Boomstick

I too prefer mono, fluoro or copoly on a casting reel. I only use 40# braid on my MH/F rod because I fish hollow body frogs with it, and once I get a dedicated frogging rod, I will put 15 or 15lb fluorocarbon or mono on that. Straight mono or fluro is just easier and quicker to rig up. I am Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon this year on my other casting rod and with a uni knot, I've not had any issues other than I fish mostly from shore which is shallower water and I tend to drag my baits along the bottom at times. It almost seems like mono would be a better choice as it would get me near the bottom, and occasionally hitting the bottom and then I could use topwater on the same rod too. For mono, I would suggest Sufix Siege. It has less memory and is much more abrasion resistant than other mono lines I've used and I think it has a little less stretch to it as well. I find it easily worth the extra price imo as I used it a lot last year and have it on one of my kid's reels as well and we've had no issues at all.

A 3/8oz chatterbait is always going to weigh quite a bit more once you add the trailer as LCG said. In the case of a 3/8oz spinnerbait, sometimes you can get away without using a trailer, but sometimes you need one. I rarely find myself using a spinnerbait below 3/8oz, and when I do it's because the bass aren't biting but I can get a lot of chain pickerel on a 1/4oz spinnerbait.

To me it's about finding where they're feeding. Once you find that spot, you've hit a bass goldmine.

I had a good day smallie fishing alongside a dam with a cement wall with crankbaits today, along with my oldest son. Most of the baits you get a largemouth with will catch a smallmouth, but from my experience the most important thing is where you fish them. To target a largemouth, just find cover. A bridge, weeds, lily pads, etc. For smallmouth, look for rocks or cement walls and fish alongside them. For example earlier today as soon as I got my crankbait alongside the cement wall on the dam, I got a fish.

Try taking the entire senko, texas rigging it and just jig it up and let it sink back down, you're guaranteed to get something eventually. Sometimes deadsticking a wacky rigged soft plastic can be effective at times as well as long as the water isn't completely still. It's all about the action.

I worded that poorly. I should have said a less stiff tip.

I would lean towards a MH/F or MH/MF rod for spinnerbaits or chatterbaits. You can fish 3/8oz spinnerbaits and chatterbaits on M/F, and M/XF should also work for the smaller spinnerbaits and chatterbaits as well as it's medium, but would not be my top choice. As far as the Avid X goes, I have a 6'9' ML/XF spinning rod I use for finesse, and it's a really nice rod so I don't think you will be disappointed with the Avid X.

I take it you have the non glass model? I think the glass model has just a little less tip so you can also fish cranks on it (although I'm not familiar with the graphite one).

There are some lakes where I absolutely kill it with a spinnerbait, and some lakes where you pretty much can't get a fish with a spinnerbait. If it's not working, try a paddletail swimbait or a crankbait as a searcher bait.

I often use my Daiwa Tatula Glass 7'2" MH/MF for spinnerbaits as well as bladed jigs and crankbaits. It's a pretty solid moving bait stick. I got my son a Mojo bass spinnerbait rod, which is lighter and similar in action however I do feel that I actually get better sensitivity at times with the glass Tatula.

I could see how that could potentially be a problem, as I don't do that.

My experience has been the exact opposite. My Tatula SVs with the T-Wing spool up straighter than my son's Curado K, hands down with my fingers on or off the line. I am not sure if it really casts further or not. My oldest son's Curado K casts further, and my younger son's Pflueger President XT casts further than both. Of course if I had a Tatula CT not a SV with less braking that may play into effect here too. Regardless, I'm not overly concerned with it, the Tatulas are fantastic reels.

I am primarily left handed, cast left handed but I cannot reel with my left hand for the life of me, so I use right handed baitcasters so the rod never leaves my left hand. It fees much more natural that way to me.

I use a Daiwa BG 2000 spinning reel, and I don't notice it's heavier than some options. In fact it seems to balance with my St Croix Avid X 6'9" ML/F spinning rod nicely.

I would probably go with the Mojo out of the three of them, but if it was me, I would get the 6'8" M/XF model. Being a little shorter won't have a huge affect on casting, but you can also use the rod for topwater and the shorter rod will be easier to work a topwater bait. Also it might be easier casting if you ever have low hanging branches and are trying to dead stick a senko. The Mojo Bass is a very solid rod with a very good blank at a good price point, so I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I use a ML/XF for finesse, I'm looking more for medium action for heavier soft plastics and the other presentations listed. I was considering the Major Craft Nanoace in 6'9" M/F which WRB recommended and is priced about right, but I'm constantly hearing people saying M/XF is so much better for soft plastics and topwater that I thought I'd ask.

