MassYak85

For those specific baits I use all spinning gear. And in my experience switching to mono is NOT going to reduce you backlash problems. A bad backlash with mono IMO is going to be much harder to get out and salvage the line. When braid backlashes badly it digs in, when mono does it loops up and can kink. Once you get, if it was bad most likely the line got kinked when taking the loops out, often times far into the spool, only to be discovered when you set the hook on a 20 yard cast and the line breaks at a "random" spot between you and the bait. Now the reason I would still recommend mono over braid for your case is cost. So what if you have to re spool with mono 5 times due to mistakes, you are still (cost wise) ahead of the game of braid). And like others have said, if you stick with braid stepping up a size or two in your braid might help with the line digging in. I don't use anything below 30 on my baitcasters.

What you are calling the reel rating is simply the line capacity specs of the reel, generally for the line sizes the manufacturer think most people will use on them. You don't have to match those to the rod, just use common sense and don't use a 40 size reel on an ultra light rod with 80lb braid lol. You want to match the reel and rod to the techniques they will be used for. Smaller reels for finesse presentations involving light line, larger reels for larger diameter lines. I woudl assume that rod would be a MH based on the line rating but again I have no clue as I have never once payed attention to that.

I don't think it's stickied but there is a GREAT article on this site that goes very in depth on all sorts of reel maintenance from lubing, cleaning to replacing parts. It's a lot of info but if you skip over the parts that don't pertain to basic maintenance you should find what you are looking for. You can get as basic or as anal as you want. Just scroll down to the cleaning and lubrication and decide how far you want to dive in. A lot of stuff you can do with minimal teardown of the reel. You don't have to make your reel look like the part diagram it comes with to do basic oiling or greasing. It's also a good idea to start on an older or cheaper reel to get a hang of things. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html

Don't get me wrong it is very useful. But if you take care of them the wire arm is probably going to be the first metal component to go, in which case the whole bait is toast anyways.

Only two to three thousand dollars? What a steal! I'll take 7.

The rod I use is pretty much drop shot first, but I also use it for other finesse applications. It's a 6'10" Medium Light Extra Fast. But if you do a lot of wacky rigging I'd probably prefer a Medium Power Fast. Especially if you are fishing the wacky rig around heavier cover you will want a little more backbone to get them away as you will probably be fishing with lighter line.

I have both spooled on different reels right now. If you held a gun to my head and made me choose I'd probably take the 832. It's 8 strand vs 4 in PP so IMO it's smoother casting. I feel 832 fades a little less but I don't really care about that. Usually I'm changing the line before the braid turns "white" like some guys experience. Like others have said since PP is slightly rougher due to the 4 carrier, it cuts vegetation a little better, so I have that on my frog rod.

You have to tempt the Bait Monkey with an even bigger purchase Or in Rich's case, the Boat Monkey.

I use a pretty cheap and short aluminum handled net in my kayak. Depending on the type of bait I'll just lip the bass but anything with trebles or any toothy critters get the net treatment.

I was going to get the 5.5:1 and try to put together a proper cranking setup but decided I'd rather upgrade my Swimbait setup next year.

Extra blades are good if you are wanting to modify spinnerbaits either out of package to achieve a certain quality or as conditions change (maybe smaller ones if you find the fish eating smaller size shad, or maybe you want larger ones for more vibration). But also consider that spinnerbaits generally are not very durable in the long run. After a certain period of time pretty much any spinnerbait is going to have it's wire arm break due to getting bent back and forth from fish crushing it. If you store the spinnerbaits properly and avoid corrosion the blades should be in good condition up to the point the bait is toast. Basically my point is don't expect to need to literally "replace" the blades very much.

Hmm, I might have to buy one myself. I'm in need of a new scale for next season. Thanks Goose!

I was sooooooooo close to ordering one of those but decided there was something I wanted more down the road a little bit.

Personally I fish spinnerbaits on 30# braid and have never had issues with hooking fish or keeping fish hooked. I've used a leader before but probably won't next season, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. Only exception is maybe slow rolling in clear water. As far as trailer hooks, in my opinion if you are constantly hooking fish on the trailer hook, you need to change something. The fish are short striking for a reason.

I'm right handed and reel with my right for spinning and baitcasting. I pitch with my left and prefer to cast with my left although I still have my right hand on the but of the rod when I do.

Personally I'd prefer more of a medium heavy rather than a heavy. But I have fished all of those on a heavy before with the exception of a lipleess crank.

I built a box very similar to BlueBasser's and Tom's, except I have dowels running across mine that the swivels are attached to with tiny tie wraps.

I think mine are two years old now and I don't think the sun has done much to mine. Commercial PVC usually has additives to minimize degradation.

For my kayak, I think I used the exact same buoys as Daren on mine, and I have an extremely similar design to Goose where mine have adjustments pin holes depending on the weight of the gear +person. When in the water they create quite a bit of drag. I'd go as far as to say they slow me down 50% when paddling in my kayak. They work very well though and standing feels very safe. I only really use them on one pond where there are thousands of stumps and every trip I run up on at least one, without the outriggers tipping is a very real possibility. Also if you do end up using a PVC pipe as the main shaft I would recommend sticking a dowel in to provide rigidity like Daren has shown in his setup.

Whichever spinnerbaits you get make sure they come with a ball bearing swivel, most do but make sure. My favorite spinnerbaits are war eagles which are a little more than what you want to spend, but there are many great options in the 5 dollar range. Personally I never use a trailer hook and might add a small paddle tail as a trailer but not that often. As far as storage I put each one in a little baggy and throw them all in a Plano 3707. I like it because the arms don't get bent and they never tangle and I can fit a lot of them, the only downside is if you have a lot you might have to shuffle them around to find the one you want. If I could only use one lure it would probably be a spinnerbait, they are very versatile and can be crawled on the bottom or burned as shallow as a bass could possibly live. If you are fishing them shallow I would recommend two things. Bump the spinnerbait into the piece of cover you are fishing, this can trigger a reaction bite. Another thing you can do is when it reaches the edge of the cover is kill it and let it fall on slack line. Like for example if you are fishing right along the edge of a dock and you get top the last piling or the very edge of the shadow the dock is casting. You can also try killing it immediately after a spinnerbait bumps into cover, almost like it's disorientated. Also try "pumping" the spinnerbait if a straight retrieve is not working. This throws off a little more flash from the blades and makes your presentation look more erratic. Don't forget to pick up at least one that has those black nickel colorado blade for night fishing or dirty water, they throw off a LOT of thump and can be retrieved very slowly.

I asked the bait monkey and he was very unhappy with your suggestion.

I have a 7' 6" HF abu I used for frogs but it's more like a XHF pool cue. I do like it for frogging but if I had a rod for all of those I'd probably want a "true" heavy.

While I don't pre-make carolina leaders I have pre-rigged ones for ice fishing and I also use the pool noodle trick. I actually store them length wise though so the leaders are perfectly straight when I take them off with no coiling.

Let us know how you like the LFS once you try it out for a while. It was my first baitcaster and I couldn't be more happy with it it's still going strong for me and still gets significant use despite being the cheapest reel in my arsenal. I cleaned it last winter and it's performing better now than it did out of box.

1. Organize Tackle 2. Discover while organizing tackle that I need to replenish a bag of worms 3. "Bag of worms" turns out to be a 20 item TW order