tackle Tour review was less than favorable (i.e. rough , bumpy drag) . My intended application would be dragging a C-Rig , dragging a football jig and occasional pitching / flipping , so the 7:1 ratio retrieve seemed about right if you are mostly looking to retrive line in a hurry (C-Rig , Football jig dragging ) . Lastly - a BPS employee said to expect the Pro Qualifier to go on sale at season end for $79.99 . * So , for $79.99 would YOU buy a BPS Pro Qualifier 7:1 ratio (warts and all) mainly for C-Rig and Football Jig dragging - or would you save your money and look for something else ? Lastly , I would be especially interested to hear experiences / opinions from those who have bought recent or new Pro Qualifiers ? The fact that Edwin Evers has had such a great run with the Pro Qualifier may be attributed to his reels being several years old and were made to a higher quality level back then ? ...Thanks in advance for the replies .

Question : Can you C-Rig or T-Rig a 4" ~ 6" lizzard any other time of the year beyond the spawn ? I always hear about the lizzard success during the spawn (i.e. nest robber) but I hear little AFTER the spawn ...Your thoughts ?

Besides throwing a frog / topwater - are there other applications you use braid on a baitcast reel that you find better than using fluorocarbon ?

Nose hooked roboworms and draw the line tight enough so the worm is not laying on the bottom - let your subtle rod tip movements / water current move the worm ...Google how KVD fishes a drop shot in a pool with a snappy horizontal retrieve (different take on a drop shot for sure as an option) ...Aaron Martins has good advice as well ...Amart IS a drop shot bait !!