timsford

Also didn't see the used part. If used look at shimano citica d's, the exceler I mentioned above (although a lot of what you see at 50 is the older silver reel). Still a good reel though. Bass pro pro qualifier. And a lot of the cabelas reels are actually daiwas. The abus and pfleugers are nice, but the daiwas and shimanos are always my pick because they last. I've owned a few abus too but the abu low profile reels arent built as well as the round ones imo

I like 832, samurai, and j braid. Favorite is j braid because of price

Yes Kistler and power tackle both use nfc blanks, but edge rods and nfc are both owned by gary loomis. Although also I'd rather have a custom built for that kind of money. Custom builders can build about any handle you want, but I don't know about that reelseat. I've heard the weibe seats are hard to find. I guess it just depends on how much that seat matters to you

Avid or avid X or look for a used or on sale legend tournament or used elite or extreme

Are you looking for a baitcaster or spincast? Zebco has a nicer reel called the omega I believe with faster brass gears and several bearings. It might be a little more than 50 but is top of the line as far as spincasting. Baitcasting would be much better imo but not 100% necessary. If bait casting I'd try to find the h20 mettle on sale at academy. If you can put a little with it the daiwa exceller for a little over 60 on ebay is a very nice reel. There's an in depth review on tackle tour that shows all the internals and it's well built and should last with brass gears and aluminum frame. It would be my choice for a budget reel. Sometimes it's better to spend a few more bucks and get quality.

If you are casting and retrieving I'd look at abus, daiwa ryoga and pluton, and shimano calcuttas. These are all designed for ocean fishing and can definitely handle stripers and cats. Plus you could always use it for big swimbaits for bass and stripers. I have fished the tailrace below chickamauga lake on the Tennessee river so i understand the need for a tough reel. I'd look at one of these in the larger sizes and spool with heavy braid. Throw it on a long 8' plus surf casting rods are what most guys use I know, and get to fishing

If you are only keeping one I'd keep the longer rod and if you already have medium and medium light spinning tackle then I'd see if I could return it and get a mh 6'6"-7'2" (the less overhanging trees you have to deal with the longer I'd get) rod. That way you can throw heavier stuff and a wide variety of techniques since you will have several different rod powers. I like senkos too but you might be surprised what you would catch by throwing some bigger jigs, worms, single hook reaction baits and swimbaits. I even use my mh fast baitcasters for shallow cranks and lipless baits and mono. You can do this with what you have but I'd you already have medium rods a mh powered rod will let you throw stuff your current rods can't handle well

The only other knows I can think of that would fit would be yumeya knobs. Most I've seen are the skinny little metal knobs, but they do make round cork knobs also. Hawgtech, semper fi, avail, yumeya, and livre all make handles that fit shimano, and some may have knobs that fit. Hawgtech makes cork knobs that fit their handles and shimano stock handles. The cheapest way out is to buy stock knobs or metanium xg 96mm handle that kickerfish mentioned. It's plenty long enough imo.

They will eat whatever fits in their mouth and try stuff they can't depending on their mood. Try any of that under a float with a few feet of line to let the fish swim and you should catch something. I like hooking bluegill in the back right under the dorsal and letting them swim like this in ponds and lakes for flatheads, stripers, and largemouth. Some people frown on live bait but I go fishing to catch fish

It's so it doesn't come off the hook so easy. Shrink tubing works good too

They are two different brands with many types of jerkbaits but overall I use lucky craft more. The 110 and pointer have different actions and one may work better one day and the other the next. I use many brands and types of jerks. Floaters, slow floaters, suspenders,and sinkers, with tight wobbling, wide wobbling, and rolling and different actions. Some are more erratic and some swim better steadily. It all depends on time of year, target species, and conditions, and also type of water you are fishing. I couldn't pick just one. I use lucky craft more because of cost but there are tons of good baits out there

They put too much line on the reel. Also with a spinning reel, the line will twist way worse with it reeled off the spool one way, and the other way it doesnt. I always have to check when spooling. 12lb is usable on spinning but I prefer 10 and 8

