blckshirt98

For finesse all I pretty much do is dropshot and here's what I do - Rod/Reel/Line - Spinning, I use 15lb braid mainline, with 7-10lb fluoro leader (eyeball about 26-28 inches). You can use a double uni to tie the two together, or you can use a swivel. I like to have a fairly long section between the hook and the weight because being a shore guy the angle of the line will be steep so a 12 inch gap will only keep the bait about 5 inches off the bottom. You don't want to fish it on the bottom, but rather imitate a lost/clueless baitfish hanging out in the open. You also want to keep your hook away from any weeds/moss. Hook - Size 2-6. Anything that will point upright when tied with the dropshot palomar. Gamakatsu Split Shot/Drop Shot, Gamakatsu Octopus, Owner Mosquitos (best if you're on a budget, get the bulk Pro Packs), Trokar Drop Shot (personal favorite, but also the most expensive). Don't use the Trapper hooks, hate those things. Weight - Start with a 3/8 oz lead cylinder or tungsten teardrop on calm days. Go heavier as the wind/current starts to impact your casting distance and accuracy, or starts moving your plastic in the water when you don't want it to move. Plastic - Anything with a "twitchy" tail. Whatever plastic you use, drop it into the water in front of you and barely twitch the tip of your rod, and see how the plastic moves in relation to the amount of action of your twitch. Sometimes even just tapping the base of the rod with your thumb of your offhand will impart the action you want. I like the SK Dream Shots and Jackall Crosstail Shads. Nose hook the bait, and very important, check the bait after every cast and clean off anything the exposed nose hook might have picked up. Any little bit of gunk on the hook/bait and the fish will freak out (per Aaron Martens). How to fish it - cast it out, let the weight hit the bottom, and then barely twitch the rod tip, let the rod do the work. If you tested the plastic out in the water in front of you, you'll be able to see how much movement just the tiniest twitch will impart on the plastic. Like Tom said you're almost deadsticking it. 1-2 twitches, pause, but keep line tension. 1-2 twitches, pause, but keep line tension. Repeat. If the wind/current is moving your bait when you don't want it to move, go to a heavier weight. You'll keep the lure in the same spot for up to a minute, sometimes longer. Retrieve a few yards, repeat. Any fish in the vicinity will be swimming up to it to investigate. It almost feels like bait fishing at times, but it works. I had a buddy fish a senko the other day casting to the edge of some tulies and didn't get any bites. I asked him if he was done with the spot, threw my dropshot in the exact same spot, three casts, three fish, but I had to leave the plastic out there in the same spot for about a minute each time, before I got bit.

For my glass/composite setups dedicated to crankbaits/chatterbaits I use fluoro, though I can't remember the #test off the top of my head. I'd avoid braid, it's good to have a little bit of stretch in the line.

if you're a shore guy - Phenix M1 7'8" Medium/Extra Fast, any 2500 sized Shimano reel. I carry this single setup and catch 90% of my fish with it. You can use it for dropshotting, wacky, shakey head, Carolina rig, Texas Rig, Neko, Ned, small jigs, small swimbaits, smaller lipless/squarebill crankbaits, smaller topwater, etc. It does pretty much everything you need.

The Slick8 on a windy day will drive you absolutely insane and ruin your day of fishing. I replaced any and all Slick8 with either regular PowerPro or 832.

I've been snapping 10lb InvisX at the knot (palomars all around) on hooksets doing this. Not sure if this is your jig issue, but it's my dropshot issue, thanks Tom!

The E has a certain je ne sais quoi about it as it was the last Curado model that carried the "Made In Japan" stamp. The 301E is a tank of a swimbait reel, and my brother has been using a 201E for years.

What's up @Chefster ! Coyote Bait is the better place to go (skip Bass Pro Shops) for local bass gear and advice. One tip I have for the Santa Clara lakes is get there as early as possible - 6am-930am has always been the best times for me, once the sun comes out and hits that water the number of bites goes down tremendously, at least from the shore.

#1 for me by far is Phenix. I have ten of their rods and if they had a trade-in program I'd have twenty more. #2 is St. Croix, and #3 on the basis of a single rod that I own is Megabass (Orochi Swingfire for crankbaits, probably my #1 favorite rod to use, it's just a one-trick pony, but man that pony is the best of them all).

