blckshirt98

With the GYCB senkos it's something about their salt/sand formula that makes them quiver on the fall that's hard to duplicate. Sure with experience you can do well with any stickbait (or any bait for that matter), but I think for most people starting out, the GYCB senko just has that cast and let it fall simplicity to it that makes it easy to fish. If you can pull a rod and hold it still, you can make the GYCB senko get bit.

One of the locals (Jason Borofka) fishes on the FLW tour and he said he's caught the majority of his fish on Zoom trick worms. He also uses S-Wavers for his glide baits. Nothing fancy is needed if you know how to find the fish and know how to present your bait.

Phenix XG S-Glass crankbait rods. I have the 7'9" and it's maybe my favorite rod to fish and the price is nice.

I use pretty much 2500 size reels across the board for freshwater, and I spool them with 12-15 lb braid and only use the 7# fluoro as a leader. Have never spooled just fluoro on a spinning reel.

Best bite for me has always been early morning, starting just before the first crack of light where you might need a headlamp for the first half hour, until the sun comes up and it starts to get warm. So I'll fish for 4-5 hours, usually 6-10am give or take a half hour on either end. Plus when you go that early you have a 2-3 hour window before the boats show up.

Some older Daiwa cranks and Speed Traps.

I've tried all weights of Seaguar InvisX, Sunline Finesse, and Sunline Sniper - Sniper 7lb is easily my favorite of the three. Perfect sweet spot of line diameter and strength.

I use Shimano spinning reels from the $30 Sienna to the $180 Stradic and pretty much every model in between. I don't really see much of a different between the various price points of the Shimanos - if I closed my eyes and all the reels had the same handle, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. I would however be able to tell the difference between a Shimano and say an Okuma. Spinning reels will feel different between brands, but once you find a brand you like in looks/feel/balance, then I think most of the spinning reels within that brand will feel very very similar to one another. Go feel a few out at a local tackle shop and see which one works for you, and make the switch to the brand that feels right in your hands, but once you do I wouldn't go too crazy by upgrading from say a $50 Pflueger to a $150 Pflueger.

If you're going pure dropshot, MXF is the way to go, length can be up to you I have rods in the 6'8"-7'4" range that I use to dropshot, though have an 8" rod I've used on dropshotting as well. If i had to pick a dedicted dropshot rod, it wouuld be my 6'8" MXF Cumara.

Just a much smaller market for LH retrieve baitcast reels so not all companies will make all reels available in RH and LH. Even a lot of smaller local tackle shops won't stock LH retrieve reels, but, if the manufacturer makes it and you can wait, they can order it for you. Check a manufacturer's website to see if they make a LH retreive version, then ask a local shop to order one if you can't find it online.

Mono I just use Big Game or Trilene. Fluoro I use Sniper or InvisX, though the InvisX is only because all of the local Sports Authorities cleared them out and I got a ton of spools on sale.

I rinse my reels off with freshwater after using them in salt - it should be fine!

I'm in the Strike King KVD camp! They work and they're cheap so I'm not as hesitant to throw them into rip rap!

Whichever you get, you'll eventually get used to it. Everyone using opposite spinning/baitcaster retrieves seems to eventually get used to it. Pros to using right-retrieve is more selection of reels as not all reels are made in both left and right retrieve SKUs. Pros to using left-retrieve is that if you're looking to buy used or if you see a reel on sale/clearance, the competition pool to bid/buy the item is much much smaller

Just wondering if anyone's ever used a Shimano Terez saltwater rod for heavier swimbaits?

Swimbait fishing, esp the large ones, requires a bigger investment than other freshwater techniques. You need the beefier rod and reed to throw them, you will need new line, and you will need to invest in the swimbaits, most of which don't come cheap. You may even need two new setups if you really wanna throw some of the monster swimbaits. The smaller swimbaits are a good starting point to see how you like it because you can use your MH/H gear, but I've heard a few people say once you get addicted to swimbait fishing, you won't want to fish anything else.

