blckshirt98

St. Croix labels their rods to show which line of rods/casting vs spinning/length/power/action/pieces. So TXC66MHF means it's Triumph X (TX), Casting (C), 6'6" long (66), Medium Heavy power (MH), Fast action(F). if you see a (2) at the end of the model number it means it comes in 2 pieces, so TXS70MF2 means it's a Triumph X (TX), Spinnning (S), 7'0" long (70), Medium power (M), Fast action (F), 2 pieces (2). If you're just starting out I'd actually go with a spinning rod since it's much easier to learn and fish lighter/finesse techniques with a spinning setup. If you could only pick one combo from the deals listed I would probably go with a 7'0" Medium Fast rod, but other people might want to chime in here.

I've tried the Roboworm Hot Tips and really haven't seen much of a difference in strike rates, at least not enough for me to switch over to them or routinely hook one up!

I like switching baits up even if one is working because it's just nice to catch a fish on something different. It's also a good way to slowly go through plastics or colors that seemed like a good idea at checkout time but in a practical sense would never be your first through tenth choice....how often are you going to put on a banana yellow plastic worm as confidence color?

If you're ordering from TW and give them a call and ask them which underspin to use depending on which brand you like because weight/hook size is all over the map from one brand to another!

Natural Shad, Sexy Shad, Ghost Bluegill

St. Croix has their prior generation Triumph X rods paired up with a free reel for $90-100 with free shipping. The spinning rods are getting a cheap $40 Daiwa Laguna reel, but the casting rods are getting a $100 Daiwa Exceler which is a freaking steal!

St. Croix has their prior generation Triumph X spinning rods paired up with a free reel for $90 with free shipping right now. The reel they throw in is a Daiwa Laguna ($40 MSRP, though on sale for $20 at Cabela's right now). P.S. the Triumph X casting rods are also being paired up with a free reel/shipping for $100 and they're throwing in a Daiwa Exceler ($100 MSRP) which is a pretty sweet deal.

I think you're making the right choice with 7' M/F, but you may want to try throwing your cranks on straight braid. A fluoro leader doesn't seem to matter with a reaction bite, and, if you get hung up having one less failure point and the extra strength of braid can help you pull your lure out if you';re fishing in thick vegetation. I throw small cranks on spinning gear and will go straight 15 lb braid (with a Norman Speed Clip).

Phenix X series glass or composite, but, no matter which brand you go with definitely give a glass or composite rod a try.

Okuma SST Ladies Edition. Some Wal Marts in SoCal have the salmon/steelhead models marked down to like $19, though up here in NorCal they're full price. Your Wal-Mart mileage may vary. Also if you're at Wal Mart maybe check out the Wright & McGill Trait Crist combo.

Boomerang tool is the best bar none, I keep it clipped to a belt look with a small carabiner. It does lose it's edge after a lot of use so I usually replace mine every 2 years, but it's still worth every penny.

It's not cheap to buy/maintain a boat and pay for gas/expenses/entry fees to tournaments to make a name for yourself. If you didn't fish for a high school or college team, and you don't have someone with deep pockets to pay for your expenses, you might be better off finding the best job you can and save up as much as you can so when you get to the age where you can afford to retire from your job you have the means to enter as many tournaments as you can. I believe anyone can enter the local/regional BASS and FLW tournaments, it's just a matter of paying the fees. If you're expecting a sponsor to pick you up and pay for your expenses, that will not happen. Not to be an jerk but realistically a very very small percentage of people who love to fish have what it takes to fish in BASS or FLW and do well enough to make a living. Don't confuse your passion for fishing with a career - there's a lot of people who spend hundreds of hours playing video games because they love video games, but only a tiny percentage can make it as a professional.

Oh, if it's a weeklong trip I'd grab a Sterlite container and throw some extra stuff in there - not to take with me out on the water, but to have in the car or where I'm staying if I need to switch things up. If you bring the stuff you usually do for a day out on the water, those should be your confidence techniques and you should have plenty to throw for that day. If nothing bites you can swap something out for the next day. Just make sure you bring something that covers all water depths. Nothing is worse than seeing shad being chased on the surface and realizing you only brought plastics to fish off the bottom, or seeing a glassy lake with zero surface activity and all you brought was a whopper plopper!