I still use spinning quite a bit. Jerkbaits and walking baits up to 3/8oz, anytime I'm skipping under docks or trees, or with any other bait under 1/4 oz I still prefer spinning. I can do it all with a baitcaster, but spinning is so much easier to manage with light line unless you have at least 400-500 to spend on a bfs combo. I am more accurate with baitcasters, and the extra power on the retrieve is a big reason to take up baitcasting. If you like that reel any of the older curados, chronarchs, or citicas have the same braking system. I'd look at some of the d series reels used if you want a great deal on a similar reel. The e series is great too, but the prices have went way up lately. Daiwas are very nice also. I use reels from both and would recommend the tatula and tatula ct as great reels on a budget. Lews mbs can be found at a great price on fleabay, and the quantum energy is another pretty nice dual braking reel like the Lews that can be found around 100 on sheltons clothing. The pfleuger supreme xt and patriarch reels are both really nice for the price. Lots of nice baitcasters available but you may like the one you have and get more. I know you didn't ask, just thought I'd throw some good budget options out there on reels with quality braking systems that will help you learn more easily, and that are made well and will last a while with regular maintenance

Braid:832 Copoly:hybrid Mono:trilene xl Fluoro:tatsu

@MikeWright I'm so glad for you that you get to see your daughter. I wish Georgia did that like texas. It does not though. I live in Tennessee now and their laws are like texas, in that I'd you pay child support you get visitation rights. I volunteered to pay child support, then the state said even though I was paying it that I had to hire my lawyer to petition for visitation. So I had to pay out a lot more money to lawyers and courts that could have went to my son. I got it all straightened out now, but that's definitely a section of the law code that needs some revision

C rigs work too. I like using flukes and zoom centipedes and swimbaits. I saw an article about that online a few years back and have used it with success. They use a regular Carolina rig with egg sinker and choose a sinker that drifts and catches on rocks now and then. By Carolina rigging the swimbaits it drifts straight downstream from the weight. When the weight is bouncing along the swimbaits flutters in the current like a dying bait fish and when the sinker stops on anything the current pulls the swimbaits up and makes it swim. Looks like a shad dying in current and when it stops or swings through current breaks be ready to set the hook. The trick is to use it an ewg hook or spring keeper hook without weight I've used this with 3.3 inch fat impacts for smallies, spots and walleyes, 4.8 inches for largemouth and hybrids, and big hammers for stripers. Definitely worth a try

Same colors as the rest of the year. Green pumpkin, watermelon, black, black and blue, white, and sometimes a mixture of green pumpkin, pumpkinseed, watermelon, with a few blue and orange strands to imitate bluegill. I usually use a swim bait as a trailer also

I may have to try that out then. I have a few rods it would look really sweet on. I mainly use braid for night fishing or ponds full of weeds and I've colored it plenty of times

Used 250 worth of gift cards and took advantage of the tackle warehouse sale. Several of the lucky crafts are on sale, so I got several sizes and colors. Also picked up some Norman cranks before the price goes up, some line, and some soft plastics in colors/brands I can't get local. After all I've spent the last few months I'll be surprised if my wife doesn't throw me out. That will be really bad since I'm pretty sure there's no way and can walk and carry all my rods, reels, and tackle very far

Ive caught the most when the fish are suspended and in clear to moderately stained water. My best producer was the duo spinbait 80. I use 6-8 lb mono or fluoro and a ml spinning rod with a light tip

I use the thin wire gammy hooks, but ive used vmc, owner, mustad, and daichi with success. Usually ewg unless it's a thin finesse worm or similar and then I use the regular round bend offset worm hook. I use sizes from #2-3/0 depending on the bait

Change the hooks and add split rings. Also maybe use a rod with a little more moderate action or switch to mono if using braid. Maybe even loosen your drag a little if you still lose fish. I always change out the hooks for mustad, vmc, gammy, or owner hooks and add quality split rings if it's one of the ones that don't have split rings. I use upgraded hooks and a fast or mod fast rod with mono and I lose very few fish