+1 If you're unsure of the differences just get a lipless, a chatterbait, and a few cranks (squarebill, medium diver, deep diver) and reel them in at various speeds. I don't have the most experience here with all of the baits but from what I've noticed(in broad general terms) in the limited time I've thrown all three - Chatterbait: Slow Reel - can be fished slower than lipless/billed cranks and maintain it's vibration/bait integrity. The skirt will still pulse, the trailer will still move, the vibration element will still vibrate. Can maintain a set depth in the water column by figuring out how fast you need to reel on your setup to keep it at a desired depth without having it rise/fall in the water column. Can fish different depths by finding it's fall rate and counting down until it hits the desired depth. Fast Reel - Will basically go in a straight line to your rod tip, if you reel it fast enough you can skim it just under the surface or even on the surface as a topwater/buzzbait of sorts. No Reel/Kill The Bait - sinks, and depending on the make/model may have an attractive fall with a fluttering blade. "Jigging/Pulling" the rod - you can make the chatterbait do neat things either off the bottom or mid swim. I think the chatterbait is the most versatile of the three as you can fish it effectively at different speeds and different depths, it's still appealing on the fall, you can bounce it off the bottom. It's somewhat weedless as there's no dangling treble hooks to hang up. Lipless Crank (RatLTrap, Aruka Shad, LV500): Slow Reel - Maintains depth, keeps a nice tight flickering side to side action. Fast Reel - Maintains depth, just faster, keeps a nice tight flickering side to side action. No Reel/Kill The Bait - sinks, generally to get it to the bottom or to desired depth. "Jigging/Pulling" the rod - can rip it off the bottom and let it fall down. A lipless crank I think of using to mostly burn through the water after you find the depth you want, whether it's targeting suspended bass or working weedlines/tops of grass, etc. More of a searchbait where you can control speed/depth/etc. Billed Crankbait (squarebill vs deep dive vs etc such a big variation and another subject altogether): Slow Reel - Maintains depth. Wider wobble than a lipless, with some cranks designed to have a very wide/erratic scattering baitfish pattern. Fast Reel - Maintains depth and action of the slow reel, just faster. No Reel/Kill The Bait - Floats to the surface. Depth is controlled basically by the bill of the bait, and the bait is meant to dive. You can control the speed of the retrieve but depth is engineered into the lure. "Jigging/Pulling" the rod - Doesn't do much. Lipped crankbaits, like squarebills, will be better to bounce off or near structure, like rocks and stumps. Or if you want something to stay in contact on the bottom and stir up a lot of commotion you can get something with a larger lip and crank it so the plastic lip is digging into the bottom and stirring up dirt/sand/etc as you pull it in. Lipped crankbaits have been made to do a million things but they all (as far as I know) start in the floating position and are designed to dive on the reel in, something a chatterbait or lipless won't do. Kind of a generic rushed post, maybe other people can chime in and add some better details.

At the local reservoir I throw them at regularly, any kind of Sexy Shad color (water is usually stained/dirty btw).

Savage Gear stuff is nice for what they charge. I also like some of the Little Creeper options and the California Reservoir Lures Slim Thrashers.

Oh yeah, a rod rack useful if you have the space and have a lot of rods to store. I have a couple of Shimano standups I got from local stores that closed, and a plastic Okuma rack. The Okuma rack is actually pretty nice and level. There's some nice wall racks you can install in the garage as well. If it's only 1-2 rods you need to store you don't need to spend money on a rack, just find a spot in the corner of the garage where they won't get beat up.

If you use spinning reels where you hold the pole with your right hand and reel with the left hand, stick with that same configuration with baitcasting reels. Baitcast reels are on top because that's just how they're all designed, and, it's kind of needed to thumb the line/spool to avoid backlashes. You might notice the reel wanting to roll underneath the rod in the spinning reel position but that's just physics. If you want the reel to stay put in the upright position look into acid wrap/spiral wrapped casting rods.

I'm lazy and fish 1-2 times a weekend so I just leave everything hooked up as long as the line is clean and hasn't been nicked up. I always store the pole in a cool dry place, away from direct sunlight and humidity, no matter if it's short term or long term. If it's long term storage I'll take the hooks/weights/swivels off; if it's a spinning rod then reel the line in and put the tag end onto the line tab on the spool, or on a casting reel tie a perfection loop and wrap it around the reel and tighten so it doesn't bird nest. Also if your spinning reel doesn't have a line tab on the spool, just wrap a rubber band around the line on the spool.

Trailer for sure, take your pick pretty much anything you'd throw on the back of a jig/swim jig you can throw on a chatterbait. I use single tail grubs (Kalin's and Zoom are easy to find and cheap) and paddletail swimbaits. Have never heard of pork being used, have never used a trailer hook. When the fish bite it they pretty much slam it and chatterbaits have big hooks that stick em. I'll usually try various speed retrieves, and sometimes will kill it and let it fall. Usually though I reel it in at a nice steady pace.

They both have a tight side to side wobble but the Rat-L-Trap is more of a "what the hell was that that just swam by my face I'm gonna eat it" type of reaction bait while the chatterbait is more of a "what's that thing heading my way I'm gonna go check it out" kind of bait. The chatterbait has the flaring skirt, and usually a plastic trailer, so it's just a "larger" presentation and usually fished slower or with more variation. The Rat-L-Trap to me has always been a rip it in at the right depth and hope the quick flash and vibration triggers a bite. I like to think of it more like a squid vs a sardine.

I like to go with the smallest possible size, don't really see a point in a larger swivel.