Jim Hill

yeah space is semi limited, I have to have a rod that breaks down to fit in the back of my van. I can fit a good bit of them back there but right now I only have 4, mine and my families. I do see your point with having multiple setups, seems to be more for bass then for anything the way you describe it. I do fish for them, just less often because I so love northern and walleyes!

I fished this lake a LOT last year, I normally used senkos but there are so many big bass for such a small lake you could catch em on most anything. I have yet to catch a crappie or northern there tho. But for big largemouth in the area, from shore, that lake almost can't be beat!

Thanks all for the replies! I have heard about the BPS one and was told it was pretty good to start with. What I guess I never did consider was keeping what I have and "adding" another. Usually when I buy a new reel I will stop using the other one. its such a joy to hear others opinions of my favorite hobby and help me to make an informed decision on my newest purchase!

I wanted to spend as little as possible, kinda the most bang for my buck I guess. Im on military and SS disability so its not a lot of money, hence why the relatively cheap gear now. I would LOVE to spend under 100 for both, if possible. I'd hate to actually spend more, budget in mind also, for something that if it turns out I didn't like it would be collecting dust or need to be resold. I can spend MAYBE like 130 on a combo and I'd much rather buy a combo if feasible. I have a L and M fleet supply store near me, the only place that has fishing gear, and it mainly has daiwa, abu, and quantum reels. They have like 150 different rod types but almost no combos. Speaking of the backlash, I have never once had an issue of line twisting, knotting, or backlash (which probably couldn't happen) with my spinning reels. I just wanted to make the jump because more people seem to use them and swear by them. who knows, maybe all I really would need would be a better spinning reel instead? Being as I don't/can't work and don't leave the couch much, fishing is my passion. I moved back home here to northern MN after I was medically retired in hopes to fish more. I go fishing every single day of the week for about an hour or two, and can manage half a day on a boat if im sitting. Having said that, im just looking to increase not only my success rate but also my passion/hobby. I love buying new things fishing, its like a kid going into toys r us with my at a fishing store. So I figured maybe a baitcaster would be right. I dunno.

So im 36 now and have been fishing pretty much since I could hold a rod. I grew up on the classic zebco 33 when I was younger and then sometime in my teens went with the spinning reel. Since then, its been spinning reels. On the MN opener last week in the boat my dad was saying I should swap to a baitcaster, which he uses. Hes never used spinning reels, ever, but he won't buy anything else. I see more often people using baitcasters and I would like to get one. However, not only am I on a budget, I'd need to know what type of rod and line to get for what I do. Currently im using http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Shimano-Solstace-FD-Clam-Pack-Spinning-Reel-SO2500FIC&i=726463&r=view&cvsfa=2586&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=373236343633&kpid=726463&gclid=CjwKEAjwj9GqBRCRlPram97Xk3ESJADrN7IeC7vyHsjM8UVz-zeoyhUggyKNU7aGMY4MvFWU6EJ1nxoCvK_w_wcB Rod is http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Berkley-Cherrywood-HD-Casting-Rod-7-Medium-Heavy&i=707347&r=view&cvsfa=2586&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=373037333437&kpid=707347&gclid=CjwKEAjwj9GqBRCRlPram97Xk3ESJADrN7IeAm0aZscaop4JoAKASh7KWp1O78KpW-uJlS6C1FNGVxoC4sLw_wcB Neither were bought at gandermountain but it was the first link. I use power pro 20lb braided line and it seems to work out ok. Im so clueless to baitcasters im not sure I could just swap reels on my current rod and use the same line. The #1 reason, minus cost, I never swapped to a baitcaster is because of backlash. I remember in my 20's I used one and every time I cast my line I'd get it. Now Im sure I could figure out with some minor practice how to correctly thumb the line but maybe because that was mono line at the time, it caused it more? Anyway, I found some pretty cheap (hopefully decent) baitcasters and wanted to find out if I was buying the right stuff or what really matters on the set up. I use one rod/reel combo for everything I fish for. I just can't really have a whole lotta rods/reels with all different setups because its too much $. So far walleye, bass, northerns and crappie arewhat i fish for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Oh lastly, one of the reels I was looking at was a quantum vantex. Cheap in price and looked ok?

