blckshirt98

I'm a shore guy and anything at double digits or above can turn my day of fishing into a day of suck crap.

St. Croix's webite! http://stcroixrods.com/shop/freshwater/triumph-x-spinning-rod-combo/ For dropshot/shaky head I'd look at the 6'8" MXF or the 7'0" MF, or if you need a 2-piece the 7'0" MF2.

For the best bang for the buck Savage Gear's stuff is pretty hard to beat. I'm not a fan of Okuma's rods/reels but their Savage Gear baits have really made swimbaits affordable for people looking to get into it. Other options I'd look at are the LuckyCraft Real Bluegills, River2Sea S-Wavers, and any of the stuff by CL8 Baits.

I'm hoping the prices of tungsten goes down eventually as it becomes more in demand from lead bans. I lose way too many lead dropshot weights, using tungsten would burn a hole in my wallet.

St Croix also has their Triumph X rods on sale with a free Daiwa Laguna spinning reel, for $90 shipped. Just something to consider!

I have a hodgepodge mix of EVA/cork/split/full - while I haven't preferred one over another enough to influence a rod purchase, I do like the look of the split grips from an aesthetic point of view. My one gripe with grips in general is that some rod makers try to go too minimal where above the reel seet there's no EVA or cork, just a hard plastic screw down. This can get uncomfortable after fishing for a while especially on spinning rods.

I'd go 15# PowerPro with a fluoro leader on the spinning reel, and 20# braid on the casting...the lighter line will get you some extra casting distance since you're fishing from just the shore.

Survivorman would dip his do-rag in water and put it around the carotid arteries on his neck to cool himself down. If you look at kangaroos they lick their chest and inner arms until they're wet so the air chils the saliva - they have a lot of shallow veins there and it keeps them cool.

Power fishing to me has always been anything where you're trying to get the bass to bite from it's predatory instincts with a reaction bite, even if it's not hungry. So a lion that just ate a huge meal might not be hungry but if you slap his face with a steak a few times he's gonna be ticked off and eat that steak. So fishing a tiny crankbait on 4lb line can be power fishing if you're cranking that thing through water trying to get that reaction bite. Finesse fishing to me is any presentation where you're trying to present an easy meal to a fish. So like a dropshot worm that imitates a clueless baitfish sitting still in the open water, or Texas-rigged crawfish just kind of scooting along the bottom, anything food-sized that seems like it's unaware a predator is nearby. So a Texas-rigged creature bait being slowly dragged along the bottom with 50lb braid, is still finesse to me.

I want to see someone hold a club tourney where you're only allowed to use Barbie rods!

American Legacy still has some Daiwa Fuegos on sale at $78!

I was watching a TV show where they were helping someone build out a pond, on top the bulldozing they laid down a ton of a tree stumps for cover, and laid down some gravel/chunk rock all along a shoreline for a bedding area. The cost of the gravel/chunk rock looked like the worst part of it (they covered an entire hill on one side of the pond with it).

I always use a palomar, but make sure to lube the line and be extra careful when clinching the knot to avoid line burn (mono and fluoro).

+1 for the Phenix M1 Inshore, but if you're spending almost $300 on a swimbait rod you might want to get a new White Label Low Down Customs swimbait rod. Or you could wait for Tackle Warehouse to restock the Huddleston swimbait rod.

Dick's has Shimano Sienna reels for $20 right now which might be the best new $20 reel you'll find. I use a Sienna in my surf setup because I don't mind if it gets thrashed and needs to be replaced, but it's entering it's 3rd year of service and still going strong.

I just re-spooled some 15# PowerPro on a spinning reel that gets more use out of any other reel I have. I re-spooled because on a couple of snags the braid itself along the mainline was the failure point not one of the knots or the 10# FC leader. The braid was fraying from rubbing against stuff in the water, and, the braid itself was low on the spool from tying/cutting off tag end/etc. Instead of just pulling enough line to remove the fraying I removed the braid down to the PowerPro Slick8 that I had originally spooled but now acts as backing, where I just need to replace the regular PowerPro "top shot", which lasted me over a year. Braid will last years if you don't use it in high contact areas where the braid will fray, otherwise check the first few meters from fraying/broken fibers and consider replacing if you feel it's getting a bit much.

That pretty much shouldn't be happening with any screw lock!

That's a five hour drive from Delaware! DVT is actually in New York, OP is looking for a place closer to where he's at within an hour's drive.

I think there are most definitely days when you miss out on fish if you only finesse. I started out just going finesse on spinning gear - first wacky/t-rig/c-rig then I started dropshotting and that took over 90% of my fishing time. There were days a dropshot wouldn't get a bite so I decided to branch out and started using power techniques and now I ALWAYS bring some kind of reaction bait with me when I fish. My best shore day ever in terms of size/quality of fish was when I did nothing but throw chatterbaits and the fish were inhaling that thing all morning long. I've had crankbait sessions where I'd find a "spot" where I'd throw the crank and the fish would be schooled up and something would eat the crankbait every 3 casts. I still dropshot tons but there have definitely been days where I wouldn't have had as productive of days if I didn't use a reaction bait. Plus, it's a lot more fun/interactive to fish with a reaction bait.

I'd use these on a KVD 1.0, or similar size bait. Not many bass lures use a size 8 hook!.

I'm guessing Florida Largemouth Strain? Either way colored line shouldn't make a difference unless it's really clear water. If you're going to be using the combo you're looking to put the line on for power/reaction fishing, line color will most definitely not make a difference.

I have an Orochi XX Swingfire and couldn't be happier with it. I was originally going to buy the Levante Swingfire but some guy at the tackle store had a long conversation with me and he convinced me to go with the Orochi XX. The guy had tried the Levante line but they just never felt right to him, and it wasn't until he used the Orochi XX that he felt he finally found the perfect rod line. (I'm assuming money wasn't an issue with him because he got rid of his Levantes and replaced them all with Orochis.)

Not sure about from a boat, but I know shore guys that look at topo maps before going to new lakes. If you go to the local city hall they should have topo maps of the local lakes/reservoirs.

I also would advise against spooling straight fluoro onto a spinning reel unless you have a really good/unavoidable reason why you're doing it.