Nscheele

Congrats man, it should be an excellent setup for you.

The only lews reel I own is a tournament mb but it's 7 1:1, and right hand retrieve. I prefer Abu equipment for most anything I use. Lots and lots of options on tackle warehouse to browse through. I think they have a swimbait/deep diver section for rods and reels already.

A low profile option could be the Abu Garcia revo winch. 5.4:1 gear ratio and is also avaliable in left had retrieve. I got mine on sale last week for 159.99 from cabelas.

Another vote for stradic fk, I've got the 2500 and it's the best spinning reel I've ever used.

I've got a Mitchell accupro acp600 from my grandfather that is pretty interesting. Also a shimano bantam 100 that is older but just as cool. I have cleaned them both up but never casted either. They have a special spot in the tackle room to be displayed in.

The Abu garcia revo winch I just got is the first of my lineup to have a bearing at each end of the level wind. It's advertised as a 9 bearing reel, which is correct. On the same hand, both of my Johnny Morris carbonlites are advertised as 10 bearing reels, but only have one at the drive end of the level wind. Now, mind you, I haven't fished the winch yet, but I think it's reasonable to assume that the more money spent on a fewer bearing count reel with bearings in places that matter is totally worth it. The other two abu reels I have, pro max and orra sx, only have one on the level wind. Time fishing will tell if the revo performs different from the others. My guess is that it will be insignificant to the weekend warrior as most of us are.

Spinnerbaits are my biggest confidence bait, I fish them with or without a trailer. If I want a little larger profile I will use a fluke or paddle tail bait, but most of the time it's no trailer for me.

I just picked up the revo winch gen 3 and it seems to be a great reel. I got it for deep crankbaits and midsized swimbaits. I started outo with abu stuff and have never had a problem with them.

Delaware Valley tackle is a site sponsor, I'm sure they could help you out, there is a link at the bottom of the page that will take you to their website.

My PB smallmouth came on the 08 size rusty craw X-rap. It was early spring here in northwest Colorado and pretty chilly water temperature, mid 40s and chocolate milk water. Just small twitches, about a 15 second pause between each set of two. The x-rap is one of my favorites.

I've had a tournament mb in the 7:1 ratio for 2 seasons now and it has performed well for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and pretty much anything else I've decided to fling around with it. I've only had experience with shimano spinning reels so I'm not much help from that side. I really like my mb and I think you would too.

I startes out with the Abu garcia Promax combo with a 7' Med fast rod. It's been an excellent setup. I have upgraded and now have 7 casting combos and three higher end spinning combos but still use the Promax, and it performs really well. I feel the rod is very sensitive for the money, and haven't had any issue with the reel to speak of. I did as others have said and practiced in the yard with a nut or just piece of lead tied on to learn. There's nothing wrong with making 1000 25 yard casts to get the feel of it, in fact it'll probably take that many. I clean and re-lubricate the reel twice per year or if it is dropped in the water or sand. It's been a great setup and I don't think you would go wrong with it.

After getting the winter reel maintenance completed today, I wondered how well Graphite powder would work as the lubricant for the level wind mechanism on a baitcast reel. The grease I have tried in the past seems to just attract dirt. Oil seemed to be washed away and not provide any benefit over nothing at all. Does anyone have any experience with using Graphite? Did it hold up or just cause more of a problem? Thanks for the input.

This is what I started out with. 7' med fast and 7.2:1 reel. It's been a great combo that I still enjoy using it compared to some of the upgraded combos I have now.