corn-on-the-rob

Why ...am I responding to this thread? Ice.

This is what happened to me this past year, two years ago I was the one spinning rod only guy. I have 7 rods now. 3 spinning, 4 casting. And all of the tackle I have bought too. Heck, just looking at different colors of lures/baits on TW is thrilling.

all of the graphite models are fast action except for the heavy is med fast the composite models are all moderate

omg this. I did keep them in bags, now I keep them in Plano boxes, doesn't matter, the worms themselves will have no adverse side effects ether way, just a preference in storage.

grass pigs are nice, especially because I get them even cheaper than they already are. Obviously they likely don't have the action of the higher costing lures but it is sufficient for me. They are great swimming, jigging, and trailers for chatters/spinners and offer a good amount of colors.

Yea I use braid FC leader as well, but I should have specified that before FC was popular mono in that lb range was the go-to and still is used my many. FC can be better for sure but saying mono isn't sensitive enough for deep water applications is far from true, though I can understand his preference for not using it. I LOVE braid with FC leader for erie (or anywhere for that matter), the abrasion resistance for the rocks and the strength to horse in accidental giant drum/cats is awesome, use it on all of my rods with great success but wouldn't hesitate to throw mono if I had no choice. I guess if he would have said not as sensitive instead of not sensitive enough I wouldn't have engaged.

hmmm, well my experience up on lake erie, mono is the "textbook" for catching big light biting smallies is on 6lb or 8lb. Seems plenty sensitive for many, but to each his own

I like to use a shorter rod for small jerkbaits gives you great control. 6' medium/fast action. I also recommend braid but any line will work. And i'm sorry but the braid is bad with trebles/whatever is a bunch of hooey. User error (which most of the time is not enough time spent with using the setup and dismissing it before learning it)

I also should have specified I use FC only for leaders, all of my set ups are braid with fluoro leaders except for my jig stick no leader (maybe in ultra clear water). A lot of people use uni-uni as did I, but I found Alberto's (improved albright) to work much better and is the same difficulty to tie. For the applications I would use 65lb braid I would not be using a leader, so what this is telling me is you likely are using an unnecessarily heavy braid for the application. The big discrepancy in line diameters can* make leaders finicky and like I mentioned before, if I was aiming to use a 15lb FC leader I would pair it with 20lb, 30lb (recommend), and MAYBE 50lb if absolutely necessary. Now for the improved albright I typically use 7 wraps up, 7 wraps down but more wraps (about 9) if the leader is close to the braid in strength (eg. 20lb braid with 15lb or 20lb FC) If you have any questions let me know.

why wouldn't mono be sensitive enough? serious question also, yea the set up works well just be sure to have your drag set and be prepared for a long fight if you hook a decent one.

try throwing a finesse spinnerbait (1/4oz with small blades) works really well for me in ohio clear waters and definitely a confidence booster.

I personally stay away from fire-line/spiderwire based on reviews, but I have only tried sufix and berkley trilene 100% fluoro professional grade. Both were good but I liked the trilene better.

If you told me you were flipping a jig into weeds, I wouldn't bash you and say a jig is completely different than a grass jig. You really need to chill, you are bullying/harassing this guy at this point. Sure he did some semi-unorthodox things but he's new. With a little time he will adjust to the site and has every right to become a part of this community and utilize the wonderful resource that it is. Patience is a virtue.

I fish a ton of drop shot but typically don't start out on it even on tough condition days. I will go through a cycle of other baits then if I have nothing at that point I spend a lot of time with drop shot to work for a bite, almost always gets me at least one. So yes, I believe it is a good option during tough conditions but never rule out other possibilities. I have spent tough days fishing drop shot and only get a couple then have someone say they slammed them on spinnerbaits (which I had tied on ready to go but never threw), gotta make sure to at least try moving baits before dismissing.

check out the roboworm rebarb hook. I thread it through and have it exposed for open water, then can t-rig it if I am around cover, both situations, one hook. Now one can argue you can't nose hook but I don't do it often anyways, I get a dang near %100 hook-up/land ratio with the threaded through style.

tubes are great! Most people have their main stay (senko, tube, creature) but when it comes down to it each has their confidence lure for a reason, it catches fish and not necessarily better or worse than someone else's go-to. While I would argue that versatility is good, it isn't necessary to be successful. now me, I'm a sucker for grubs...

Berkley powerbait minnows - Cheap, scented, good action Also use roboworm's fx sculpins and 2.75'' tubes

I used to keep everything in original bags, then put same types together in a large freezer bag, It is great for space efficiency but it was always a pain for me to find the item I needed. I switched this year to plano boxes (3700) and each can hold a good amount of plastics. For example just pick up my drop shot box, and I can readily see and take anything I have in there without sorting through stuff, just grab, open, pick, close, done. Now that I have voiced this as a great option, there are two down sides: Space efficiency - Although organized and clean the boxes take up a rigid space that is larger than using plastic bags. In a boat this can work but as a co-angler it may not be possible to lug around a ton of boxes if you needed them. Capacity - The 3700 boxes I have will hold 9 different plastics around 15-20 in each slot. This is decent but for many fisherman 9 different worms in a "worm" box would not even come close to cutting it so you would need multiple boxes for just one style of plastic. That being said the limited capacity works really well for me. It makes me limit what I carry so I have to slim down and only put in what I consider essential items. I have a box of each of these plastics: drop shot, worm/grub, fluke/paddletails, craw/tube, creature/beaver. For example in the drop shot box I have 3 colors of powerbait minnows both in 3'' and 4'', 3 colors of small drop shot tubes, and 3 colors roboworm. It is a simple selection but I feel in almost any conditions that the selection would work sufficiently. I also like it a lot because when I have fewer selections I don't constantly second guess myself during a tournament.

I will catch some off beds and not feel bad about it, I just rarely do it because I don't particularly enjoy bed or sight fishing much.

When shimano replaced them I believe they mentioned it is related to a part wearing down (and is known to do so in this line) which is a defect in the part itself. Maybe different grease would help a little but based on shimano's response I believe it would fail eventually anyways. Also, Buying 3 brand new reels, then having them all fail in their first 6 months of moderate and well treated use I shouldn't even have to think of replacing any factory parts/lube/grease. Now that I have them back and will no longer be covered if they fail again, I may try to maximize their longevity by using something different.

I own three of them (2500). I love everything about them, light, amazing look and feel, smooth drag, but after one 6-month season of moderate use ALL 3 were binding. I got them replaced but once it happens again it won't be covered. I love shimano for their quality but I think I'm gonna stick with their rods not reels for now on. For $100 reels a piece they shouldn't have those issues. Also I don't have the knuckle busting issue because I do have smaller hands but when my dad used it he said he was hurting his hands. The more I have been experimenting with brands I have fallen in love with lews reels even though I have been stuck on shimano nearly all my life.

Wow.

welcome dmack, this is a wonderful place to learn and kill time waiting for the thaw! There is just something about bass fishing but don't leave the other species in the dust!

Some lakes are covered in weeds/good-looking cover and look "bassy" all over the place but there is a reason some weeds work and some don't, which likely comes down to structure. I am still learning my self but it makes sense.

I am not gonna argue semantics too much but there is a difference between spinning gear and spincast gear, not sure which the OP was specifying. But if meaning spinning gear vs bait-casting, it is great to be fluent with both for many different methods and approaches.