blckshirt98

Depending on what you fish...bass...trout...surf...pelagic...etc...it can hit double digits pretty fast. When in doubt just buy as many as you can afford and have room to store.

How heavy is the fluoro you're trying to spool? I've read that 8# is around the max you want to go when spooling straight fluoro on a reel. Fluoro is stiffer compared to other lines and will bounce off like a slinky even if spooled right.

My suggestion probably follows no conventional wisdom out there, but I'd get a Phenix M1 7'8" M XF spinning rod to throw smaller squarebills/crankbaits. I see you have one dedicated setup for crankbaits, and a few other MHF that can be used for crankbaits, but I always have issues throwing lighter crankbaits on casting gear. Anything under 1/2oz I like to use spinning gear, so that's where I would go. The 7'8" M XF can also be used for lighter c-rig/t-rig/shaky head/spider jig applications as well...basically anything under 1/2oz.

I use a Kelty Redtail and couldn't be happier. I've tried a sling style bag, and 4 other backpacks, but this is the one that I've stuck with. It's light as a feather, has dual water bottle holders with strap downs that can be used to hold extra rods (I'll stick a water bottle on one side, and use the other for extra rods/reels if I want to bring any extra setups). It's the perfect size for a trip the lake, and light enough but has enough support to carry a bunch of stuff comfortably if you need to make a trek out to your spot.

I learned this mixing Z-Man and Yamamoto. Sadly I learned this again when I had the tail from a topwater rat(looks like a Zoom Trick Worm) touching the tail of a Megabass I-Slide - the Trick Worm was bleeding/melting away the tail of the I-Slide.

I used the BPS gift cards I had saved up on a Yeti cooler I don't even need because it's one of the few items that never go on sale anywhere, so getting it at BPS I didn't feel like "I could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere".

I think the innovation will come from the overseas markets (everything in Japan, Molix in Italy, etc) and small batch custom lure makers here in the US. The Japanese market is finicky about quality and detail and the designers there will always be pushing the envelope. Molix just makes some really weird sh** you don't see anywhere else. Thanks to social media, if you look around there's a lot of small batch or made-to-order lure companies here in the US doing some interesting stuff - mainly swimbaits and topwater baits, but I'm seeing some neat crankbaits being made as well (and I don't mean the folks just doing custom paintwork).

Now I want to buy everything from that website. They have some awesome looking light saltwater plastics that would kill on a dropshot.

OP covers a lot of good points, but one factor I'd like to add when fishing from the shore for me, is time of day. From sunrise plus 3 hours and sunset minus 3 hours are always the best time to fish when the bass are cruising the shallows looking for food. Once the mid-day sun is shining bright and hot, and the fish go deeper into cover, I have a much harder time finding/locating the fish and usually don't bother fishing.

This is an insane deal omg, do they have anything like this on their Legend Elite rods if you call the retail store

Impressive collection but makes me want to sell stuff off so I don't end up like that one day (even if I cap out at 5% of what he has)!

Use the Owner Springs on the dummy bait arms and screw the plastic on the nose - https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_CPS_Spring/descpage-OCPSS.html?from=basres Or just use a generic willow blade.

Mine was a couple of years ago at a local reservoir (Coyote) that's always been the spot to give anglers the best shot at a double digit bass in the area. I had some bastardized jig/dropshot combo where I was dragging a jig with a dropshot bait about 10 inches up. I was reeling it in, was pulling it in close to shore to re-cast when about 2-3 feet from the edge in about 8 inches of water "WHOOOOOMP" the great big sucking sound as the bottom jig got nailed. The fish turned to the side and started going parallel into the shallows and the top 1/4 of it's body was out of the water and I saw the size of it and had to do a double take because I thought it was a carp with how big it was. It turned towards deep water, made a run, and snap. Gone. Don't have any estimate on how big it was, might not even have been a double digit, but it easily would have been my PB.

