blckshirt98

Is it a spinning or baitcasting reel? If it's spinning be careful about using too heavy FC(I wouldn't go above 8lb) as it's stiff and is prone to springing off. I have the guys at my local shop spool my baitcasters with straight fluoro, with mono backing optional.

I always had such a huge problem with line burn and line breaking at the knot using a double-uni on a braid to fluoro connection that I just started to use a tiny barrel swivel. Haven't had any line breaking issues since using palomars each way.

I always just remove the weight since it's attached via the crimp, then I just use the hook keeper as normal. Dont' see a reason to keep the weight attached, it will just cause abrasion to anything it rubs up against.

Also what kind of line are you spooling? Fluoro is stiff and will bounce off on anything over say, 8lb test. Mono you need to spool it correctly so it "curls"on the reel spool the same direction it was "curled" on the line spool. If you overfil the spool it will always jump off. If you spool with braid you should have almost none of these problems.

For me it's been lipless crankbaits because I can chuck them the farthest/highest. They find all the tall branches close by and the low hanging branches at distance.

If you snap a rod by accident, are you allowed to borrow a rod from the main angler? Just curious as I've never fished a tournament.

Actually can you add on...larger swimbaits and glide baits(floating/slow sink/fast sink)? hehe

This is a nice reference sheet, thanks!

All gone, no longer listed in their Bargain Cave!

The stuff in the Sale List at TW if I recall has always had the price discounted further when you add them to cart. They have those Daiwa Lexa 100 reels marked down to $60, and when adding to cart at a prior sale they received the full 20% markdown (I snagged three of them...they have one left too!). Also applied to the Steez on clearance as well.

Good luck! Nice choice on the Sharpshooter worms btw, those things work great, and they're cheap as chalk. Home run by Yum on those baits.

The Wal Marts out here only have markdown bins of low end Yum baits and some lower end hard baits like Rebels/Cotton Cordells/Bombers.

One thing about kayak fishing is unless you have a Power Pole micro or an anchor, how do you keep the kayak from drifting with the current and out of a good spot? I think that's one advantage shore guys have is they can fish a specific spot over and over again without having to adjust/re-position.

I actually use cheap plastic tupperware. I forget which brand but there's a square shaped one that isn't too tall made to fit the Wonder Bread sized slices of bread. I store the spinnerbaits flat in the tupperware, with each spinner bait in a sandwich bag of it's own.

I used to buy almost all Shimano but not so much a fan after they changed their warranty to 1 year and when I went to their HQ in Irvine in person the guy I spoke with made it seem like I was at fault for testing the tip of the rod that snapped like a toothpick. It wasn't a high stick curve either, I was just pushing down gently on the tip of the rod about 1-2 inches from the end with two fingers. I've seen tackle shop employees test rods out by pushing them down much more firmly on the carpet. Anyways now my favorite rod brand is Phenix (by a long shot), followed by St. Croix, though I do still have all of my old Shimanos with lifetime warranties which I'll still use.

If you're shipping to a California address and spend over $50, TW has free Golden State Overnight shipping. It might take 2 days but usually I've received my stuff next day if you order early enough. This is one of the best perks for me living in CA and ordering through TW. I hear you about the "buy to return". There was a story about a guy wanting to film a documentary but was broke and doing the "fund it on credit cards" thing that once "bought" a handheld camcorder from Circuit City, with full intention to return it after the 30-day money back guarantee period. He used it to film his documentary within those 30 days.

GYCB Kut Tails are my most common drop shot plastic, though not in that size. 5.75" is where I usually cap the size on a dropshot.

+1 on the Citica E series, just need to be patient and look around for them on the bay and various forums.

Fluoro is stiffer than mono and will bounce off your spool and ruin your fishing, never spool with just fluoro above 8# on a spinning reel. Like many have said, use braid, with a fluoro leader, so you can get the best of both worlds.

You could always get a locking hard case for golf clubs. Could fit a lot of other tackle in there too, just fill it with clothes to pad it to keep things from moving around.

This is a neat concept, glad to see the fish not being pulled far away from where they were caught. I do see the point mentioned of the same fish being caught twice, either by the same angler or two different anglers. What if multiple anglers catch the same big bedding female?

Haha, when I bought my first ever nice two piece rod, it was a St Croix Mojo Surf. The fit was like that as well where it wasn't flush with a big space at the join and I thought i had picked up mismatched pieces. I took it back to the tackle shop and they told me that's how it's designed. Felt like such a noob.

I don't really fish tubes but bouncing a tube off the bottom is a favorite technique of one of the guys at the local tackle shop. He swears by the Dry Creek tubes.

I picked up a few LC's on Cabela's website where they have a lot of their "Live" series marked down to $7.99, along with the CBs and Mini LVRs. Were the same ones marked down in store too or were there other ones like the normal LVs or some of the squarebills?

Double Uni I've found to be a horrible knot to tie braid to fluoro. It's too easy to get line burn and a weak spot at the knot, where it'll break just after the knot where you'll be left with the fluoro portion of the uni connection. I'd ditch the braid altogether for swimbaits and use straight fluoro (20 or 25lb Sniper FC).