blckshirt98

Don't use a leader for sure, that extra knot is an unnecessary point of failure!

That's such a nice looking reel...really smooth and clean lines all around, and the brushed aluminum look just adds to it, almost looks like an art sculpture.

Spinning for sure! It should be able to handle any soft plastic with a 1/4oz weight with no problems.

Cabela's Bargain Cave just put up Stradic FA Ci4+ reels marked down to $175.99-$191.99. Buy some gift cards online and save another 11-15% off of that price (though I just wiped a couple of places out of their e-gift cards). $5 shipping too with $99 min purchase using the code "66hero".

They're mostly known for their saltwater stuff but started making freshwater rods the past couple of years. I believe they're an actual Made In The USA company, and their saltwater rods are well regarded...not buying junk for sure.

The way I've tried to look at it is - Finesse - lighter tackle, slower presentation, trying to attract any fish in the area that can see your bait or detect it's movement in the water with it's lateral line. You're trying to present a bait to act like a dumb crawdad or baitfish that's completely oblivious of it's surroundings, making it an easy meal for a hungry bass. Think of it like a mouse walking up to a snake until it's 2 inches away and gets eaten. Reaction - heavier tackle, fast presentation, covering lots of water. You're trying to imitate say a swimming baitfish or a crawdad zipping through the water. It'll be a target for a hungry bass, but it can also trigger a "reaction" bite even if the fish isn't looking for a meal. Think of it like taking a flashlight and sticking the light in front of a cat and the cat will instinctively start chasing the light if you start moving it around. Or, think of it like taking a sirloin steak and slapping the face of a lion with no arms that's just had a big meal. The lion isn't hungry but if you tick it off enough by doing that, it'll just reactively attack and eat the d**n steak so it's not bothering him anymore. There's "power finesse" too where you're both using a finesse technique but covering water at the same time - for example ripping a lipless crankbait/jig/tube off the bottom and letting it fall, fishing a chatterbait then killing it and letting it fall before starting your retrieve again, or fishing a suspending jerkbait where you jerk it a few times then completely pause for a few seconds. So a buzzbait or whopper plopper that you retrieve back at a steady pace would be Top Reaction. A hula popper that you pop once and completely stop until the ripples go away then give it one more pop, wait for the ripples to go away, and repeat would be Top Finesse. Crankbaits are pretty much straight Reaction baits with depth in the water column determined by it's designed diving depth. A jig/Texas rigged/Carolina rigged/shakey head plastic that you slowly drag or hop along the bottom would all be Bottom Finesse. I'm not experienced enough yet to know the intricacies of when to use a buzzbait vs whopper plopper vs Rage Toad vs frog vs rat vs Rage Shad vs zara spook but those are all basically the same technique - Topwater Reaction. You don't need to buy tackle to fish every one of them and have every bait in your tackle box, but get comfortable/confident with 1-2 of them. Same with all the other combinations Then as you get confident (or bored) with the ones that catch you fish, you can start trying new baits.

I've never towed a boat but how does this even happen?

If you're willing to fork out for a Metanium for a short trip you might want to consider hiring a guide for Lake Perris!

Excel spreadsheet here too!

Another Cali angler, welcome!

Find a backpack on sale at like The Clymb or Sierra Trading Post when they have a sale or have coupons and you can get a solid backpack for dirt cheap. No need to go out and buy a "fishing specific" backpack, it's just space that holds Plano trays and a few smaller knickknacks.

A lot of those lures/techniques serve a similar purpose. Like Catt said try to instead focus on two things - 1) Depth of Presentation Top/Mid/Bottom 2) Type of Presentation - Reaction/Finesse Start out by trying to get comfortable with one of each combination between the two - Top Reaction/Mid Reaction/Bottom Reaction/Top Finesse/Mid Finesse/Bottom Finesse.

Oh man that Hackney glamour shot almost made me spit out my coffee lolol

2 piece rods are more for the convenience of travel but really all of those 2 piece rods being made today are top notch. If you had a blindfold on you probably wouldn't be able to tell if a rod is 1 or 2 pieces. Don't worry about the rod coming apart as long as you attach it properly. I might have had a rod come apart on me once, and that was when I completely half-assed putting the two pieces together where it wasn't a tight connection.

I think there's still some stigma about buying Quantum gear even if it has KVD's approval. In almost every thread where someone is asking for rod/reel recommendations I hardly ever see anyone mention anything by Quantum...they're like the black sheep of the fishing world. They need to figure out and copy what Lew's did to get their reels pushed up to top tier of recommended reels.

This is about right for me too. The M/MF with crankbaits also really makes whipping the lure out of the water and casting back out, effortless.

I'm right handed, my spinning reel handles are on the left side, and so are my baitcaster handles. There used to be no/little left handed baitcasting options but now they have so many options it's a no-brainer. I think a lot of RH people use/learned to use RH baitcasters because they had no alternative.

I use a Gen2 Revo STX for cranking and it's a nice reel, would buy another one to use in a heartbeat. I've heard mixed reviews on the Gen3 reels though. If I were going to buy a new reel on the market today I'd probably get a Shimano Curado or Metanium, or one of the new Daiwa SV reels.

Another shout out to Reebs' Bolt Throwers! Made for saltwater, they're built like tanks.

i find spinning gear easier to cast/manage when using lighter baits. Once you hit about 1/2 oz the spinning gear starts to be a little cumbersome in that it can be more of a chore to reel, and, it can be noisy as well. I tried to stick with spinning gear for everything by getting a MH Mojo Bass spinning rod and a H Shimano Clarus, but while they "worked" the mechanics of the entire system still didn't feel right or comfortable. For medium and heavier baits I find it much more effortless and comfortable to fish when using casting gear.

TBH i've never thought of a chatterbait as a "finesse" presentation, as the thump of the blade is what really sets it apart from say a normal swim jig. I can see maybe slowing it down to reduce the vibration of the blade, but generally speaking if you're looking for a more subtle approach a swim jig with a trailer with/without rattles might be a better option.

I'm right-handed and fished with spinning reels for a while with the handle on the left hand side . When I started using baitcasters I kept the handle on the left hand side because it felt "normal". As an added bonus when you see LH baitcasters up for sale you usually have less competition to deal with!

And if you're bored what do you do?

That's a huge grub you'd need a meaty chatterbait with a big hook!

Pinch the gap down with pliers, braid's smaller diameter will do that to some hooks where there's a gap in the eye.