MIbassyaker

I get them from Tackle Warehouse

This one? http://www.ownerhooks.com/products/hooks/ultraheads.htm#5149

I think I saw it here for a cheaper price:

What makes the KVD, Martens, and Evers different from me is.........virtually everything. This "mental fortitude" stuff sounds like work. I already do enough work. The day fishing starts stressing me out is the day I stop fishing.

Cool. These do look like a good option for craw-sized baits in grass. VMC rugby head and Owner Ultrahead bullet and finesse ball heads have a similar style, with an EWG hook behind a leadhead. The charlie brewer spider slider too. I use all of those a lot and I really like the design -- I've wondered for awhile why more companies don't make a version of the same thing. The owner ball head is my standard shakyhead, and it has a tie at about the same angle, but vertical and not recessed.

Different brands have slightly different wobbles on the retrieve, and you may find your bass like some more than others. So it's worth trying out a few different brands. But Bandits are great bang for the buck, as are the Strike King KVD 1.5 mentioned above. I personally have a hard time spending much money on something I can, and probably will, lose to a laydown at any moment.

Heddon tiny torpedo in chrome.

Alone.

Depends on what you're using the rod for. I have a Lew's LFS on jerkbait/topwater rod, with 10lb Big game.

TW order for the tax stimulus sale; a handful of essentials that could not wait until memorial day: -big spool of izorline XXX, -15lb power pro super 8 slick -KVD line & lure conditioner -oval split rings -eco pro wacky weights, just to get me up over 50.

I have a 6' medium Pflueger Trion GX-7, 1-piece combo I got at Cabelas a few years ago for about $50. I think is supposed to be moderate-fast action, but feels moderate (or close enough that it doesn't make a difference). I believe there was a 7' version. Not sure if the combo is still available. If I'm not mistaken, the Ugly Stik GX2 is a fiberglass rod. I would take my Trion combo over one of those any day. Heh, I bought a 7' MF 2-piece spinning silverhawk last week for that $60 sale to serve as my new "trunk rod". Very crisp and well put-together. I'm looking forward to seeing if it can help me tempt any "lunch hour" smallies over the next few weeks.

Tubes and other craw imitators are hard to beat. For another take, there's a book called "River Smallmouth Fishing", by Tim Holschlag. In it he has chapter on top 20 baits and when to use them. Then he boils it down to 6 for getting started: for bottom contact (1) a 4" worm on a slider head and (2) a grub on a jighead; for mid-depth (3) an inline-spinner, (4) floating minnow crankbait, and (5) a fatter-bodied shallow-diving crankbait like a rebel craw; for topwater (6) a propbait like a heddon tiny torpedo. There are a lot of other, fancier things that work well, but this seems a good list for covering the bases.

Well, I'm about to find out what I do and do not like a baitcaster for. I bought 4 new casting setups this winter with the idea that I would make a good-faith effort to find out what the big deal is. Until this year I used spinning for everything. It never occurred to me I would ever want or need to get a caster until recently. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, texas rigs, even frogs, I am able to fish effectively, intuitively on spinning gear. I grew up fishing for other species (catfish, panfish, pike, walleye) with spinning tackle, it's what I learned, what I've always used, with no problems. It's what everybody I knew had always used, for everything. Still very few of the people I ever see fishing for anything around here, including bass, use casters (occasionally, but rarely). Granted, I don't do tournaments, so my taste in gear has virtually no influence from tournament folks. I've also never followed the pros that closely (a little bit) until recently, so it never registered that I should use casters because they do. So when I hear people discuss whether spinning is "necessary," it sounds like a communication from an alternate universe: In my experience, it is baitcasters that are of questionable necessity! Spinning has its problems -- working moving bait with heavier spinning gear can be awkward unless you're just doing a straight retrieve. Line twist is always an annoyance unless you're using braid. But there are no backlashes, and I have zero problems with accuracy... I often hear that that casters are "more accurate" -- again with the alternate universe: spinning rods lack accuracy? I cannot comprehend this; surely, this assertion is just an effect of experience. In any case, we'll see how it goes with the new casters. So far, pitching to targets in the backyard is almost as easy as it is with my spinning rods...

Jeez, you guys are whackin 'em. I've got snow in my yard and a work/life to-do list that will keep me grounded through the end of the month...

I don't buy concerns about line visibility for bass in most situations. When I use leaders with braid, it's not for transparency. Like scott and darren say above, I use braid for line management and low stretch, in addition to strength. Around vegetation, I don't use a leader even in clear water. unless as darren says, I will be retying often and want to save line. Otherwise, I find straight braid is simply unbeatable in grass. Around rocks or rip rap, I use a leader for better abrasion resistance. In snaggy rivers, I use a leader so breaking off is easier if I get irretrievably hung, as d-camarena above says.

Biospawn plasmatail 6.5"

done.

Held one in the store, seemed like a good rod. Most people looking for a budget item are concerned more about avoiding the worst, rather than wanting the best. I don't have any idea what the best is around the $50 price point. But I'm pretty confident none of the ones mentioned in this thread are the worst.

Catt, this site has convinced me I need to visit an Academy next time I find myself down south! None up here, but tons of folks on BR recommend the H2O baits and gear!

The first option that comes to mind is Abu Vengeance; looks like there's a 7'6" heavy for $60. I have the feeling some of your other options will be rods listed as Medium heavy, even if they're pretty stout. Maybe an MH version of the vengeance, or a MH berkley lightning rod shock is sort of in the ballpark? I have a blackout, MH spinning. Nice rod, but I ordered online and had to return the first one they sent because of crooked guides. I hear that's actually not an uncommon problem. Also consider TW will have a 15% off sale for memorial day, so you may be able to get a good deal on something better.

Once I get a chance to get back out there in a few weeks, I've got a new MegaStrike Strike-back spinnerbait in a lavender shad color to try out. I even have a new combo to throw it on.

"Shakyhead" fishing is just one particular kind of jigworm (jighead + worm) technique. Folks have been catching fish with worms on jigheads for years, doing every possible presentation you could think of at every possible speed, hopping, dragging, swimming, whatever. Is it still "finesse" if you're moving it fast? Who knows, who cares -- the right technique is whatever they bite!

Sounds like what you really need is not another rod, but another reel (why sell the pro max reel? I think I would have kept the reel and sold the rod, if anything). You have two different powers and actions, already suitable for some specialization. Buy a reel, use them both -- the KVD for trebled baits, the Abu for everything else. Spend some time learning what your preferences are, take your time, and plan some upgrades once you are ready to make some informed decisions!

Yet, they do throw wiggle warts and bladed jigs/chatterbaits reasonably often, which use snap attachments by default no?

Pflueger supreme xt. normal retail is 150, but pflueger is running a $20 off mail-in rebate on spinning reels over $99 through may. On top of that you can get it for 100-130 a few places online if you poke around a bit. Size 30 is 6.8oz and 35 is 8.0oz.