Iaconelli tried to design a bait in the Havoc line called the Back Slide that tried to get the "fall away from you" action but reviews on that thing were mixed. One thing you might want to try is putting a nail weight on the end of a lure, say a stickbait, to get it to fall away from you, though you might need to experiment with different plastics and nail placement. I'd look for a lure that has some kind of flat flat plane that might give some resistance on the fall in the water (maybe a Strike King Ocho?).

BPS is very strongly tied to some of the larger brands. Not sure if they worked out really good purchasing deals through volume but you'll see that most of their lures are either Rapala, Berkley, Strike King, or an In House brand, or, soft plastics from the big players (Zoom, Yamamoto, Roboworm). The two DSGs and all of the local tackle shops have a better selection of small-brand or Japanese manufacturers. Unless you're looking for a BPS model rod or reel, the local tackle shops also have a better rod and reel selection.

I have a question for people who did the BPS trade-in - do they give you a physical voucher and is it only good for that particular day? Or can you leave and come back later and use the voucher on an item you may want that's not in stock that may be available later?

I couldn't disagree more about drop shot not being a shallow water technique. I fish 100% from the bank, and since I started bass fishing about 3 years ago I've fished a drop shot probably 90% of the time, and have caught 95% of my fish that way. I've only tried to force myself to fish other techniques this past year. Drop shotting is my #1 shallow water and "go-to" fallback technique when I'm not getting bit on anything else. It works best for me when I'm casting across to the far side of a narrow cove or standing on a point and casting shallow to the sides, but generally I'll make 30-45 degree casts to each side then move and repeat. The trick is to almost treat it like bait fishing where you want to cast your bait out, and barely tap the rod/twitch the tip, I'll usually go 5-6 minutes between casts as I slowly tick the rod, pause, tick, tick, reel in a bit, tick the rod, pause, pause, tick, pause, reel in a bit, tick, tick, pause, tick, pause, etc.

Next time you're in San Jose stop by Coyote Bait and Tackle...they have hands down the friendliest and most knowledgeable staff of any fishing store, if not any store period, I've ever been to. They specialize in bass swimbaits, best selection I've seen at a brick and mortar store so far. Hopefully you'll be in town for their yearly mega sale in the spring!

KVD 1.0-2.5 in either Sexy Shad or Ghost Bluegill did well for me last year. Of course a part of that is because I'm scared to throw other squarebills that cost 2-3x as much. Could probably have done well on other brands if I threw them!

A couple of local tackle shops have better sales in the springtime (buy 4 get one free on plastics, 15% off all reels, 20% off all rods, 20% off hardbaits/swimbaits, no tax storewide, etc) that I usually hit up. BPS' trump card has always been their floor space and the selection/inventory they can carry, but it sounds like they're dropping the ball here on that.

I did with PowerPro Super 8 Slick, that stuff is supple as silk and wind can get it tangled up in the blink of an eye. I stopped using it and stick with normal PowerPro or Sufix 832 and it's more manageable. Braid in general handles like string with no memory, while braid and fluoro will be much stiffer and hold coil memory so it'll be tougher for those lines to double back on itself and cause issues in the wind.

I think what they really want is for people to go in and trade in for their in-house brand rods/reels.

I use Kastmasters and Krocodile's for trout, just cast and retrieve. If you're referring to the big-ass bass "flutter" spoons that have been popular with the pros the last couple of years, I believe you want them to hit bottom then just lift/drop it back to you.

Cabela's recently listed the St Croix clearance rods in their Bargain Room, but the prices aren't $89 flat on all models if you bought directly through St. Croix, they start at $89 and go up depending on Rage model.

It's a discount based on rod/reel MSRP. Discount hovers around 20% give or take a few bucks depending on how close you get to the cutoff points. Not much more of a discount than online sites that go 15-20% off everything. Here's the BPS trade in chart that should be standard nationwide - http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageBasicC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&appID=206&template=sfc-rod-reel.cfm&storeID=80#sfcMenu