So I was planning on buying either a M/F rod or M/XF rod earlier this year, but due to financial issues and chemo treatment which leaves me too tired to fish, I decided to that I would buy it next year. I was hoping to fish smaller spinnerbaits, squarebills, topwater and light or weightless soft plastics with this rod. I also want it to be a little shorter, like 6'8" which is easier to use with topwaters that you can walk. Is there really much of a difference between M/F and M/XF? Most people prefer the extra fast tip for soft plastics and topwater, but does that still work as well with square bills?

I put in a lot of time learning about migration patterns, various tactics plus just what works in situations and what doesn't. I didn't get completely skunked until August and one more time a couple weeks ago and honestly that time I'm fairly sure if I had a little more money and rented a rowboat or canoe, I would have caught some at the lake I was fishing at - there's just very little shore access that isn't limited by low treelines and it's extremely shallow and they aren't at that side of the lake this time of year. Last year, we got skunked a lot, and I must admit it was a bit frustrating. But this year, it didn't bother me. I spent significantly less time on the water this year due to medical issues and still caught a whole lot more fish, and it was generally fun and relaxing trying to catch them anyway. At the end of the day, I bought a 3lb salmon filet and fed the group and that was worth it alone if nothing else.

Seems appropriate for this forum...

I use both mono and fluorocarbon, depending on the time of year etc. There's a place for each type of line. This year, I spooled up some Berkley Trilene Flurocarbon line on my cranking rod, which unlike vanish is actually really good fluorocarbon with solid knot strength (I use a 4-6 wrap uni knot with fluoro). But lately, since I've been too tired to rent a canoe or rowboat, I'm debating switching to mono simply because in the shallower waters I fish in frequently, my bait runs off the bottom where with mono, it's by the bottom. As for mono, I find that I really like the Sufix Siege. It's a bit pricier than Berkley Big Game, but has much less memory and is very abrasion resistant, so it's worth it to me.

I use a 6'9" ML/XF Avid X (same quality blank as the Mojo Bass) and a Daiwa BG 2000. The main advantage with the BG over the President is a slightly larger sized spool which helps not losing line loops. I also prefer braid to leader on spinning reels, but it's not a requirement if spooled correctly.

I will second buying a 6'6" medium heavy Berkley Lightning Shock casting rod and a 6'6" medium light Berkley Lightning Shock. Then add a Pflueger President spinning reel (I would go with the PRESSP30X model which is size 30) and a Pflueger President Casting reel. This way you can fish a drop shot and ned rig on the spinning reel and a whole slew of larger baits on the casting reel. Trust me, I thought I was going to prefer a spinning reel, but once I learned the casting reel, I never looked back for those heavier baits and larger hooks.

The Mercedes analogy is a good one. They have a A service every other year, and a B service every other year. I know for a fact that one of the largest Mercedes dealers in the country who I will not name because they will probably sue me charges over $500 for the A service, and $800 for the B service on the years between which add basically "inspecting" a bunch of stuff that you know a dealer never really does anyway. You could do the same thing yourself for around $40. I will note they are probably more expensive than most Mercedes dealers. I bought my truck with 26800 miles and I believe 830 engine hours. That's around 32mph average. I had a car that gave your average speed and reset it per trip, and you'd be surprised how low the average is. If you drive 20 miles on a 55mph road and stop at one red light, your average is going to be end up being below 45mph counting starting from a dead stop. I would imagine most people will slow down to look at a potential fishing spot on their boat here and there, which should have the same effect.

Well I should add something positive. I only really started fishing last year. Hadn't really fished much in years, and I largely fished for mostly perch and trout on live bait before last year. I was thinking about this earlier today when fishing which was only my second day to get completely skunked this year, and not the best lake to fish from shore due to limited access and lots of trees as well. I have put in my time learning about bass techniques and migrations, and despite getting maybe half the time on the water this year that I had last year, I definitely caught a whole lot more fish this year than I did last year. So if nothing else, that's a plus!

All three, depending what and where I'm fishing. Braid for frogs and jigs in heavy cover, mono for topwater or fishing in shallow water, fluro for everything else. Best mono I've ever used hands down. Low memory, high abrasion resistance.