I think the best piece of advice I read about lure color was just the other week on the main BR page where a pro said something along the lines of "I'd much rather have the wrong color bait at the right location (where the fish are) than the right color bait the wrong location (where there's no fish)". Also one thing I noticed about what types of lures to bring is that for any FLW or BASS tournament, if you look at the top 10 finishers and what they were using, they almost always use a different lure/presentation/color. I translate this as a bass will eat anything as long as they see it, you just need to figure out if it's a finesse or reaction bite. As a 100% shore guy that tries to stay light and mobile I break things down two ways and make sure each combination is covered - - Finesse vs Reaction - Depth (Topwater/Bottom/Suspended) 1) Finesse Topwater- I don't really have a topwater finesse technique so I bring nothing. Eventually I'll develop the patience to use a slow glide bait for this! 2) Finesse Bottom - I like to go with a shakeyhead. You can use a C-Rig, T-Rig, Jig, etc. 3) Finesse Suspended - I like to stick with a dropshot and lengthen my leader, or, will throw a wacky rigged senko. 4) Reaction Topwater - I like to use a rat-type of bait or a whopper plopper. 5) Reaction Bottom - I'll use a lipless crank or chatterbait and let it sink to the bottom and bounce it off the bottom or use a diving crank and let it scrape along the bottom and kick up debris. 6) Reaction Suspended - I'll use squarebills/chatterbaits/lipless cranks. For each type I'll bring 1-2 "light" confidence colors and 1-2 "dark" confidence colors. I might throw in a new bait or color to try out but I'll usually stick to the tried and true colors that should be universal like your blacks, green pumpkin/watermelons, and morning dawn for plastics, and sexy/natural shad, bluegill, crawdad red, and firetiger for cranks. Just try to make sure you have something that can reach each level of the water column, with either a finesse or reaction presentation. If you have a whopper plopper for Reaction Topwater you don't need to bring a rat/toad/buzzbait/frog/hula popper/walking stickbait/jitterbug/wake swimbait in 2 colors each. If you fish a chatterbait you don't need a bunch of spinnerbaits and crankbaits and plastic swimbaits and swimjigs because you have your Reaction Suspended presentation covered. I know this kind of dumbs down things but as a shore guy with a backpack you can't bring the kitchen sink, so I just try to make sure I have as much of the water column covered as possible, with both a finesse and reaction bait.

Phenix M1 MXS72M or 78M - I've used my72M to dropshot, carolina rig, texas rig, shakey head, wacky senko, and prefer it for smaller crankbaits like KVD 1.0 sized squarebills. KVD 1.5 size squarebills are the largest I'll go but it'll cast a mile.

How about some underspins for the Keitechs since it'll be stained to muddy water?

The Curado I's are on sale at Monster Tackle for $140 if that helps! I know Cabelas uses some of Daiwa's technology and are made in the same factory (the higher end Cabela reels even still have Daiwa's "D" logo on the reel), but I'm not sure about the small differences between the Cabela vs Daiwa reels at the similar price points.

I have a gameplan of sorts that is always open to change once I get to the water. If it's a familiar body of water and I'm going to fish spots where I know I'll catch fish, I'll approach them in the ways I had in the past to catch fish. If I haven't been there in a while and the conditions have changed (i.e. water is really up or down, dirty, etc) I might change my presentation (or if it's super windy I might just leave lol). Some days I want to try something different and I'll call them "exploration days" where I'll go to a completely new lake or location and try to do as much walking to cover as much water as possible. I'll use a finesse technique to get a feel for the depth/bottom composition and try to map out what's going on underwater. Through this whole process I'm trying to get a bite hoping I can find another reliable "spot" to catch fish. Sometimes I'll find a nice spot with good clear shore access without a snaggy bottom, or a cluster of boulders, or a small runoff, and I'll chalk it up as another spot I can fish in the future. If I come across featureless stretches of water that are unproductive that's okay too, because for these "exploration days" I don't mind if I get skunked because I'm using it as time to learn more about the lake. If it's a completely new body of water I'll usually bring an extra rod and an extra Plano box of tackle because I have no idea what to expect and don't want to be caught by surprise if techniques that usually work for me turn out to completely unproductive. Then for future trips to that new body of water I'll be more familiar and know what to expect, and can leave the extra rod and tackle at home. TL;DR - always have a game plan of sorts but be ready to change. Take a day every so often to explore new lakes/areas even if you end up getting skunked, and bring a little extra tackle with you.

I mix and match based on what I find on sale. I used to stick with Shimano/St Croix but I've shifted away from Shimano since their warranty change and have worked in more Phenix rods. I've mixed in a few other brands as I grab rods on sale (Powell, LuckyCraft, Lamiglas, Megabass) but the bulk of my rods are now Shimano/St Croix/Phenix. I can see a benefit from not buying from a bunch of different brands because each brand has it's own "flavor" where you know what to expect based on how they rate their rods. One brand might not offer you enough flexibility unless you want to pay full retail on every rod. I'd try to mix and match 2-3 brands and look for the rods when they go on sale or buy used!

I read an interesting bit in the Bassmaster blogs during their Toledo Bend coverage - Chris Lane said when he used to use mono for frogging but lost a couple of lunkers, it drove him mad why his hooksets didn't stick. He got his frog setup, let enough mono out as if he were casting on the water, and had his dad hold the far end of the line where the frog would be. He did a hookset, asked his dad how it felt, and his dad said he "barely felt it". So now Chris Lane uses braid when using a frog because the stretch of the nylon didn't provide the rigidity to drive the hooks in. You can probably try this with your own setup, and see if the mono is stretching too much for your liking.

I would say Phenix M1 but the last guy on the forums that got an M1 based on forum responses had his snap on the second cast But I'd still go with an M1!

Powell Diesel 7'3" Heavy, $79.99 retail.

I know Mission Viejo Lake was a gold mine for DD bass and there was supposed to be a possible state record in that lake. Then the golden algae bloom came around last year and completely wiped that lake out. That was heartbreaking to read, hopefully that lake will recover in time.

Amount of stretch will also depend on how much line you have out. I only really use mono for trout but the stretch for me has always been a few inches using 2# or 4# mono but then again I'm not casting too far out for trout, and, it depends on how heavy I have my drag set. The stretch is really noticeable when trying to get a snag out. As long as your drag is locked down tight enough you shouldn't have an issue with the stretch causing your hookset not to penetrate.

Monster Tackle just put their Curado I's up for sale at $139.99