Just an update. I ended up getting a regular plano 3700 bag. My poor military disability wouldn't allow me to get one of those nifty 3700 elite series ones, they run like $80. I got a real tree one and it was like $35. Its not too much heavier thankfully and its not overly huge. Don't the 3700 boxes offer alot more customization? Not like the regular ones it comes with but ones you can buy online? Also I was looking for hook covers but I wanted to buy a cheap bag with many different sizes if they have em.

The 3700 bag itself was massive. I've got some back issues and such that would make the bag too much for me to carry. I almost always shore fish and have to walk a distance to get to the water so I wanted a lighter one. I still have plenty of space in the boxes, its just that the daredevles are so big! They are for northern pike mainly. I don't have musky sized ones but I've seen some great suggestions that i'll be looking into!

Might try and see if that works. Biggest thing im worried about is the length with the hooks. That could work also if I could find some. Never did think of covers for the hooks to keep them from getting tangled. But I wonder how bulky it may make them?

exactly, individually like that. Because of the size of the treble hooks they get tangeled up real easy. I am not sure if there is a box made that would hold them or if they'd fit in the spinnerbait slots. The reason I don't just have one box with the dividers is because I'd only be able to fit like 5 or so in a box because of their length ya know?

SO I finally ditched my tackle boxes for a new Plano 3600 softsider x. I don't carry a ton of stuff so the 3700 was too big. This was only $38 too! Anyway, I need to find some 3600 boxes that can hold spoons, not spinnerbaits, any one know of any or have any? I seen some that fit spinners but I have daredevles and such that I would like to fit, maybe the can in the spinner one?

Last night I went out and used a senko and rigged it tx style. I did not get stuck once, which is good, but seemed I missed more and the senko kept gettin shredded. Im currently looking into all the suggestions and it appears more often then not people suggest some sort of frog type bait so I'll get one of those and something else.

using 2/0 or 3/0 EWG hooks wacky rigged with an O ring. If I could not get snagged, I'd probably never swtich. All tho there are a LOT of weeds I do not use one with a weed guard. I just figured with the line, which goes out about 8 feet off shore, and being stuck in rocks a lot, I switch to top water. I know the trick ones sink a little with a 2/0 or 3/0 but I figured it wouldn't have enough time to sink as far and get stuck. Its SO disappointing to go and continuosly get stuck and have to tie up again ya know?

seems there are a lot of suggestions for frog type lures, are they generally better then worm types? Im fishing from shore if it makes a difference. also a friend of mine stationed in florida suggested I use Zoom trick worm, bubblegum colored. He swears by the things!

Hey all, Looking for some good (preferably plastics) top water lures. Senkos work REALLY good where I go but im sick of getting stuck on a rock or log. Im looking for a really good top water or floating type of bait that will work really good. Im going to get it on amazon most likely so if there is a link for it you can add it.

Well, Got to try the new line and there is good and bad. The bad, when I did get stuck, I had one helluva time pulling it out. I had to cut one line completely off. The line is so strong its insane! I am bringing work gloves with me incase I get stuck again. The good news, weeds aren't an issue. I think I could pull in a log if it moved. Heres todays catch. Not big but a few lbs is still pretty fun to catch!

just a quick note, I went to my local fleet store and got some power pro 20lb test braided, only had mossy green but should be ok. After the 4th I will go test it at the lake. As I was tying things up and cutting off the tag end, I noticed it was really, really strong! Nail clippers didn't work, had to use steel scissors. I will probably try the palomar knot first. I did it on a swivel just to test my knot tying skills (never did one of those kind) and it seems to have tightened even better then when I did the cinch. I was using thing improved one I read about. I'll try a few knots out but honestly, with the incredible strength of the line, I don't forsee any issues. And I use a swivel for quick switching of walleye snells. When using 10lb test on the boat in a rocky area, the line breaks alot with snags. I usually go thru at least 10-15 pre-tied hooks in a day. I don't want to spend all that time tying up new rigs so I do it the night before and store them. Also, I really appreciate the replies. Since im not really a bass fisherman and have only recently found this bass lake, most of this stuff is new to me. I'll report back with the results and a nice picture. Thank all of you for helping further my fishing passion!