I use lots of different baits. I'm in Tennessee but fish a couple rivers that sound very similar to yours. On top I like poppers, small walkers like Sammy 85's, small 1/8 oz buzzbaits (usually black). I like hard jerkbaits a lot too. All kinds of brands but usually in the 3"-4 1/2" range in shallow rivers depending on the size of the forage fish I see. This time of year I catch more on floaters like original rapalas, rogues, bomber long a, and lucky crafts. Other hard baits I really like are square bills and medium depth cranks. I use all kinds from shad raps to wiggle warts. Shad raps, rapala dts, wiggle warts, bagleys, bomber a, Normans are what I use most I usually use ones that are designed to run deeper than the bottom where I am fishing and use craw colors and grind them in the bottom. I use inlines like rooster tails and small underspins like the fish head spin with super fluke jr trailer in bait fish colors, and some spinnerbaits, but I only seem to do well with spinnerbaits after a rain when there is color in the water. Then I like the war eagle finesse spinnerbaits in 3/16 and 5/16 in spot remover and pond scum perch. Soft jerkbaits, senkos, and trick worms weightless. I like the zoom super fluke jr, 4" senko or dinger, and white or chartreuse trick worms weightless. I catch a lot on soft swimbaits. My favorite river bait is are the 3 inch keitech easy shiners and fat impacts, but I've used others with success. On the bottom I like finesse jigs, usually 1/16-3/16, but sometimes I use 1/4-3/8 if it has rained or there is a lot of current. I want the bait to barely stay in place and maybe drift a little down stream like a natural crawfish if lifted off the bottom. Most of the time I drag or shake it though. Favorite colors are mixtures of greens and browns with some orange highlights like my local craws. I fish tube jigs from small bitsy tube up to 3 1/2" tubes the same way. I use these and grubs on jig heads and drag on bottom, but sometimes they like them swimmer and only scraping bottom every few feet. I use the same colors with tube jigs and grubs as with regular skirted jigs. Natural craw colors. I Texas rig small craws, finesse worms, and small creatures also. Usually 1/8-3/16 weight and small ewg hook. Work them like the jigs and other plastics. Colors are simple. In clear water anywhere I like to match the hatch as a fly fisherman would say. All my local craws are brown or green with orange highlights, so anything that color is what I use for craw imitating baits. I use black blue if the water is muddy though. In baits that imitate baitfish, shad, chubs, Creek minnows, panfish, and trout are what the bass in my local rivers feed on. Look around while fishing your local rivers at baitfish and turn over a few rocks to find craws. See what the main colors are and imitate that. Smallmouth and spots also like some chartreuse at times, so I always try something like sexy shad on my reaction baits, and I also dip a lot of my jig trailers and soft plastics in chartreuse and orange dye because smallies and spots seem to like it. Other tips I can give is to walk or wade very quietly almost like hunting while fishing if the water is clear and keep movement to a minimum before you at least make a few casts in a new area. Also smallmouth and spots seem to like current better than largemouth, but all three species seem to use rocks and downed wood as ambush spots and current breaks quite a bit. I always catch more while retrieving my bait downstream with the current than upstream. As far as equipment I usually use shorter spinning rods for everything because of overhanging trees but also because they are versatile and can fish a wide range of baits. I sometimes take a lighter baitcast outfit though because I prefer it with cranks and spinnerbaits. Line is usually 8-10lb mono or copolymer because of water clarity. Sorry I wrote such a long post but one bait would never work for me and I've been fishing rivers for bass over 20 years. I actually fish rivers and ponds more than local larger lakes. I don't think I'm an expert by any means and I'm constantly learning new stuff like the ned rig most recently off sites like this. I just wanted to help out some of my fellow bassresource members that may not fish rivers as much.

I like the horny toads and rage tail toads on a straight retrieve. The spro or booyah if you want one that's weedless and walks

I fish them with 3/16-3/8 bullet weight and gammy ewg monster hook. Usually use 40lb samurai braid or 17lb fluoro. I always put a glass rattle or two in the worm at night as I usually get more bites vs no rattle. I also use some type of liquid scent. Anything i can do to make it easier for the fish to find it. If you don't get bites try scaling the worm down some. I use 7 and 10 inch black berkley powerworms, but any ribbon tail, curly tail, or paddle tail works. I work them very slow and shake the rod to create maximum movement in the strike zone. I'd also try some black 1/4-3/4 spinner baits with a large single Colorado blade, black jigs, and black buzzbaits at night. Maybe a jitterbug, whopper plopper, or buzz jet if you don't have a ton of cover. If you try the treble lures though keep reeling til you feel the fish before setting the hook.