I'm a shore guy and use a single rod/reel to catch 90% of my fish. Phenix M1 with a Shimano spinning reel and I can throw almost anything needed from shore, all depths, both finesse and reaction. It's nice to have another setup but if you're just starting out and still in school it's more of a luxury. It's never too early to learn a new technique so I'd spend $50 or so buying some baits to try some new techniques, but don't blow it all on a new setup. Active_Outdoors said it best, have some fun with it, but put most of it away.

Be careful of buying JDM reels as the domestic divisions won't do maintenance or repairs. You're going to have to do your own maintenance or send them off to a third party shop.

I went to Dixon once and clear like vodka is accurate. San Diego I think is one of the most underrated cities for fishing in the country. You have some of the best surf/inshore fishing in the country, some of the best chartered boats in the country, and maybe the best concentration of quality bass lakes in the state.

Maybe try the Berkley Warpigs - fairly thin and they're one of the better casting lipless crankbaits I've used.

I don't really fish single tail grubs by themselves but I imagine color selection would be same as first time crankbait buying - a light, a dark, a green, a red/orange. Bring in other colors as they give you confidence in certain bodies of water/situations. I personally use single tail grubs as chatterbait trailers so I have a bunch of colors to match the chatterbait, and the Kalin's grubs are my favorite. Blue Pearl is one of the more versatile colors, with a nice shimmy in the water.

A light color you like, a dark color you like, a red color you like.

If you hold a $100+ swimbait in hand the quality and craftsmanship shines. In that price range it becomes a collectible/short term asset, and not "just a bait". Any swimbait posted up on SU at a reasonable price is usually bought/sold the same day of going up on sale. Swimbaits are a specialized niche in bass fishing. The costs and patience to use them are not for everyone, and their passion is unique. If you're going out to fish all day hoping for 1-2 bites, it's all about using the bait that gives you the most confidence, and a handcrafted, hand-tuned, hand-painted finish helps. I like to compare swimbait guys to skateboarders who would rather jump a 20-foot ramp once instead of jumping a 1-foot ramp twenty times.

I haven't used the Trapper trebles but I have used the Trapper drop shot hooks and honestly I'm not a fan. Once they get hooked into a fish they do keep the fish locked in tight, but that same "locked in tight" deal means removing a hook is a nightmare because you can't just reverse it out smoothly and just have to deal with the barb - you have to deal with the barb and the 90 degree angles. I had a hook break on me while trying to remove it, I had two others bend on my while removing them. Two Trapper trebles hooked deeply into a fish and that fish is gonna be dead by the time you get it back in the water.

Don't forget the gift cards online to knock another 15% off, you can get it for just over $450!

I'm probably at 60% online 40% in store for tackle/lures/reels, and 25% online and 75% in store for rods. Something about rods where I need to feel them in person before I buy. The tackle/lures/reels will probably lean towards online in the future as a few local tackle shops have closed shop the past few years.

Check out the Phenix Feather rods. Cheaper than they should be, they felt like a $200+ rod in hand, and Vince said in testing they were able to pick up a 5kg(~12lb) weight at a 90 degree angle with it. Also their spinning rod has this arc-shaped "palm rest" that sits over the top threads that makes it comfortable to hold. I'll probably be getting one at my local tackle shop's annual sale in April.

I'm actually not sure if there's much of an actual difference in reel sizes based on the numbers since there's no industry standard, it's just what the manufacturers slap on them. The Daiwa Fuego 2500 felt and looked heavier/larger than comparable Shimano 2500 reels in my hands. Definitely try to get a feel for them in person instead of going by online specs.

A fishing buddy of mine uses the Little Creeper Trash Fish and Sunfish and kills it with them (note though that he also slathers them in his scent of choice).

Get some gift cards online to save up to an extra 15% off. I buy them all the time when Cabela's has sales, got a couple of Curado 301E reels for like $140 each doing this.

http://www.reebslures.com/shop-all-lures/skull-crushers I've bought some of their swim jigs in the past but have no skin in the game with them, just thought I'd share their awesome design on a heavyweight jig (designed for saltwater). Might get some just to have around as decoration, the red one especially.

KVD 1.0/1.5/2.5 for me too. Everyone carries them and when they're on sale I can buy them in bunches where they're cheap enough to throw anywhere and not stress if I lose some to snags.