oh and it appears my walmart doesn't have power pro (according to looking online). I do have a fleet supply near buy and some tackle stores tho. Which type of power pro should I look for as there were many more choices then I had imagined. Like colors, test and length. I think I'd be going with either 15 or 20# test and maybe 150 yards but not sure on that or color. Any advice on that would be helpful. Oh, and this is what is in stock here where I go. One type of power pro it seems but lots of others. http://www.landmsupply.com/department/sporting-goods/fishing/fishing-line

some great suggestions, I think I will just go with braided line, the power pro seems like its very reasonable in price too. I haven't been walleye fishing for a while and I suppose it wouldn't matter much if I used it too for that at a later date. Almost every night for about an hour or two we end up at the bass lake anyway. Its odd because i've used walleye line (mono) and I can't do a bait caster because I just plain suck with them, for nearly all my life. I just recently discovered this bass lake here and its a lot of fun but its getting old when I lose my line and I certainly do NOT want to leave fish with hooks in. I just wish I had the money, dont we all, to have set ups for everything so I didn't have to change! I actually might have been able to get another rod/reel but no joke last night on my way to the lake, I snapped the end of my rod in my van door and had to go buy a new one. This one breaks down this time thankfully!

isn't minnetonka the best around that area?

Not bad, since I live about 35 miles away from Vermilion I go there when I can. My dad usually (the one with the boat) refuses to take us near shoreline because its walleye only in the boat. BUT I've caught more then a few small mouths on vermilion, they are plentiful! I hear Rainey lake is top US rated for SMB fishing but I've only been once for walleyes. Congrats and some good fish!

Using trilene mono. Using a leader because I have a snap swivel all ready on for when I go walleye fishing. If the line does break from snags when walleye fishing, which with snags in the boat it does ALOT, I have 20 pretied hooks to just hook onto the swivel. So its mono line to a swivel, leader from swivel to hook. Hope that clears it up.

a shimano spinning reel. Oh, and are there any cheaper (but still decent quality) 20lb test braided? No basspros or cabelas anywhere near here, but walmart does have a decent selection of line and thats only 20 min drvie

The 10lb test line has never broken itself, only the leader from the swivel to the hook. I was doing the improved cinch, wetting it, with newer line. Im not sure its becoming untied, it looks more like its snapping off. I guess I can try using some other line all together, I have used fireline in the past and never broke it. I just have one rod and reel for everything, walleye fishing is my main thing I use it for, so I have been hesitant to buy anything other then just plain old 10lb test trilene. If the leader wouldn't have broke 5 times today, I would have not lost a line since the swivel and above were never lost. I use a swivel for swapping things quickly, usually trolling for walleyes and I have about 20 hooks tied all ready for it. Those never do break.

Well, went fishing again today in my normal spot I go off shore and I got stuck and broke my line a few times but 2-3 times I broke the line with a fish on. Its got weeds real close to shore and I try my best to pull em through but the line is breaking over and over it seems. Not the whole line either, only the line where I tie my hook to. The swivel isn't breaking at all, its the line at the hook or near the swivel. Now, before you ask about the knots, its not coming apart. Its breaking. I am using the same line I have on my reel, trilene 10lb test. I am fishing with a senko and o ring set up. Do i need to maybe invest in 15-20lb test for making a leader or should I just get a higher lb test line and not use a snap swivel and tie it directly to it? Im trying to save money as military/ssa retirement doesn't pay well. It was so frustrating to lose a good 3-4lb bass again tonight and I lost 4 out of 5 hooks I bought right before going.